Extravagant love

God loved the world so much

that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost

but may have eternal life.

For God sent his Son into the world

not to condemn the world,

but so that through him the world might be saved.

John 3:16

Only twice in 34 years have I been on bended knee seeking a miracle on behalf of a very sick child of ours. The first time was when our daughter was barely 8 months old and struck down with measles brought home by her big brothers from school. She was just weaning herself and possessed extremely low immunity. Her full recovery took months and she has borne her scars with dignity. More recently one of my sons has suffered the consequences of a prenatal disposition that has now proved to be a serious illness. This isn't the picture of the healthy, fit and energetic son, husband, father and teacher that we all know.

These words of John tell us that we are already deeply and totally loved and cared for by a God 'who gave his only son'. Knowing this I already realise I cannot ask God for more. How can you ask for more when so much has already been given? Faith also means it is in God's hands. When Isaac is freed from his bonds on the altar, Abraham is also freed by faith. God will do what God will do. And ultimately what God does is love lavishly, a love that sets us free.

There has been serious, scientific research done on the efficacy of prayer that has looked at the person being prayed for and the person or persons doing the praying. The studies conclude that apart from lifting the sense of wellbeing for those who pray (meditating, praying the rosary, etc.) the evidence is not overwhelming. But - even in prayer, God know best.

The cycle of life cannot be put off forever. Our medical interventions or other life changing events will merely postpone the inevitable. This is not to say we give up hoping, praying or willing positivity, far from! We give it everything we've got. We take the life we have, we live it to the full, we love, we celebrate, we live well, we give of our best, we give generously. In doing so we transform our frail and broken lives into lives worthy of eternal life. John quietly tells us that if we believe, eternal life may be ours right now. And because God has sent his son the whole world will be transformed, freed and saved.

St Paul reminds us so eloquently, 'We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it' (Ephesians 2:10). As you encounter those you meet in the foyer, the classroom, the cafe or bus, treat them as a precious piece of the most extraordinary God-made work of art.

Peter Douglas

Pope Francis establishes a universal feast day for Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church

by Gerard O'Connell

Pope Francis has decreed that “the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church,” should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on the Monday after Pentecost and be celebrated every year in churches throughout the world.

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments announced this in a decree published by the Vatican today, March 3, and signed by the congregation’s prefect, Cardinal Robert Sarah, and its secretary, Archbishop Arthur Roche. The pope, who has emphasized many times the importance of Mary in the church, approved this last Thursday when he received the cardinal in a private audience.

A “memorial” is a lower-ranked feast day. Celebrations of feast days in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church are distinguished according to their importance and named either as solemnities, feasts or memorials.

The decree, signed by the two Vatican prelates, said “the joyous veneration” given to the Mother of God by the contemporary church “in the light of reflection on the mystery of Christ and on his nature” cannot ignore “the Virgin Mary, who is both the Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church.”

It traced the history of this veneration down the centuries from the period of the early church as is reflected in the writing of St. Augustine (354-430) and St. Leo the Great, who was pope from 440-461. It recalled that St. Augustine said “Mary is the mother of the members of Christ, because with charity she cooperated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church” while St. Leo said “the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, thus indicating that Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, and mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church.”

The Vatican prelates in the decree recalled that “as a caring guide to the emerging Church Mary had already begun her mission in the Upper Room, praying with the Apostles while awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit.” Then, in the course of the centuries, “Christian piety has honored Mary with various titles” that are in many ways equivalent” such as “Mother of Disciples, of the Faithful, of Believers,” but also under the title “Mother of the Church” as is found in the texts of spiritual authors and the magisterium of Popes Benedict XIV and Leo XIII.

All this laid the foundation that enabled Blessed Paul VI, at the conclusion of the Third Session of the Second Vatican Council, Nov. 21, 1964, to declare the Blessed Virgin Mary as “Mother of the Church, that is to say of all Christian people, the faithful as well as the pastors, who call her the most loving Mother.” Paul VI decreed at the same time that “the Mother of God should be further honored and invoked by the entire Christian people by this tenderest of titles.”

The authors of the decree recalled various initiatives by the Holy See and the local churches in the following decades that resulted in the establishment of a votive Mass in honor of “the blessed Mary Mother of the Church” (1975) that was subsequently inserted into the Roman Missal, as well as the publication of invocations and formularies.

The congregation’s decree laid down that “the memorial therefore is to appear in all Calendars and liturgical books for the celebration of Mass and of the Liturgy of the Hours,” and provide the relative liturgical texts for this purpose.

This article first appeared in America on 3 March 2018