FAITH AND THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES
Gladness fills the scene in Bethlehem, when the birth of the divine Child, the Savior of the world, is announced by the song of the angels and proclaimed to the shepherds as “news of great joy” (Luke 2:10).
Consider that the eternal Father, in giving us his Son for a Redeemer, for victim and price of our ransom, could not have given us stronger motives for hope and love, to inspire us with confidence, and to oblige us to love him. In giving us His Son, St. Augustine of Hippo remarked, He could give us nothing more.
To execute the great work of the Incarnation, it required all the omnipotence and in finite wisdom of God, in order to unite human nature to a divine person, and that a divine person should so humble himself as to take upon him human nature. Thus God became man, and man became God; and hence, the divinity of the Word being united to the soul and body of Jesus Christ, all the actions of this Man-God became divine: his prayers were divine, his sufferings divine, his infant cries divine, his tears divine, his steps divine, his members divine, his very blood divine, which became, as it were, a fountain of health to wash out all our sins, and a sacrifice of infinite value to appease the justice of the Father, who was justly offended with men.
He desires that we should avail ourselves of this immense gift in order to gain for ourselves eternal salvation, and every grace that we want; whilst in Jesus we find all that we can desire; we find light, strength, peace, confidence, love, and eternal glory; for Jesus Christ is a gift which contains all the gifts that we can seek for or desire.
No human being could completely understand the mystery of the incarnation of, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of God; for no one knows Jesus totally except the Father (Matthew 11:27). Mary had to walk by faith without knowing all the answers or seeing everything perfectly. Mary helps us to believe in the presence and the promises of God in the great events of life and the insignificant, in the triumphs and the tragedies. What we rejoice in or suffer through, Mary has celebrated or endured. By Faith she prevailed. She has marked out a path of faith in God, and we can follow in her footsteps. When we doubt and waver, we can turn to her for courage and strength we need to believe and to trust. No wonder she is a model of faith!!!
BUT WHAT THEN IS FAITH?
To Be Continued…
Mary, Vessel of Honor, Pray for Us!!
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