Reflection -The Nativity of Our LadyThe birth of a child is generally an occasion of joy, but it is particularly so when the child is much-wanted, even longed-for. Mary was just such a child – and not just for her parents, Joachim and Anna, as we shall see. Information about Mary before the Annunciation is scarce, and we have to look beyond the Bible to find it. The most interesting and complete account is to be found in the Protoevangelium of James, which dates, in its final form, from probably early in the second century and therefore at only a little over a hundred years from the events it depicts, which is around the same distance as we stand from the death of Queen Victoria. Although the Protoevangelium is not recognized by the Church as being inspired, as are the words of the Bible, that does not mean that it is of no value, as it probably contains a number of ‘memories’ of the earliest Christians, however embellished.Be that as it may, many early writers of the Church made use of the accounts here and from elsewhere in writing about Our Lady, a topic of much meditation and theological reflection. Mary was Theotokos, the ‘God-Bearer’, Mother of God and was rightly venerated from an early date and increasingly so as theological reflection on her role in salvation deepened. Paul tells us that the whole of creation had been sighing and groaning, awaiting it’s redemption and now, in the Immaculate Conception and the Birth of Mary, who the angels knew, through divine revelation, would be the Mother of God, that moment had begun to arrive.How it must have gladdened the heavenly host to know that, at last, the final stage of the redemption of humanity, and hence of the entire created order, had finally begun! The birth of Mary, who was to play such a central role in this drama, was absolutely necessary. Without Mary, the Incarnation could not have taken place. Oh, I suppose God could have chosen another girl to become the Mother of the Second Person of Trinity, incarnate on earth for us. Yet it was this girl, born of a priestly family in the first century of Roman rule in Palestine, who was chosen. God’s purposes are the deepest mystery and, as the Psalms remind us, are unfathomable but he does not make mistakes. The great mystery here is that having chosen the Incarnation as the means by which he would bring about our salvation, he entrusted it to this young Jewish girl. Imagine! The greatest event imaginable dependent on the ‘yes’ of this child. Yet that is how God chose to work. No wonder the Church has always honoured Mary so highly, praised her so mightily! Even the great Protestant writers, even after having abandoned and rejected the Catholic Faith and no friends of saints, were insistent on the greatness of Mary! Embarrassing to most modern Protestants, if they were even to know of it, the great 16th Century founder of Reformed Protestantism, John Calvin, was insistent that ‘No-once can have God as their Father unless they have Mary as their Mother’.This way of God in working with the freely-given ‘yes’ of a teenage girl is paradigmatic of the way in which he works with us all. God saves us. No human being is remotely capable of saving him or herself. Yet God requires our cooperation in doing so, we must work with him to achieve this free salvation and we always remain free to reject it. God loves us so much that he must always give us the option to freely reject him and his love, just as Mary could have said ‘no’ to becoming the Mother of her Saviour. Yet because God, in his infinite love for us has given us free will, this is necessarily a time-limited offer. It is limited by the moment of our deaths. At the moment in which we finally pass out of this world, a step every human must inevitably take, we are presented before the Lord and the time for choice is past. We shall, for good or ill, see Christ face to face. Because we will be presented with the awe-full reality of God, we shall no longer have the choice of accepting or rejecting him. All will recognize him for who he is and any form of atheism will be impossible.Some say that, seeing God, who could then reject him? All people will therefore accept him and be saved. Yes, this is an attractive idea, but it has no place in either the Bible or the consciousness of the Church. It is to do both God and humans a grave injustice, for it refuses to take seriously either the dignity of human free will or the absolutely radical love of God which must respect that free will! Universalism, the belief that all will ultimately be saved, cannot be reconciled with the words of Jesus, however hard that may seem.No, now is the time of choice, now is the time of salvation! That is why how we behave in our lives, how we repent of our sins and the extent we avail ourselves of the Sacraments which God has provided as the ‘ordinary’ means of our salvation actually really matters! Mary shows us the way, the way which lies in offering our constant ‘yes’ to her Son. It is in her ‘yes’ that we can confide our own ‘yes’, trusting in her powerful intersession to aid our often feeble and faltering response to God’s call in our own lives. It is also on reflecting carefully on the results of her own ‘yes’ to God’s seemingly cruel and demanding requirements of her (adultery, which it would have been seen as, carried the death penalty) that we can find the hope and the courage so needed when God makes his will for our lives clear. God’s will for us may not be what we had hoped for, may even seem harsh, may even require that we be prepared to lay down our lives. Yet this same God who calls us to bear our cross, whatever that may be, is also the one who promises us eternal life with him in the Kingdom and who has crowned his own human mother Queen of that Kingdom. Imagine! One who is utterly human has become the highest of all created beings, of angels, as well as humans! She is next only to God himself and, whilst there can be but one in her position, he promises that we can be sharers in the Kingdom with her! It is no wonder that the saints, whilst on earth, when they contemplated the glories of this simple girl from Nazareth made Queen of Heaven cried for sheer joy!Therefore, let us celebrate this Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the true Mother of God, with great rejoicing. In her ‘yes', let us have the confidence to make our own ‘yes’, so that with her, we may come to rejoice eternally with all the saints in the Kingdom of her beloved Son, Christ our true God.
Reflection - Fame! And Why to Avoid ItWhen I was Head of Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (oh, boy! Don’t we just love accumulating ever-more important-sounding job titles?), in a boys’ private school, I often had cause to discuss my pupils’ career ambitions and life aims. Among the many more mundane occupations they had in mind for their future selves (accountant, lawyer, doctor, banker and the like: no would-be plumbers, bus drivers, bakers, cleaners and the like in THAT school), there were a fair number of boys who seemed to think that it didn’t greatly matter what they did, as long as it brought them fame – and, no doubt, fortune, with it. Fame seemed, to them, to be the measure of the success or otherwise of their lives. In fairness, a number of their parents/siblings/relatives did ‘enjoy’ a measure of what passes as fame in the contemporary world and this probably influenced them a good deal. Fame today seems to be the preserve of footballers, pop musicians or rappers, or perhaps actors and politicians (much the same, really!). In the past, fame has been variously acquired by explorers, scientists, through military or naval prowess and acts of supreme valour – or even, at times, through spiritual endeavour and achievement! How things have changed!Yet is fame really be sought after, even (or especially) if such fame comes at a price? The author, J.K. Rowling certainly has fame, but also a great deal of venom has lately been directed at her for daring to express opinions which, until a few years ago, were perfectly normal and very much in the mainstream. If she had not been quite so famous, it is unlikely that she would have garnered the degree of hatred which has been directed at her.Christians are called to live their lives without concerning themselves with the acquisition of fame. It can, of course, be ours anyway, unasked for and it can be the means of doing great good in the world, but in general we understand that the aim of life is not success in this world, but success in getting to the next world, God’s Kingdom. Our Lady, in one of her messages disclosed to one of the children of Fatima, said that ‘If men truly understood what eternity is, they would do everything to change their lives.’ The question is, not how I can gain fame, but rather, how can I gain eternal life with God? Surely, properly considered, everything else is subordinate to this goal!Today is the Feast of St Giles, truly a man who knew the pitfalls of fame. Born in Athens, Greece, in the middle of the 7th Century, Giles took this lesson to heart from an early age and, rather than seeking fame and fortune in this troubled world, determined to do his utmost to be found worthy, through the loving mercy of God, to inherit eternal life and citizenship of the Kingdom. However, although living a solitary life, his spiritual progress and feats made him an object of both curiosity and misguided devotion. Realising that this not only impinged upon his time but also came with the temptation to spiritual pride, Giles left Greece and travelled along the comparatively easy sea route to southern France, a place where he could find the solitude and anonymity he craved.Residing deep in a forest as a hermit for many years, Giles accidentally came to the attention of the local king, who no doubt wished to gain ‘a friend at Court’ (the only Court which really matters). This king built a monastery for Giles and the few disciples he permitted himself. Credited with great holiness whilst living, on his death the fame could only increase with the many reports of miracles wrought through his intercession. Throughout the Middle Ages, his name and fame spread across Northern Europe, to the extent that his popularity as a true friend of God ensured his choice as Patron Saint of Edinburgh, later the capital city of Scotland.So, although eschewing fame in this world, which he rightly saw as being detrimental to progress as a Christian, Giles has ensured, through his devotion to Christ lived through a life of prayer, that his fame as a true soldier of God would spread far and wide, This fame has inspired many people through learning of his life to make the effort to reform their own lives and also, following his example, to draw closer to God. That is the only sort of fame for which St Giles, hermit, monk and Patron Saint of cripples and numerous cities across Europe, would have any time: a ‘fame’ which can be used in the divine mission of bringing people to God.So, let us not search for the passing ‘fame’ provided by this world, but rather, with St Giles and all the company of Heaven, for the true fame, the fame which can come only through knowing. Loving and serving Christ!Father David
Reflection – 28th JulyTomorrow is the feast day of St Martha (the CW lectionary adds Mary and Lazarus), the woman who is remembered especially for waiting on Jesus and his friends during their visit to her home and who is, appropriately, Patron Saint of cooks. Martha highlights one of the two tendencies within Christianity, that is, to place the emphasis on the practical works of service to others. In our modern age, as it was indeed for many earlier people, this is what Christianity is particularly about. Indeed, someone who is focussed on this aspect is often held up as an excellent example of what a ‘good Christian’ is! Of course, practical work in caring for others has been at the forefront of Christianity right from the beginning. This is fully in line with the Jewish tradition’s focus and is exemplified in the ministry of Jesus himself. After all, he spent much of his time healing the sick, comforting the broken-hearted and being engaged in the often-messy task of engaging with people of all sorts. Following the example of the Lord, Christians have been active in such practical acts as tending the sick, setting up hospitals, feeding and housing the poor and homeless, visiting prisoners and educating both adults and children. Indeed, the very fact that we have schools and hospitals, charitable institutions and even the most basic forms of help for the disadvantaged is down to the Church! Even such a seemingly secular organization as The Samaritans, with which I used to be a volunteer, is down to the work of an Anglican priest, Chad Varah.It is therefore patently incorrect to assert, as some people do, that Christianity has been of no use to society. To anyone with even an ounce of historical knowledge and understanding, the fact that there is even a society at all has much to owe to the Church!However, the practical works, of immense importance though they are, express only one side of the coin. At the visit of Jesus to the home of Martha, it was her sister, Mary, who received the higher praise from Jesus, because she sat at his feet, listening to his teaching. It is thus Mary who exemplifies the ‘other side’ of the coin: that of prayer, spirituality, and study. Jesus went so far as to commend her for having chosen the ‘better part’. This is not to denigrate the service dimension, for it remains of vital importance. However, it places it in context. It is subordinate to, and dependent upon, a proper relationship with God. It is as one draws closer to God that one truly begins to place value upon human life and well-being, for then one becomes truly aware of what a human being is – a potential or actual child of God, created in his image and capable, through grace, of coming to manifest the likeness of God in Christ. When one comes to truly realize this, it becomes impossible not to be concerned for ‘the other’ and one ceases to view other humans as commodities or as being disposable. Friendship with God, which is attained through prayer, study, and worship, is the only solid basis for any notion of human rights or even of morality. Without that, there is no reason even to think in terms of objective right and wrong – even Auschwitz becomes just a matter of personal taste!Martha, however, has another thing to teach us. She was not content to leave matters as they stood. She clearly took Jesus’ words to heart, for, when Jesus came again, just after the burial of her brother, Lazarus, it was Martha who came at once to Jesus and, even though her words betrayed an understandable lack of true comprehension, she made an open confession of her faith in Jesus as Son of God. In other words, her faith had deepened, and her understanding had grown. There is absolutely no reason to doubt that she still had a concern for the practical dimension, but now it was informed and underpinned by a fuller understanding of the nature of her relationship with God.It is fortunate that, in reality, acquiring this balance, whilst no doubt a good thing for any individual, is not absolutely necessary, for the balance is attained across the whole Body of Christ, the Church. Paul makes it very clear that we all have different gifts, different callings, but it is together that we make the Church what it is. All of our different talents, gifts and stresses are necessary and work together. Each one of us, with our different approaches, is required. This is as true of the cloistered monastic as it is of the schoolteacher, the nurse – or the cook. All are needed!St Francis of Assisi may exemplify within himself the balance to be found in the whole Church. In stressing his practical work with the poor and the sick, it is all too easy to forget that he had another dimension – that of an intense spirituality and prayer life, indebted to the sacramental worship of the Church. He was a Deacon – so he had some theological learning. He preached regularly in cathedrals and churches, as well as in the open air. He had vivid spiritual experiences and participated as a Deacon in the worship of the Church – gloriously vested as befitted his rank and obedient to the strict and complex rules governing the worship of God. Yet within his Order he sought to foster all manner of vocations. True, the Order was known for its practical work – but no less for its preaching and teaching, its studies in the universities and its commitment to missionary work!So, in celebrating St Martha, let us not be tempted to exalt one form of Christian service above another. All are needful. Also, take heart from this. It does not greatly matter what your strengths are – or weaknesses. All are of use by God in building up the Church, in bringing others to the richness of the life we know in Christ!There is a very brief YouTube presentation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifu0_aOQFPA&autoplay=1&list=PL58g24NgWPIzvBk2IQVES_xC4WTm6-CDI.Father David
