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CIS NEWSLETTER
No. 57 - September 2008
Devotion of Mary
Allowing
Mary to be devoted to us.
Our tendency is to glorify Mary so much that we consider her as having
passed through life unscathed. We tend to lack the conviction that a sword
did really transfix her heart.
Let us start with the Annunciation. Mary belonged to the Jewish religion,
and therefore believed in One God, the Lord, Yahweh. Presumably she would
have heard about the much awaited Messiah and her convictions about the
Messiah were those of her co-religionists i.e. another King David.
What did the angel tell Mary? She would bear a son to be called Jesus. He
would be great and called Son of the Most High. He would be given the throne
of his ancestor David, and would rule over the House of Jacob forever.
Through the power of God, her son would be called Son of God.
One has to be aware that the mystery of the Holy Trinity was a revelation of
Jesus, and so Mary could not have understood the words ‘Son of God’ and the
‘Holy Spirit’ in the way we understand them. She understood the Trinity
after the resurrection of Jesus. The Gospels are books of Faith, written
after Pentecost. For Mary, ‘Son of God’ would have meant what it meant in
the Old Testament: chosen by God and obedient to Him; and ‘Holy Spirit’
would have meant the power of God. When later on Jesus, lost and found tells
Mary and Joseph that he ‘must be in his Father’s house’, they did not
understand what he meant. (Luke 2: 50)
Nor should we infer from Simeon’s words “He is destined for the rise and
fall of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed, and a sword
will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2: 34 -35), that Mary applied the
Servant Songs of Isaiah (especially chapters 52, 52) to her son, as Jesus
did and as the Church would do after Pentecost.
Mary was a child of her times, prayerful, no doubt. The fact that she was
without Original sin and its effects, did not free her from her journey of
faith. So long as Jesus was at home, she could wait for the fulfillment of
the angel’s prophesies. However when Jesus began his public life, and seemed
to be inviting opposition by what he said and did, she must have had her
worries, and maybe start thinking that there was something wrong with her
son. (Mark 3: 21)
Seeing her son on the cross must have been Mary’s supreme test of faith. St
John, writing after Pentecost, presents Mary as ‘standing’ near the cross of
Jesus. Jesus tells her that she would be John’s mother, and John would be
her son. Jesus calls her ‘woman’, the new Eve. (John 19: 25-27) The
historical reality, however, must have been most dramatic. Seeing her
promised Messiah rejected and dying on the cross in utter failure (according
to her ideas about the Messiah!) she must have uttered with Jesus: “My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15: 34). She did not share in the
expected glory of her son, but in his failure and defeat. And yet she
remained faithful to God who had given her a son destined to be the Messiah.
She had to descend into the tomb with her son.
It is this letting go into God’s inscrutable providence that makes Mary so
profoundly lovable and approachable. She shared completely in her son’s
life, not just his birth, but also and more in his death. She learnt through
her sufferings what obedience to God meant. (Hebrews 5:8) No wonder that
throughout the centuries Christians have trusted her so much.
Nor should we think that Mary knew that her son would rise from the dead.
The Gospels show no evidence of this. In fact, if Mary did know she would
not have shared fully in her son’s death and would not be able to console us
in our sufferings.
As with Jesus, we often would like to share in Mary’s glory, but not in her
sufferings. Mary after the resurrection of Christ is the same Mary who
shared in the life of Jesus on earth. Through the Holy Spirit we can
‘remember’, be present in her life, and share with her in her desires,
worries, upsets, joys, about her son. In this way we allow her to love us as
mother and sister.
Fr Victor Degabriele S.J.
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In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius asks the exercitant to imagine
himself or herself serving the Holy Family (No 114). Have you ever imagined
yourself at Calvary serving our Lady and having compassion for her? She
becomes a person ‘for you’.
-
‘Cheap salvation’! What could that possibly mean?
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Jesus was ‘the mystery’ for Mary. She dedicated herself to her son. You too
are invited to leave your ‘history’ and enter into the ‘mystery’, into
Jesus.
Book Review
The
Testimony of St. Paul
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini
ISBN 0-85439
221 1
At the beginning of the Pauline Year it is appropriate to
propose a book about St Paul which can help us deepen our knowledge of this
great man of faith and orientate our prayers. The book is not a recent work
- it was written in 1981, yet Cardinal Martini’s biblical scholarship and
his deep spirituality make it valid for us today.
Cardinal Martini imagines an interview with the great apostle a short while
before his execution. The apostle is invited to look back on the most
significant events in his life. Of course, the most fundamental experience
remains that on the road to Damascus, because it marks the beginning of a
radically new life for the apostle. For a relatively long period after the
Damascus episode, nothing spectacular seems to take place in the life of St
Paul. Then come the turbulent times of the early apostolate as Paul embarks
on his first missions. These are marked by incomprehension, suspicions and
difficulties in being accepted. The sad episode of the parting between Paul
and Barnabas is given a good coverage by Martini. He examines what this
separation meant for Paul and Barnabas and the consequences for the Church.
Later on Martini shows how Paul grew both as a Christian and as an apostle.
There are several lessons to be learnt by the reader as he contemplates this
spiritual giant, who despite his zeal and entrepreneurship was also human
and had his limitations. Finally Martini shows how Paul followed Christ on
the way of the Cross and how all this finished in glory.
This is a book for all Christians, but is particularly relevant for pastors
and people engaged in the apostolate. Martini’s knowledge of the Bible offer
precious insights into the spiritual life and its dynamics. Above all this
book constitutes a good guide for reflection and meditation. As we celebrate
the Pauline Year, books like this one will help us grow in the knowledge and
love of the One for whom Paul lived, worked and died.
Fr.
Paul Zammit SJ
Prayer
O glorious St. Paul, after persecuting the Church
you became by God's grace
its most zealous Apostle.
To carry the knowledge of Jesus,
our Divine Saviour,
to the uttermost parts of the
earth you joyfully endured prison,
scourging, stoning, and
shipwreck,
as well as all manner of
persecutions culminating
in the shedding of the last drop
of your blood for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Obtain for us the grace to labour strenuously to bring the faith to others
and to accept any trials and
tribulations that may come our way.
Help us to be inspired by your
Epistles
and to partake of your
indomitable love for Jesus,
so that after we have finished
our course we may
join you in praising Him in
heaven for all eternity.
Amen.
CIS programme
‘Alla tiegħi, Alla tiegħi int, lilek ħerqan infittex’ (Salm 63)
Irtir ippridkat ta’ sitt ijiem għar-reliġjużi nisa. Min jixtieq jista’ jibqa’
jumejn oħra taħt it-tmexxija tal-predikatur.
Data: Mit-Tnejn, 22 ta’
Settembru, 2008, fis-7.00 p.m., sal-Ħadd, 28 ta’ Settembru, fil-5.00 p.m..
Imexxi : Fr. Paul Deguara, S.J.
Post: Dar Manresa, Victoria,
Għawdex.
Irtir ta’ ‘weekend’ għall-miżżewġin
Dan il-Weekend huwa
okkażjoni għall-dawk il-koppji miżżewġa li jixtiequ jġeddu u jiċċelebraw
il-wegħdiet taż-żwieġ tagħhom. Din hija esperjenza spiritwali b’differenza.
Il-Weekend huwa mfassal li jkun kreattiv fejn il-partners jirriflettu u
jitolbu flimkien. Ikun hemm ħin ta’ sharing fi grupp magħmul minn 8 koppji.
Dan il-Weekend joffri opportunità lill-koppji parteċipanti sabiex jiskopru
dejjem aktar l-imħabba li Alla għandu għall-miżżewġin u l-familji tagħhom.
Data : Mill-Ġimgħa, 3 ta’
Ottubru 2008, fis-7.00 p.m. sal-Ħadd, 5 ta’
Ottubru fl-4.00 p.m.
Imexxu: Il-koppja Carmen u Karm Conti u Fr.
Vince Magri, SJ
Post: Dar Manresa,
Victoria, Għawdex
Parteċipanti: Mhux aktar minn 8 koppji
Irtir fuq il-Quddiesa
Kull irtir, bħall-ħajja Nisranija, għandu bħala ċentru l-Ewkaristija.
Dan l-irtir mhux biss hekk, imma t-talb stess u r-riflessjoni jsiru fuq
il-Quddiesa: il-bażi teoloġika tagħha; it-tifsira ta’ kull parti;
il-miġemgħa; il-Kelma ta’ Alla; l-offerti; il-kliem ta’ Ġesù fl-aħħar Ċena;
it-Tqarbin; u, fl-aħħar, kif ngħixu l-Quddiesa fil-ħajja ta’ kuljum. B’hekk
nittamaw li nidħlu dejjem iżjed fil-fond ta’ din l-azzjoni li ħallielna Ġesù
biex nagħmluha b’tifkira tiegħu.
Data: Mill-Ġimgħa 24 ta’ Ottubru
fis-6.00 p.m. sal-Ħadd 26 ta’ Ottubru wara
l-pranzu
Imexxi: Fr Mario Jaccarini, S.J.
Post: Mount St Joseph Retreat House,
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