...those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8 is rightly celebrated as one of the most beautiful and moving passages in the Bible. We find in this Epistle our guilt described; and in this chapter our destiny promised. We have been justified, vindicated, and declared innocent of all sin that God might be glorified.
As we recognize the promises of God and find they are already being fulfilled by the work of grace, we also discover the work is completely finished in the person of Jesus' human mother. Conceived immaculate and born in purity, Mary grew from grace to grace throughout her life. (Saint Maximillian Kolbe called it immaculation.) And in eternity, only the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit stand closer to God the Father.
Blessed John Duns Scotus, one of the greatest Franciscan teachers of the middle ages, taught that it was both fitting and necessary that one human being who is not God, receive the fullness of grace and be perfected by grace. It was obvious that Jesus, by his death and resurrection, in his capacity as God and man, had fulfilled this requirement in himself. But it was nonetheless necessary that another human being be divinized and restored to the prelapsarian innocence of Adam and Eve.
Without her, God's grace might seem to have failed in its mission. Every other human being might reply to the demands of grace, "Well, He was God after all; and I am not!" Mary recognized her extraordinary gift of immaculation when she sang, "All ages to come will call me blessed."
Nor would anyone envy the gift she received when they remember the terrible price that came with her blessedness; namely, the trials she endured and the crucifixion of her most innocent Son. Even looking at her puts our envy of others to shame, for no one has been as blessed as she. The best this world can offer is pathetic before the blessing God gave her.
Sinners forget themselves when they gaze in wonder on her, and their penance is pure joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.