This makes me think... about the things I might pass on to my daughter.

In general, I would want to witness to my daughter that it is worthwhile to "lay down one's life" for others in imitation of Christ. I would hope she would see from my own example that one does not need to be perfect to be a wife and a mother. Nor need one be perfect to be a single woman for Christ or to be a consecrated religious -- for Christ is all-forgiving, eager to erase the past and give us fresh energies to bear the burden of our womanly roles.


By being close to Christ, in the sacraments and in prayer, we can fulfill our great feminine vocation: to live our our love for others day by day in faithfulness.


Finally, I would have my daughter steep herself in Marian devotion and frequently read the lives of women saints so that she could see how beautiful they were in their feminine warmth, charm, and faithfulness...


I would want my daughter and all women to study John Paul II's apostolic letter "On the Dignity and Vocation of Women" (Mulieris Dignatatem). It is a remarkable document...


It this letter, the Holy Father insists that no matter how badly treated a woman may be, her essential dignity comes not from attitudes of weak and often sinful human beings, but from union with God. "This dignity consists in the supernatural elevation to union with God. (n.4)" Indeed, how many times have we faithful women of the Church found ourselves, after being beaten down by the world, kneeling in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament sensing gradually that, no matter what, we are beautiful in the eyes of God.

--Ronda Chervin, Feminine, Free, and Faithful, (1995)

WYD: A Grace for the Youth, and for the Whole Church

My column today, A Word in Season, recognizes Pope Benedict's arrival at World Youth Day (WYD) today, and reminisces about Blessed John Paul II's exuberant heart for youth in the pre-WYD days.

In everything JPII and BXVI have preached and written for WYD, they emphasize that WYD's are less about having youth meet the Pope in person and more about having youth encounter Jesus in a personal way.

That being said, Pope Benedict recognizes these days are not for the youth alone; they are an opportunity for all of us to, indeed, make a spiritual retreat. Read the whole article here.

Mary and the Eucharist -- I really love Bl. JP2's insights

The intimacy between Jesus and Mary cannot be underestimated, and Blessed John Paul's meditation on Mary's "eucharistic" faith is one worth pondering. My latest over at Patheos is a second look at some highlights from the late pontiff's last encyclical, and it's final chapter describing Mary as a woman of the Eucharist.

Here's a bit:

John Paul’s encyclical recalls Mary as a human person who was intimately acquainted with the Son of God, as both his Mother, and as a his first disciple. In her personal “yes” to the Father, who announces the Good News of Christ’s coming into the world through her, we also intuit, how Christ to comes us, miraculously, through the Eucharist.

 [T]here is a profound analogy between the Fiat which Mary said in reply to the angel,   and the Amen which every believer says when receiving the body of the Lord. Mary was asked to believe that the One whom she conceived “through the Holy Spirit” was “the Son of God” (Lk 1:30-35). In continuity with the Virgin's faith, in the Eucharistic mystery we are asked to believe that the same Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary, becomes present in his full humanity and divinity under the signs of bread and wine. ”(Ecclesia de Eucharistia, par. 55.)

Mary first received Christ in her heart by her “yes”, and then conceived Christ in her womb by God’s holy action. Referring to this miraculous indwelling of Christ in Mary, Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin, would acclaim Mary as the first tabernacle in history: “Blessed is she who believed! (Lk 1:45)”

Indeed, blessed are we, too, in the precious moments following a holy Communion, becoming sanctuaries that harbor the Sacred Host that is Jesus. Our preparation beforehand and outlook after receiving him must imitate Mary’s.

And is not the enraptured gaze of Mary as she contemplated the face of the newborn Christ and cradled him in her arms that unparalleled model of love which should inspire us every time we receive Eucharistic communion? ” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, par. 55.)

 Don’t be fooled into thinking these descriptions are just lofty platitudes of Mary’s faith. John Paul describes a remarkably empowered person. Her times of suffering portend the highest heroic virtue. 

Read it all.

As we approached Corpus Christi, a look at JPII's Final Encyclical on the Eucharist

Take a short tour of the last encyclical that we received from Pope John Paul II on the Eucharist, at my column this week at the Catholic Portal at Patheos...

In the encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Blessed John Paul II sought to rekindle in Catholics our Eucharistic amazement… “to contemplate the face of Christ” anew, and to receive Christ in the most intimate way possible this side of heaven.

When it was released in 2003, I wondered if Ecclesia de Eucharistia, (“On the Eucharist in its Relationship to the Church.”) would be his last encyclical. In frail health from advancing Parkinson’s disease, I marveled at both the unrelenting schedule and prolific output that came from John Paul II. Yet, here it was, his fourteenth encyclical. From my vantage point, the Holy Eucharist empowered and animated the ailing pope.

Blessed John Paul II not only taught the Second Vatican Council proclamation that the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life (Lumen Gentium, 11), ” he witnessed to it in his heroic person.

The Catholic Church celebrates Corpus Christi Sunday this coming week, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus. This is a prime opportunity to examine our own relationship with the Eucharist in the microcosm of our lives… to draw our very lifeblood from Christ in the Eucharist.

...

In the Eucharist, we see and find and receive Jesus. Recall the disciples along the road to Emmaus in the post-Resurrection accounts. Their amazement and joy at discovering Jesus alive -- in the context of their daily lives -- was uncontained.

To contemplate Christ involves being able to recognize him wherever he manifests himself, in his many forms of presence, but above all in the living sacrament of his body and his blood. The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist; by him she is fed and by him she is enlightened...

Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the faithful can in some way relive the experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Lk 24:31). (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, par. 6.)

There's more here. 

This makes me think... God's game plan according to Blessed JP2

Okay, this is one of my favorite quotes of all time from John Paul II. I figured one more couldn't hurt!

Jesus does not in fact merely speak "in the name of God" like the Prophets, but he is God himself speaking in his Eternal Word made flesh. Here we touch upon the essential point by which Christianity differs from all the other religions, by whichman's search for God has been expressed from earliest times. Christianity has its starting-point in the Incarnation of the Word. Here, it is not simply a case of man seeking God, but of God who comes in Person to speak to man of himself and to show him the path by which he may be reached. This is what is proclaimed in the Prologue of John's Gospel: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known" (1:18). The Incarnate Word is thus the fulfilment of the yearning present in all the religions of mankind: this fulfilment is brought about by God himself and transcends all human expectations. It is the mystery of grace.

In Christ, religion is no longer a "blind search for God" (cf. Acts 17:27) but the response of faithto God who reveals himself. It is a response in which man speaks to God as his Creator and Father, a response made possible by that one Man who is also the consubstantial Word in whom God speaks to each individual person and by whom each individual person is enabled to respond to God. What is more, in this Man all creation responds to God. Jesus Christ is the new beginning of everything. In him all things come into their own; they are taken up and given back to the Creator from whom they first came. Christ is thus the fulfilment of the yearning of all the world's religions and, as such, he is their sole and definitive completion. Just as God in Christ speaks to humanity of himself, so in Christ all humanity and the whole of creation speaks of itself to God—indeed, it gives itself to God. Everything thus returns to its origin. Jesus Christ is the recapitulation of everything (cf. Eph 1:10) and at the same time the fulfilment of all things in God: a fulfilment which is the glory of God. The religion founded upon Jesus Christ is a religion of glory; it is a newness of life for the praise of the glory of God (cf. Eph 1:12). All creation is in reality a manifestation of his glory. In particular, man (vivens homo) is the epiphany of God's glory, man who is called to live by the fullness of life in God.

In Jesus Christ God not only speaks to man but also seeks him out. The Incarnation of the Son of God attests that God goes in search of man. Jesus speaks of this search as the finding of a lost sheep (cf. Lk 15:1-7). It is a search which begins in the heart of God and culminates in the Incarnation of the Word. If God goes in search of man, created in his own image and likeness, he does so because he loves him eternally in the Word, and wishes to raise him in Christ to the dignity of an adoptive son. God therefore goes in search of man who is his special possession in a way unlike any other creature. Man is God's possession by virtue of a choice made in love: God seeks man out, moved by his fatherly heart.

---Pope John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 1994.

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us!

Photo from the libretto of the Mass of Beatification

When John Paul II became our pope, I was finishing high school. It is hard to put into words the immense effect his pontificate had on the world, and in my own life. I will leave his influence on the culture and politics of the world to those better suited to comment on the matters. I'll just tell you a little bit about my own experiences with him.

I saw him near the start of his papacy, as part of the crowds at Madison Square Garden in NYC when I was a young woman, working as a youth minister. And I will never forget his words encouragement to "Look to Christ":

And so I invite you today to look to Christ.

When you wonder about the mystery of yourself, look to Christ who gives you the meaning of life.

When you wonder what it means to be a mature person, look to Christ who is the fullness of humanity.

And when you wonder about your role in the future of the world and of the United States, look to Christ. Only in Christ will you fulfill your potential as an American citizen and as a citizen of the world community.

With the aid of your Catholic education, you have received the greatest of gifts : the knowledge of Christ. Of this gift Saint Paul wrote: "I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him" (Phil 3: 8-9).

Be always grateful to God for this gift of knowing Christ. Be grateful also to your parents and to the community of the Church for making possible, through many sacrifices, your Catholic education. People have placed a lot of hope in you, and they now look forward to your collaboration in giving witness to Christ, and in transmitting the Gospel to others. The Church needs you. The world needs you, because it needs Christ, and you belong to Christ. And so I ask you to accept your responsibility in the Church, the responsibility of your Catholic education: to help—by your words, and, above all, by the example of your lives—to spread the Gospel. You do this by praying, and by being just and truthful and pure.

A billion years later, I saw him again at a General Audience in Rome in 2004 at the end of his papacy. In between all of that I lived most of my adult life, and John Paul lived the third longest pontificate in history. And because I was a reader, I read and studied many of his teachings.

The Pope gave me many gifts... a better understanding of Mary and her role in salvation history, and her inspiration for what many call the new feminism... Not to mention "theology of the body", another set of mysteries for the rosary-- the Luminous Mysteries, and the establishment of a Universal Catechism, (the first official modern update of the Roman Catechism since the 16th century.)

So today this little corner of the blogosphere honor hims as the Church does, as the latest name to be added to the beati, the next step toward canonization, motivated by the miraculous healing of this religious sister, and his heroic virtue as lived out during an exemplary life.

Below, are some links of interest, and, if you like to read, there are some quotes from his speeches and encyclicals.

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us!


~~~


Links of interest:

Why We are Celebrating - by Fr. Robert Barron

 Papal Biographer, George Weigel's thoughts

Biography and Timeline of His Pontificate, but the definitive biography of his life is this book. 

The Marian Prayers of John Paul II - an awesome collection of his own prayers written to Our Mother Mary.

The Best Picture of JPII according to his personal photographer

A short photo essay from Time in 2005.

The connection between John Paul II and Divine Mercy Sunday: Here, and here and here. 

A 12-page summary "primer" on what we now call "theology of the body"(.pdf) taken from the teaching of John Paul II.

Bloggers covering the beatification:

SQPN- Fr Roderick and Steve Nelson on location 

The Anchoress

American Papist

Whispers from the Loggia

Television coverage:

Catholic TV

EWTN

And now, some great quotes from this saintly Pope:

On Conscience and Life, from World Youth Day, 1993, Denver

Why do the consciences of young people not rebel against this situation, especially against the moral evil which flows from personal choices? Why do so many acquiesce in attitudes and behavior which offend human dignity and disfigure the image of God in us? The normal thing would be for conscience to point out the mortal danger to the individual and to humanity contained in the easy acceptance of evil and sin.

And yet, it is not always so. Is it because conscience itself is losing the ability to distinguish good from evil?

In a technological culture in which people are used to dominating matter, discovering its laws and mechanisms in order to transform it according to their wishes, the danger arises of also wanting to manipulate conscience and its demands. In a culture which holds that no universally valid truths are possible, nothing is absolute. Therefore, in the end – they say – objective goodness and evil no longer really matter. Good comes to mean what is pleasing or useful at a particular moment.

Evil means what contradicts our subjective wishes. Each person can build a private system of values.

Young people, do not give in to this widespread false morality. Do not stiffle your conscience! Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a person, where we are alone with God (Cf. Gaudium et spes, 16). "In the depths of his conscience man detects a law which he does not impose upon himself, but which holds him to obedience" (Cf. Gaudium et spes, 16). That law is not an external human law, but the voice of God, calling us to free ourselves from the grip of evil desires and sin, and stimulating us to seek what is good and true. Only by listening to the voice of God in your most intimate being, and by acting in accordance with its directions, will you reach the freedom you yearn for. As Jesus said, only the truth will make you free (Cf. Jn. 8: 32). And the truth is not the fruit of each individual’s imagination. God gave you intelligence to know the truth, and your will to achieve what is morally good. He has given you the light of conscience to guide your moral decisions, to love good and avoid evil. Moral truth is objective, and a properly formed conscience can perceive it.

But if conscience itself has been corrupted, how can it be restored? If conscience – which is light – no longer enlightens, how can we overcome the moral darkness? Jesus says: "The eye is the body’s lamp. If your eyes are good, your body will be filled with light; if your eyes are bad, your body will be in darkness. And if your light is darkness, how deep will the darkness be!" (Mt. 6: 22-23).

But Jesus also says: "I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life" (Jn. 8: 12). If you follow Christ you will restore conscience to its rightful place and proper role, and you will be the light of the world, the salt of the earth (cf. Mt. 5: 13).

A re–birth of conscience must come from two sources: first, the effort to know objective truth with certainty, including the truth about God; and secondly, the light of faith in Jesus Christ, who alone has the words of Life.

On Jesus Whom We Seek, from World Youth Day, Rome, 2000:

Dear young people, in such a world is it hard to believe? Is it hard to believe in the Third Millennium? Yes! It is hard. There is no need to hide it. It is hard, but with the help of grace it can be done, as Jesus explained to Peter: “Neither flesh nor blood has revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 16:17).

This evening I will give you the Gospel. It is the Pope’s gift to you at this unforgettable vigil. The word which it contains is the word of Jesus. If you listen to it in silence, in prayer, seeking help in understanding what it means for your life from the wise counsel of your priests and teachers, then you will meet Christ and you will follow him, spending your lives day by day for him!

It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fulness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.

Dear young people, in these noble undertakings you are not alone. With you there are your families, there are your communities, there are your priests and teachers, there are so many of you who in the depths of your hearts never weary of loving Christ and believing in him. In the struggle against sin you are not alone: so many like you are struggling and through the Lord’s grace are winning!

Dear friends, at the dawn of the Third Millennium I see in you the “morning watchmen” (cf.Is 21:11-12). In the course of the century now past young people like you were summoned to huge gatherings to learn the ways of hatred; they were sent to fight against one another. The various godless messianic systems which tried to take the place of Christian hope have shown themselves to be truly horrendous. Today you have come together to declare that in the new century you will not let yourselves be made into tools of violence and destruction; you will defend peace, paying the price in your person if need be. You will not resign yourselves to a world where other human beings die of hunger, remain illiterate and have no work. You will defend life at every moment of its development; you will strive with all your strength to make this earth ever more livable for all people.

Dear young people of the century now beginning, in saying “yes” to Christ, you say “yes” to all your noblest ideals. I pray that he will reign in your hearts and in all of humanity in the new century and the new millennium. Have no fear of entrusting yourselves to him! He will guide you, he will grant you the strength to follow him every day and in every situation.

From Redemptoris Hominis, his first encyclical on Christ's Redemption in 1979:

Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself, his life is senseless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it. This, as has already been said, is why Christ the Redeemer "fully reveals man to himself". If we may use the expression, this is the human dimension of the mystery of the Redemption. In this dimension man finds again the greatness, dignity and value that belong to his humanity. In the mystery of the Redemption man becomes newly "expressed" and, in a way, is newly created. He is newly created! "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus"⁶⁴. The man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly-and not just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and measures of his being-he must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter into him with all his own self, he must "appropriate" and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but also of deep wonder at himself. How precious must man be in the eyes of the Creator, if he "gained so great a Redeemer"⁶⁵, and if God "gave his only Son "in order that man "should not perish but have eternal life"⁶⁶.

In reality, the name for that deep amazement at man's worth and dignity is the Gospel, that is to say: the Good News. It is also called Christianity. This amazement determines the Church's mission in the world and, perhaps even more so,"in the modern world". This amazement, which is also a conviction and a certitude-at its deepest root it is the certainty of faith, but in a hidden and mysterious way it vivifies every aspect of authentic humanism-is closely connected with Christ. It also fixes Christ's place-so to speak, his particular right of citizenship-in the history of man and mankind. Unceasingly contemplating the whole of Christ's mystery, the Church knows with all the certainty of faith that the Redemption that took place through the Cross has definitively restored his dignity to man and given back meaning to his life in the world, a meaning that was lost to a considerable extent because of sin. And for that reason, the Redemption was accomplished in the paschal mystery, leading through the Cross and death to Resurrection.

The Church's fundamental function in every age and particularly in ours is to direct man's gaze, to point the awareness and experience of the whole of humanity towards the mystery of God, to help all men to be familiar with the profundity of the Redemption taking place in Christ Jesus.

From his encyclical Christifideles Laici on the vocation of the laity:

The lay faithful are sharers in the priestly mission, for which Jesus offered himself on the cross and continues to be offered in the celebration of the Eucharist for the glory of God and the salvation of humanity. Incorporated in Jesus Christ, the baptized are united to him and to his sacrifice in the offering they make of themselves and their daily activities (cf. Rom 12:1, 2). Speaking of the lay faithful the Council says: "For their work, prayers and apostolic endeavours, their ordinary married and family life, their daily labour, their mental and physical relaxation, if carried out in the Spirit, and even the hardships of life if patiently borne-all of these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Pt 2:5). During the celebration of the Eucharist these sacrifices are most lovingly offered to the Father along with the Lord's body. Thus as worshipers whose every deed is holy, the lay faithful consecrate the world itself to God"(23).

Through their participation in the prophetic mission of Christ, "who proclaimed the kingdom of his Father by the testimony of his life and by the power of his world"(24), the lay faithful are given the ability and responsibility to accept the gospel in faith and to proclaim it in word and deed, without hesitating to courageously identify and denounce evil. United to Christ, the "great prophet" (Lk 7:16), and in the Spirit made "witnesses" of the Risen Christ, the lay faithful are made sharers in the appreciation of the Church's supernatural faith, that "cannot err in matters of belief"(25) and sharers as well in the grace of the word (cf. Acts 2:17-18; Rev 19:10). They are also called to allow the newness and the power of the gospel to shine out everyday in their family and social life, as well as to express patiently and courageously in the contradictions of the present age their hope of future glory even "through the framework of their secular life"(26).

Because the lay faithful belong to Christ, Lord and King of the Universe, they share in his kingly mission and are called by him to spread that Kingdom in history. They exercise their kingship as Christians, above all in the spiritual combat in which they seek to overcome in themselves the kingdom of sin (cf. Rom 6:12), and then to make a gift of themselves so as to serve, in justice and in charity, Jesus who is himself present in all his brothers and sisters, above all in the very least (cf. Mt 25:40).

But in particular the lay faithful are called to restore to creation all its original value. In ordering creation to the authentic well-being of humanity in an activity governed by the life of grace, they share in the exercise of the power with which the Risen Christ draws all things to himself and subjects them along with himself to the Father, so that God might be everything to everyone (cf. 1 Cor 15:28; Jn 12:32).

The participation of the lay faithful in the threefold mission of Christ as Priest, Prophet and King finds its source in the anointing of Baptism, its further development in Confirmation and its realization and dynamic sustenance in the Holy Eucharist. It is a participation given to each member of the lay faithful individually, in as much as each is one of the many who form the one Body of the Lord: in fact, Jesus showers his gifts upon the Church which is his Body and his Spouse. In such a way individuals are sharers in the threefold mission of Christ in virtue of their being members of the Church, as St. Peter clearly teaches, when he defines the baptized as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Pt 2:9). Precisely because it derives from Church communion, the sharing of the lay faithful in the threefold mission of Christ requires that it be lived and realized in communion and for the increase of communion itself. Saint Augustine writes: "As we call everyone 'Christians' in virtue of a mystical anointing, so we call everyone 'priests' because all are members of only one priesthood"(27).

From his encyclical on Mary, Redemptoris Mater:

Another essential element of Mary's maternal task is found in her words to the servants: "Do whatever he tells you." The Mother of Christ presents herself as the spokeswoman of her Son's will, pointing out those things which must be done so that the salvific power of the Messiah may be manifested. At Cana, thanks to the intercession of Mary and the obedience of the servants, Jesus begins "his hour." At Cana Mary appears as believing in Jesus. Her faith evokes his first "sign" and helps to kindle the faith of the disciples.

We can therefore say that in this passage of John's Gospel we find as it were a first manifestation of the truth concerning Mary's maternal care. This truth has also found expression in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. It is important to note how the Council illustrates Mary's maternal role as it relates to the mediation of Christ. Thus we read: "Mary's maternal function towards mankind in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its efficacy," because "there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). This maternal role of Mary flows, according to God's good pleasure, "from the superabundance of the merits of Christ; it is founded on his mediation, absolutely depends on it, and draws all its efficacy from it."⁴⁴ It is precisely in this sense that the episode at Cana in Galilee offers us a sort of first announcement of Mary's mediation, wholly oriented towards Christ and tending to the revelation of his salvific power.

From the text of John it is evident that it is a mediation which is maternal. As the Council proclaims: Mary became "a mother to us in the order of grace." This motherhood in the order of grace flows from her divine motherhood. Because she was, by the design of divine Providence, the mother who nourished the divine Redeemer, Mary became "an associate of unique nobility, and the Lord's humble handmaid," who "cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls."⁴⁵ And "this maternity of Mary in the order of grace. . .will last without interruption until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect." ⁴⁶

If John's description of the event at Cana presents Mary's caring motherhood at the beginning of Christ's messianic activity, another passage from the same Gospel confirms this motherhood in the salvific economy of grace at its crowning moment, namely when Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, his Paschal Mystery, is accomplished. John's description is concise: "Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother: 'Woman, behold your son!' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home" (Jn. 19:25-27).

Undoubtedly, we find here an expression of the Son's particular solicitude for his Mother, whom he is leaving in such great sorrow. And yet the "testament of Christ's Cross" says more. Jesus highlights a new relationship between Mother and Son, the whole truth and reality of which he solemnly confirms. One can say that if Mary's motherhood of the human race had already been outlined, now it is clearly stated and established. It emerges from the definitive accomplishment of the Redeemer's Paschal Mystery. The Mother of Christ, who stands at the very center of this mystery-a mystery which embraces each individual and all humanity-is given as mother to every single individual and all mankind. The man at the foot of the Cross is John, "the disciple whom he loved."⁴⁷ But it is not he alone. Following tradition, the Council does not hesitate to call Mary "the Mother of Christ and mother of mankind": since she "belongs to the offspring of Adam she is one with all human beings.... Indeed she is 'clearly the mother of the members of Christ...since she cooperated out of love so that there might be born in the Church the faithful.'"⁴⁸

And so this "new motherhood of Mary," generated by faith, is the fruit of the "new" love which came to definitive maturity in her at the foot of the Cross, through her sharing in the redemptive love of her Son.

Thus we find ourselves at the very center of the fulfillment of the promise contained in the Proto-gospel: the "seed of the woman...will crush the head of the serpent" (cf. Gen. 3:15). By his redemptive death Jesus Christ conquers the evil of sin and death at its very roots. It is significant that, as he speaks to his mother from the Cross, he calls her "woman" and says to her: "Woman, behold your son!" Moreover, he had addressed her by the same term at Cana too (cf. Jn. 2:4). How can one doubt that especially now, on Golgotha, this expression goes to the very heart of the mystery of Mary, and indicates the unique place which she occupies in the whole economy of salvation? As the Council teaches, in Mary "the exalted Daughter of Sion, and after a long expectation of the promise, the times were at length fulfilled and the new dispensation established. All this occurred when the Son of God took a human nature from her, that he might in the mysteries of his flesh free man from sin."⁴⁹

The words uttered by Jesus from the Cross signify that the motherhood of her who bore Christ finds a "new" continuation in the Church and through the Church, symbolized and represented by John. In this way, she who as the one "full of grace" was brought into the mystery of Christ in order to be his Mother and thus the Holy Mother of God, through the Church remains in that mystery as "the woman" spoken of by the Book of Genesis (3:15) at the beginning and by the Apocalypse (12:1) at the end of the history of salvation. In accordance with the eternal plan of Providence, Mary's divine motherhood is to be poured out upon the Church, as indicated by statements of Tradition, according to which Mary's "motherhood" of the Church is the reflection and extension of her motherhood of the Son of God.⁵⁰

According to the Council the very moment of the Church's birth and full manifestation to the world enables us to glimpse this continuity of Mary's motherhood: "Since it pleased God not to manifest solemnly the mystery of the salvation of the human race until he poured forth the Spirit promised by Christ, we see the Apostles before the day of Pentecost 'continuing with one mind in prayer with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren' (Acts 1:14). We see Mary prayerfully imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation."⁵¹

And so, in the redemptive economy of grace, brought about through the action of the Holy Spirit, there is a unique correspondence between the moment of the Incarnation of the Word and the moment of the birth of the Church. The person who links these two moments is Mary: Mary at Nazareth and Mary in the Upper Room at Jerusalem. In both cases her discreet yet essential presence indicates the path of "birth from the Holy Spirit." Thus she who is present in the mystery of Christ as Mother becomes-by the will of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit-present in the mystery of the Church. In the Church too she continues to be a maternal presence, as is shown by the words spoken from the Cross: "Woman, behold your son!"; "Behold, your mother."

Among Women #94 - Ringing Round the Rosary

Among Women 94 is the third entry in our Lenten series called "Raising the B.A.R." in our prayer lives.  This week's podcast is dedicated to the "R" in BAR, that is the Rosary and its benefits. Pat's opening unpacks some reflections from John Paul II's letter about the Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae.

This week our saint segment reviews some of the wisdom of the saints as to devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary. Our conversation today features Jennifer Willits, co-founder of Rosary Army, and co-host of The Catholics Next Door with her husband, Greg, on Sirius/XM radio. Jennifer shares her own history with the rosary and what it has meant in her life.

A Word in Season: Joseph's Way

My column this week at Patheos features an in-depth look at the life and spiritual attitudes of St. Joseph, the husband to Mary and foster father to Jesus. This article reviews the key themes found in John Paul II's masterful exposition of Joseph, Redemptoris Custos ("Guardian of the Redeemer").  Here's a sample:

The Catholic Church has long venerated Joseph for this single, powerful idea: it was into Joseph’s hands that God entrusted his most precious treasures -- his Son Jesus, and Mary, his holy mother. As Mary and Jesus are entrusted to Joseph, so too, does the Church, entrust itself to Joseph’s active patronage and paternal protection, as Patron of the Universal Church.

John Paul II’s 1989 Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos, (“Guardian of the Redeemer”), renews our understanding of this heroic patron saint.

Matthew 1:19 describes Joseph of Nazareth as “a just man.” This upright and devout man was destined to love and protect the future Mother of God.

According to Jewish custom, Mary’s betrothal to Joseph was the first stage of their marriage, before Joseph took Mary into his home. During this betrothal, Luke 1:26-38 describes the familiar account of the angel Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary, and Mary’s loving fiat -- her “yes” -- to being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit to miraculously receive Jesus into her womb.

Alongside Mary, Joseph, like no other person in history, shared the mystery of the Incarnation, up close.

In Redemptoris Custos, John Paul II notes a parallel “annunciation” story -- that of Joseph being visited by an angel as he searched to reconcile the news of Mary’s stunning maternity. It was the defining moment in Joseph’s life.

When… Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. 

Joseph her husband… a righteous man… unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph… do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

…When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. (Mt 1: 18-24.)

God entrusts Joseph with Mary, and all the mystery of her motherhood. In this message God affirms Joseph as Mary’s spouse who will, by law, be responsible for Mary’s son, whom he will name. 

Note Joseph’s immediate obedience of faith, fully submitting his own will to the will of God.  We see such obedience over and over again in Joseph’s life.

Joseph responds to this annunciation as Mary did -- giving a positive fiat of action at a decisive moment. Joseph’s action says “yes” again to his marriage and “yes” to the new mission God ordains for his life.

The rest of the story.

Film: Nine Days That Changed The World -- check it out!

Bob and I purchased this film, and really loved it -- we were young adults in June 1979 during the 9 days of Pope John Paul II's apostolic visit to Poland. We want to see it promoted everywhere.  Maybe you can help?

Yesterday, Newt and Callista Gingrich, the chief promoters of this film, introduced the film at my alma mater Franciscan University:


Movie Information Here.

Here's the trailer:


Order the DVD here!  Makes a great gift for the Catholic who has everything, or who is a history buff!

A Mother in the Order of Grace

I'm happy to announce that I'll be contributing to the Catholic portal over at Patheos.  You'll find me at the "Summa This, Summa That" blog... "where ancient faith meets modern life."

(As you might expect from the likes of me, I must credit Our Lady for her influence and for every writing gig that comes my way... and so my first post is all about her!  Thanks, too, to Elizabeth Scalia for the vote of confidence.)

Here's a snippet:

She stands out in my garden, hands open wide to transmit love and grace to the world.  In this posture she is known as “Our Lady of Grace.”  My 3-foot statue depicts Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother, through whom God did some of his greatest work.

To some of my neighbors, she represents “old school” Catholicism – a relic from bygone days. To others, she may be nothing more than outdoor décor – somewhat taller than a garden gnome, but more dainty than an animal cast in stone.

To me, her graceful motherly image reminds me that this ancient faith is, indeed, ever new, intersecting with my modern life. The Blessed Virgin Mother’s influence still holds sway in my life, and in the teaching of the Catholic Church.

Read the rest here.

This makes me think...

Let no one think that it is enough for him to read if he lacks devotion, 

or to engage in speculation without spiritual Joy, 

or to be active if he has no piety, 

or to have knowledge without charity, 

or intelligence without humility, 

or study without God's grace, 

or to expect to know himself if he is lacking the infused wisdom of God.

~ St Bonaventure

(As quoted in paragraph 53 in Pastores dabo vobis from John Paul II)

On the Feast of St. Joseph

From John Paul II's Redemptoris Custos:

THE PRIMACY OF THE INTERIOR LIFE25. The same aura of silence that envelops everything else about Joseph also shrouds his work as a carpenter in the house of Nazareth. It is, however, a silence that reveals in a special way the inner portrait of the man. The Gospels speak exclusively of what Joseph "did." Still, they allow us to discover in his "actions" - shrouded in silence as they are - an aura of deep contemplation. Joseph was in daily contact with the mystery "hidden from ages past," and which "dwelt" under his roof. This explains, for example, why St. Teresa of Jesus, the great reformer of the Carmelites, promoted the renewal of veneration to St. Joseph in Western Christianity.

26. The total sacrifice, whereby Joseph surrendered his whole existence to the demands of the Messiah's coming into his home, becomes understandable only in the light of his profound interior life. It was from this interior life that "very singular commands and consolations came, bringing him also the logic and strength that belong to simple and clear souls, and giving him the power of making great decisions-such as the decision to put his liberty immediately at the disposition of the divine designs, to make over to them also his legitimate human calling, his conjugal happiness, to accept the conditions, the responsibility and the burden of a family, but, through an incomparable virginal love, to renounce that natural conjugal love that is the foundation and nourishment of the family.

This submission to God, this readiness of will to dedicate oneself to all that serves him, is really nothing less than that exercise of devotion which constitutes one expression of the virtue of religion.

27. The communion of life between Joseph and Jesus leads us to consider once again the mystery of the Incarnation, precisely in reference to the humanity of Jesus as the efficacious instrument of his divinity for the purpose of sanctifying man: "By virtue of his divinity, Christ's human actions were salvific for us, causing grace within us, either by merit or by a certain efficacy."

Among those actions, the gospel writers highlight those which have to do with the Paschal Mystery, but they also underscore the importance of physical contact with Jesus for healing (cf. for example, Mk 1:41), and the influence Jesus exercised upon John the Baptist when they were both in their mothers' wombs (cf. Lk 1:41-44).

As we have seen, the apostolic witness did not neglect the story of Jesus' birth, his circumcision, his presentation in the Temple, his flight into Egypt and his hidden life in Nazareth. It recognized the "mystery" of grace present in each of these saving "acts," inasmuch as they all share the same source of love: the divinity of Christ. If through Christ's humanity this love shone on all mankind, the first beneficiaries were undoubtedly those whom the divine will had most intimately associated with itself: Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Joseph, his presumed father.

Why should the "fatherly" love of Joseph not have had an influence upon the "filial" love of Jesus? And vice versa why should the "filial" love of Jesus not have had an influence upon the "fatherly" love of Joseph, thus leading to a further deepening of their unique relationship? Those souls most sensitive to the impulses of divine love have rightly seen in Joseph a brilliant example of the interior life.

Furthermore, in Joseph, the apparent tension between the active and the contemplative life finds an ideal harmony that is only possible for those who possess the perfection of charity. Following St. Augustine's well-known distinction between the love of the truth (caritas veritatis) and the practical demands of love (necessitas caritatis), we can say that Joseph experienced both love of the truth-that pure contemplative love of the divine Truth which radiated from the humanity of Christ-and the demands of love-that equally pure and selfless love required for his vocation to safeguard and develop the humanity of Jesus, which was inseparably linked to his divinity.

Image credit.

Among Women Podcast #40

This week's Among Women podcast looks at this Sunday's Gospel from John 2 --the Wedding Feast of Cana-- and Mary's role of mediation and spiritual mothering in our lives. John Paul II's encyclical on Mary, Redemptoris Mater, is featured .

My guest this week is Earline Tweedie, a Catholic wife and mother, and a former devout Protestant who eventually converted to Catholicism. Earline also shares a few tender stories about her mothering years, and the blessings of raising a son who has Downs Syndrome.

It Makes Me Think... (30 years ago today!)

30 years ago, I was a 19-year old youth minister who brought my youth group to see Pope John Paul II at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He was there to speak to youth. He was rather youthful himself in those days. 

His call to "Look to Christ..." has stayed with me all these years.... I thought the memory was worth sharing. Enjoy!

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II

TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Madison Square Garden, New York

Wednesday, 3 October 1979

Dear young people,

I am happy to be with you in Madison Square Garden. Today this is a garden of life, where young people are alive: alive with hope and love, alive with the life of Christ. And it is in the name of Christ that I greet each one of you today.

I have been told that most of you come from Catholic high schools. For this reason I would like to say something about Catholic education, to tell you why the Church considers it so important and expends so much energy in order to provide you and millions of other young people with a Catholic education. The answer can be summarized in one word, in one person, Jesus Christ. The Church wants to communicate Christ to you.

1. This is what education is all about, this is the meaning of life: to know Christ. To know Christ as a friend: as someone who cares about you and the person next to you, and all the people here and everywhere—no matter what language they speak, or what clothes they wear, or what color their skin is.

And so the purpose of Catholic education is to communicate Christ to you, so that your attitude toward others will be that of Christ. You are approaching that stage in your life when you must take personal responsibility for your own destiny. Soon you will be making major decisions which will affect the whole course of your life. If these decisions reflect Christ's attitude, then your education will be a success. We have to learn to meet challenges and even crises in the light of Christ's Cross and Resurrection. Part of our Catholic education is to learn to see the needs of others, to have the courage to practice what we believe in. With the support of a Catholic education we try to meet every circumstance of life with the attitude of Christ. Yes, the Church wants to communicate Christ to you so that you will come to full maturity in him who is the perfect human being, and, at the same time, the Son of God.

2. Dear young people: you and I and all of us together make up the Church, and we are convinced that only in Christ do we find real love, and the fullness of life.

And so I invite you today to look to Christ.

When you wonder about the mystery of yourself, look to Christ who gives you the meaning of life.

When you wonder what it means to be a mature person, look to Christ who is the fullness of humanity.

And when you wonder about your role in the future of the world and of the United States, look to Christ. Only in Christ will you fulfill your potential as an American citizen and as a citizen of the world community.

3. With the aid of your Catholic education, you have received the greatest of gifts : the knowledge of Christ. Of this gift Saint Paul wrote: "I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him" (Phil 3: 8-9).

Be always grateful to God for this gift of knowing Christ. Be grateful also to your parents and to the community of the Church for making possible, through many sacrifices, your Catholic education. People have placed a lot of hope in you, and they now look forward to your collaboration in giving witness to Christ, and in transmitting the Gospel to others. The Church needs you. The world needs you, because it needs Christ, and you belong to Christ. And so I ask you to accept your responsibility in the Church, the responsibility of your Catholic education: to help—by your words, and, above all, by the example of your lives—to spread the Gospel. You do this by praying, and by being just and truthful and pure.

Dear young people : by a real Christian life, by the practice of your religion you are called to give witness to your faith. And because actions speak louder than words, you are called to proclaim, by the conduct of your daily lives that you really do believe that Jesus Christ is Lord !

© Copyright 1979 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana