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Deacon Mark Mueller's avatar

Beautiful reflection. Mary’s joy is unbridled even in the midst of other pressing concerns. She humbly trusts... set aside for extraordinary tasks. May our joy this season be just as exuberant and may our trust be complete with the knowledge that we are about the Lord’s will, not our own.

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Kathleen Daley's avatar

Thank you for this inspiring and spiritually nourishing reflection!

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Peter Aiello's avatar

Instead of turning to Mary and asking her to strengthen our trust in God, why don’t we do as she did and trust in God for ourselves? Ultimately, if we don’t, any intercession on the part of others on our behalf is not going to do it for us. Humility toward God is what opens us up to grace. This applies to everyone. See 1Peter 5:5-7; James 4:5-10; Galatians 5:16-26; Philippians 4:6-7; Proverbs 3:5-6; Matthew 6:25-34, 11:28-30; Psalms 37:7, 55:22; Isaiah 26:3-4, 30:15, 55:6-9; John 6:63; Romans 13:14; 6:13; 8:28.

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Jonathon T. Fessenden's avatar

Hi Peter,

Thank you for this comment, and for the time you took to write. I would say the reason to turn to Mary is because Christ from the cross gifted Mary to all of us to be our mother which in turns means she serves a role in nurturing our faith. Through Mary we strengthen our faith in God and she can help us with that. Maybe my writing was not clearly stated but my point is how Mary was able to humbly accept the call, and these stories in Luke 1 might serve as an inspiration for all us. Mary can help us with our humility as her ways are modest, obedient, and she is the most highly favored lady. Amen & Peace to you during this Christmas season.

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Peter Aiello's avatar

Humility toward God is very simple. Scripture tells us to be anxious for nothing by casting all of our care on God. If this was Mary’s humility toward God, then it is something that we can all imitate; but we need to be willing to do it. A mother is to teach her children how to be dependent on God. I learned of it directly from the instruction in Scripture; and it is now the most important aspect of my Catholicism.

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Jonathon T. Fessenden's avatar

Of course we need to be willing to do it and my article is directed to those that might be struggling in various ways or might need some guides like Mary to imitate. As you know the Catholic Church relies both on Scripture ,Tradition and the Magisterium, so hopefully I am encouraging people to embrace all of these. I appreciate your response and the emphasis and importance of scripture as our guide/teacher. I also like when you said, "A mother is to teach her children how to be dependent on God." This is my main point.

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Peter Aiello's avatar

There a many writings in the Church besides Scripture, but Vatican II’s Dei Verbum 21 does say that "Therefore, like the Christian religion itself, all the preaching of the Church must be nourished and regulated by Sacred Scripture.” Because there is much to draw from in the past 2000 years of Catholic history, our own spiritual discernment needs to be alert to what we are taught by others.

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Jonathon T. Fessenden's avatar

Dei Verbum says many things on this topic such as the importance of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium. We are not Solo Scriptura as I am sure you understand. Tradition is not separate from Scripture; “Flowing from the same divine spring, they coalesce into one” (DV 9)

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Peter Aiello's avatar

The readings at the mass are all directly from Scripture. This underscores the place of Scripture in the Church that Dei Verbum 21 speaks of.

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