God is With Us: But, Are We Listening?

Looking at the insurmountable pain and sufferings that weighs down humanity all over the world, sometimes it is hard to understand that He is Emmanuel- God is with us. For a long time in my life I was a believer of the indifferent god - the one who merely watches everything from the sidelines. If God is with us here, then why can't he say something when I am in trouble, in pain, in despair? I read Diane McKelva's post Fear Not: Angels We have Heard on High about how a mysterious woman warned her about what lies ahead and how to react to it. I also thought about a similar experience my father had while he was going through cancer treatment, and though those mysterious voices didn't immediately solve their problems, it did help them persevere and eventually succeed. 

Mother of Christ

The word "Christ" is the English transliteration of the Greek word"Khristos", and it has the same meaning as the word "Messiah" which came from the Hebrew word "Mashíach". Both words essentially mean the "the anointed one" or "the chosen one". The Jews were expecting the coming of "the anointed one" who would deliver them from the oppressions of all their enemies and establish an earthly kingdom, based on many prophesies found in the Old Testaments. Collectively, these prophecies were referred to as Messianic prophecies. The prophesies for coming of the Messiah was fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is called "Jesus Christ" because He is the one chosen by God and anointed by Him to save His people. Mary, being the mother of Jesus, thus also known as Mother of Christ.

Holy Virgin of Virgins

One of the well known and most revered titles of Our Lady is the Virgin. She is the Virgin Mother - a true paradox and a logical impossibility that prompted the teenage peasant girl from Palestine to ask, "How can this be, since I know not man?". At Annunciation, the angel replied "The Holy Spirit will come upon you". Her fiancé, Joseph, had the same doubt and was thinking about secretly leaving her. But an angel told him in a dream, "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit". So today people all over the world lovingly call Mary - the Virgin Mother. And every time she is called the Virgin, people are praising God for the magnificent gift He bestowed upon humanity - His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. 

Causing Scandal

Saint Martin of Tours was born in the fourth century to pagan parents in Sabaria, comprising parts of modern day Yugoslavia and Hungary. His father was an officer in the Roman army. His family moved to Pavia in Italy when he was still a child. And there the boy first learned of Christianity, felt drawn to it, and became a catechumen. Afraid of the reaction from his parents and also of the largely pagan community, Martin kept his love of Christ hidden. Following his dad's footsteps, young Martin joined the Roman army at the age of fifteen. He was stationed in Gaul during a winter season. One day while riding into the city, he noticed a beggar near the city gates. The poor man was shivering with cold and had turned almost blue. Martin had no money to give him, but had a very heavy woolen cloak to keep himself warm. So he divided the cloak in two pieces, gave one half to the beggar, and barely wrapped himself with the other half. This kind act by the young man immediately caused a big scandal among his peers and the town folks. They realized Martin was a Christian.

Holy Mother of God

Christians believe that God is the creator of all, and that He has no beginning or end. So, in that sense, calling Mary the Mother of God is confusing. We can understand this salutation better by looking the Greek word for Mother of God, Theotokos. Literally speaking Theotokos means "God-bearer". So, Mother of God is not intended to be understood as referring to Mary as the Mother of God from eternity, but she is the Mother of God Incarnate. Mary carried Jesus in her womb and attributed towards His genetic makeup. That makes Mary, without any doubt, the mother of Jesus. Since Jesus is God Himself, calling Mary as the Mother of God should also make sense. Unfortunately though, many of the Protestant Christian denominations refuse to accept Mary as the Mother of God. And this has nothing to do with Mary, but everything has to do with the nature of Jesus.

The Holy Name of Mary

The Litany of Blessed Virgin Mary, as we know it today, was first prayed at the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in Italy, where its usage was recorded as early as 1558. At the time, there were also many other litanies in existence throughout the world. In 1587, Pope Sixtus V approved the Litany of Loreto for the faithful use by the Church and suppressed all the other Marian litanies. The Litany of Loreto contains many titles used formally and informally for Mary, and it set before us Mary's exalted privileges, her holiness of life, her amiability and power, her motherly spirit and queenly majesty. I hardly ever paid any attention to any of these titles in the Litany while praying the Rosary, and often mumbled "Pray for us" without ever thinking who is it that actually praying for us. So it is certainly a good idea to examine each one of these titles to learn and meditate more about its origins, their relationship to the Scriptures, and more importantly, how it is connected to Jesus and points us to the kingdom of God.

Power of Prayer - A Testimony

A few weeks ago, as I was getting ready to attend a retreat led by a very gifted priest, I sent out a message on my Facebook account asking friends to make their prayer requests so that I could pray for them. Given I do not have many friends on Facebook, I was still saddened by the response I got for my request - I received three requests. Now, I know for sure that most of my Facebook friends are catholics or at least Christians, and I also believe that they all strive to maintain some kind of relationship with the Living Christ. I don't think I received only three prayer requests because the rest of my friends were living a life with perfect health, satisfying careers, and soothing relationships. It is just that they couldn't bring themselves up to asking God for some of their pressing needs. As I look back at my own life, I can't blame any of them for not approaching God with a prayer request. It took more than a few miracles in my own life to convince me of the power prayer. From my past experiences, here are three main reasons for not asking God in prayer: 1. They think that there is no need to ask God. God knows everything and will give what's needed, when it is needed; 2. They don't think God cares about specific problems of each individual; he is God and has the whole universe to worry about; 3. They don't believe they have problems that couldn't be solved by themselves.