I-MARY AS MEDIATION OF THE HOLY SPIRITThe references to Mary in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke make it clear this principle: The reality of Jesus Christ as Messiah is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, not a result of the blood ties:
“While he spoke a woman raising her voice from the crowd, said: “Blessed are the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!”
But he replied: “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice (Lc 11, 27-28).
Jesus was fully aware that his mission was to build the Family of God, which is not based on ties of blood, but the bonds of the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus rejects certain statements that seem to oppose this truth:
“Was he speaking to the crowd, when they showed his mother and his brothers, outside, tried to talk to him, one said to him:
“Your mother and your brothers are here and want to talk to you. Jesus said to him that made the statement: “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” And indicating with his disciples, he said:
My mother and my brothers are those who hear the Word of my Father in heaven and do it, for whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, this is it my brother and sister and mother (Mt 12 46-50).
Come the Saturday, he began to teach in the synagogue. The many listeners were filled with amazement and said:
“Whence comes all this power? And what wisdom is this? How can perform such miracles? Is not he the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, and Joseph and Judas and Simon? And his sisters are not here among us? And it shocked them (Mark 6, 2-4).
In the account of Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth, St. Luke presents Mary as a mediation solution for the event and the messianic mission of Jesus.
Mary was pregnant with Jesus and her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist.
Upon learning that his cousin was pregnant and near the end of time, Mary decided to visit her.
When Mary came to the house of her cousin, the power of the Holy Spirit did John the Baptist to exult in the midst of Saint Elisabeth.
The story has a symbolic meaning. First says it was not John who sent the Holy Spirit to Jesus when he baptized Jesus, rather it was Jesus who gave the Holy Spirit to John when his mother visited her cousin Elizabeth.
Second appears the figure of Mary as the great mediation of the Holy Spirit in the event of the Messiah.
Indeed it was Mary who brought Jesus Christ, the bearer of the Holy Spirit, to John the Baptist.
Here is the story of Saint Luke: “In those days Mary set out the way and to the mountains, to a city of Judea. Entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the boy jumped for joy in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Then, raising his voice, exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. In fact, once you greeting reached my ears, the baby leapt for joy in my heart” (Lc 1, 39-44).
We cannot deny the symbolic value and beauty of this text of Saint Luke in which you want to make the connection between John the Baptist the prophet and Jesus Christ by making the Messiah.
As regards the figure of Mary, Saint Luke develops all the theological richness associated with the mother of the Messiah:
Mary appears in this report as a woman of faith: “Blessed are you who believed (Luc 1, 45).
Like Abraham, Mary believed. Thanks to his faith, Abraham became the mediator of God's blessing for humanity, as the Book of Genesis said:
“And the Lord said to Abraham: “I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and your name will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you. And in your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed (Genesis 12: 2-3).
Being the mother of the Messiah and a woman of Faith, Mary received the mission of being a privileged mediation of the blessings promised to Abraham for Humanity.
The spring of the blessings which the Son of Mary brings to mankind is the Holy Spirit that makes all the human race Family of God.
Here are the words of Saint Paul's Epistle to the Romans: All them who are guided by the Holy Spirit are sons of God.
You did not receive a spirit of slavery, but a Spirit of adoption, thanks to whom we cry: “Abba, dear dad (Rom 8, 14-15).
II-MARY AND THE MYSTERY OF CHRIS
The wonders of the birth and childhood of Jesus reported by Saint Luc mean that the saving plan of God is for all human beings.
The preparation of these reports is the pedagogical function of pointing to Jesus and the mission that God will gave him.
Take the meeting of Mary and Joseph in the temple with Simeon, the elder:
Mary got the temple to make the presentation of his son to the Lord. At that moment an old man appears. His name was Simeon, and he was a devout man, who waited for the messianic consolation of Israel.
Simeon was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit (Lc 1, 25). Inspired by the Holy Spirit, take the child in his arms and exclaims:
Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, because according to what you had shown me, my eyes have just seen the salvation promised to all peoples.
He is the light that comes to light and become known to the nations. He is the glory of your people Israel. His father and mother were amazed at what you said about him.
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: This boy will be a sign of contradiction, being the fall and rising of many in Israel.
A sword will pierce your heart and thus reveal the thoughts of many hearts” (Lc 2, 29-35). Mary holds her Son, who is the Son of God, that is, the king announced and consecrated with the force of the Holy Spirit and peace:
It will emerge a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Rest on him, the Spirit of God: Spirit of wisdom and understanding and counsel and science and of the fear of God.
Do not judge by appearances or render judgments It does not make judgments only by hearsay. On the contrary, he will judge the poor with justice.
He shall judge the tyrants with the decrees and the edicts of his mouth and the treacherous with the breath of his lips.
Righteousness shall be the girdle of his reins and loyalty go around your waist.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard lie down next to the kid. The ox and the lion eat together and a child shall lead them.
The cows graze beside the bear and her young lie down together (...). A child will play in the hole of the asp and the child just weaned shall put his hand in played snake.
There will be no damage in my holy mountain for the earth will be full of knowledge of the Lord (Is 11: 1-9).
The announcement of the angel to Mary is a composition of Saint Luke to say a fundamental truth:
Jesus as the Messiah is the fruit of the Spirit and not of the meat of the blood or human impulse.
In other words, Saint Luke puts into the mouth of the angel of the Annunciation a summary of the first Messianic prophecy in history:
The oracle of the prophet Nathan to the King David, around a thousand years before Christ (2 Sam 7, 12-16).
This prophecy is the mother of all subsequent prophecies of the biblical History. Now, the Angel of the Annunciation summarizes the prophecy, presenting it in the form of proclamation of the birth of the Messiah foretold and expected over many centuries.
This is how Saint Luke describes the annunciation of the Angel: “Upon entering the house of Mary, the angel said to him:
“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you”. At these words, Mary was troubled and wondered about the meaning of this greeting.
The Angel said to Mary: “Fear not, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You shall conceive in your womb and bear a son to whom you give the name of Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He shall reign over the house of Jacob and his kingdom will never end. Mary said to the angel: “How can this be, if I do not know man?” The angel replied:
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High and the shadow of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. Therefore, he who is born will be called holy, Son of God (Lc 1, 28-35).
This beautiful story intended to say us that the Messiah is a gift of the Holy Spirit and not a work of the flesh or blood.
To make clear this point, Saint Luke emphasizes the strangeness of Mary, putting in his mouth the following question: “How can this be if I am a virgin? (Lc 1, 34).
With this style Saint Luke wishes to clarify that the protagonist of the mystery of the Incarnation is the Holy Spirit.
Thus the Holy Spirit optimized the motherly love of Mary, enabling he to love his son with a tenderness like the tenderness of God.
In this report, Saint Luke presents Mary as a special mediation of the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish the mystery of Jesus Christ.
Later, Saint Luke will say that the Holy Spirit consecrated Jesus to enable him to accomplish his messianic mission giving sight to the blind, making the lame walk and releasing prisoners (Luke 4, 18-21).
The Book of Acts says that Mary only understood perfectly the mystery of Christ after the resurrection (Act 1, 14).
This is the profound meaning of the symbolism of the text of the Marriage at Cana in the Gospel of Saint John who.
The text begins by saying that three days later, Mary took part in a wedding party. It is not hard to see here an allusion to the Mary´s experience Paschal and the brothers of Jesus (Jo 2, 1-2).
In John's gospel Mary is mentioned only twice: the wedding in Cana (Jo 2, 1-12) and beside the cross of Jesus (Jo 19, 25 -- 27).
In the Gospel of John, Mary is mentioned only twice and is never mentioned by name. Saint John calls it always the mother of Jesus.
Even when the Jews speak of Jesus, they mentioned his parents by name, but they called Mary only the mother of Jesus.
The Jews put up, then to murmur against Jesus the fact that he said: “I am the bread which came down from heaven and they said:
“Is not he Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he says: “I came down from heaven?” (Jo 6, 41-42).
When Jesus speaks to Mary, he always calls woman. Not mother. Saint John With this way of proceeding, Saint John wanted to put emphasis that Jesus is the Messiah, the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Here is the witness of Saint John the Baptist: “I saw the Holy Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and remain upon him.
I did not know him, but him who sent me baptizing said to me: “Whom you will see the Spirit and remain upon him is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Well, I have seen and testify that he is the Son of God (Jo 1, 31-34).
In Communion with YouCalmeiro Matias
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário