Day 133: Devotion to Mary (971-975)
It’s Day 133!!
DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN
What does this mean?
It completely makes sense
Paragraph 971 says, “‘All generations will call me blessed’: ‘The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.’”
Scripture says that ALL generations WILL call Mary BLESSED
So if we are part of the generation that has been RENEWED, TRANSFORMED, and REDEEMED by the Lord then we also will call Mary BLESSED
It is INTRINSIC to the worship that we offer to the Lord
MARY-ESCHATOLOGICAL ICON OF THE CHURCH
What does that mean?
Eschatology refers to the end times and the FULFILLMENT of all that God is doing
Mary is the image of the Church
What she IS the Church fully WILL BE
Mary is a human being
BUT…
She has been given the Holy Spirit IN A UNIQUE WAY
In that unique way, she has been transformed and her cooperation in that she is that icon, that image of who we are called to be as the Church
Then we have our MCNUGGETS
Let’s say a prayer!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and we thank you so much. We thank you for giving us your Spirit. We thank you for giving us your Son. Because you so loved the world that you gave your only begotten Son that all who believe in Him would not perish but would have Eternal Life. We thank you so much. We thank you for bringing us into your Church. And we ask that you please help us to live in your Church as faithful disciples, as beloved disciples. Help us to constantly say yes to your Will, Father. Help us to constantly conform our hearts to yours, Jesus Christ. Help us to always live in the Power of the Holy Spirit. And help us always do what Mary did, which is not only point to Jesus, her Son. But say yes to the Father’s plan. Father, we ask you please help us this day and every day to be your beloved children. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”
So there we have it!!
So what did we get?
OH MAN!!
WE GOT SO MUCH!!
Paragraph 971 says, “‘All generations will call me blessed’: ‘The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.’...From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title ‘Mother of God,’ to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs…This very special devotion…differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit…”
We can VENERATE Our Lady
We can HONOR Our Lady
BUT…
The WORSHIP that belongs to God ALONE is WORSHIP THAT BELONGS TO GOD ALONE
IN FACT…
St. Augustine, in the 4th Century, made it clear
He talked about the HONOR that we give to Our Lady vs. the WORSHIP that we give to God alone
He says LATRIA is the Latin word for WORSHIP
That kind of worship and adoration belongs to GOD ALONE
HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO RECEIVES LATRIA
There is another word DULIA which is the honor that we give to the Saints
DULIA belongs to all the Saints
HYPERDULIA means hyper-honor or super-honor and THAT belongs to Mary
So we have DULIA for all the Saints
What God has done in their lives is REMARKABLE
HYPERDULIA to Our Lady because what God has done in her life, an ordinary completely human human is HYPER and what God has done with her is INCREDIBLE
Mary is FULL OF GRACE aka KECHARITOMENE in Greek
We give Mary HYPERDULIA
BUT…
We give GOD ALONE WORSHIP
We give GOD ALONE LATRIA
BUT…
The Church says the honor we give to Mary (HYPERDULIA) fosters the adoration and worship (LATRIA) that we give to God
How does that work?
If we give Mary this honor, how does that help us give God more worship?
Think of Jack who is dating Jill
Jill wants Jack to meet her family
Jack doesn’t want to because he just wants to know and love Jill
Jack doesn’t want a relationship with Jill’s family
Jack wants a relationship with just Jill
Jack isn’t being supersmart
Because if you got to meet Jill’’s mom and dad, the more and more and more you got to love Jill’s mom and dad, the more and more you got to love Jill
The better and stronger relationship you have with Jill’s mom and Dad, the better and stronger relationship you can have with Jill
These are broad strokes and this doesn’t always happen
BUT…
It can happen and it is normal for that to happen
It happened to Fr. Mike years ago when he was dating someone before he became a priest
Meeting her mom made him love his girlfriend more
On the human level that is REAL
On the spiritual level it is JUST AS REAL
The more we get to know Mary and love her, the Mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the more we actually can grow our love for Jesus Christ
THIS IS COMPLETELY TRUE!!
MARY-ESCHATOLOGICAL ICON OF THE CHURCH
THIS IS SO REMARKABLE!!
We’ve been talking about the Church in this section
Her origin that comes from the Father’s Heart and Jesus Christ establishes this and the Holy Spirit makes it real
Paragraph 972 says, “After speaking of the Church, her origin, mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary. In her we contemplate what the Church already is in her mystery on her own ‘pilgrimage of faith,’ and what she will be in the homeland at the end of her journey.”
Mary has said YES FULLY to God
The Church is meant to be fully conformed and converted and fully transformed by the love of Jesus Christ in the Power of the Holy Spirit
Mary allowed that to happen in her life
So we look to her
THAT is the image we are meant to become as the Church
Paragraph 973 says, “[Mary] is mother wherever [Jesus] is Savior and head of the Mystical Body.”
MAN!! (OH MAN!! 😉)
We get to EMBRACE THAT
AMEN TO THAT!!
Tomorrow we start ARTICLE 10: I BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
ONE BAPTISM FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
THE POWER OF THE KEYS
ARTICLE 11: I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!