23 June 2010: Generosity of the Heart of Jesus

‘Shown by the sacrifice which he made of his reputation’

We ordinarily rate the generosity of a man by the sacrifices he makes for his fellow creatures. We may do the same with the generosity of the Heart of Jesus. What has he not sacrificed for us? He only shared our goods so that he might be able to sacrifice them for us.

We jealously guard, with good reason, our honor, our reputation. Jesus sacrificed his reputation as a reparation for the dishonor sin had done to his heavenly Father; and to reconcile us to him. Submitting silently to the most atrocious calumnies, he died stripped of all reputation.

As he hung on the cross, his enemies dared him if he were the Son of God: “Let Christ come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” (Mt 27:40) He did not descend, leaving them to conclude that he was powerless, an impostor, the basest of men. And thus he died.

God will probably not require us to sacrifice our reputation as he has demanded of certain great saints such as St John of the Cross. He was imprisoned, and died a victim of calumny, without even a word of complaint.

What our Lord asks of us is to accept all feeling of resentment when, through malice or inadvertence, someone may have injured our reputation. To receive in silence any reprimand or penance for a fault we did not commit. Although these little sacrifices are not heroic, they will be pleasing to God and merit a reward.

Ref: cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp329-30

The Virgin’s Heart of the ‘Fiat’

The biblical Alliance is never absolute, an accord between two of the same degree. The distance between Jesus and Mary is infinite. On one side there is God, the Eternal, the totally Other; on the other side, a weak human, fragile, mortal. Only love is essential in the Alliance: infinite, merciful and free gift of God, humble, welcoming, grateful of Man.

Alliance is never a private matter. It has a common value. It concerns the whole people. The interlocutor of God, even when he is a single man, cannot act individually, but in the name of all the people.

In the Alliance of Incarnation, the human being ‘making the contract’ is Mary of Nazareth, the Daughter of Zion, personification of the faithful Israel to the Law of the Lord. In the Virgin’s Heart are concentrated Israel’s hopes and expectations. In her words and deeds is expressed the purest spirituality of the chosen people.

The theological tradition of the Church proposed that the ‘representative task’ of Mary of Nazareth is not limited to Israel, but is extending, according to the affirmation of St Thomas Aquinas, to the whole humanity.

The ‘Fiat’ which sprung out from the Virgin’s Heart is the expression of the faithful service of what Israel, the servant, does to Yahweh the Lord. The nuptial assent of the Bride and free word that a daughter of Adam pronounces in the name of the whole human race. Love, mercy and alliance characterize Mary’s Heart.

The Heart that pronounces the salvific ‘Fiat’ is, first of all, an Immaculate Heart, which refers undoubtedly to the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. The Heart that will pronounce the salvific ‘Fiat’ and welcome the Saviour did not know the mystery of original sin, but rather since the first heartbeat, it was full of grace.

In Mary, the ‘corporeal virginity’ and the ‘virginity of the heart’ are perfectly integrated and harmonized. In her the ‘virginity of the heart’ precedes and determines the ‘virginity of the flesh’ -- an effect of an action coming from the Holy Spirit in Mary.

The Heart of the Son and the Heart of the Virgin are united in the splendor of virginity, ie, in the pure and complete faithfulness to the Truth: Christ as the Truth itself and Mary as she who was flooded with the light of Truth.

Ref: I Calabuig in “Alliance of the Two Hearts”, pp123-6

The Mystery of Motherhood

The angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary, Archbishop Fulton Sheen commented, is called the 'Anunciation' because it announced the first really good news the earth had heard in centuries. Yesterday’s news, he said, was about the fall of a man through a woman. Today’s news is about the regeneration of man through a woman.

The heavenly messenger hastened to assure Mary of the reason for that visit. She was to fulfill within herself what the prophet Isaiah had announced seven centuries before: “A virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a Son, and his name shall be called ‘Emmanuel’” [‘God with us’]. (Is 7:14)

The great honor created a problem for Mary who had offered her virginity to God under the impulse of the Holy Spirit. So she asked the angel: “How can this be, since I have no husband?” (Lk 1:34)

The angel explained to her that this was not to be the work of any man, but the work of God himself. In her case, birth would come without human love, but not without divine love. For the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who is the Love of God, would overshadow her, and make her conceive.

Because of this, her Son will be called the Son of God: God’s Son and hers. After having been told that divine love would supplant human love, and that she would be a Mother while remaining a virgin in the great mystery of generation, Mary gave her consent: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38) ...

A reflection of the sweetness, intuition and generosity of Mary can be glimpsed on the face of every mother. Motherhood, Pope John Paul II commented, is woman’s vocation: it was yesterday, it is today, it will be always. It is her eternal vocation.

Ref: cf Fr M Guzman, “Encounters With Christ”, 1990, pp1-3

The Justinian Madonna at Carthage. This church was built by the Emperor Justinian in honor of the Blessed Virgin, to whom he attributed the victories which he gained over the Vandals. — Baronius, year 534. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; http://www.bethlehemobserver.com)

Our Lady Justinienne at Carthage (6th Century).(http://www.divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (http://www.starharbor.com/santiago/m feasts.html); (MaryLinks Calendar.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)

Our Lady Justiniani (Carthage). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)