Open Wide the Doors for Christ!

So it's now 10 PM here at the castle (as we like to call it), and I just finished one of the many assignments which were forced onto my to-do list this week (it's probably been my busiest week yet this semester, which is saying a lot) but I really wanted to write a post because the ideas are fresh in my head (I just got back from optional Adoration a while ago - always a good source of such ideas) and I haven't written a post in too long, so here it goes...

Yesterday, as you all know, we celebrated the solemnity of the Annunciation, when Mary accepts God's will for her to become the Mother of God, and thus, the request that the angel brings to her is remembered forever as an announcement of great joy.  I think it is so beautiful when, in the middle of Lent, the Church gives us these glimpses or reminders of the joy that should be building in our hearts in anticipation of our redemption at Easter (which, of course, begins with the Incarnation).

I was talking with a few guys yesterday about why we celebrate the Annunciation and not the Incarnation.  It was the same event, and it sure seems like God becoming man is more important than Mary accepting Him as her Son (despite how important that was!), but, yesterday I had the chance to watch the movie, Mary of Nazareth in theaters (it is screening around the country) and it somewhat put things in perspective.  The movie beautifully portrays the life of Mary from her childhood all the way through the resurrection.  I don't want to spoil the movie, so I'll just make a few points.

Firstly, Mary is gently smiling through a lot of the movie - enough that I noticed it and was beginning to think it was a bit cheesy - but then one of the guys pointed out that she was constantly, consistently, completely abandoning herself to God's will.  She joyfully accepted whatever God requested of her, every time.  Did she always know what that would entail? - no (and the movie did a fantastic job portraying this) but she did always accept it.

Secondly, there was a tenderness and intensity in the relationship between Jesus and Mary that I guess I never realized.  A movie makes things that you read or think about so real.  I was praying the Rosary at that Holy Hour that I just got back from and usually my mind drifts off during the decades about the assumption and coronation of Mary.  I don't have a good image to meditate on in my mind, or a good story from scripture, so my mind usually ends up blank (or worse) and I end the rosary on a low note...  But today, with the images of the movie still fresh in my mind, I found it very easy to see the point of these mysteries.  Of course Jesus brought Mary up to Heaven with Him - She was His beloved mother, not only the most perfect person (other than Himself) to ever walk the earth, but she was the person that Jesus was closest to on earth and she was the person who had cared for Him throughout His life.  Of course He is going to reward her for that constant love with the most perfect of bliss with Him in heaven!  Again, of course He would crown her Queen of Heaven and Earth, not only does she deserve it, but He just gave her to us for our mother.  Going way back into the Old Testament shows us that the queen was the one the people went to, the one who took care of them, the one who was not only mother of the king but also mother of the people.  The movie made all these things make more sense and really come alive in my mind (it was great!)

Thirdly, the movie made the story of our salvation seem so much more real to me.  (Yeah, I just said that in the previous point, but I wanted to keep talking about it, and I wasn't just looking at Jesus' relationship with His mother anymore).  Looking at everything as Mary saw it, as Mary responded to it, is such a beautiful vantage point.  Yes, the movie is the production of human minds - with actors/actresses, scenes, budgets, and everything else.  No, this movie isn't inspired or something - though, of course, it follows the Bible extremely closely.  However, by putting real people into the stories that we read in the Bible it adds an emotional, visceral, and pictorial connection to the drama and reality of our salvation like noting else.  You saw how the lines of the story interwove, how difficult it would have been for Joseph to take Mary into his home, how brutal Herod was, how boldly John the Baptist acted, how trusting Mary was (already mentioned that one...), how merciful Jesus was, how doubtful the Apostles were.  You saw Mary acting as a mother, caring for Jesus, and later (after His death) caring for His apostles.  You saw Mary saying "be it done to me according to Your will" at countless points throughout the story as she encounters something she doesn't understand or any moment of suffering.  It all leapt off the page of scripture and into flesh and blood, into images that I will now be able to meditate on.  I don't want to make this movie into something it isn't, but it was pretty inspiring, and the more I think about it the more depth it adds to my own understanding of the whole mystery of redemption.  

In other words, it was a great movie, highly recommended, not perfect, but very thought-provoking (in the best sense of the phrase) and something that I am very glad I cleared time to do.  It's so much more than I managed to mention in this post, there are so many more thing that it will show me in the weeks to come, but I certainly can't write them all, so I guess you'll have to see it for yourself...

Now, off to bed.  I can't promise that I will get to posting more often just yet, I keep wanting to, and I keep (like everyday) having great ideas for posts, but apparently there are only 24 hours in the day and I'd like to be in bed for a few of them...  Good night!  Happy Lent!

I wanted to do something for mother's day, and who better to write about than our spiritual mother, Mary.  I guess this is a few days late, but better late than never right?  These won't be anything too world changing, but just some thoughts that I've had...

 

My first post will revolve around the wedding feast of Cana:

 

(John 2:1-7)  "On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.  When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine."  And Jesus said to here,  "woman, what does this have to do with me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."  Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.   Jesus said to the servants. "Fill the jars with water."  And they filled them up to the brim."

Often the question is asked why we would pray to Mary when we could just pray to Jesus.  Jesus is God, Mary is not, and if you can pray straight to God, why pray to anybody else?  The wedding feast at Cana gives us some answers:

Here we have Mary interceding on behalf of the newlyweds and their guests.  Note that the people in charge of the party didn't go to Jesus for help.  For one, Mary, more so than everybody else there, knew who Jesus was, and secondly, she had the "clout" (apologies for my lack of theological terminology) to convince Jesus to perform His first miracle.  Here's the connection to our lives: Mary's personal relationship with Christ is a ton better than mine (or anybody else's on this planet).  1. She is a saint - which means she is perfectly united to God in heaven.  2. She is Jesus' mother - which is a much closer personal relationship than I am ever going to have.  and 3. She has been given to us, by Christ, to be our mother (that will get its own post later).

Another big point: Mary is not going to lose our prayers or make them less "convincing" somehow.  Mary takes our prayers directly to Jesus more fervently and beautifully than we ever could.  From the same passage we have Mary's words: "Do whatever he tells you."  Point: there is nothing to fear in going to Mary.  She will always direct us, aid us, and help us on the path towards God.  Mary was chosen by God as the way he would enter the world and thereby save mankind.  Certainly, if God chose her, we should too.  Her entire life revolved around saying "yes" to God, and now we see her telling (and helping) us to do the same.

I hope to do posts on the Annunciation and the moment when Jesus gives us His mother (while on the cross).  Maybe other ones will get in there too...  Mary is such a beautiful model for humanity.  She is the example of giving one's self completely to God - no matter the consequences or the uncertainties.  She is such an amazing help in getting to Heaven - God's original method of bringing Himself (incarnate) into the world was Mary, and He has continued to pour grace upon us through her. 

Let me know in the comments if this post is a good length - I don't want to ramble on too long, and I also don't want to keep it too simple...  While you formulate your exquisite comment, listen to the video below.  Enjoy!

On the way over to subway to get some food I found a piece of paper on the ground with the words "this is the day the Lord has made, Let us be glad and rejoice in it." (Psalm 118:24) written on it. Probably, one of the cantors, who have to write down the alleluia verse before Mass, so they can sing it, had dropped it.  Anyway, I thought it was an important point to keep in mind.  God has everything under control - trust in Him, and don't get all worried about the future.  Obviously, you can't just sit there and do nothing, but incessantly worrying about stuff in this life isn't going to help you get to the next (which is where we need to get).

Personally, I've been struggling with this recently.  The credits that I thought had transferred just fine into Marian, didn't, and I may not be able to graduate next year after all.  It's all up in the air at this point, and I have been fretting over it the past week.  Another newly found problem: this summer I'll probably be taking Spanish II online.  Unfortunately, I never really learned Spanish the first time around, so I don't know how it is going to turn out.  It is very interesting that just as I was getting all worked up about these problems I found this verse.  I mean, I've heard it before - at Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours - but I hadn't ever really thought about it or applied it to myself.  God is asking for my trust, that I place my confidence in Him, and that is tough.  I want to know what is happening, where I'm going, what I'm supposed to be doing, but sometimes God asks me to just trust that this is the day that He has made, not me.

Think about Mary at the Annunciation (which we celebrate tomorrow), she has all of like 10 seconds to decide the fate of the universe.  She didn't know what would happen.  But she trusted God, and said "fiat" - "let it be done".  We have to learn to do the same; trust God and say yes.  Also, don't forget the second part of the psalm: joy.  Trust doesn't really count if we continue to complain about what is going on and march around with a glum look on our faces trying to get people to feel sorry about our predicament.  Give God your trust totally - He won't let you down.  (of course this is easier said then done - that, of course, is what prayer is for).

Happy Easter folks!