Was Mary really an unwed mother?

By Barbara A. Schoeneberger

Espousal of Mary by Rafael

This past Sunday, we attended Mass at a nearby parish rather than driving a half hour to the Extraordinary Form Mass we normally attend because we were exhausted from the nine hour trip home on Saturday. The liturgical calendar called for the feast of the Holy Family and I was looking forward to hearing another great sermon by the pastor, but such was not to be.

Early on in his discussion of the Gospel he said, “Jesus was conceived outside of wedlock.” Then he proceeded to say that people looked down on Jesus and ridiculed Him because of this. The pastor could not have shocked me more if he had cast a bolt of lightening on my head. “Ay-yi-yi! Ach du lieber! Mama Mia! Merdre! Eheu! Aigoo! Good Grief!” If I knew the words for dismay in any more languages I’d write them here. Where do people get these cockamamie ideas? Especially a priest who was supposedly well-trained in Sacred Scripture in the seminary?

This is the second time in the past several months I’ve come across the “Mary was an unwed mother theme.” The first was when reading a supposedly Catholic book on families. What to do? When we got home I decided to research the subject so that I could write an informative and correct post and found an excellent article by Father Michael Griffin, O.C.D., in the EWTN library. St. Joseph: A Theological Introduction contained exactly what I was looking for, and could not have been a better source of meditation to celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. If any of you have come across this particular error, I hope this post will help clear the confusion.


Finish reading at Barb's blog Suffering With Joy.

Marriage, abortion, the Holy Spirit, and the Church

By Michael Incorvia

The Weeding at Cana by Van Groningen (Wikimedia Commons).

The Bible begins with a wedding and ends with a wedding reception.  Genesis, the first book of the Bible opens with a marriage, the wedding of Adam and Eve and God’s command to the couple to be fruitful and multiply.  The Bible concludes with the Book of Revelation and the wedding feast of the Lamb of God to His bride, the Church.   The Bible is rife with marriage imagery and the fruit it bares, love and life.

Out of love, God created man and woman.  The depth of God’s love for His people and Church is expressed in terms of the love shared between a husband and wife.  As a husband and wife surrender themselves to one another, God invites us to surrender ourselves to Him in love.  Similarly, our unfaithfulness to God is expressed in terms of spousal infidelity.


Continue reading at Michael's blog To Love and Truth.

Hope for the remnant of God's people

by Heidi

The Tribute Money by Titian (photo in Public Domain)

  

The word “remnant“ has been coming to my mind a lot lately and I have been trying to write a reflection on it for days, but I could not pull it together (admittedly this is a frequent problem for me).  I keep brushing the word aside thinking that the word remnant seems a tad over-dramatic. Is our culture dying so quickly that those who are still faithful to the Church’s positions on the issues of marriage, contraception and abortion in our Catholic churches are already a mere remnant (even if the pews seem full)?  Surely that is overstating the case!

Yet in headline after headline, and in discussion after discussion, with Catholic individuals who ought to know better, I am finding that adhering to the Natural Law (the Ten Commandments), particularly in political views, is not even considered!  Many ( though not all) of my fellow parishioners use a soft sentimentality as the basis for many political positions, how you feel governs your stance.  Anything that causes discomfort ought to be re-defined. This is dangerous, because so many of these individuals are willingly handing over to Caesar the powers to bind or loose moral teachings – and if you try to make an argument against that, you are completely misunderstood, because so many lack an understanding of what liberty and freedom really mean!!!  Are we narrowing down to a remnant of faithful Catholics?

Then the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down DOMA and dismissing Prop 8 came down, not unexpected, but still quite ominous, and after reading Elizabeth Scalia’s excellent article titled “The ‘Party’ is victor; Time to save souls and churches”, I realized I was not being dramatic at all.  It was the Spirit that place that word in my heart.  Not to cause despair, but to show me that the seeds of renewal are even now being sown.

“So too at this present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace” (Romans 11:5).

The word remnant first popped into my head during the June 7th rehearsal dinner for my son Matthew and his then bride–to-be Grace. They were married on June 8th (Yes! It was the feast of the Immaculate Heart-- isn't that awesome!) after a real courtship that was based on discernment of God’s will for them.

These two have a profound respect, for each other and their deepening love, for parental authority and a commitment to Christ through their Catholic faith. In fact, it was their Catholic faith that came shining through all the wonderful parties and joy-filled celebrations. Especially in the beautiful Nuptial Mass, where the Gospel was chanted by a newly ordained transitional deacon and Panis Angelicus, Ave Verum Corpus and Gounod's Ave Maria were beautifully sung. The Mass and all of the celebrations that surrounded it were directly and indirectly proclaiming what marriage truly is: A covenant that is “ordered to the good of the couple, as well as the generation and education of children.” (CCC 1660) Marriage was not just about the two of them, it was a bridging of the past generations to the future ones. It was about the obligations of these two to build up a Culture of Life through their vows to each other and to God.

Both Grace’s mother and I heard from guests who felt renewed and filled with hope after the wedding. It was so joyfully Catholic! Three generations of the priesthood participated in celebrating it and at least one other young man was undertaking serious discernment for a religious vocation. And it was at the rehearsal dinner that I looked around the room and felt the hope and promise of renewal that God is always offering us! I thought here ,in this room, are some of the remnant, the faithful remnant in an increasingly post-Christian world. God always leaves a remnant. And what a joyful remnant it was! I wish I had words for my gratitude.

 Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.  Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.  And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Continue reading Heidi's reflection at  Journey to Wisdom.

What I didn't know as a June bride

 by Allison Girone

Off for the Honeymoon by Frederick Morgan (Wikimedia Commons)

In 1991, I married my boyfriend of 6 years.  On June 8th, it will be our 22nd anniversary. That girl, in some ways, is so different from me today. The Sacramental events of that day played a large part in my transformation.

What I didn't know, very well, was my faith. And yet, we were married in a Cathedral Basilica...and today that means so much to us! We are strengthened by the graces of the Sacrament of Marriage.Our faith...the beauty of such Churches that elevate one's heart and mind to God are now of monumental importance to us, the architecture that upholds and supports us. Today, it's a passion of mine to photograph the Mass, Sacraments and Churches.

"A basilica is an architectural term for a certain style of building, and, as is often the case in Catholicism, the basilica comes to us from the Romans. When the ancient Romans spoke of a basilica they were referring to a large, high-ceilinged hall with three long aisles."

The Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul is majestic and traditional looking. In its name there's St. Peter and its Baldachin reminds me of St. Peter's in Rome.  What I didn't know is how much I would grow to embrace traditional Catholicism, how Rome would take a place in my heart and define a path for me here. How, like St. Peter and St. Paul, I would turn my life over to Him. Certainly the degree does not compare... O, to be as filled with faith and purpose as those two saints!

"The canopy, or baldachin, over the altar is of Antique Italian marble. It stands thirty-eight feet high and is surmounted by a semi-circular bronze dome. The underside of the dome is a marble mosaic. Its central figure is a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit. The mosaic carries in Latin an inscription which translates: “In every place there is offered and sacrificed in My Name a clean oblation.” At the corners of the baldachin stand ten foot high white Italian marble Angels. Its decorative rosettes are of Botticino marble." 

Coming back to my faith, I always felt it was the Holy Spirit that began that process. Reading the above description, of the dome we were married under, I see how He was truly above us on our wedding day, with us... Three to Get Married.  But, I also attribute so much of my transformation to earnest prayers I made to His "spouse," the Blessed Mother, as I knelt before a statue of Our Lady on our wedding day.  What I didn't know is how we would grow to love and honor her, how she would bring us closer to her Son. Totus Tuus.


Read more of Allison's reflection at her blog  Totus Tuus.