Monday, December 10, 2012

"Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy"

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Why would Christ emphasize in our time a doctrine, the Divine Mercy, which has been part of the patrimony of the Faith from the beginning, as well as request new devotional and liturgical expressions of it? In His revelations to St. Faustina Jesus answers this question, connecting it to another doctrine, also sometimes little emphasized, that of His Second Coming. In the Gospel the Lord shows us that His first coming was in humility, as a Servant, to free the world from sin. Yet, He promises to return in glory to judge the world on love, as He makes clear in his discourses on the Kingdom in Matthew chapters 13 and 25. In between these Comings we have the end times or era of the Church, in which the Church ministers reconciliation to the world until the great and terrible Day of the Lord, the Day of Justice. Every Catholic should be familiar with the teaching of the Church on this matter, contained in paragraphs 668 to 679 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.Only in the context of public revelation as taught by the Magisterium can we situate the words of private revelation given to Sr. Faustina.
You will prepare the world for My final coming. (Diary 429)
Speak to the world about My mercy ... It is a sign for the end times. After it will come the Day of Justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fountain of My mercy. (Diary 848)
Tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. (Diary 965).
I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation. (Diary 1160)
Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy. (Diary 1588)
He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice. (Diary 1146).
In addition to these words of Our Lord Sr. Faustina gives us the Words of the Mother of Mercy, the Blessed Virgin,
You have to speak to the world about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh how terrible is that day! Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time for granting mercy. (Diary 635).
It is clear that, like the message of Fátima, the urgency here is the urgency of the Gospel, "repent and believe." The exact timing is the Lord's. However, it is also clear that we have reached some critical phase of the end times that began with the birth of the Church. To this fact Pope John Paul II alluded at the consecration in 1981 of the Shrine of Merciful Love in Collevalenaza, Italy, when he noted the "special task" assigned to him by God "in the present situation of man, the Church and the world." In His Encyclical on the Father he urges us "to implore God's mercy for humanity in this hour of history ... to beg for it at this difficult, critical phase of the history of the Church and of the world as we approach the end of the second millennium." (Rich in Mercy 15)
Diary, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul (c) 1987 Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate Conception, Stockbridge, MA 01263. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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Sunday, December 2, 2012

Why the Blessed Virgin Mary is the "Seat of Wisdom" (Sedes Sapientiae)






Why does the Blessed Virgin Mary bear the title "Seat of Wisdom" (Lat: sedes sapientiae)? There are two reasons. The first regards wisdom absolutely as the incarnate Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Saint Paul identifies Christ as the "wisdom of God".

But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God...He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor 1:24, 30).
Christ fulfills the Old Testament tradition of the primordial Wisdom (חחמה,"Chokmah") of the Lord. St. John used the concept by identifying Christ as the Divine Word or Logos of God (John 1:1-13). As Wisdom Incarnate, Christ is seated on the lap of His Blessed Mother. Mary is the throne from which Christ rules the universe.

Secondly, our Lady is the seat of wisdom relatively as the human fulfillment of "Lady Wisdom" presented in the Book of Proverbs and especially in Proverbs 31 as the ideal wife and mother.

Because she is the mother of Wisdom (Jesus Christ), she participates in wisdom preeminently. She is Lady Wisdom by virtue of her role as Theotokos.

In conclusion, Christ is wisdom absolutely and so Mary is the "Seat of Wisdom" because she bore Christ in her womb and upon her lap. Mary is wisdom relatively in that she is personificaltion Lady Wisdom in the tradition of the Book of Proverbs.

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Virgin Mary Perfectly Embodies Spirit of Advent: Pope



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Pope Benedict said the Virgin Mary perfectly embodies the spirit of Advent, which involves both listening to God and having deep desire to do his will in joyful service to others.

“Let us be guided by her, because some are closed to or distracted from God,” he said. “May each of us extend a little of his kingdom of love, justice and peace.”

He said the “saving plan of God” is always taking place and constantly requires the free collaboration of man and the Church.

The Pope referred to the Sunday reading from Gospel of Luke, which says “watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened by drunkenness and the cares of life … stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen.”

He also spoke of St. Paul’s exhortation to “increase and abound in love.”

Turning to more specific concerns, the Pope appealed to governments to promote disabled people's full participation in society.

“Each person, despite his physical and psychological limits, even serious ones, is always invaluable, and must be considered as such,” he said.

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