Romano Guardini published his book The Lord in 1954. He was a favorite of the young Fr. Joseph Ratzinger, and it's easy for me to see why. I read some pieces of this book for a theology class years ago, but it's taken this long for me to actually start reading the whole book.
I have an older edition, so the page numbers might be a little off...
Ch. 1, Origin & Ancestry
One of the first neat things that stood out to me was on pg. 4, the paragraph that starts "Only in the flesh, not in the bare spirit..." The Incarnation/Logos and the dwelling place of God among His people in the OT... a beautiful combination! It reminded me of a Scripture paper I wrote for a class. One of the words I examined was "tabernacle." I was surprised to see that the same word "tabernacle" was used a variety of times. It was the tent that housed the ark of the covenant; it was at the Transfiguration, when Peter offered to build 3 booths; it is the house of the Eucharist in the New Covenant.
What stood out to you?
I have only read chapter 1. I enjoyed the thumbnail history of the ancestors of Jesus. A sentence that stood out to me was in the last paragraph of the chapter. "In the long quiet years in Nazareth, he may well have pondered these names. Deeply he must have felt what history is, the greatness of it, the power, confusion......pressing him from all sides to receive it into his heart that he might answer for it at the feet of God." What great love! What great compassion! I have often pondered what he thought during those quiet years. I have heard it said that when meditating on a mystery of the rosary, it is good to put yourself at the scene. I often try to look into his eyes...... How were the apostles able to treat him normally?
ReplyDeleteI liked your comments, John. There is so much symbolism in the OT that points to Jesus. Keep up the comments and I will try to catch up. :-)
you're right on that Mom, I didn't think of it that way. I remember Christopher West noting in a talk, something along the lines of, "just think how many conceptions it took to get to you! See how special and loved you are!" Looking at the Lord's will/plan in the long term. In the case of a geneaology, it's REALLY long term. :)
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ReplyDeleteMary
The attributes of Mary in this chapter are described in many ways; a part of the life of Jesus but at the same time an sort of distant observer of his mission. Her faith, perseverance and trust in her son is not short of miraculous but then as the Immaculate Conception, I can't imagine her being any other way.
I differ from the author in some of his assumptions that Mary "followed - in bare faith. Comprehension came only with Pentecost."
In my opinion, Mary was well versed in scripture. She knew about the promised Messiah, she knew that he would be born of a virgin. After her visit by Gabriel, she must have put two and two together. I wonder if she confided in her parents. I wonder if she searched the scriptures again after she was actually showing and zipped off to Elizabeth. I would like to think that she had an inkling of what this child would become. Granted, she did not understand the type of Messiah he would be, but she must have known that he would be special.
Think of the times when Elizabeth greeted her and her beautiful Magnificat, Simeon's prophesy, the escape into Egypt and Jesus' answer to her upon finding him in the temple. She had many things to ponder in her heart. I think she knew more than the author gives her credit for and I agree with him that Pentecost made everything crystal clear for her.
I don't want to discredit anything the author said in this chapter about her but I choose to think of Mary as a brilliant, faithful and strong woman who wholeheartedly became the mother of Jesus and accepted everything it entailed. A true role model for all of us!
Mom, you make a really good point. It reminds me of one discussion from a theology class. The topic (i think) was whether Jesus knew He was God (which drives me nuts)... but one thing Jaspers said was that Jesus was on a completely different level; there's no way we could get into Jesus' head and know what it was like. In one sense it's an obvious point but it's also important to have that big picture perspective on those questions.
DeleteI think your point is analogous to that. Being born without original sin... none of us has any idea what that's like. Since sin separates us from God and that barrier was removed for Mary... she must've had a very unique insight into the Lord's will. I agree, I'm sure she knew what was going on even without knowing all the details.
Two other things I came across in Ch. 2... the first:
Delete"Mary's response to the message of the angel was queenly. In that moment she was confronted with something of unprecedented magnitude, something that exacted a trust in God reaching into a darkness far beyond human comprehension. And she gave her answer simply, utterly unconscious of the greatness of her act." (here again, maybe that last part, she knew something of what was going on, but not all the details... maybe not utterly unconscious)
The second thing that struck me was part of Mary's suffering. Her cross was an unusual one; on one hand, as Jesus' mother as well as gaining salvation from Him, she rightfully wanted to be as close to Him as possible. On the other hand, she had to let go of Him and detach, so that He could carry out His mission. It must've been a terribly hard thing, to stay close and let go at the same time.
Well said, John. Mary's cross was like no other. Detachment and letting go is something I can relate to. It is incredibly hard to give children wings. It is like tearing your heart out but like Jesus and his public ministry, it is necessary. When you look at little Leo in your arms, it will be hard to imagine that some day he will go on to do whatever he decides to do. I think parents at that time have a somewhat better understanding of what Mary went through. How blessed we are to have her as our spiritual mother and role model.
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