Open Wide the Doors for Christ!

This afternoon, after Evening prayer I had the privileged of giving a reflection to all the guys on one of the 7 last words (or sayings) of Jesus.  This is something that we started doing for the first time this Lent, but both of talks that were before mine (last week and the first week of Lent) were phenomenal, so I guess it will be something that Brute continues to do in future Lents.  Of course, their doing such a great job on the first two - "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" and "Today you will be with me in paradise" - set the bar pretty high for the reflection that I was signed up to give, "Woman, behold your son... Behold your mother".  So, over the last few weeks I had been thinking about what I was going to say for the 5 minutes that was my allotment, and I finally started making some notes yesterday.  I'm glad that I didn't have too much to do between now and then because it took me several hours to get everything I wanted to together (and run through it a few times).  Anyway, this is - more or less - what I said.  Here's hoping that it makes your Lent a bit more holy.

Last week I went out with several you and we saw the movie, Mary of Nazareth, and one of the things that struck me about the film was the intense, beautiful, tender, loving relationship that was between Jesus and His mother, Mary.  Thinking about this fact, it struck me that their relationship was unprecedented.  Spiritually, it is between the Mary, called "full of grace" by Gabriel, and Jesus Christ, truly God and man.  Mary's relationship with God was the closest of any human before the incarnation, and after Our Lord became man within her, it certainly stayed that way.  However, humanly, the relationship between these two was also incredible, again, Mary is sinless - she must have been the best, most caring, most dedicated, most loving mother ever - and Jesus, was God-incarnate, there can't have ever been a better child.  Basically, their relationship was one of the most incredible love and devotion.

However, on the cross, Jesus simply calls her "woman".  To us this seems rude, disrespectful, demeaning, at the very least, unloving...  But, if we look back at the Old Testament, we find that this is exactly opposite of the truth.  After the fall God tells the serpent "I will put empty between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." - Genesis 3:15  Upon a cursory glance, the term "the woman" could be applied to Eve.  Actually, it is used throughout Genesis to refer to her and, as we know, eventually - after many generations - her seed will crush the head of Satan.  However, this interpretation is surpassed when we realize that Jesus' using the term "woman" on the cross indicates us that it is through her that God's plan of salvation is realized.  Through Mary's "yes" - her fiat, her obedience - she reverses Eve's "no", her disobedience, that had brought sin into the world so many millennia before. Thus, by using "woman" to refer to His mother, Jesus is doing anything but deprecate her, rather He is showing her to be the new Eve, through whom salvation enters the world.

The second half of Jesus' saying to Mary is "Behold, your son".  On first glance, this seems unnecessary.  If we put ourselves there at Calvary, wouldn't we find Mary gazing upon her son?  So, when Jesus says "woman, behold, your son", she could have answered that she already was, she already was beholding her son - in all his bloodiness, and agony.  Yet instead Jesus looks over at the "disciple whom He loved", and then Mary knows that she is being designated by Jesus to become this disciples mother, to take care of him as she ad taken care of Jesus.  But upon further reflection we find that that beloved disciple is us.   Throughout the gospel of John, the "disciple whom Jesus loved" is never named.  Of course, tradition tells us that he is John the Apostle/Evangelist, but the very fact that he has no name allows us to understand that he is taking our place, he is a stand-in for humanity.  This is further strengthened if we recall that Jesus says "whosoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother" - Matthew 12:50.  Thus, through obedience to the Father - the very definition of discipleship - Jesus says that we will become His brothers and sisters, and so, it is no surprise, when He gives His mother to us to be our mother too.  

This though, is no small gift.  Mary is the perfect mother - as mentioned before - and now she is in Heaven, body and soul, interceding for us, being that most-wonderful spiritual mother.  In the Old Testament it was the mother of the king who was the queen (Bathsheba is the queen of Solomon), not his wife.  This idea continues on with Jesus and Mary.  Jesus, of course, is the King - now glorious in heaven - but it is Mary who is the queen.  This is something that we remember every time we pray the rosary and meditate on the coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth.  Is she somehow usurping Christ as our mediator, no, of course not, but it is He who chose her to be His mother and He who gives her to us as our mother.  The big deal: Mary, at this moment at the foot of the cross, is chosen to be the mediatrix of grace, through whom salvation continues to flow into the world.  Often writers talk about the grace acheived by Christ on the cross as flowing through Mary out into the world, and it is a beautiful image.  Mary, of course, was literally at the foot of the cross, and it becomes an even more beautiful image when we realize that it was at the foot of the cross that Jesus chose Mary to be out mother, the one who cares for us just like she cared for Our Lord, with the same tenderness, concern, and love as she had for Him.

And all of that leads up to what Jesus now tells the beloved disciple, us.  "Behold, your mother".  This again, seems a bit repetitive, if Mary was told that she was now our mother why tell us that she is our mother?  - To remind us that we need to have a relationship with her as our mother.  We must, like John, take her into our homes and our hearts.  We must try, to the best of our ability, to love her as Jesus did - protecting, following, learning from, and caring for her.  Being brothers and sisters of Our Lord means doing His will, which, pretty obviously here is to "behold" our "mother".  We shouldn't be afraid to love her, Jesus did.  Is this ignoring Christ? - no, it's following His will, and regardless, Mary will always take us to Jesus, to the foot of the cross, to the stream of grace that will cleanse, heal, and transform us.

In conclusion, rather than just listing off my points, I'd like to reconnect these points to Scripture, this time the story of the Wedding Feast at Cana:

First point: Mary is the New Eve, the whose obedience to God allowed His salvation to enter the world and reverse the sin that the original Eve's (and Adam, let's not leave him out) disobedience brought into it.  Mary is the new "mother of all the living", now in a super-naturalized position of motherhood in heaven.  It is through her that salvation entered the world - in Jesus - and it is through her that salvation continues to enter the world - through the graces achieved by Jesus.

Second point: Mary intercedes for us, just as she did for the couple at the wedding feast.  She continues to go up to Jesus and say "the have no wine".  When we are broken, sinful, empty, tired, etc. - she continues to beg her son to fill us, renew us, and transform us.  She doesn't replace Jesus - as she didn't at the wedding feast - but she brings us to Him and prays that He would transform us.

Third point: As we look at Jesus on the cross, His hour has come, this is the moment of salvation, the pinnacle of everything that the Incarnation was meant to accomplish.  And what does Jesus tell us: "Behold, your mother".  Obedience, again, is the mark of discipleship, and the action that makes us brothers and sisters of Christ, and what does Mary tell us "Do whatever He tells you".  In Mary we not only have an intercessor with Christ and a loving mother, but we also have the perfect example of what it means to be a disciple.  Her obedience literally made her the mother of Jesus, let us emulate her, and love her tenderly like Jesus did, and take her into our hearts this Lent!

Wow, that only took a bit over 5 minutes when I said it...  So much longer when you write it out. 

Today was the ordination to the sacred priesthood of (now) Fr. Hyland Smith.  As was the case with the deaconate ordination, the seminarians were enlisted to serve for the Mass.

Last evening, after I got off work at 4 PM, I filled up with gas and cruised over to Springfield, where Fr. Chris Brey had graciously invited the seminarians out to dinner.  Needless to say, the pizza was great and the abundance of ice cream afterwards was also greatly appreciated.  After dinner (and a lot of socializing with the other guys), we went over to the cathedral for practice.  I ended up with the position I have previously occupied at other diocesan Masses, book-holder, and it turned out that the procedure was very similar to the deaconate ordination.  I processed in at the back (which is cool because I get to see everybody as they process in), and then I sit off to the side of the bishop's cathedra ready to walk out and hold the Roman Missal or Rite of Ordination for a Priest [which took forever for me to find online...] for the Bishop.

The first time I had to hold the book was at the beginning of Mass (right after the procession and incensation of the Altar), when I held the Roman Missal for the introductory rites (confiteor, kyrie, gloria, and opening prayer).  I had been holding the book for a minute or two before the bishop got back from the incensation, but nothing was hurting too bad, so I was feeling pretty confident as the confiteor started.  However, by the time the kyrie had been chanted my arms were starting to feel the inexorable pull of gravity.  The base of Bishop Paprocki's cathedra is a step higher than the floor of the sanctuary, so I am standing on the floor and he is standing a step higher and he is also a few feet away from me because there is probably two or three feet of raised platform between his seat and the edge of this step.  This all means that I am several feet away from the bishop and on top of that I am several inches lower than him (due to both the step and my, um, exceptional, height) - anyway, enough with the excuses, holding the Roman Missal through that Gloria was tough.  I guess the Bishop has good eyesight because I think the book was shaking a bit during the end of the gloria and the opening prayer)  Don't get me wrong, I love the position of book-holder, I am in like the best spot to see what is going on, but it still gets tough at times...  

The next thing that I had to do was hold the rite of ordination for the, you know, ordination.  This book is probably half as thick as the Roman Missal, but I had to hold it longer, so my arms still ended up shaking a bit.  First, was the calling forward of Deacon Hyland - The Bishop asks if the people consider him worthy, which they did, and then he came forward and made the promise of obedience to the Bishop.  It was so cool, because I was right there when he put his hands inside the Bishop's and said "I do", and I was a few feet away when Deacon Hyland lay prostrate on the floor during the litany, and I was a few steps back when the Bishop did the laying on of hands and ordained him a priest...  It was so cool to be right there during all of it - yeah, my arms were hurting, and there was that nagging thought of how to hold up the book any longer, but it was definitely worth it.  OK, so there is the super-quick low-down of the Mass.  I could go into detail on how everything happened, but we are in the midst of packing for vacation and, since I haven't been here the last 2 days, I probably should pitch in a bit.

Last, but not least, a brief look at something pretty cool.  On the brief bio that the diocese has for Fr. Hyland  Smith he notes that his favorite scripture verse is John 21:18-22.  

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”  Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”  Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

Fr. Hyland explains it pretty well: (I quote):

"Peter is troubled by Christ's prophecy of Peter's future martyrdom, and Peter tries to deflect his fate by focusing on another. Jesus says to him, "What is that to you? Follow me!" Too often I look at others rather than my own walk with Christ. Before I left for seminary the Holy Spirit showed me this verse, which reminds me that the only important thing I must do is follow Christ."

"I am happy here, in this cell, where white mushrooms are growing on my sleeping mat, because You are here with me, because You want me to live here with You. I have spoken much in my lifetime: now I speak no more. It's Your turn to speak to me, Jesus; I am listening to You"

So often we forget that the foundation for anything and everything we do must be in love of Our Lord.  That has to be where we start.  Fr. Hyland and this saintly bishop both emphasize following Christ above everything.  Even when our plans don't happen, or Christ asks us go "where we do not want to go", that is precisely when love for Him must "trump" everything else.  That is exactly what the promises that the to-be priest makes require.  (and I'll quote them here because they are just too cool).  

• Do you resolve, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to discharge without fail the Office of Priesthood in the presbyteral rank, as a worthy fellow worker with the Order of Bishops in caring for the Lord’s flock?
• Do you resolve to exercise the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, preaching the Gospel and teaching the Catholic faith?
• Do you resolve to celebrate faithfully and reverently, in accord with the Church’s tradition, the mysteries of Christ, especially the sacrifice of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, for the glory of God and the sanctification of the Christian people?
• Do you resolve to implore with us God’s mercy upon the people entrusted to your care by observing the command to pray without ceasing?
• Do you resolve to be united more closely every day to Christ the High Priest, who offered Himself for us to the Father as a pure sacrifice, and with Him to consecrate yourself to God for the salvation of all?
• Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors?

Gosh, the vocation of priesthood is so awesome (in both the sense that it inspires awe and it is really cool).  It is so scary to think that I could be called to that life - to living as Christ for the people...  To discharge without fail the Office of Priesthood, to exercise the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, to celebrate faithfully and reverently, to pray without ceasing, be united with Christ, the pure sacrifice, and consecrate yourself to God for the salvation of all, to promise respect and obedience to the successor of the Apostles. Yeah, awesome but scary...  And, guess what, the only way that any man will be able to live up to these supernatural standards is by totally, radically, completely, utterly, etc. loving Jesus Christ.  Please pray for Fr. Hyland Smith, as he begins a totally new life, and all of us seminarians as we discern if that same life is what we're called to.  Good thing grace is there!

Final note - Fr. Hyland chose "Tota vita mea Iesu Christo" as his priestly "motto" (it's on the card I got at his first blessing...).  My translation: "My entire life to Jesus Christ"  And that pretty much sums up being a priest...  (easy right?)

Please keep in mind that my Latin translation may not be terribly perfect, and also keep those prayers coming!

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!