Tag Archive for ‘Mary’
Mary and the Reformation (1) – Erasmus
500 years ago Many things contributed to the breaking up of the Catholic Christian world of the Middle Ages: the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, the Western Schism, and the Islamic invasions. Humanism found a warm reception in Rome with the popes of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, all worldly men more […]
Monday 20 March
St Joseph, Husband of Mary 1 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16; Palm 89; Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22; Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24 An under-rated saint? Joseph the carpenter, an under-rated saint? Even the title for his feast day suggests his only claim to sainthood is his being Mary’s husband. But he was much, much more than that. […]
Mary’s Life in Stained Glass (6)
Pentecost The only mention of Mary in scripture after the crucifixion is in Acts 1:14, which states that Mary, the mother of Jesus, met and prayed with the apostles. So she would have been in the upper room with the disciples at Pentecost. Of the windows I have seen of Pentecost, about half feature Mary. […]
Saturday 11 February
Our Lady of LourdesDay of Prayer for the Sick Genesis 3:9-24; Psalm 90; Mark 8:1-10 An inspiration Jesus recognised that everyone needs to be fed. With the miracle of the loaves and fishes he satisfied the people’s hunger for food and, at the same time, their need for their faith to be nourished. The miracle […]
Mary’s Life in Stained Glass (5)
The Wedding Feast at Cana On the third day after Jesus’ baptism, He performed His first miracle at the behest of His mother Mary. I wouldn’t like to speculate as to how Mary knew He could change the water into wine, but who can resist an insistent mother? I have photographed ten windows showing the […]
Mary – Indeed, a true Mother to us
At the Last Supper, before leaving to go to the garden and to his passion, Jesus prayed a long prayer to his Father. He says, ‘I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do’ (John 17). ‘Finished the work’?? Seems strange, does it not? A little earlier, he had […]
Thursday 22 December
1 Samuel 1:24-28; Responsorial – 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8; Luke 1:46-56 Praise God Today’s Gospel is the Magnificat, Mary’s song of praise. With her we pray: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God, my saviour, who has looked with favour on this lowly servant.’ Mary is humble in her […]
Thursday 8 December
the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Genesis 3:9-15, 20; Psalm 98; Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12; Luke 1:26-38 Chosen In Ephesians we read, ‘we were chosen to be the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.’ We are called to put our hope in Christ, just as Mary did. In this […]
Mary for Today: Mary in Culture (8)
Apparitions within Culture The phenomenon of Marian apparitions or visions is a culturally specific feature understandable to Mediterranean people or those in contact with Mediterranean cultural scripts. In visionary form, the mother of Jesus has been part and parcel of Mediterranean living from time immemorial. At times such visions lasted only a few minutes, at […]
Mary as Model
Mary shows us how to listen to God … The prayer of the rosary is, in many ways, the synthesis of the history of God’s mercy, which becomes a history of salvation for all who let themselves be shaped by grace. The mysteries we have contemplated are concrete events by which God’s intervention on our […]
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