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| A place of Grace |
The story of the expulsion from Eden from the Book of Genesis sets up many levels of consequence for us of rejection of the Grace of God.
* [3:15] They will strike…at their heel: the antecedent for “they” and “their” is the collective noun “offspring,” i.e., all the descendants of the woman. Christian tradition has seen in this passage, however, more than unending hostility between snakes and human beings. The snake was identified with the devil (Wis 2:24; Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9; 20:2), whose eventual defeat seemed implied in the verse. Because “the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8), the passage was understood as the first promise of a redeemer for fallen humankind, the protoevangelium. Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. A.D. 130–200), in his Against Heresies 5.21.1, followed by several other Fathers of the Church, interpreted the verse as referring to Christ, and cited Gal 3:19 and 4:4 to support the reference. Another interpretive translation is ipsa, “she,” and is reflected in Jerome’s Vulgate. “She” was thought to refer to Mary, the mother of the messiah. In Christian art Mary is sometimes depicted with her foot on the head of the serpent.In the Letter to the Ephesians, Paul identifies the eternal connection between who were are and the Love of God.
In the Christ-centered faith and existence of the Christian communities the apostle sees the predetermined plan of God to bring all creation under the final rule of Christ (Eph 1:4–5, 9–10) being made known (Eph 1:9) and carried through, to God’s glory (Eph 1:6, 12, 14).The Announcement of the Birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke concludes with the surrender of Mary in her “yes” to the invitation to be Mother of Jesus.
* [1:34] Mary’s questioning response is a denial of sexual relations and is used by Luke to lead to the angel’s declaration about the Spirit’s role in the conception of this child (Lk 1:35). According to Luke, the virginal conception of Jesus takes place through the holy Spirit, the power of God, and therefore Jesus has a unique relationship to Yahweh: he is Son of God.Colleen Chiacchere shares the invitation to listen well to God’s request and trust in his guidance for big and small events in our lives is the same for all of us.
I think Mary sometimes gets a reputation for being a lovely innocent maiden (which she is!) who so easily just said yes to God request. Life had to be easy and simple for her, (right?), as the one chosen Jesus’ mother. But, life was hard for her, I can imagine, and that makes her “yes” even more impressive and admirable. It certainly speaks to a disposition that resisted complaining about the difficulties of her life, especially as she said “yes” to something she likely didn’t completely understand.Don Schwager writes to become the mother of the Savior, Mary was enriched by God with gifts to enable her to assume this awesome role. There is a venerable tradition among many Christians, dating back to the early church, for honoring Mary as the spotless virgin who bore the Son of God in her womb. A number of early church fathers link Mary's obedience to this singular grace of God.
"Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race... The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith" (from Adv. haeres 3.22.4, by Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, 130-200 AD).The Word Among Us Meditation on Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 underlines that being chosen by God “before the foundation of the world” means that you are loved, not for what you do, but for who you are (Ephesians 1:4).
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the best job résumé or if you are the captain of the team. All those special honors—important though they may be—pale in comparison to the fact that God chose you and loves you just as you are. You are not just one small cog in the mass of humanity. You have great value and worth in God’s eyes.Friar Jude Winkler comments on the influence of the Greek translation and Greek grammar on the theology and images understood in the texts today. Predestination is understood in the sense that we “can do something” rather than we must do something. Friar Jude celebrates Mary, full of Grace, and New Ark of the Covenant as our model for surrender and love.
Being chosen by God also means that he has a plan and purpose for your life. You matter, and so does your mission in this life. Each of us, says Pope Francis, “is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody . . . the Gospel” (On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World, 19)
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reviews the reflections of the past week and reminds us that the Universal Christ permeates all creation including us. Ilia Delio, in “A Reply to Richard Rohr on the Cosmic Christ,” details that we are all the image and likeness of God.
We cannot know this mystery of Christ as a doctrine or an idea; it is the root reality of all existence. Hence we must travel inward, into the interior depth of the soul where the field of divine love is expressed in the “thisness” of our own, particular lives. Each of us is a little word of the Word of God, a mini-incarnation of divine love. The journey inward requires surrender to this mystery in our lives and this means letting go of our control buttons. It means dying to the untethered selves that occupy us daily; it means embracing the sufferings of our lives, from the little sufferings to the big ones; it means allowing God’s grace to heal us, hold us and empower us for life. It means entering into darkness, the unknowns of our lives, and learning to trust the darkness, for the tenderness of divine love is already there. It means [being] willing to sacrifice all that we have for all that we can become in the power of God’s love; and finally it means to let God’s love heal us of the opposing tensions within us. No one can see God and live and thus we must surrender our partial lives to become whole in the love of God. When we can say with full voice, “you are the God of my heart, my God and my portion forever” [Psalm 73:26] then we can open our eyes to see that the Christ in me is the Christ in you. We are indeed One in love.The ability of Mary to bear the Christ child is predestined for her and in striving to respond with our “yes” may we be drawn closer in our relationship with the Divine.
References
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(n.d.). Genesis chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 8, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/3
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(n.d.). Ephesians, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 8, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/1
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(n.d.). Luke, chapter 1 - United States Conference .... Retrieved December 8, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke
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(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved December 8, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
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(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 8, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
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(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved December 8, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
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(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 8, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/
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