JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!
Happy New Year & Feast of Mary, Mother of God! It is always such a joy to begin the year celebrating the maternity of Our Lady, as mother of Our Lord Jesus, as well as of all of her other billions of spiritual children on earth, including each of us and our loved ones!
This Jubilee Year of Mercy gives me pause, as it not only challenges me to practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy more fully and fervently towards my family and neighbor, but it invites me to enter into Our Lady's School of Virtue to contemplate in my heart, the true meaning of mercy.
When doing some research for a presentation I was doing on Mary, Mother of Mercy, I was struck by the meaning of mercy in Hebrew. In this ancient language Rachamim means ‘mercy’. This is the plural form of the word racham which means ‘womb’. The notion of mercy most closely bespeaks of a mother's tenderness for her infant. Jesus is the fruit of two wombs, the one in eternity from the divine Father: I have begotten you from the womb before the morning (Ps 109 (110):3), the other in time from a human mother: ... you will conceive in [the] womb and bear a son (Lk 1:31).
In his Person He is The Divine Mercy in the Flesh. Mary's pure womb was the true Mercy Seat that shared the Suffering Servant's sacrifice foretold at His first offering in the Temple:"And a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Lk 2:35). [See thedivinemercy.org] The blood and water which filled her womb in protection of the Messiah in utero, would foreshadow the blood and water which was poured out for all of mankind in his last act of Divine Mercy.
St. Louis de Montfort explains that, "It was in this mystery that Jesus, in the womb of Mary and with her co- operation, chose all the elect. For this reason the saints called her womb, the throne-room of God's mysteries."
Throughout his potificate, Saint Pope John Paul II embraced de Montfort's spirituality and recognized Our Lady's role in joining Divine Mercy with her maternity of God and of her children. He explained that Our Lady’s Magnificat rejoices that God, ‘has mercy on those who fear him, from generation to generation.’ We too share in this mercy and she is Our Mother of Mercy [Dives in Misericordia] He also shares with the faithful that, “Mary is the Mother of Mercy because her Son, Jesus Christ, was sent by the Father as a revelation of God’s mercy.’ She is also Mother of Mercy because it is to her that Jesus entrusts the Church & all humanity” [Veritatis Splendor]
I leave you with the words of our present Pope Francis, who declared this Jubilee Year of Mercy. He wrote in his Bull entitled, Misericordiae Vultus, as follows:
“My
thoughts now turn to the Mother of Mercy. May the sweetness of her countenance
watch over us in this Holy Year, so that all of us may rediscover the joy of
God’s tenderness. No one has penetrated the profound mystery of the incarnation
like Mary. Her entire life was patterned after the presence of mercy made
flesh. The Mother of the Crucified and Risen One has entered the sanctuary of
divine mercy because she participated intimately in the mystery of His love.
Chosen
to be the Mother of the Son of God, Mary, from the outset, was prepared by the
love of God to be the Ark of the Covenant between God and man.
She treasured divine mercy in her heart in perfect harmony with her Son Jesus.
Her hymn of praise, sung at the threshold of the home of Elizabeth, was
dedicated to the mercy of God which extends from “generation to generation” (Lk 1:50).
We too were included in those prophetic words of the Virgin Mary. This will be
a source of comfort and strength to us as we cross the threshold of the Holy
Year to experience the fruits of divine mercy. Mary attests that the mercy of
the Son of God knows no bounds and extends to everyone, without exception.”
[Pope Francis]
Let us treasure all of these things in our heart in a special way this year, and then live them in order to fulfill the opportunity of this special year of mercy for all. Amen.
