Summary of the Week and a Reflection (9th February)

 Mary’s visit to Elizabeth

Muigai Peter Kariuki.

Mary was engaged in a service of charity to her cousin Elizabeth for three months. She gave her physical and moral support. Mary’s presence brought singular gifts of grace. To begin with, it gave to Elizabeth and her son the presence of the messiah, awaited for centuries and the joy associated with his coming. Secondly, it is linked to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is a proto-Pentecost investing Elizabeth and John the Baptist in her womb, then Zachariah and later on Simon and Anna in the temple. These happenings were a clear sign to the Jews that the time of the messiah had come which, according to the prophets would see an abundant outpouring of God’s spirit. This is a part of divine design to employ a woman as a mediatrix of the gifts of grace promised from ancient time. Eve by way of forbidden fruit procured the spiritual death of Adam and his descendants. God desired to re-establish supernatural life to mankind through the blessed fruit of the womb of Mary.

The journey made by Mary to Ain Karem has a parallel with the Old Testament episode involving the transportation of the Ark of the Covenant from Gabaa to Jerusalem. The comparison permits a strict analogy between Mary and the sacred ark.  The ark was the visible sign of the invisible but certain presence of God in the midst of his people; a presence assuring Israel of God’s divine protection and blessing. Mary is the new sacred ark because she carries in herself the sensibly corporal presence of the invisible God whose birth will bring definitive salvation and redemption to all mankind. She is the ark of the new and eternal covenant, established by God with man in the blood of his son. In realization of the divine plan of salvation, Mary collaborates completely and unreservedly with her whole self, soul and body.   

Through the light of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth recognized Mary as the mother of the lord i.e. God. Enlightened by the same spirit, she is the first to recognize the divinity of the son of Mary and to proclaim Mary’s divine maternity.   

Summary of the Week and a Reflection (9th February)

The Magnificat (Lk 1: 46-55)             

by Macarius Mpundu

The magnificat comes in gospel account of Luke after the discourse of Elizabeth and prior to this summary is indeed that explanation by Peter Kariuki about the Annunciation and the visitation. Therefore, I am going to take up from whence Peter left.

 It is worth noting that according to Luke, Mary is best known for the title of ‘Mother of Jesus.’ Mary is explicitly distinguished from the other believing women thus, actually this exegesis allude to the prominence of the figure of Mary in the writings of St Luke. With these assertions therefore, I delve into explanation of the Magnificat (Lk 1: 46-55) as a canticle of exultation of God by Mary.

“For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled,” Lk 1:44-45. And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my savior...”

About the canticle, Pope Benedict XVI in the encyclical Deus Caritas Est says that the magnificat is a portrait as it were of the soul of Mary.” The canticle reveals the spiritual disposition characteristics of the poor of YHWH; the anawim and the pious of Israel. It is a song of Joy and praise over the acts of God in the salvation history which now in fullness of time find their definitive realisation. The praises witness to God being as a merciful, powerful, holy and faithful, and the solidarity with his people in the realisation of the promises made to Abraham.

In the canticle the Virgin Mary glorifies the Lord for the works of mercy and power accomplished in her, the poor and the lowly for the people of Israel. The three parts are a composition of the canticle per excellence in the New Testament.

The sentiments of praise and thanks, are actually themes drawn from the Old Testament. The magnificat themes involve a mosaic biblical texts, the canticle of Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1 Sam 2: 1ff) and from the Psalms.

Mary proclaims the greatness of God, who reveals himself as all powerful through the mystery of her virginal conception, vs 38 ... for nothing is impossible to God.” With joy in her heart Mary calls God her Savior, she forms part of the anawim of YHWH by testifying that the Lord has looked upon her poverty- tapeinosis.

Conclusively, the final verses (54-55) are oriented towards the history of Israel as a whole and points out that YHWH is faithful to the covenant, he has finally fulfilled the promise of salvation by sending the Savior according to the promise he made to our ancestors; of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.

Summary & Reflection - 2nd February

Mary in the New Testament

Leonard Muli

Mary in the New Testament, we find references made to Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ the Son of God. The letter of St. Paul to the Galatia, the first letter to be written, dated 54 or 55, to the Christians community in Galatia made reference to the Jewish woman giving birth to a Messiah. Mark did not mention the name of Mary, but what is important is that: it is through Mary that the Son of God entered human history. She is the Mother of the Messiah who is Christ the Son of God. Ephesus was also seen as a great Marian centre. It is said that Mary would lived out her life with the Beloved Disciples in Ephesus. In fact, it was in Ephesus around 431 A.D., that the Church officially adopted the title Theotokos for Mary the Mother of Jesus. In Galatia, the letter of St Paul is all about the law and the Christians freedom in regard to its observance these laws.

In the Gospel of Mark, the oldest of the synoptic Gospel also made references to Mary. Mark speaks clearly and explicitly about Mary. In Mark 3:20; 3:31-35, Jesus relatives wanted to fetch him home, but he denied their role is a silent bystanders. In Mathew, and Luke the same situation is presented differently, their presentation is to make less the awkwardness for Christian readers. In Luke, we are presented with a scene where a woman praised Jesus’ mother, but his respond was those who hear the word of God and keep it are indeed blessed. The point is that, Jesus wanted to stress those who make up the eschatological family of God, though the natural family of Jesus as some scholars says is not excluded.

In Mark 6-1-6a, we see rejection of Jesus from different facets. Contextually speaking, the crowds no longer respond to Jesus favorably. The tile used for Jesus is prophet. Joseph is not mentioned as a father of Jesus; probably dead at this time, but his heavenly father is mentioned in this Gospels. Jesus’ only earthly parent is Mary. In Marks Gospel, Mary is presented as devout Mother who cares for the welfare of her family, his reputation, and course for her Son’s life. The faith content in Mark is that Jesus is truly the son of God (crucified Lord). Those who believe, belong to the family of Christ. The criterions for the membership into God’s family are doing the will of God, not by blood relations.

The Gospel of Mathew, Luke and Acts

It is said that Mathew account of the genealogy is not complete. The genealogy served a solid ground to shown that Jesus is placed within Judaism itself, and which also legitimize him. The evangelist also indented to highlight that the redemption was foreseen from beginning to the birth of Jesus to bring to completion the promise first made to Abraham and then to David. The evangelist listed 14 ancestors of Jesus from Abraham to David in three groups.

In the genealogy, four times the name of a woman is mentioned. The women mentioned all had a strange relationship. Most times, the word begins whose mother, but with Mary it changed. To get the fourteen generation, you have to add Mary, otherwise it is thirteen. I can therefore conclude that, the New Testament spoke precisely and definitely about Mary as the Mother of the Son of God.

Summary and a Reflection: 2nd February

   MARY IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW AND LUKE-ACTS

Godfrey Malietso

Mary in the New Testament

We discussed the overview of the portrait of Mary in the New Testament chronologically. In Galatians, Mary is portrait as a Jewish woman giving birth to the Messiah under the law of Judaism. In Mark, Jesus is said to be the son of Mary. In Matthew, Mary is seen as virgin and Mother. In Luke- Acts Mary is portrait as Virgin, Mother and woman of faith. In the John, Mary is seen as someone who asks the help of her Divine Son, she asks help not for herself but for mankind in need of an intervention from above. Also she is portrait as woman at the foot of the cross. In Revelation Mary, is portrait as the Ark of the Covenant.

Gospel of Matthew

Joseph Dream and the Virginal Birth of Jesus

Mary’s virginal conception by work of the Holy Spirit is discussed. Matthew states that Mary was betrothed to Joseph, he qualifies this statement by adding that before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit, in this way he removes slightest of doubt concerning the divine and supernatural origin of Jesus.

Joseph made aware of the pregnancy of Mary but did not yet informed of the miraculous conception found himself with an agonizing choice. For according to the Law of Moses an adulterous woman had to be rejected and stoned. But Joseph being a just man and not wishing to expose Mary to disgrace decided to separate from her and await enlightenment from on high, an explicit directive of God. This is what came during his dream with apparition of the Angel. Thus was indicated the mission of Joseph to take Mary and to adopt Jesus, so making Him son of David. The Angel enlightened Joseph that Mary has conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit thus removing any cause for anxiety and filling Joseph with peace and joy. Here again Mary’s virginal conception and Divine origin of Jesus is underlined.

The Adoration of the Magi

The profound meaning of the adoration of the Magi is the call of all people to the salvation brought by Christ. This perspective of salvation is different from that of the Old Testament, where salvation is limited to the Chosen People. The Magi remain mysterious persons. They come from the East, perhaps from Persia, or from Babylonia or Arabia. They represent pagan peoples who under the guidance of the star, arrive in Bethlehem and there meet the King-Messiah. The Magi express their homage to the newly born King with a prostration and the presentation of precious gifts, gold, incense and myrrh, symbols of royalty, divinity, and redemptive suffering. The Magi “found the child with Mary his mother.” This encounter is very significant. The inseparability of the Mother from the Son in the universal saving mission is being pointed to.

The flight to Egypt

Continues to remind us that Matthew has both Moses and the Exodus Event in mind as he recounts the story of Jesus.

Matthew’s image of Mary is that of the Mother of the Messiah who is also a virgin espoused to Joseph of the house of David. She is virgin in Chapter 1 and Mother in Chapter 2.

Luke- Acts and its portrait of Mary

Starts “...in the sixth month…”, which refers to the conception of John the Baptist. The Angel greeted Mary, “Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” The word chaire may signify rejoice. If taken in that sense, then the Angel would be inviting Mary to rejoice at the arrival of the long-expected Messiah. The term may also be the equivalent of the Hebrew greeting, shalom, or peace. The Angel addressed Mary, calling her kecharitoméne, translated as full of grace, or as fore-loved, privileged, and gratified. To this greeting the Angel added: “the Lord is with thee.” In the Old Testament, this expression is directed to personages who had been chosen to undertake a great mission, absolutely unique, on behalf of the people of God. The Angel, therefore, informs Mary that she has been called to a special mission for the salvation of Israel, as in the past Moses, Jeremiah, etc., were called. But Mary has been called to a higher one, because she alone has been addressed by God Himself with the name enriched by grace; only she became the Mother of the Messiah and the Mother of God. When Mary asked the Angel that how can it happen for her to conceive and yet she does not know man, has been interpreted by church fathers that this was difficult of faith not doubt of faith i.e she did not understand. Mary gave her full and free consent to the divine project, saying, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy Word”. With that “fiat,” given by Mary, shows the obedience to faith she had and readiness to do the Will of God.

Summary & Reflection (26th January)

The Virgin Mary in the New Testament

Fred Njuguna

The Nativity of Mary

Having looked at how Mary is viewed with the eye of the Old Testament, we have to analyze also how she is viewed in the New Testament. From what is written, we hardy know historically, as a person, who Mary of Nazareth really is. Mindful though, we need to be attentive since witness in the New Testament is quite diverse. We can chronologically trace the knowledge of Mary in the New Testament writings according to the time the books were written. Starting from the letter of Saint Paul to the Galatians till the book of Revelation we can deduce information concerning who Mary the mother of Jesus was.

Saint Paul’s letter to the Galatians was written around 54/55 AD. The letter was written while Paul was at Ephesus a place where Mary was said to have lived out her life. It was the same place where she gained the title Theotokos. The main theme of the letter is to teach Christian freedom in regard to observance of the prescription of the Mosaic Law. Paul firmly proclaims Christian freedom, by explaining the redemptive value of Christ’s passion, accessible to Christians through faith and baptism. In the letter, Paul, without mentioning the name of Mary, explicitly refers to a Jewish woman giving birth to the Messiah under the Law of Judaism. In the text, Paul excludes all “spiritualizing” tendencies by putting it clearly to mean that the birth from a woman guarantees the true humanity and historicity of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. Nonetheless, Paul never met the family of Jesus. He experienced Jesus on the way to Damascus and did not have any contact with Mary. He is hardly concerned with the reflection of Mary in the letter since his focus was preaching Jesus Christ the Crucified and risen.

The gospel of Mark was written around 65AD. It is the first gospel to mention Mary. It talks of Jesus’ relatives, and his mother seeking to fetch him back home. They seek to rescue him to safeguard the family’s reputation. Jesus however offsets family ties, and spiritualizes the whole situation by placing emphasis on doing the will of God. Jesus does not exclude his natural family, the passage in Mark has been studied and scholars came up with the ideas of showing clearly who really makes up the eschatological family of God. Jesus is considered to as the ‘son of Mary’ and that he had blood brothers and sisters. Mark present Mary as a devout mother concerned about the welfare of her family, reputation and above all, her son Jesus.

The gospel of Mathew in a special emphasis uses genealogy to legitimize Jesus and place him within Judaism aiming at showing how redemption was foreseen from the beginning and Jesus’ birth bringing completion Abraham’s and David’s promise. The names of five women, including Mary are highlighted. Among the many interpretations given as to why they are mentioned, the one that seem most appropriate is that all women, including Mary are considered to be in an unusual marital relationship; there is something irregular in their union with their partners. By finally including Mary in the ancestry, a woman instead of a man, Mathew clearly sets in the mystery of the virginal maternity of Mary, and implicitly the mystery of the very divinity of Jesus. Mathew refers to the divine origin of Jesus in the conception narrative. The begetting of the Jesus was not ascribed to Joseph precisely because the truth that Jesus was conceived virginally by Mary through the work of the Holy Spirit. This was held as patrimony of faith in the apostolic community. The mission of Joseph was to take Mary and adopt Jesus; this was to make him the son of David. The angel’s revelation manifests the true identity of Jesus in the gospel of Mathew.

Summary & Reflection - 26th January

Mary in the New Testament

New Testament Origins

Mary in the New Testament, we find references made to Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ the Son of God. The letter of St. Paul to the Galatia, the first letter to be written, dated 54 or 55, to the Christians community in Galatia made reference to the Jewish woman giving birth to a Messiah. Mark did not mention the name of Mary, but what is important is that: it is through Mary that the Son of God entered human history. She is the Mother of the Messiah who is Christ the Son of God. Ephesus was also seen as a great Marian centre. It is said that Mary would lived out her life with the Beloved Disciples in Ephesus. In fact, it was in Ephesus around 431 A.D., that the Church officially adopted the title Theotokos for Mary the Mother of Jesus. In Galatia, the letter of St Paul is all about the law and the Christians freedom in regard to its observance these laws.

In the Gospel of Mark, the oldest of the synoptic Gospel also made references to Mary. Mark speaks clearly and explicitly about Mary. In Mark 3:20; 3:31-35, Jesus relatives wanted to fetch him home, but he denied their role is a silent bystanders. In Mathew, and Luke the same situation is presented differently, their presentation is to make less the awkwardness for Christian readers. In Luke, we are presented with a scene where a woman praised Jesus’ mother, but his respond was those who hear the word of God and keep it are indeed blessed. The point is that, Jesus wanted to stress those who make up the eschatological family of God, though the natural family of Jesus as some scholars says is not excluded.

In Mark 6-1-6a, we see rejection of Jesus from different facets. Contextually speaking, the crowds no longer respond to Jesus favorably. The tile used for Jesus is prophet. Joseph is not mentioned as a father of Jesus; probably dead at this time, but his heavenly father is mentioned in this Gospels. Jesus’ only earthly parent is Mary. In Marks Gospel, Mary is presented as devout Mother who cares for the welfare of her family, his reputation, and course for her Son’s life. The faith content in Mark is that Jesus is truly the son of God (crucified Lord). Those who believe, belong to the family of Christ. The criterions for the membership into God’s family are doing the will of God, not by blood relations.

The Gospel of Mathew, Luke and Arts

It is said that Mathew account of the genealogy is not complete. The genealogy served a solid ground to shown that Jesus is placed within Judaism itself, and which also legitimize him. The evangelist also indented to highlight that the redemption was foreseen from beginning to the birth of Jesus to bring to completion the promise first made to Abraham and then to David. The evangelist listed 14 ancestors of Jesus from Abraham to David in three groups.

In the genealogy, four times the name of a woman is mentioned. The women mentioned all had a strange relationship. Most times, the word begins whose mother, but with Mary it changed. To get the fourteen generation, you have to add Mary, otherwise it is thirteen. I can therefore conclude that, the New Testament spoke precisely and definitely about Mary as the Mother of the Son of God.

Summary and Reflection

A "nameless" post!

Because of Mary’s participation in the Mysteries of Christ, the church has honoured her and she has been so instrumental in the life of the church by providing protection for her children on earth. Through this veneration of our Lady as mother of God, her son Christ is known and loved. The church on the other hand encourages all her believer to observe the devotions to our Lady, especially the ones recommended by the teaching authority of the church in the course of the centuries. Yet the church admonish preachers of the word and theologians to refrain from all false exaggerations; and they should use the Holy Scripture, the Fathers and the churches liturgy as sources or guides in talking about the devotion to our Lady. This document went on to stress that true devotion comes from true faith by which we are led to realize our Lady as a Model and the mother of God.

In talking about Mary as true sign of hope and comfort for the pilgrim people of God, this document states that; from heaven, Our Lady still remain in union with the pilgrim church. It is the church’s consolation to know that even among the separated brethrens, there are those who are still devoted to our Lady as mother of God. As she has been exalted into heaven, the Holy Church believes that she will continue to intercede for her children and do them favour as she did during her earthly time. Thus the Holy church believes that with her prayer, salvation will be granted to all mankind.