Housecleaning
1. The notes/recaps from our meetings will be posted on our Catholic Catacombs website usually within 24 hours. Please visit https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/blog where you will also find the previous Bible Study notes.
2. The Chosen is highly recommended. Create a weekly get-together to watch each episode, you won’t regret it. The 2nd season has ended so it’s a good time to catch up. Both seasons can be viewed at https://thechosen.link/1Y1R7
Year B (Mark), 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
This coming Sunday is Feast of The Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Luke 11:27-28)
However… the Annunciation, Immaculate Conception, The New Eve, The Theotokos, and the New Ark of the Covenant
The Fall
The Fall of Mankind and Original Sin must be explained in order to understand the Immaculate Conception and Assumption of Mary.
The “Sin of Adam & Eve” was not your ordinary sin. Free-will was part of the spiritual gift God breathed into us that included a certain “grace.” Its official name is Sanctifying Grace.
What is grace? Grace is not a commodity (i.e., you can’t say if I can get more grace, it will offset my sins). Such transactional thinking is usually (and erroneously) measured in “quantity,” whereas grace is about “quality.” There are different kinds of grace such as blessings but Sanctifying Grace represents the highest relationship humans have with God and is required for Heaven.
The Sacraments that Jesus passed on to us, such as Baptism, are therefore not transactions for acquiring additional quantities of grace but rather relational encounters that enliven us to the very conditions of our existence. It is kind of like opening up, or exposing, our hearts and minds to the way God sees things and loves. This is grace. The sacraments increase our ability to relate and interact with God, which further increases our grace.
“Self” can block grace. Self by itself is not bad at all, but selfishness is. Likewise, love is other-centered, not self-centered. We are here to mold our ‘self’ either to the ways of this world (and our egos) or to the ways of God (love). It is our relationship with God (via prayer, Sacraments, and works of love) that raises the self to everything it God destined us to be.
The Fall continued…
As Genesis explains, when the first humans were first given spiritual natures, it wasn’t long before they rebelled. If I was to summarize the Fall of Man…
“We have the power now, thanks God. Don’t call us, we’ll call you!” (Ron 1:1)
That is the Fall in a nutshell, but what happened in the Fall is we lost Sanctifying Grace, which was a change in the quality of our spiritual natures. We have technically been “dis-graced.” Not by God but by ourselves.
Thankfully, we still have a spiritual nature with the “image” of God (our desire for perfect happiness, perfect justice, etc.) but we fall way short of these never-ending desires. Why? Because we want all of these things for ourselves, and we want them our way, not God’s way. We “fallen” humans don’t do well with giving up control. This tendency and condition is called Original Sin, although that’s a poor name because it isn’t a specific sin that you or I committed but rather a spiritual condition we inherited.
One can say, “Hey, that’s not fair.” But the Genesis story also tells us that God was actually being merciful in giving us another chance. If we had stayed in “Eden” and eaten from the tree of eternal life, we would have become like the demons – forever fallen. The tree of eternal life was withheld from us for our own good.
But one day the tree of life would be offered to mankind again.
Q: How might the tree of eternal life be offered to us again?
The “cross” is the tree of eternal life. We receive eternal life through Jesus on cross. What does this mean? By Jesus taking on the cross, Jesus paid for all the forgiveness humans will ever need. His payment evened the scales of justice. Like a parent for their child, it is what love does. It’s what God does.
Nevertheless, just like love requires free-will, forgiveness does also. It cannot be forced on us. That means humans must request it, which takes a good amount of humility. But humility leads to wisdom, so there’s a reason for that, too.
As a consequence of The Fall, humans had the impossible task of getting to Heaven without God’s help. The reason is our independence from God. Our desire to find happiness, justice, and eternal life on our own is contrary to the dependence on God that is the first requirement of having spiritual natures. They were designed to work connected to God, not separate.
God also tells Adam & Eve (just as He told them before they rebelled), that they will die. And not only die, but decompose to dust. “Dust you are and to dust you shall return” (Gen 3:19). This is related to why Judeo-Christianity always held that, at the end of time, our souls and bodies will be reunited; because the Fall will be undone (Mt. 27:52, 1 Cor 15:42). The dust we become is thus a temporary condition.
The Tree of Eternal Life
One of the final things God tells Adam & Eve is that, going forward, there will be enmity between man and the serpent, BUT that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent and the serpent will strike his heel (Gen 3:15).
Q: Who is the seed of the woman?
Jesus Christ
Q: Who is the woman?
Eve and Mary
Q: What is the Protoevangelicum?
The Jewish interpretation of this passage from early on was that this passage was the first Messianic prophecy: their expected savior.
Q: What is meant by the serpent striking the heel of the woman’s seed?
When a serpent strikes a human’s heel, it can kill him and, in those days, it often did. What about Jesus? Did the world not put Jesus to death? But the world wasn’t successful, because then there was Easter. It is in the Resurrection that the head of the serpent is crushed. The War against evil is over: good won. But the individual battles for each of us remains. We have free-will and must still make our choice.
Baptism gives us our new lease on life – it is the down payment on our Sanctifying Grace, but it is enough to opens Heaven to us. Now it is ours to lose. What we need to do next is start putting our grace and relationship with God into practice, which starts and ends with loving God and neighbor.
We can complain all we want about our first parents blowing it but the fact is, unlike the angels, we are being given a second chance. And, now that Sanctifying Grace is restored, we are in our first parents’ shoes. Now we can make our own decisions where they failed. It’s not always easy, is it?
Over the next number of millennia, man gets a boost from God and then falls again: Cain murders his brother and evil begins to spread across the earth. God finds a good man in Noah and starts over with the flood and the Ark. Man falls again giving rise to the Tower of Babel, and God starts over by finding a good man named Abraham. The Jews falls again into slavery in Egypt and God finds a good man in Moses. They fall again in Judges and with King Saul, and God finds a good man in David (1000 BC). The Jews fall again, and yet God still sends them prophets who tell them God has not abandoned them – in spite of their turning their back on Him time and again – and will send them a Messiah/savior.
Then… comes the “woman and her seed.”
Q: What is the Annunciation?
The Angel Gabriel comes to Mary, a poor, devout Jewish woman (14-16) in an occupied country (Roman Empire ruled Israel), to announce God’s good news. The time has come – the Messiah is coming; and not just another powerful prophet, but God himself.
The Annunciation, Immaculate Conception, and New Eve
Gospel Reading 1 - Luke 1:26-35
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
1. “Hail” was not a typical Semitic greeting at the time, certainly not for a poor peasant woman. “Shalom” (peace) would be normal, but the Gabriel use “Hail.”
Hail is translated from the Greek word (xaipe) meaning “hail” (as in a joyful greeting) or “rejoice.” It is sometimes thought that “hail” was only reserved for kings, (i.e., Hail Caesar!), but the actual meaning is not so specific: “to acclaim or approve enthusiastically; to cheer, salute, greet, or welcome.”
The intended theme of the greeting is great joy at the coming announcement.
2. “Full of grace” – also used is “highly favored one,” but the literal translation of “kecharitōmenē” is “having been much graced by God.” It is a perfect participle verb. Perfect participles demonstrate that an action was completed in the past. This is important in that Mary was “graced by God” before this encounter with Gabriel; to be “graced” in the past tense is to never have been lacking in grace, an indication that Mary was born graced. Her conception was unique – without original sin. This is the meaning of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
Q: Why does being “graced” mean that Mary was without Original Sin?
Remember, original sin is not a personal sin; it is a spiritually inherited condition of being born without Sanctifying Grace because of the Fall. It is this Grace that separates us from God/heaven/salvation.
As we know, our Baptism erases all sin, but most importantly it erases Original Sin by the very fact of giving us back Sanctifying Grace.
Q: Why would Mary be conceived with Sanctifying Grace?
Because it makes perfect sense that the God’s the Son would not come into this world into a womb with Original Sin (without sanctifying grace). To become the mother of our Savior, Mary was enriched by God with the appropriate gifts for such a role.
Q: Does this mean Mary did not need to be saved by her Son?
No, she needed her Savior like all of us. However, her saying “Yes” to Gabriel was also her “Yes” to Jesus Christ. God, who is not limited by time, simply granted her Sanctifying Grace at her conception so that she could properly receive the Lord.
Q: Why was Mary troubled by Gabriel’s greeting, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”
As the next passage says, Mary is not as troubled by the sight of the angel as she is by what the angel said. Such a statement – about being graced and the Lord is with you – would bring memories to Mary of OT scripture. The Lord told Moses before he went to see the Pharaoh, “I will be with you.” God also told that to Joshua, “I will be with you,” when he entered the Promised Land. Mary could only hold her breath in fear and wonder at what God was going to ask of her. Then Gabriel says, “Mary, do not fear, for you have found favor with God…”
After Gabriel explained what the plan was, Mary asked how this would happen since she was a virgin (Lk 1:34). Gabriel explains the HS will overshadow her, so that her son will be called the Son of God. The Holy Spirit overshadowing events in the Holy Testament is recalled, and is called a theophany. Mary’s final response was, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to thy word.”
Q: What was the significance of Mary’s response?
Her “Yes” to God reverses Eve’s “No” to God. This is why Mary is called the New Eve. Her Yes paved the way for God to send his Son to save the human race from itself (and Satan).
“Be it done to me according to thy word.”
Gabriel also tells Mary that her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, is in her sixth month of her pregnancy, because nothing is impossible for God.
The Visitation and New Ark of the Covenant
Gospel Reading 2 - Luke 1:39-56
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said:
“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 generations 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 and 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.”
Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
Q: Who was Elizabeth carrying?
John the Baptist.
Q: What 3 things were contained in the Ark of the Covenant that God had Moses construct in the desert?
1. The two stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments.
2. An urn containing bread/manna from heaven, to remind future generations of what God did for them.
3. The staff of Aaron, the brother of Moses, representing the priestly order of Israel.
Q: What did Mary contain in her womb?
1. Jesus who was the Word of God, the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments.
2. As Jesus tells us in John 6, he IS the Bread of eternal life, the completion of the finite manna.
3. Jesus as God IS the priesthood of humanity.
When the Ark was lost in a war with the Philistines and then David got it back, in 2 Samuel he is found leading the Ark back by dancing and leaping in front of it, kind of like leading the parade. He sings, “How is it that the Ark of the Lord has come to me?” Then the Ark remains in that town for three months.
The Ark of the Covenant was again lost at the time of the Babylonian Exile, except before the attack on Jerusalem. Jeremiah hid the Ark in a cave near Mt. Nebo. It was never found. So the Jews were without the Ark when they returned from the Exile in 450 BC and build the 2nd Temple. However, the Jews expected it would be found again by the Messiah when he came.
Q: What happened when Elizabeth saw Mary?
Her baby leaps in her womb. Then Elizabeth says, “How is it the mother of the Lord has come to me?”
Then Mary stays visiting Elizabeth for three months.
Indeed, the missing Ark was found when the Messiah came – the true Ark was Mary’s womb.
We know that what is hidden in the OT is revealed in the NT. In this case, the Ark of the Covenant from Exodus is revealed in Mary in the NT. The contents of her womb (her Ark) is Jesus, is the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament.
Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Q: Why did Mary’s bodily assumption make sense?
First, the stories in tradition from both the Eastern and Roman Churches were from the first century.
Second, Mary was free from Original Sin, the result of which was the death and decomposition of the body (ashes…), to be reunited later. Mary didn’t suffer from the Fall, so it was no surprise that her body disappeared from her tomb after she was placed in it.
Other Mary topics…
Theotokos – Mother of God discussion
Revelations – future discussion
Closing Prayer
Eucharistia: Thank you, Lord, I am grateful for your saving presence in my life.
Kenosis: Lord, I will try to empty myself as you did, to be present to others.
Metanoia: Today, every moment, I yoke my mind, my heart, and my soul to You.
Maranatha: Come, Lord, enter, and make your home with me.
Hail, holy Queen
Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.
To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us,
and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Amen.
And Taylor’s closing devotion…
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