Tag Archives: Mercy

The Touch of a Woman

21 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by in Early Church, Faith, Marian devotion, St Luke's Gospel

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In my last two posts, I have highlighted how in medieval days Mary was revered, not least because she was approachable. That’s important, I think. Women, as a rule, are seen as non-threatening as compared with even the best-intentioned men, by men but perhaps even more by women. It’s certainly true for me.

The idea of telling my sins to a man (especially when I was young) was a very frightening thing. Not so much Christ, of course, because He knew me better than I did anyway. But I wonder, and always will if Marian devotion had been available to me in those days if it might have made a difference. Not that I was any terrible ogre, mind, but I did things that even then I wasn’t proud of, and would have been embarrassed to tell my mom, so I wonder if knowing Mary then would have made a difference.

And now, as I start to draw near the end, Mary indeed provides me much comfort. Those of you who know me will know that I am divorced and without kids, and sadly see no possibility of that changing. And yes, Mary provides a comfort, nearly a companionship, that I find in no other way, anymore. She is the one I can talk about anything with. Strange how life works out isn’t it? But so it is.

But she is much more than that, of course. She is Theotokos, the Mother of God. And that is surely much more important than my little problems, but still, she finds time to tell me that she has talked to her Son about me and to comfort this old man, not that it is overt or anything, just a feeling.

But this very human and attractive side of Our Lady goes way back in our history. In our archives there is an article, bylined by Jessica (although I wonder, as it reads more as Chalcedon) speaking of The Protoevangelium of St. James

The Protoevangelium of St. James, which dates from the mid second century, belongs to that group of works which, whilst never canonical, was treasured by Christians for centuries because it filled in the gaps left by the Gospels. Nothing will shake my conviction that in St. Luke we have portions of the memoirs of Our Lady herself; where else could the Magnificat come from, or the story of the Annunciation. It thrills me to know that when I read these things, I am reading what the Blessed Virgin herself said; so I understand why it is early Christians wanted more.

The Protoevangelium filled the gap admirably. It described the circumstances of Our Lady’s birth, and how at the age of three she was brought by her parents to the Temple. It contains one of my favourite accounts of Our Lady. When she came to the Temple she was given to the High Priest who

 set her down upon the third step of the altar, and the Lord God sent grace upon her; and she danced with her feet, and all the house of Israel loved her

How adorable is that?

Here is where those charming legends that we looked in my article on Lady Day in Harvest got their start. In the 2d century, well before the Scripture was canonized. We have always venerated Mary, she is one of the things that sets Christians apart. It is our kinder gentler side and something that is lacking in most religions which tend to be ‘by the book’ and the book alone. She introduces mercy into the whole thing, and yes, it shown forth in her Son as well. But it is, I think, one of the singularities that divide the Second Covenant from the First.

Are we fearful of mercy & love?

28 Monday Sep 2015

Posted by in Faith

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MercyChalcedon once told me that some of the best parts (as well as the worst parts) of this blog were the comments column, and this, from his friend, Cathy, caught my eye, not least against the backdrop of some of the reaction to the Pope’s visit to the USA. She wrote this comment:

To me the firm ground and foundation of our faith is sacrificial love; Love of God for us as revealed supremely on the cross, and given to us in such abundance that it overflows to those around us, and prevents us doing anything other than offering the same acceptance that the Lord gave us when we were yet sinners; serving those around us as Christ served his disciples. Love of God, love of neighbour; the same love.
When we despise our neighbours, when we think more of their sins than their virtues, when we revile them in any way, we do this to the Lord himself.
This particular idiot is happy to think everything else negotiable, as long as these two principles remain firm. This is not to negate the creeds; in my view these principles are the foundation of the creeds and all that they say, in the same way as they are the foundation of the Law and the Prophets.
http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/13-13.htm

Now that seems to my way of thinking to be one of the best statements of Christianity I’ve come across. She focuses in on loving God and our neighbours – the pillar and foundation of the law. She says nothing about Canon Law, narrow gates and lakes of fire. If she won’t mind my saying so (and if she does, I doff my cap in apology) she sounds a bit like the best bits of Pope Francis talking about the joy of the Gospel. Yes, we know the gate is narrow, but we’re not told that ticking boxes is the way to heaven. It seems to me sometimes we treat the road as though it is an obstacle course – when the main obstacle may well be our mind-set. It seems to me at times as though we’re frightened of mercy and of love and are more comfortable with fear of hell-fire and the need to keep to the narrow way. Yet, in doing that, if we end, as Cathy perhaps implies (and I’d say we do) by emphasising to our neighbours their sins, are we not disobeying the greatest of the commandments?

It irritates me beyond the bearing when folk respond that ‘real love’ consists in telling our neighbours they are transgressing; ‘tough love’ is too often simply an excuse for being unkind to folk. As regulars will know, I oppose abortion, but I don’t think that telling abortion providers they are ‘murderers’ or making youngsters who get abortions feel bad is a sensible way of proceeding. Has it actually worked? Is it not better to show the latter the love we have for them, despite their sin? As for the former, again, are we not just hardening their hearts further?

Again, I take the historic Christian line on divorce, but it is a fact of life on a scale unprecedented, and if Francis and co are looking at ways in which the yoke on their flocks can be lessened, why condemn them? If we really think God is going to send divorced people who remarry to hell, I can see why, but is that the God we see in Christ?

It seems to me Cathy makes an important point in her comment. We can’t change the world around us unilaterally, but we can change our behaviour. Is it the love of God or the need to be judgmental which moves us? I’m certainly prone to compound for the sins I commit by being hard on the sins of others, though, I hope, far less hard than once I was. The older I get, the more conscious I become of God’s mercy to me and how little I deserved it, and the more I feel that my faith commands me to help others, not in a way that satisfies my needs, but their needs. His goodness and mercy have followed me, is it not my job to help others know that joy? In so much of the comments in some Catholic quarters on the Pope I see little sign of the joy of the Gospel and a great fear that some law or other will be transgressed; but little recognition that such an attitude might, itself, transgress the need to love our neighbour. Jesus does not, after all, say love your neighbour as long as he’s behaving himself. If we see the image of God in others, let us remember they see it in us, and watch the witness we give.

Cathy’s words are worth pondering.