Mary Immaculate: Mystery of God's Love for Humanity

7-December-2011 -- ZENIT.org News Agency

Father Stefano Cecchin Reflects on Our Lady's Sinless Conception

By Antonio Gaspari

ROME, DEC. 6, 2011 (Zenit.org).- This Thursday around the world Catholics celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Why do Catholics venerate her so much? And why is her conception so important?

ZENIT asked these and other questions to Father Stefano Cecchin, of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, secretary of the Pontifical International Marian Academy.

ZENIT: Why is Mary's virginity so important?

Father Cecchin: Mary's virginity is an essential part of Christian faith in as much as it is the guarantee that Jesus is the "Son of God" who became man in the womb of a woman. Joseph, "Mary's husband" (Matthew 1:20) is not Jesus' real father. Because Mary, Matthew's Gospel continues, conceived Jesus without having any relations with her husband (Matthew 1:25). What was generated in her is the "work of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20), for this reason Christ is man, in as much as he was born of a woman in regard to his humanity, but at the same time he is God in as much as this procreation came about by the action of the Trinity in Mary. Mary is a real mother, hence Jesus is a real man; Mary is a virgin, hence Jesus is the Son of God: this is a synthesis of the Christian faith.

ZENIT: Who was Mary?

Father Cecchin: Mary was a virgin, "promised bride" of a man of the house of David called Joseph (Luke 1:26). The Gospels don't give us too many other details. We know only that she was a relative of Elizabeth, believed to be a descendant of Aaron and hence of a priestly family (Luke 1:5). We see her to be an intelligent woman, who before giving her assent to the Angel wished to understand what God was asking of her. Always attentive to the Word, she kept it and reflected on it in her heart. A solicitous mother, she ensured that the child be wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in the manger. Anguished, she searched for him for three days until she arrived at the Temple where she found him among the doctors: we hear the last words of Mary and the first of Jesus in Luke's Gospel. At Cana, she is concerned that the spouses had no wine and fearless she turned to Jesus convinced that he could resolve the problem. So she invited the servants to do "whatever he tells you." We find her beside the Crucified who entrusted the Church to her, in which we find her, after the Lord's Ascension, together with his disciples. This is the Mary we know from the Gospels: the woman always ready to hear the Word and to put it into practice -- the most beautiful example of a true follower of Jesus.

ZENIT: Why was she called Mary?

Father Cecchin: Mary is a very ancient name that is found in the different languages of the Middle East. It seems to derive from the Egyptian Myrhiam which means "princess." Other interpretations translate it as "Highness" (we have been visited by a sun that arises from on high, that is, from Mary), or "Mare amamor" or to be bitter, because of the sufferings she would endure with the Passion of her Son. Some Fathers of the Church interpret her as "Star of the sea." The Bible mentions Myriam, Moses' sister. In any case, the Gospels do not give us any explanation of the reason behind her name.

ZENIT: Why was she chosen by God to bring Jesus into the world?

Father Cecchin: The Virgin herself answered this question: "Because He has looked upon the humility of his handmaid" (Luke1:48).

ZENIT: What are her virtues?

Father Cecchin: Blessed Pope John Paul II reminded us that: Mary "shines forth to the whole community of the elect as a model of the virtues" (Redemptoris Mater, 6). This is so because the Church looks to her as the perfectly fulfilled creature, in as much as "no one has responded with a love greater than hers to the immense love of God" (Pastores dabo vobis, 36). Her virtues are in consonance with her conception of Jesus, to her task to make that child grow in "holiness and grace," to her journey of faith that developed in following Christ, up to the moment of the cross and the joy of the Resurrection. Mary is a woman rich in virtues because she is fully "woman," that is, she is the one who has fully lived a human life.

ZENIT: Why do Catholics pray so much to Mary?

Father Cecchin: Because they are the disciples of Jesus who from the cross indicated that they should have Mary as "Mother."

ZENIT: How can we explain the feast of the Immaculate Conception to today's world?

Father Cecchin: Certainly, this truth of faith is not easy to understand! It is, however, the symbol of the exceeding love of God who desires "friendship" with man. After sin, in fact, God promised to put enmity between the woman and evil [represented by the serpent], between their descendants. With the coming of Christ, this promise was realized. The Mother of the Messiah could never have been a friend of the serpent. And it is precisely because of her mission as Mother of the Savior, that God granted her an anticipated grace in view of the whole work of Christ the Savior and Redeemer which, thanks to Mary's yes, was about to be realized.

Hence, Mary enjoyed our same redemption but for her it happened in a different way to show how Christ is truly the most perfect Redeemer, whose redemption operates before and after the event itself of the cross.

Today there is talk of the prevention of illnesses. Look, Jesus is the most perfect doctor who not only can heal the sins of the world but also prevent them: and He does this with his Mother -- hence the celebration of this dogma, which, as all Marian dogmas, exalts Christ primarily. It is useful to be able to understand better the real character of the work of our redemption: the universality and power of Christ's mediation.

Pope reflects on Jesus' relationship with 'the childlike'

7-December-2011 -- EWTNews Feature

Pope Benedict XVI told pilgrims at today's general audience that through prayer Jesus calls the "childlike" into a loving relationship with him and the Father.

In his "cry of exultation," Jesus "gives thanks to the Father because he has willed to reveal the mystery of salvation not to the wise and learned, but to the 'little ones,'" the Pope told several thousand pilgrims gathered in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall on Dec. 7.

Pope Benedict continued his weekly catechesis on prayer with a mediation on the "jewel" of Christ's prayer, his "Hymn of Joy," which is found in the Gospels of St. Matthew 11:25-30 and St. Luke 10:21-22.

This prayer, he said, is the "apex of a path of prayer in which Jesus' profound and intimate communion with the Father in the Holy Spirit and His divine sonship clearly emerges."

At the beginning of the Scripture passages in question, Jesus says, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth." This form of address has a twofold meaning, explained the Pope.

First, it shows "Jesus' awareness and certainty of being 'the Son' in close and constant communion" with the Father. This, he said, is the "central point and source of Jesus' every prayer."

The second meaning is that it "recalls the great biblical narrative of the history of God's love for human beings that began with creation." Jesus, said the Pope, is the "summit and fulfillment" of "this story of love." Thus, through his use of the phrase "Lord of heaven and earth" we also "recognize how Jesus is the one who reveals the Father," as well as "the possibility of access to God" to humanity.

Pope Benedict also reflected on how God's divine revelation does "not occur within earthly logic," which would say that it is "the wise and powerful who posses important knowledge and transmit it to those who are more simple." No, God's logic turns that on its head as "his communication is addressed precisely to the 'childlike.'"

This childlike state consists of nothing less than a "pureness of heart" that "allows us to recognize the face of God in Jesus Christ."

"It is keeping our hearts as simple as those of children, without the presumptions of those who are locked in themselves, thinking they have no need of anyone, not even God," he said.

Jesus concludes his prayer with the offer of rest to those who are "weary and burdened," because his "yoke is easy" and "burden is light."

The Pope observed that in his prayer, Jesus asks that "we go to Him, the true wisdom" since the "yoke" he speaks of is "neither a doctrine to learn nor an ethical proposal, but rather a Person to follow: He himself, the only-begotten Son, in perfect communion with the Father."

This means that "we also can address God with the confidence of sons and daughters," said the Pope.

And when we call God "Father" when we pray, the Pope taught, we also "have to keep the heart of a child, the heart of those 'poor in spirit,' in order to recognize that we are not self-sufficient, but that we need God, that we have to seek Him, listen to Him, speak to Him."

Through prayer, he said, we open ourselves to receiving this gift from God, "his wisdom who is Jesus himself, in order to accept the will of the Father in our lives and to find consolation in the weariness of our journey."

At the end of today's audience, Pope Benedict wished pilgrims a happy feast day ahead of tomorrow's Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a national holiday throughout Italy.

The day should remind us of "Mary's singular acceptance of God's salvific plan" and that she was "preserved from any stain of sin in order to be the holy dwelling place of the Incarnate Word, she always trusted fully in the Lord," he said.

The Pope then concluded his audience by leading pilgrims in the singing of the Pater Noster, before imparting his apostolic blessing.

Court Drops Seat Belt Charges Against Pope Benedict

5-December-2011 -- Catholic News Agency

(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=23895)

FREIBURG, GERMANY, December 3 (CNA) .- In a case that brought amusement to the Vatican, a German court decided to throw out charges against Pope Benedict for not wearing a seat belt during his recent papal visit to the country.

"There will be no fine for the Pope," city spokeswoman Edith Lamersdorf told German news agency Badische Zeitung on Nov. 30. "The charges were quashed."

Lawyer Christian Sundermann had filed a complaint on behalf of an unnamed Dortmund resident who voiced concern over the Pope's safety. In August, the pontiff visited his native country, making stops in the cities of Berlin, Freiburg and Erfurt, where he greeted locals from his popemobile.

Officials ruled on Wednesday that although Germany requires all citizens to wear seat belts-even in slow-moving vehicles-the law didn't apply to the Pope since he was on public streets that were closed for papal events.

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., said on Nov. 30 that the charges provoked "curiosity and smiles of amusement" at the Holy See, "beginning with the Pope himself."

He explained the need for Pope Benedict to not be restricted by seat belts during his visits, since he "turns continually to the right and to the left to greet and bless the faithful."

"Often he gets up and takes in his arms babies to bless, to the joy of the parents and everyone present," Fr. Lombardi said. "All these gestures presume a certain freedom of movement."

The spokesman was, nevertheless, "grateful for the affectionate concern for the Pope's safety."

Pope Benedict could have been fined 30 to 2,500 euros ($40 to $3,300) if he was found guilty of the charges.

Attorney Sundermann clarified that her client's intent was to draw attention to the importance of supporting seat belt law enforcement rather than level an attack on the Church.