FS #49: Mary’s Role, Part 3 – Oct 23 – Homily – Fr Terrance

 

Fr Terrance gives the homily at Bloomington, IN, on Oct 23, 2023, on how Franciscan Spirituality emphasizes Our Lady's role as Mediatrix of all graces in God's plan, rooted in the Immaculate Conception and her joint predestination with Christ and the hierarchy of creatures.

Reflecting on Our Lady in Franciscan spirituality, Father delves into Mary's predestination as mediatrix alongside Jesus as found in Franciscan spirituality. St. Bonaventure highlights that all good originates from God, then Christ, and finally the Blessed Virgin, who was full of grace for humanity's benefit. All graces flow from God to Christ, from Christ to the Virgin, and from the Virgin to us. Mary's mediation encompasses all graces, including sanctifying grace, which is God's divine life in us.

Our existence and divine sonship are intertwined with the mediation of Jesus and Mary. Franciscan theologians emphasize that no order exists where God communicates to creatures without Christ, and no order exists where Christ communicates to creatures without Mary. Mary stands as the mediatrix between us and Jesus due to her association with Him and her unparalleled excellence.

In the divine hierarchy, Christ is the mediator between God and rational creatures, with Mary being the first and highest among them. Everything passes through her to reach us. The more one receives from God, the more one gives to others. Mary, being closest in nature to Jesus, participates in his causality and is the diffusive principle for all creatures, always secondary to Jesus.

St. Bonaventure asserts that no grace comes from Jesus except through Mary. As the new Eve, Mary complements Jesus, the new Adam. She is the heart of the mystical body of Christ. Graces flow from Jesus, the head, to Mary, the heart, and then to us. Pope St. Pius X, in his encyclical Ad Diem Illum, emphasizes Mary's unparalleled holiness and her role in the distribution of graces.

Saint Bernadine of Siena, a devout follower of Our Lady, describes her as the fountain of grace and the gate of heaven. Through her, divine grace overflows to us. She dispenses the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Dante, in his Paradiso, speaks of Our Lady's grace, emphasizing her readiness to provide even before one asks.

00:00 - Introduction
00:18 - Mary as Origin of Good Things
00:52 - Mary's Universal Mediation
01:34 - Hierarchization of Creatures
02:43 - Mary as Closest to Jesus
03:55 - Mary as Mediatrix
05:22 - Mary Brings Us to Christ
06:02 - Mary's Predestination as Mediatrix
06:58 - Merit De Congruo vs De Condigno
07:56 - Mary as Fountain of Grace
08:52 - Seeking Mary's Aid
09:21 - Conclusion

Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum (February 2, 1904) | PIUS X - http://www.vatican.va/content/pius-x/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_02021904_ad-diem-illum-laetissimum.html

Ave Maria!

This is a continuation of his series of homilies on Franciscan Spirituality - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNN151zTIO4&list=PLejh_e0-LN4xgMllKrzSasL2Hljd5BHom
and the subsection "Mary's Role"

The material for this series comes primarily from Ciccarelli, Marciano M., "I capisaldi della spiritualità francescana" in Italian, which translates as "The Cornerstones of Franciscan Spirituality." No English translations of this book exist at the time of this recording.

Mass: St. John of Capistrano - Mem - http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=692
Readings: Monday 29th Week of Ordinary Time - http://usccb.org/bible/readings/102323.cfm
1st: rom 4:20-25
Resp: luk 1:69-75
Gsp: luk 12:13-21

More on the Readings: https://airmaria.com/r?m=732&r=1529

Also on Facebook: https://fb.watch/nSlYLB-PWN/
and YouTube: https://youtu.be/1jwOs7NUIak