By JOE SIXPACK
It’s said that the rosary is the Gospel story through the eyes of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is especially true of the first set of mysteries, the Joyful Mysteries. Indeed, all five of them are taken from the Gospel According to Luke, which is often called the Gospel According to Mary. It’s obvious that Luke, who was not present with Jesus during His public ministry but a later convert, had interviewed the Blessed Virgin Mary before he wrote his Gospel. Mary traveled with her Son during most of His public ministry, so she was present for most of the events Luke writes about. The first two chapters of Luke give us information not supplied by the other three Evangelists, because only Mary and Joseph were present for those events.
I especially love the Joyful Mysteries, because reading them in Luke’s Gospel shows us how pure and in tune Mary’s heart was (is!) to the heart of her Son. She shows us how worthy she is of our love and devotion. Before we take a look at a part of those mysteries, let me hasten to point out one thing people seldom consider about Mary, but something the Doctors and Fathers of the Church have recognized since the beginning of Christianity.
Mary was immaculately conceived; that is, this is “the doctrine which declares that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God, and therefore must be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful” (Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX, December 8, 1854).
So by being immaculately conceived, Mary is the only mother in all of human history who was created by her own Son. Think about this: If you could have created your own mother, wouldn’t you have made her absolutely perfect? That’s what Jesus did. We all saw our mothers as perfect when we were little children, but as we grew older we began to see their flaws and imperfections. Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, never saw any imperfections in His Mother, because He created her perfect in her mother’s womb. And it is Mary’s perfection that causes us to have such great love for and devotion to her as the Mother of God.
The Annunciation is an amazing event. Have you ever read and meditated on it? Picture Mary when Gabriel came to visit her: The angel greeted her by a title — Full of Grace! After the greeting, Luke tells us “she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be” (v. 29). Then the angel told her not to be afraid. Most people think he told her not to fear because of his appearance, but the implication in Scripture is that she was made afraid by the greeting. No one before had ever been given such a celestial greeting, and Mary was rightly puzzled by this.
Mary knew and understood from the moment of her Son’s conception exactly who He was. So it’s only reasonable to expect that when He grew older, and Joseph had passed from this life to leave the two of them alone together, she would have asked Him about the things she didn’t fully understand surrounding His entry into the world in His human nature. I believe she asked Jesus about the greeting, and that’s why she told Luke of her apprehension over Gabriel’s greeting, giving us a hint of her special privilege of the Immaculate Conception.
I do know it was certainly believed by the apostles from the earliest times, which is why Pius IX was able to define the Immaculate Conception as being revealed by God.
Of the Joyful Mysteries, though, the thing I most love (and most of us think little about) is what Mary said in her Magnificat after Elizabeth responded to her greeting in the Visitation:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
“From this day all generation will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
“He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
“He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
“He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.
“He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
“He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever” (vs. 46-55).
The immaculately conceived heart of Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit as she proclaimed the beauty of God’s greatness in explaining to Elizabeth why “the mother of my Lord” (v. 43) had come to visit her. Elizabeth had just called Mary blessed (v. 42), and Mary made the prophecy that all generations would also call her blessed — something we do every time we pray the Hail Mary. The Blessed Virgin Mary clearly understood who she was and God’s purpose for her.
When we pray the rosary, it’s more than simply reciting the prayers. We’re supposed to meditate on each mystery during the recitation. It is evident from Scripture that Mary herself meditated on these mysteries. Regarding the Nativity, Luke tells us that after the birth of our Lord the shepherds came from the fields to worship the Christ Child. Then he writes, “But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (2:19).
Apparently Mary also meditated on the events of the Presentation at the Temple, because she was able to quote to Luke exactly what Simeon had said of her Son. I suspect what she most considered were the final prophetic words of the old rabbi: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (vs. 34-35).
Then there is the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. Returning to Nazareth from the Passover in Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph had traveled three days before realizing Jesus wasn’t with them (a foreshadowing of the separation from Him between His death and Resurrection). They had assumed Jesus was with other families’ children in the caravan playing, as all children do. Upon realizing He was missing, imagine Mary’s frantic fear and concern for her lost Child. She had to wonder if successors of those who had sought His life had finally caught up with Him (Matt. 2:13). But when Mary and Joseph returned to Jerusalem, they were both relieved and amazed to find Jesus confounding and teaching the elders in the temple.
When the relieved Mother of God found Him, she asked, “Son, why have you treated us so?” (Luke 2:46). Jesus’ reply was, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (v. 49) Again, “his mother kept all these things in her heart” (v. 51), telling us she meditated on the events of her divine Son throughout her life.
From the moment Gabriel told Mary why he was visiting her, she was perfectly free to refuse the offer being made to become the Mother of God, as is evinced by the fact that he waited for her fiat before departing (Luke 1:38). This means that Mary fully understood what she was doing when she consented to God’s plan, and she willingly participated in our redemption through the death of her Son. Mary’s perfection, her willingness, her suffering for us makes her worthy of our devotion and love.
If you have a question or comment you can reach out to me through the “Ask Joe” page of JoeSixpackAnswers.com, or you can email me at Joe@CantankerousCatholic.com.
Hey, how would you like to see things like this article every week in your parish bulletin as an insert? You or your pastor can learn more about how to do that by emailing me at Joe@CantankerousCatholic.com.
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