Meditations #4

[00:00:00] CA: Hello, and welcome to this fourth episode of Meditations for Saints in the Making. I’m the Catholic Adventurer. And I thank you very much for joining me. We’re going to reflect a little bit on the first two joyful mysteries of the Rosary, the Annunciation and the Visitation.

[00:00:21] I’m going to make this a little simpler than than what I did with the first three episodes of Meditations. The first three episodes, I thought, , were very tight. There was a lot of biblical history, there was a lot of theology I, I presented a lot of material for your own meditation. Today, I’m going to go a little bit simpler.

[00:00:42] We’re going to discuss some things, , in these first two mysteries because what I want to do is I want to give you more to reflect on and a little bit less to think about. 

[00:00:54] A little less theology, a little less biblical history, but, , a little bit. So this is going to be something very good for you to take to your meditation. Speaking of meditation, if you don’t know, I placed in this podcast’s portal site, I placed a meditation video only available on this podcast’s portal site.

[00:01:17] You can find that site at lnk. to slash catholicmeditations. And I’ll see you Think of it as link to, except without the I, [00:01:30] lnk. to slash catholic meditations. If you scroll down, you’ll find the meditation video embedded there. Now that of course is a meditation video really related to episode three, finding Jesus.

[00:01:47] For now, I think that will remain there. I don’t think I’m going to do a guided meditation for episode four. I don’t expect to do one of those every episode just once in a while. All right, let’s begin with a prayer. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

[00:02:04] Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to immerse ourselves in your Word, the life of Jesus, and these moments in the life of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray for the coming, for the descent of the Holy Spirit’s Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. We pray for the Holy Spirit to come to us and to be with us, to come into our minds and help us to understand and comprehend deeply and fundamentally the mysteries we see in your holy word today.

[00:02:44] Again, we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Come Holy Spirit, by the powerful intercession of the immaculate heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. In the name of Jesus, come Holy Spirit, Amen. [00:03:00] In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. The way I’m going to do this today is, I’m going to go through the scriptures of these two mysteries, and here and there I’ll interject, or I’ll throw some thoughts at you for you to consider, or I’ll give you some facts and things like that.

[00:03:20] So, this is going to be a little bit more Scripture, Scripture heavy today, okay? So, we’re doing the first joyful mystery. We’re not praying the mystery, we’re just talking about it, from the Gospel of Luke. Funny thing about Luke, boy, just when I’m starting, I’m pausing. Funny thing about Luke, Um, it’s widely believed from tradition that Luke spoke directly to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

About the Gospel of Luke

[00:03:45] CA: Luke, in composing his gospel, took a lot of the material from the account, the first person account of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It makes sense because there are some things Luke writes about that no one could possibly have known unless the Holy Spirit put that knowledge in there or unless he received these details directly from the Blessed Virgin Mary.

[00:04:09] I don’t think it’s legend. It isn’t canonical, but it is strongly believed with near certainty that he very likely interviewed We know that he conducted interviews to compose his gospel. He very likely interviewed the Blessed Virgin Mary for some of for a lot of the material in, in, in, at least in the parts of the gospel that involve [00:04:30] her.

[00:04:30] In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin’s name Was Mary. 

[00:04:46] First thing we should take from this is there’s a lot of signaling here that St. Luke is doing. First, he’s naming the foster father of Jesus, a man named Joseph.

[00:04:58] Also, we know that Joseph was not a man of great renown because he doesn’t say , she was betrothed to Joseph, right? He says she was betrothed to a man named Joseph. So he’s important to be named. He’s important. But what I take from this is he’s not a man of notoriety. Probably nobody knows him or knew him.

[00:05:21] Next thing to take from this is that he’s being very specific. It’s a man named Joseph of the house of David. Because it was known that the Messiah would come from the house of David. So Luke is being very deliberate to say, to go so far as to say, Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

[00:05:45] And coming to her, The angel said, Hail, highly favored one, the Lord is with you. Let’s pause there for a second. In another translation, one of the other Gospels, it says, Hail, [00:06:00] full of grace. I actually like that translation better, Hail, full of grace, because I just feel like many people can be considered highly favored, but only the Blessed Virgin Mary could possibly be full of grace.

[00:06:17] I mean, you might say Jesus was full of grace. In fact, I think one of the Old Testament books refers to, or alludes, not alludes, but refers to the Messiah as being Him who is full of grace. But to say full of grace is very different from saying highly favored one. If St. Luke got this from the Holy Virgin Mary, I can see her changing, not changing, not changing the script, but wanting to diminish the highly favored one part and choosing instead to say.

[00:06:49] Changing the full of grace part and choosing instead to say highly favored one. That’s, that’s only my, my thought. I don’t know if that’s really what happened. But interesting to point out that in another gospel, in another translation, what the angel says here is highly favored, I’m sorry, is full of grace.

“Where is Marian Prayer in the BIble??”

[00:07:09] CA: I recently had an interaction, not much of an interaction, it was really just one volley on X and I’m going to read it to you because it’s, it has to do specifically with this.

[00:07:20] So the person said, nowhere in the Bible does anyone pray to Mary. And then blah blah blah, insert anti Mary Protestant [00:07:30] jargon here. My response went like this, quote, Hail, full of grace, end quote. That’s the only time in Scripture, and I’m saying this to you.

[00:07:42] That’s the only time in Scripture that an angel says anything like that to a human being. And that’s true. Some things angels always do in common when they, when a human encounters them. First they say, don’t be afraid. So an angel must be very terrifying to look at. Don’t be afraid. I think all of the, every time a human encounters an angel, I think the angel has always started with, don’t be afraid.

[00:08:10] But nowhere does an angel say, Say salve or hail to a human being. Human beings , , are lower creatures than angels. Here is the only time an angel, when greeting a human, says salve, hail, or further, hail, full of grace, or hail, highly favored one. I’m sorry, my friends, that’s a prayer to Mary. It’s not the worship of Mary, but it is a, it is a, what we would call a prayer to Mary.

[00:08:43] It’s the only time in Scripture an angel greets a human that way. And then I go on, which is why Mary is distressed by the greeting. Let me explain. Scripture says, in fact, let me see if I have it in my notes to go on to that point. Yeah, so, also in Luke, it [00:09:00] says Mary was greatly troubled. at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

[00:09:07] It’s another one of those three times or so that we see Mary pondering. Pondering, which is what we’re doing here in meditations, we’re pondering. We’re not just wondering, we’re pondering, right? So Mary was greatly distressed or troubled by this greeting and she pondered what it might mean.

[00:09:25] I’ve heard people suggest that the reason why Mary was troubled by this greeting , was because whenever an angel greets a human Something big is going to happen and Mary was distressed. Oh. It’s an angel. What might this mean? Mostly, I’ve only heard Protestants say that.

[00:09:41] When you look at the big picture, I can see why someone would get that from this The angel said hail, full of grace, or hail, highly favored one, and Mary was distressed at what kind of greeting this might be. What must this mean that this angel is coming to me, right? But I don’t think in Catholic thought we see it that way.

[00:10:01] There is nothing in Catholic teaching that says this is why Mary was distressed. So we are kind of, somewhat, free to think of it, think about it on our own. The church doesn’t definitively say this is why Mary was distressed. Might it be because, well, oh, it’s an angel. What must this mean? I guess it might, except I don’t believe that Mary, whose faith in God was so pure and perfect, would have been [00:10:30] distressed about what news must be coming.

[00:10:33] I don’t see Mary being distressed for that reason. What I’m offering to you, and what I offer to this person on X, is that, and Fulton Sheen has also said this, by the way. Mary is distressed by this greeting because Mary is humble. She sees herself as being very little, very small. And she’s distressed that an angel, an angel, is greeting her this way.

[00:11:00] Hail, highly favored one. Or hail, full of grace. Now that’s two big compliments. Hail is one. A highly favored one is another. And I think that’s why Mary is distressed in this moment, not because she’s wondering what must this mean, where, where must this, where might this be going? I think it’s because of the character of the greeting was so, I don’t know, so big and so exultant to someone who was, who, who was so humble.

[00:11:29] And so herself, herself is so simple, right? I am the handmaid of the Lord. Why would you be saying hail to me? Right? 

Why the Hail Mary has Power

[00:11:38] CA: But half of the Hail Mary prayer is in the Bible. This is almost neither here nor there, but it’s what I said to this person on X, and I’m offering it to you as an additional thought.

TRADITION

[00:11:46] CA: Half of the Hail Mary, , the Hail Mary prayer is in the Bible, therefore it’s authoritative.

[00:11:52] The other half comes from tradition. , I would call that lowercase t tradition. It, it’s not ultimately authoritative, but it, it does [00:12:00] have a sort of authority. It’s not sacred tradition. It’s just Tradition, lowercase t. Just to be clear, capital T Tradition is Sacred Tradition. It’s the Tradition that is handed down by the Apostles, and it must be believed and adhered to.

[00:12:15] That’s the difference between capital T Tradition and lowercase t Tradition. Lowercase t Tradition is basically a very, very, very, very old custom, but it’s not authoritative. We don’t have to adhere to it. Capital T Tradition is Sacred Tradition. It’s the foundation on which Christianity is built, and it’s indispensable.

[00:12:36] , an all male priesthood, for instance, is capital T Tradition. We cannot change it. A married clergy is lowercase T Tradition. It’s an old custom, but it’s not something we have to adhere to. The church tomorrow could allow priests to get married, but never will the church , have the authority to ordain women.

[00:12:59] CA: Okay? So that’s the difference between tradition and tradition.

END TRADITION

[00:13:02] CA: So the second half of the Hail Mary prayer comes from tradition. The first half comes from the Bible. The middle part is where the action is, the middle part of the Hail Mary, because who’s in the middle? Jesus. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

[00:13:17] That part of the Hail Mary. Is what makes the first half and the second half meaningful. Without Jesus in this story, there’s no reason to say Hail, full of grace, [00:13:30] because she’s a nobody. Mary is only exalted because, yes, because she’s sinless and because of her purity, but because she’s the mother of God.

[00:13:39] It’s Jesus that makes her a somebody. Holy Mary, Mother of God. That’s irrelevant if there is no Jesus. Pray for us sinners. Her prayers are just as efficacious as mine, without Jesus. Without the fact that because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross, Mary, in preparation for conceiving Jesus in her womb, was conceived without sin.

[00:14:03] Understand? First part of the prayer comes from the scriptures, second part comes from tradition, but the middle part is what gives it all power and meaning. Hmm? If you want an extra little nugget to conclude my comment to that person on X, I said, show me where in Scripture we’re told that the Bible is the inerrant and authoritative Word of God. Show me in the Bible where it says that. It isn’t there. The teaching that the Bible is the inerrant, authoritative Word of God does not come from the Bible.

[00:14:33] That comes from tradition. Where’s that in the Bible? Well, why should we care what the Bible says if the Bible does not speak of itself as being inerrant, as being the Word of God? Why should we care what’s in the Bible? We believe it to be the inerrant, authoritative Word of God from tradition. Tradition teaches us that, not the scriptures.

[00:14:54] Moving on. A little bit of a breakaway, but I thought you’d find that interesting. Then the angel said, [00:15:00] Don’t be afraid, Mary. There you go. We see a don’t be afraid again. Don’t be afraid, Mary. For you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.

[00:15:16] He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his and of his kingdom there will be no end.

[00:15:31] This language is, is tricky. The angel says, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. One thing I want to point out, a smaller point, so I’ll get to it first. that God will give him the throne of his father, David.

 Joseph, House of David, Our Lord’s Father

[00:15:50] CA: Well, how is David his father? For those who don’t know,

[00:15:53] heredity stems from the lineage of the father. Joseph is of the house of David. And because Joseph is of the house of David, and because Joseph is lawfully married to the Virgin Mary, their offspring, now they did not have offspring together, but just hear me out, their offspring will be of the house of David, because Joseph is.

[00:16:16] That’s how the hereditary line, proceeds from the father. Even though Joseph did not beget Jesus from his, from his body, Jesus came from the body of the blessed Virgin Mary [00:16:30] and Joseph is lawfully married to. By lawfully, I mean under the law of God, not just the law of nature or the law of man. He’s lawfully married to the blessed virgin Mary.

[00:16:40] Therefore, Jesus is lawfully his son, eh? It’s his foster son. Yes, yes, yes. We call it that, but that is not how the Jews saw it. Even many cultures today. Many cultures today, there’s technically no such thing as a foster father, or foster son, or a stepchild. When the parents are lawfully married, the children are the children of both parents, regardless of whose body they came from.

[00:17:06] Because Joseph is lawfully married to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus is his son. Even if not biologically. You might notice in some prayers to St. Joseph, Jesus is referred to as St. Joseph. His divine Son, right? In Scripture, you’ll notice this in the finding of the temple, and I think one other place in the Scripture, where Mary, like in the finding of the temple, Mary says, Your father and I have been searching for you anxiously.

[00:17:39] She doesn’t say your foster father. Your stepfather. She says your father and I. Well, that’s why, because according to the law of God and the law of, in Jewish law, Jesus is Joseph’s son. Jesus is of the house of David because Joseph is, 

Mary’s Fiat

[00:17:55] CA: I thought you’d find interesting. So the angel is saying you will conceive and [00:18:00] bear a son. You will, you shall call him Jesus. He will sit on the throne of his father David, etc, etc. Sure. The church has never taught that Mary was without agency in this decision. The Holy Virgin chose to say yes. Fiat. Fiat.

[00:18:20] Which means, so be it. Which is a powerful phrase. Meditate. When you take this to your meditation, spend a little time on that. So be it. The angel is not saying, this is what’s going to happen whether or not you like it. The angel is telling of what is going to happen. Amen. Right? You shall, he shall, he will sit on the throne of his father David, of his kingdom there will be no end.

[00:18:45] The angel is, is sort of, not predicting, the angel knows this is going to happen because God permitted the angel to know this, and God knows everything, right? But the angel is not saying, this is going to happen whether you like it or not. The Holy Virgin does have a choice in this matter.

[00:19:04] We know that later on because she says, Let it be done to me. Let it be done to me. Well, why is she saying that if it’s going to happen regardless of what she says about it? Fiat, so be it. Fiat, so be it. Let it be.

[00:19:19] It cannot be overstated. The significance of that fiat, so be it. It cannot be overstated. The angel is dropping a bomb [00:19:30] on the Blessed Virgin Mary. She’s a young child, she’s 14 or 15, and an angel has appeared to her. That’s it, that’s all you need to know. An angel has appeared to her, that’s huge.

[00:19:42] CA: And then the angel says, You’re going to give birth to the Messiah, and he will save his people from their sins. Like, wow, you know, I mean, the Messiah was foretold for thousands of years. Mary knows about all of this. Mary knows the Messiah must suffer for the sins of mankind. The whole story, Mary already knows this.

[00:20:05] She’s a good Jewish girl, she knows her scripture. Backward and forward, inside and out. She meditates on it day and night. Yes, the Jews med well, good Jews meditated on the scriptures. We can fairly believe that Joseph and Mary did too, a lot. She knows where this story goes. So the angel has just dropped a bomb on her.

[00:20:27] You’re going to be pregnant with the Son of God. He’s going to be the Messiah. He is the Messiah. And yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda. And what does Mary say? So be it. I would have questions. I don’t know about you, but I would have questions. Wait a second, wait a second. Is there any other way we can do this? Wait a minute, wait a minute.

[00:20:44] Are you gonna send some help? I don’t know how to raise the Son of God. . I would have questions. I might even have pushback. I can tell you for sure I would have pushback. I would have a lot of pushback. What does Mary say?

[00:20:57] So be it. I [00:21:00] am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to thy word. Let it be done to me. Let it be done to me. I mean, this is total surrender to God by the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let it be done to me. I’m going to place a link for this, for this, I’m going to tell you about an article. I just want to make sure I have it in the right place here.

[00:21:23] I’m going to place a link to an article on my website and it is titled, Let it be done to me. It was a first Sunday meditation. In February 2021, and it’s titled, Let It Be Done To Me, it’s on my website, catholicadventurer. com. I will place a link to it, um, in the description to this episode. And I discuss some of what we’re seeing in this, let it be done to me stuff.

[00:21:49] Let what be done to me? What’s exactly going to happen? You might want to check out that article, see what you think of it. So this fiat, well, where do we get fiat from? I guess that really comes from tradition, but it is what she’s saying. This is how the early, translators. Understood this with so be it after this great big bomb the angel just dropped on Mary.

[00:22:12] So be it I’m the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to thy word everything that you said Let it be done to me. Wow, man. Wow Mind you again. She’s 14 15 years old with this kind of faith and trust [00:22:30] most Holy Virgin Mary Please help us to have that kind of trust and faith in God Help us, Mother, to have such profound faith in God as you had in this moment.

[00:22:43] He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of David, his father. And he will rule over the house of Jacob forever in his kingdom. And of his kingdom there will be no end.

The Virginity of Mary, and Mary’s Faith in God

[00:22:57] CA: Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I have no relations with a man?

[00:23:03] Often we will hear that translated. How can this be since I’m a virgin? And we think, well, yeah, how can that be? After all, she’s a virgin. It’s a little bit more to it than that. First, Mary is not. expressing disbelief, as I have heard some Catholic publications, and of course, Protestant publications, state.

[00:23:29] That here is an example of Mary being unsure, or having a diminished faith in God. And I have even heard this on some legitimate Catholic outlets, which I cannot believe. I’m not talking about like the crazy ones. I’m talking about legitimate ones. My friends, there was not a shred of doubt in the Holy Virgin Mary in this moment.

[00:23:51] Not one shred of doubt, not one shred of doubt or trust in God or diminished trust or faith in God. Mary [00:24:00] here is not expressing the doubt that Zechariah expressed when the angel, this same angel, Gabriel, told him that his wife Elizabeth was going to conceive John the Baptist. Zechariah thought that ridiculous, and Zechariah said, how on earth is that possible?

[00:24:15] I’m an old man, my wife’s an old woman, she’s barren, yadda yadda yadda yadda, and the angel, the angel punished him by making him mute. If you remember the story. What we’re seeing here is not that. We know that, number one, because the angel doesn’t get irritated. This angel, Gabriel, got very irritated by Zechariah’s doubt.

[00:24:34] The angel doesn’t get irritated here, so we know Mary’s question is different from the nature of the question Zechariah asked. How on earth can that be? That’s not what Mary is saying. It is believed in tradition that the blessed Virgin Mary was a consecrated virgin from an early age. She was a consecrated virgin.

[00:24:53] What the blessed mother is saying here isn’t, I’m a virgin right now. How is this gonna be possible? It’s commonly strongly believed and held in tradition that what the blessed, blessed Virgin Mary is saying is, I’m a consecrated virgin. How is this going to be possible since I am not just a lowercase virgin, but a capital V.

[00:25:15] I’m one of those virgins who has consecrated herself to God. How is God going to make this happen, since God knows that I am a consecrated virgin? She’s not saying, how is that going to be possible? She’s saying, how is God going to make this [00:25:30] happen, after all?

[00:25:32] I am a consecrated virgin. Some translations that you might have seen might say, I have not known man. I don’t like that translation. Because it almost implies that maybe at some point in her life, she might have known man. She might have not, no longer been a virgin. But I don’t think church thought has ever supported that.

[00:25:51] I think the church has always believed, again, it is not doctrine. It’s doctrine that she’s perpetually, that she is still a virgin. I don’t think it’s doctrine that she was a consecrated virgin, but I think it’s strong in Catholic belief and Catholic thought that she was probably a consecrated virgin When the angel appeared to her and so she’s asking the angel not how is that possible?

[00:26:16] But how will God make that happen? Because I’m a consecrated virgin

[00:26:21] But Mary said to the angel how can this be since I have no relations with a man and the angel said to her The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you pause It’s not of Mary’s power, it’s of the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of God most high overshadowing her that this happens.

[00:26:47] Again, our love for Mary is not a love strictly because of Mary. It’s a love for Mary that is because of Mary, but because of God, [00:27:00] because of God, because of God. In old Christian art, Mary is commonly depicted as standing on the moon. Do you know why? Because the moon, what do we know about the moon? It has no light of its own. It reflects the light of the sun. Mary has no light of, of her own. She reflects the light of her sun.

[00:27:24] Hail, full of grace. Why? Because the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. That’s how special you are. The scripture continues, Therefore the child to be born will be called holy. The son of God. And if he is the son of God and Mary is his mother, then Mary is what?

[00:27:42] The mother of God. That’s a no-brainer, right? That’s a, that’s pretty much a no-brainer and behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age

Nothing WILL BE Impossible

[00:27:54] , and this is the sixth month for her who was called Baron.

[00:27:58] CA: For nothing will be impossible for God. I wanna tell you something that may blow your mind. It may even , depending on who’s listening to this, it may even upset you. . It shouldn’t though. For nothing will be impossible for God. Again, here, get ready for your mind to be blown.

[00:28:22] The angel does not say. Nothing is impossible for God. [00:28:30] The angel says, nothing will be impossible for God. What’s the difference? First, let me say, God can do anything. Well, he can’t do the impossible or he can’t do the illogical, right? He can’t blue blah, blue blah, blue blah, blue blah, because that doesn’t make any sense.

[00:28:48] God can’t do anything that doesn’t make any sense. Okay, so let’s start there. That’s number one. Number two, yes, as long as it’s not ridiculous or impossible or illogical, God can do anything. Yes. Yes, but there are some things that are impossible in reality until God acts. It is impossible for a virgin to conceive a child until and unless God acts.

[00:29:20] For nothing, not even that, will be impossible for God. Effectively we’re saying the same thing. When we say nothing is impossible and nothing will be impossible for God, effectively we are saying the same thing. God can make all things possible. That’s effectively what we’re saying. We’re saying the same thing in both, in both phrases.

[00:29:41] The significance for me of nothing will be impossible for God, the significance there is we are highlighting the action of God. The statement nothing will be impossible highlights and implies that God will act. God [00:30:00] will act. It makes, it makes, it makes it more personal when we see it that way. God can do anything.

[00:30:07] It’s a different thing from saying God will act and He will do what needs to be done. God will act. We’re bringing God into it in, in truth rather than in theory by saying it that way. Nothing will be impossible when God acts on it. Nothing will be impossible. When God acts, sometimes when I explain that, I say, well, some things are impossible for God until he acts.

[00:30:39] Some things are, don’t take that as doctrine. This is just kind of a philosophical thought exercise. That’s all, okay? It’s a philosophical thought exercise. What I’m set with this statement that I’m making some things are impossible for God until he acts What’s the significance of that? The significance is we’re still saying God can do anything, right?

[00:31:03] Everything is possible for God as long as it makes sense We’re still saying God can do everything but what we are doing there is we’re bringing The virtue of hope into the mix, hope, faith, trust in the attention of God, in the power of God, in the love of God, in the joyful anticipation of God’s direct and personal act and action.

[00:31:29] Some things are [00:31:30] impossible for God until he acts and he will act. That’s why that’s significant to me.

[00:31:37] Then Mary said, behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me. According to your word, and then the angel departed from her. You know, you know what sticks out for me there and always has? Then the angel departed from her. I mean, wait, wait a second, don’t leave yet. Do you have an instruction manual for me?

[00:32:03] Or instructions? Anything? And with that the angel departed. Wait, that’s like such an abrupt departure. It doesn’t even say, and then after a while the angel left. Then the angel departed from her.

[00:32:15] Okay, maybe the angel hung around a little bit. I don’t think so. That’s not what I see in the scripture.

Mary’s Perfect Faith. What is Faith?

[00:32:19] CA: Then the angel departed from her. And that’s that. No instructions, no further instructions, nothing. The Holy Virgin is left with nothing but her complete and total trust in God. Her complete and perfect faith in God, who she loves so, so much.

[00:32:46] Faith is a hard thing. Faith is not merely belief. That’s kind of easy. There are two kinds of belief in a divine. One is [00:33:00] a natural belief, or a reasoned belief. And one, is, I’m calling it a supernatural faith, or a supernatural belief. The difference there is, when you have a tree, you only need reasoned faith to know that it came from a seed, because you know how these things work, right?

[00:33:23] But if you have five somethings Right, if you have five somethings, it’s a reasoned faith that allows you to know that there used to be one something, and then there was another and another and so on until you reached five. Right? Five steps? Well, at one point there was just one step before the other four were put in there.

[00:33:45] That’s reasoned faith. It only takes reasoned faith to believe that there is a God.

[00:33:51] That tree came from a seed. Seed was in the ground. The ground was in the, is part of the earth. The earth came from the this, that came from that. Eventually, you have to get to something that always existed. The ancient philosophers all believe this. It only takes reasoned faith to believe in a God. Now, who is that?

[00:34:13] God? What is his nature? And character, that’s, that’s another thing, that’s a, that’s another set of beliefs. For those sorts of beliefs, for those, for that kind of knowledge or, or faith, that requires grace. Supernatural faith. That’s what that [00:34:30] needs. Right? There’s reason involved in it, but it, it is a supernatural faith, it requires grace.

[00:34:39] Right? One cannot profess the name of Jesus without the holy, without the grace of the Holy Spirit. That’s in the scripture.

[00:34:45] Now we’ve established that there’s natural faith, or rational faith, and then supernatural faith. But now what is that faith? It’s not just belief in God, because once you, once you get to supernatural faith, It’s easier, I, I, I shy away from the word easy in this one, but it’s easier for the mind to say, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

[00:35:11] Everything we say in the creed is expressions of supernatural faith. But it’s much harder to say, I trust in God. Belief plus trust equals faith. Belief plus trust equals faith. It’s easy to believe in God the Father Almighty and so on. It’s harder, it is harder to say, I believe, and as surely as I believe, I confidently trust.

[00:35:40] That’s a, that’s a, that’s a stepping stone for a lot of people. I find for some people it is not so difficult. Which amazes me. But oftentimes, for many people, that’s difficult. The belief part is easy, but the faith or the trust part is harder. Can you imagine the depth [00:36:00] and the power of the faith of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

[00:36:05] That, of course, she believed in God, supernatural faith, fine. But then to say, so be it. Be it done to me according to thy word. And then the angel departs and that’s that. She’s left, she’s left completely, of course, entrusted to Joseph, but then completely, she’s left with her faith and trust in God. No instruction manual, no angel to stick around with her as she raises Jesus, some angel pretending to be a person, a servant, whatever.

[00:36:33] Nope, just her and Joseph. Wow. Please God, help us to have faith like that. Not just our belief, but our trust in you.

The Visitation

[00:36:42] CA: And then we come to the second joyful mystery, the visitation.

[00:36:45] This is also going to be from the Gospel according to St. Luke.

[00:36:48] During those days, Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to the town of Judea. In haste. She set out in haste. The Blessed Virgin Mary is always in a rush to do the good. She didn’t wait around. She didn’t say, I’ll go a couple weeks. I need time to get ready. I need to get mentally prepared.

[00:37:16] And you know, the angel just dropped this bomb on me. I need to get mentally prepared for it and so on and so on. Scripture tells us that she left in haste and traveled to the hill country, to a [00:37:30] town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

[00:37:35] First thing to point out, The Blessed Virgin Mary very likely made this trip with St. Joseph. He’s not mentioned in the Scripture, you don’t have to believe he was there, but it is commonly believed that, I mean, look, they were betrothed, right? That’s not just engaged. Even though they weren’t living together yet, they were married.

[00:37:55] They were married. Do you think St. Joseph would let his wife make this long and arduous journey by herself? I don’t think any man would do that, least of all someone so righteous as St. Joseph. But he’s not mentioned, fine.

[00:38:11] This trip to the hill country took a few days, and we shouldn’t think of it as, you know, Walking on a donkey down a highway, the Judean desert, the Judean wastelands, where you would travel through to get there, was really, really very harsh. This was a difficult journey the Blessed Virgin was making. Not thinking of her own welfare, not thinking of herself.

[00:38:46] She heard that her cousin Elizabeth, who was up there in age at this point, was going to was six months pregnant and she wanted to go and be with her, probably to help her and probably just to visit with her, [00:39:00] congratulate her, I don’t know, whatever. 

[00:39:01] What we must not take from this is that the Holy Mother, the Holy Virgin Mary, just needed somebody to talk to.

[00:39:08] Because again, what we’re seeing there is, is fear and a lack of trust in God.

[00:39:12] So this is a long and difficult journey. Now thinking of herself, she sets out immediately, or in haste, to the hill country, to a town of Judah. And once she was there, she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. Now, get where we’re going with this. Pay attention to what I’m about to read.

[00:39:35] When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, The infant leapt in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice, and said, Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

[00:39:58] Now, when we think of this, we often think of the Blessed Mother going into Zechariah’s house. There’s Elizabeth sitting in the living room, and then the Blessed Mother’s like, Hey, Elizabeth, yadda yadda yadda, they greet each other, and when they come into contact, Elizabeth and Mary, John the Baptist, in his mother’s womb, leaps for joy.

[00:40:17] First, this harkens back to the Old Testament, when King David leapt and danced for joy when he came into the presence or when the, when the, the Ark of the Covenant. [00:40:30] So, the gospel writer’s being very, very deliberate here in alluding to the Old Testament. He is saying that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant.

[00:40:48] Because why else would he making that allusion? That would just be stupid to even make that allusion, to even bother with it, if he weren’t trying to say the Blessed Virgin Mary is the God bearer, the new Ark of the Covenant. But we always think of John the Baptist leaping in his mother’s womb, and it’s even depicted this way, understandably, that that happens, the leaping in the womb happens When Mary and Elizabeth come into contact.

[00:41:13] But that’s not what the scripture says. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant in her leapt for joy.

[00:41:24] A few verses later, she says, At the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leapt for joy. So twice we’re seeing, it’s not when they were in close proximity, it was when the voice of the Blessed Mother reached the ears of Elizabeth. that the infant in her womb leapt for joy.

[00:41:47] The voice, not the body. Before the body was even in proximity, the voice of the Holy Virgin caused this stir. Because the voice of the Holy Virgin [00:42:00] speaks of the presence of Jesus. If Jesus were not in her womb, the voice of the Holy Virgin would have no power.

[00:42:07] The voice of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It’s like a trumpet blazing at the presence of the King, at the, at the coming of the King of Kings. The voice of the Blessed Virgin Mary speaks of the presence of her son, Jesus, and that causes the infant in Elizabeth’s womb to leap for joy. The voice of Mary is the presence of Jesus.

[00:42:38] The voice of Mary is not Jesus. But the voice of Mary is the presence of Jesus. And I kind of see that, too. I really, really see that. I really see that. Because Mary is always with her Son in the Gospels. Not literally always. At least as far as we know, not literally always. But she’s always popping up.

[00:43:02] Lord, your mother’s outside, right? She’s with him at going up to the crucifixion, the way to the cross. She’s with him. Maybe she was with him at the Last Supper, just at a different table. I don’t know, but I kind of see that Mary and Jesus were likely so close and so tight that the voice of Mary and the presence of Jesus [00:43:30] are the same thing.

[00:43:31] When you hear Mary, you know Jesus is right there. Not near. He’s right there. Because where Mary is, Jesus is. Where Mary is, Jesus is. Many times, when I experience a spiritual darkness, And I cannot see Jesus. Many times I could always see his mother.

[00:43:56] And I knew that Jesus was near. Couldn’t see him. I don’t mean with my eyes, but I mean with like my spiritual, I guess my spiritual senses. We’ve all got those. I’m not saying I’m special. We all have spiritual senses, right? Many times Even when I couldn’t see Jesus, I could always see his mother.

[00:44:14] Because the voice of Mary implies the presence of Jesus.

In a Loud Voice,..

[00:44:19] CA: And here’s something interesting, Elizabeth cries out in a loud voice, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For in the moment that the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leapt for joy.

[00:44:42] Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. When you meditate on this, remember what the scripture tells us, that Elizabeth cried out in a loud voice with these words. She didn’t just giggle [00:45:00] and sip her tea and say, Oh my dear, blessed are you who believe what the Lord spoke unto thee.

[00:45:06] She cried out in a loud voice. You can imagine the exultation. The happiness. The joy. Right? You can imagine that probably she wasn’t some nut job who was acting this way by herself. Probably the Blessed Virgin Mary was elated also. This was probably a huge party between the two of them, right? The elation.

[00:45:28] The joy.

[00:45:29] I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but when we see Mary say, my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and so on, we’ll get to that in a second. I don’t want to jump ahead. But when we see a Mary saying that, we have to envision, we have to picture her saying this, not calmly. That’s stoic. But with great joy and exultation, 

[00:45:47] not just in some meditative state with her arms crossed, her hands over her heart, and her eyes closed, you know? Saying these words, My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. No, picture her saying this with a loud voice. Maybe even crying tears of joy, not just for herself, but for her cousin. When we imagine the scene, use the scripture as prompts to really get down into the details in your imagination of the scene.

[00:46:19] And when you picture the, this meeting and the visitation, picture them being very, very happy, elated, ecstatic, joyful, crying out in loud voices, maybe even [00:46:30] tearful.

[00:46:30] Let me take you back to something that’s interesting here. Blessed are you who believed what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. First of all, the Lord didn’t speak to her. The angel did. But the angel was saying what the Lord is saying. Think of the angel almost as a mouthpiece. Now the angel has intelligence and a will.

[00:46:48] It’s not like a puppet. But just think of it as a mouthpiece. Like a mouthpiece. And what God is, is, and what the angel is saying to the holy version, God is saying.

How Did Elizabeth Know That?

[00:47:00] CA: The other thing is, blessed are you who believed what was spoken to you by the Lord. How does Elizabeth even know that? How does Elizabeth know that the angel spoke to her and what the angel said to her and all this? Well, the scripture tells us she was filled with the Holy Spirit. So there’s probably some supernatural infused knowledge there.

[00:47:21] It’s also possible that an angel visited Elizabeth with this information before Mary’s arrival. Catherine Anne Emmerich, who I don’t believe is a saint, let me see, let me just do, Catherine Anne Emmerich, who is a mystic, she’s a mystic. That, that does not mean you must believe what she saw or wrote, especially because she’s a human and sometimes mystics get some, some details a little cross wired.

[00:47:50] You know, but it’s food for thought. Catherine and Emmerich saw this meeting. And what Catherine and Emmerich saw [00:48:00] was that Elizabeth was expecting Mary. There was no letter, there was no email, but Elizabeth knew Mary was coming. I wonder, and it’s possible that Catherine and Emmerich saw this as well, and I’m just not aware of it.

[00:48:14] I wonder if an angel told Elizabeth that Mary was coming, and if an angel Told Elizabeth, you know, I just got here, got back from Mary’s house. This is what I said to her. She’s gonna be paying you a visit. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I don’t know, but all we have from Scripture is what I just read. And I always wonder, how did Elizabeth know what the angel said to Mary?

[00:48:38] Maybe it was just the Holy Spirit. Folks, you want to get really freaked out? Why don’t you take this to meditation and ask the Holy Spirit? How did Elizabeth know what the angel said to Mary?

[00:48:52] I’m not kidding you. The, the Holy Spirit may tell you, it may dawn on you, and you may, it may dawn on you in such a way that you’re like, Ah, of course, and then you pick out a dozen things in scripture, tell the story, or paint the picture of the evidence, and say, Ah, of course, this is how Elizabeth knew it.

[00:49:13] It may not happen in one meditation, it may not happen in thirty, or, or it could. And I’m, I’m dead serious. This has happened to me a couple of times where I’ve brought this to, um, either the Holy Spirit or the Holy Version where I’ve asked this question, like, what does this, [00:49:30] what did this mean? What was this significance?

[00:49:33] Why did you say this, or this one say that? Not all the time, but I would say a third of the time that I’ve done that, I’ve gotten an answer. Probably more than a third of the time that I’ve been very specific. Mother, what did you mean when you said this? Or Holy Spirit, what does it mean when the prophet says this?

[00:49:57] Lord, what did you mean? And so on. Although I, I, I feel like Jesus doesn’t answer quite readily, but But that’s happened to me a good, a good bit of times. Ask the Holy Spirit. How did the, how did Elizabeth know that the Holy Virgin Mary, what, what, what the angel said to the Virgin Mary? You never know.

[00:50:17] The, the Holy Spirit might, might paint that picture for you. Maybe in, in one meditation or maybe in, in segments across several meditations. You think I’m kidding? I’m dead serious. Yes, I know, it’s Jedi stuff. Yes, I know. But I’m telling you, it’s the truth. Okay, let’s continue.

[00:50:38] For at the moment, the sound of your greeting reached my ears. Not her body, only her voice, .

Cantical of Mary

[00:50:43] CA: And Mary said, My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Again, when you look at this language, you have to imagine there was great elation as she was saying this, when you just look at the words. And what does Mary [00:51:00] say, right? When Elizabeth, so we have an angel saying, Hail, full of grace.

[00:51:03] We have Elizabeth saying, Blessed are you, blessed are you. And what does Mary say in response? My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. Not my greatness. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. Jesus is not just Mary’s son, He is also Mary’s Savior.

[00:51:29] For He has looked, for He has looked upon His handmaid’s lowliness. Let me back up. My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for He has looked with favor on His lowly servant. I’m going to tell you how I know this from my memory rather than from this text. For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

[00:51:49] From this day all generations will call me blessed. Why do you say, why do y’all say Hail Mary? From this day all generations will call me blessed. And why? Why does Mary, why, according to Mary, why will all generations call her blessed? Because the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.

[00:52:13] The moon has no light of its own, it reflects the light of the sun. Mary, even by her own words, is telling us, I’m nothing. I’m only, I’m only the handmaid. I mean, she’s not literally nothing, I’m just saying from Mary’s perspective, right? [00:52:30] All generations will call me blessed, for the Lord has done great things for me, and holy is His name.

[00:52:39] That’s why all generations call her blessed. Because that’s how important and how special she was. For the Lord has done great things. She is blessed because of the Lord. She is blessed because of her son. She is saved because of her son. He has mercy on those in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm.

[00:53:02] He has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly. Boy, the Blessed Mother is pulling no punches here. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones. And has lifted up the lowly. When you bring this to your meditation, think about those words for a while.

[00:53:28] He has looked with favor on his lowly servant, he has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly, his mercies from age to age, and so on. And then it caps off this way. He has, so in that string that we just heard, it caps off this way. He has given the hungry good things, and the rich, he has sent away the poor.

[00:53:52] Empty. Wow. The rich, imagine that. [00:54:00] The rich, he has sent away, empty, nothing. I scatter the proud in their conceit. I cast down the mighty from their thrones, he ain’t so mighty now.

[00:54:16] And the rich, I send away. The rich, I send away, empty. When you look at it that way, I mean, that sounds like some serious business. We’re seeing justice here, and we’re also seeing mercy.

[00:54:38] He gives the hungry good things. He lifts up the lowly. We’re seeing, we’re seeing the gravity of His justice, and it’s paired with the greatness of His mercy. Those who deserve justice will get it, and those who deserve mercy and ask for it will get it because of the cross of Christ. Great is the mercy of God, and profound is His justice.

[00:55:09] He has given the hungry good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. You know, we always picture the Blessed Mother picking flowers and writing letters to her correspondents, um, and brushing her hair. I don’t know how people picture the Blessed Mother, but there is a sort of character image we [00:55:30] have of her, right?

The Power of Mary

[00:55:31] CA: There’s a sort of character image we have of her, this kind of demure woman and you know, very soft spoken and maybe all those things are true I’m not saying that they’re not true But what we don’t usually think of when we picture the Blessed Virgin Mary is her power We think of her strength. We think of her strength.

[00:55:52] I mean she followed her son to his execution She stood there and watched, you know, what strength you have to have to accompany your son to that, what strength you have to have to inaugurate his ministry at the wedding feast at Cana, which I discussed in a prior episode, knowing that once he inaugurates his ministry, The clock is ticking, the clock that chimes at the end of the story with the crucifixion of Jesus.

[00:56:17] She knows this is going to happen. We own, we know her strength, a quiet, soft spoken, almost a mysterious, but definitely present strength. But we don’t often think of the power of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These are powerful words. She’s speaking here

[00:56:37] from this day. All generations will call me blessed for the almighty The Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.

[00:56:52] He has scattered the proud in their conceit He has lifted up the lowly and so on when you reflect on those words And she’s not using these words like a hammer [00:57:00] across the heads of sinners. She’s not weaponizing these words She’s not But these words demonstrate power, not her own power, she’s talking about God, right?

Mary’s Power

[00:57:13] CA: But it’s also a demonstration of power that she has this in her mind, in her sensibility, in her understanding. Folks, you cannot translate Chinese if you don’t speak Chinese. And you cannot translate and communicate the power of God unless you have a compatible Power within yourself. Not that she has the same powers, God, I’m talking about a compatible power.

[00:57:43] You cannot communicate the power of God unless you’re, number one, faking it by imitating someone else. Right? When, when we quote Jesus, we’re not communicating the power of God. We’re only saying what Jesus said. No one had ever said these things before Mary. You cannot communicate the power of God, His power, His greatness, His mercy, His justice.

[00:58:10] You cannot communicate that power if you are not possessed Of a compatible power within yourself. So we’re seeing the power of the Blessed Virgin Mary here, or we’re seeing a demonstration that she has a power.

[00:58:25] He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly and so on and so on. [00:58:30] He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy. The promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.

[00:58:42] That is that prayer, that little prayer that, that Mary’s bit, that’s the canticle of Mary. Amen. Amen. And I really want you to reflect on those words, maybe phrase by phrase, and then take them as, you know, pairs of phrases by pairs of phrases. And maybe sometimes only meditate on one phrase instead of the whole scene, meditate on one phrase or meditate on a pair of phrases.

[00:59:08] He has scattered the proud in their conceit and has lifted up the lowly. That’s a pair of, of, of phrases, right? Because there’s a lot, there is a lot in there that the Holy Spirit will unfold for you. Last verse. Mary remained with Elizabeth. About three months and then returned to her home. I think it’s so interesting and so lovely and beautiful that Mary was there for the birth of John the Baptist and in all likelihood the first face John the Baptist saw was the face of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

[00:59:47] I know newborn infants, maybe their eyes are always shut. Mine oddly were open. I’ve always been a weirdo.

[00:59:55] Newborns eyes are shut. That doesn’t mean John the Baptist’s eyes were shut. [01:00:00]Newborns don’t see the way, their eyes are not developed enough to see the way we see, right? Even if he didn’t see her face clearly, it’s very possible that he saw her face, even if he saw it blurry. First face he saw, I believe, was the face of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

[01:00:21] Isn’t that beautiful? Isn’t that beautiful? The first face that little baby saw was the Blessed Virgin Mary’s.

[01:00:30] Mary remained there three months. After Elizabeth gave birth, she went home. Now Mary’s three months pregnant, again doing this long, arduous journey back home.

[01:00:45] I really love these two mysteries of the Rosary because they’re so human and because the power of God is so present and so obvious in these very real, very human moments. 

[01:01:06] We also see so much of Mary’s humanity in these two mysteries of the Rosary.

[01:01:11] We also see, and I’m not going to talk about this right now, but we also see how Mary presents God to others. How Mary presents Jesus to the world, and so on. We see a lot of that in [01:01:30] here.

[01:01:30] And it makes it all the more clear that Mary is not a nobody. She’s a very important somebody. She’s an important somebody, one, because of Jesus. And two, because God wants her to be an importance, God is putting her to work. Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. She’s a very important somebody. How important?

[01:01:51] What does she do, ultimately? She brings God to us. She brings us to God. Know what I want you to do as an exercise, apart from meditating on this? Before Mass, look and not, not, if you have a statue of the Blessed Mother in your house, I don’t mean that one. Look for a statue in church of the Blessed Virgin Mary before every Mass.

[01:02:18] And you go up to that statue and ask the Blessed Mother to bring you a little closer to Jesus by the power of that Mass, and to inch you a little closer every day. You can word it however you want, but as a little assignment, incorporate that into your spiritual life, into your Catholic experience. You like how I did that?

[01:02:44] Into your Catholic experience. Incorporate that, I don’t know, for a week, for a month, for a year, whatever. Before every Mass, ask her, Mama, Bring me closer to Jesus through this Mass, and [01:03:00] bring me a little closer every day. Mary brings God to us, not just by the birth of Jesus, not just by the Incarnation, but every day she brings God to us, and every day she wants to bring us to God.

[01:03:15] Sometimes that’s a long journey. So is the journey from Nazareth to the hill country in Judah.

[01:03:22] And that’s about going to do it for me. Hey, if you don’t know, I also do another podcast called The Catholic Experience. You’ll find it on my website at CatholicAdventurer. com. You’ll also find it on iTunes and everywhere else. If you enjoyed this podcast, I beg you to please spread it. Spread it around.

[01:03:37] Tell your friends. Tell your parish priest to get in on this gravy train. It’s very hard to build a podcast audience. It’s especially hard when you’re building a podcast audience as a Catholic podcaster. So please help me out. Visit the podcast portal for additional resources, you know, episode by episode as I make them available.

[01:03:57] Bye for now. The podcast portal is LNK. TO slash Catholic Meditations, link to Catholic Meditations. I’ve been the Catholic Adventurer. Follow me on X at ForTheQueenBVM and on Facebook at Catholic Adventurer. God bless you. God be with you all. Bye bye.