Mary and the
Communion of Saints.
Presented by
Seminarian: Kenwyn Sylvester
Friday 6th
Jan 2017
A little
Anthropology…
The human person is
both matter and spirit (Body and soul). We participate in two realities i.e.
the spiritual and the physical. Human beings are both body and spirit. We can
be called incarnated spirits.yy
We
can talk about communion of saints and Mary only because of the passion, death
and resurrection of Christ. Jesus is both God and man (cf. Creed- “True God and
true man”. Jesus the Christ has two natures a human nature and a divine nature.
The two natures cannot be seen as a zero/sum, all or nothing. The two natures
coexist. This notion is particularly complexed but it has roots in the biblical
narratives, for example Ex 3:1-3 The writers give an account of Moses and the
burning bush. The bush was ablaze with flames but did not consume the bush.
That’s the mystery of the word Incarnate (Jesus Christ). He is God and is man.
What
is a saint or Who is a saint?
A
Saint is a citizen of Heaven. The saints are these men and women who having
been receptive to the grace of Christ, have chosen to live their life in such a
way that it glorifies God. These men and women are exemplars for us to follow
because they displayed heroic virtue in the way they carry about themselves
while they were alive on earth.
There
are saints that are
canonized and then there are private saints. Canonized saints are those that
the church recognize as virtuous after a length scrutiny of their lives by
responsible and qualified representatives of the church, which can include
scientists, doctors and priests. A point to note, is that the church doesn’t
make saints, but it simply recognizes the graces operative in the lives of
these virtuous men and women who showed themselves obedient to will in their
lives. The canonized saints are honoured on their feast days by the particular
church or community. Their names may be used in naming a church for example St
Joseph.
“Private”
saints are those men and women who have gained the pearl of great prize
(eternal dwelling with Jesus), by their complete and definite surrender to God
in the ordinariness of lives. These men and women are considered private saints
because they were not public figures who did public acts that others may
recognize but nonetheless are saints just as the canonized ones.
What is the
communion of saints?
The
communion of saints is the belief that there’s a family bond, a communion,
between all believers in Christ – those who have died, as well as those of us
who are still alive. This understanding helps explain the Catholic belief in
intercessory prayer: just as we might ask a friend or family member to pray
for us, so we can ask members of our heavenly family to do the same, and to
support us as we strive to live a good life.
As
it says in Lumen Gentium, “just as Christian communion among wayfarers
brings us closer to Christ, so our companionship with the saints joins us to
Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues every grace and the very
life of the people of God” LG 50
The
communion of saints are important because they tell us that we belong to a
great big family by virtue of our baptism. We are incorporated into the body of
Christ when we were baptized and this means that we are brothers and sisters
with Christ. This bond extends beyond our physical death. Therefore we can talk
about those that are here on earth, but also those that have reached (the
saints). However the church talks about a third group of people who also
belongs to the body of Christ. These are the ones who have not yet been
purified fully and are in need of prayer to be freed from this state. These are
the souls of brothers and sisters of ours who are in purgatory. Thus, we see
three states in the church, the pilgrim church - those here on earth, the
suffering church - those in need of
prayer and purification and we see the triumphant church – those who can claim
that they have reached! They are the ones who the book of revelation refers to
as “having passed through the great persecution and washed their robes in the
blood of the lamb.” (cf. Rev 7:13).
Read
John 2: 1-5 => The
Wedding at Canaan – “Do whatever he tells you”
Mary
is not God. But she
holds an important place among the saints. She is the called the Queen of
Saints.
We honour and venerate her because of the role she played in the salvation story. She was the
one the angel appeared to, and she was the one who responded ‘yes’ to the God.
She consented to have a child and they called him Jesus because he was to save
all humankind from sin. We commemorate this event when we pray the Angelus.
She holds an important role in the
church. She was
the one who the bible showed in Revelations 12:1 (behold a great sign from
heaven… a woman clothed with the sun standing on the moon, and with twelve stars
on her head for a crown.”
And your heart shall be pierced, was
part of the words of a prophecy to Mary about Jesus. She was with him in the
crucial moments of his life. She was there at the foot of the Cross and she was
there at the pouring down of the Holy Spirit. She pondered all that the prophet
Simeon had said in her heart.
Mary is our spiritual mother.
Because we are brothers and sisters in Christ, Christ’s mother is Mary.
She is also our mother.
Mary is an intercessor with all of the saints. Like Mary
the church is called to ponder and be obedient to Jesus (the word made Flesh).
She knew the needs of the people at the wedding. You can see from the readings
that no one asked her about more wine. She has a sense of the need and
intercedes for the couple on their behalf.
Do whatever he tells you… is Mary’s last words recorded
in the bible. She always leads people to her son, repeating these same
words to them.
Mary is the Theotokos – Mother
of God. This is what we celebrated last Sunday January 1st . By
calling her the Mother of God we safeguard the divinity of Christ belief in the
two natures of Jesus. There was a great debate about the nature of Christ which
culminated in the nicea, where the Nicene creed was formulated.
Mary is the immaculate conception – the perfect vessel to bring forth
Christ. The divinity of Christ presupposes that Mary be cleansed of sin so as
to be fit to bear Jesus in her womb. The immaculate conception postulates that
Mary was saved by grace from original sin at the time of her conception.
Thereby allowing her to be born without the stain of sin (the inheritances from
our forefather and foremother (Adam and Eve). We celebrate this every 8th
December, it is also the name of our Cathedral.
Theology – the Arc of the covenant was the perfect
vessel (which held the holy items) the torah. The Arc was seen as the dwelling
place of the Lord. A cloud followed the place where the Arc was, to symbolized
the presence of God. However, Jesus is the Immanuel (God with us) thus his
presence is not symbolic but real. Thus, he is the person that bore him, in her
body must be holy and unblemished.
The Catholic
understanding regarding Marys' role as "Mediatrix" is associated with
the traditional teaching that Mary is "The Ark of the New
Covenant" Jesus refers to himself at the last supper as the new
covenant.
The
Assumption of the Blessed virgin Mary. Enoch Gen 5:24 and Elijah 2 Kings 2:11 was
assumed into heaven. Tradition has it that Mary was taken into heaven body
and soul.
Perpetual
virginity of Mary –
Jn 19 rebuttal. Jewish culture entrust mother to siblings. Jn 19 shows where
Jesus on the cross gave his mother to John (the disciple Jesus loved).
Apparition
of Mary
-
Our
lady of Guadalupe – Mexico
-
Our
Lady of Lourdes – France
-
Our
Lady of Fatima – Portugal – whose 100th anniversary we celebrate
this year 2017.
o
The
prediction of World War 1
o
The
request to Consecrate Russia to the sacred Heart of Jesus.
This is important because Mary
heralds the Parousia. The second coming of Christ just as she prepared
for the his first coming in Bethlehem, she prepares the world for his second
coming. Preparing the hearts of men and women so that they may truly live the
last five words, (Do whatever he tells you).
The Rosary is a prayer we used to
pray with Mary. If
you reflect on the prayer you will find that it’s a journey through the life of
Christ through the eyes of Mary. It’s a great prayer to use when we don’t have
the mental and physical energy to pray.
Mary softens our hearts so we may
respond obediently to the promptings of Christ in our lives. She is the first
disciple and so following her example we are called to give birth to Christ in
a world that is screaming for a redeemer. We are called to be open to whatever
Christ asks of us just as Mary Did. But the road is not easy, its riddled with
challenges and trials but we have the Saints and Mary as our spiritual guide to
help us along the way. By their prayers and intercession, we are able to live a
life worthy of our vocation, one that Glorifies God. A life where we can look
back and say “yes, we have done whatever Jesus told us.”
Mary, Queen of Saints pray for us…
Question - Are the saints alive?
Answer – yes. God is the God of life, for this reason
the saints who are united to God share in the live of God. Biblical evidence of
this can be found in Luke 16:19-31 in this story of Lazarus and the rich man,
the rich man pleaded with Lazarus to go warn his brothers. If he wasn't alive
how come he knew about the happenings of his brothers.
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