“You know, your preacher can preach a sermon, a priest can baptize, he can say Mass, but only one person directly contributed to the bodily Incarnation of the Logos, Second Person of the Trinity, Son of God. And that was Mary. So she has that unique position. And she even stands at the foot of the Cross, looking at the Body and Blood that came from her womb, from her nature. And so you can see that that makes Mary important. [It] doesn’t make her a goddess, doesn’t make her a savior. But you can get the Protestant Evangelical to say [that] the number one contributor to the sacrifice on the Cross—after Jesus, Who’s God—is the human person, the Mother, the Virgin Mary. ‘Behold, your Mother’ (John 19:27). And that will make a Protestant Evangelical think: ‘Hmm. Okay, you Catholics have a point. I can see how she plays a special role in human salvation. If she hadn’t provided a Body and a Blood, Jesus couldn’t die on the Cross. There’d be nothing for the nails to go into without Mary’s contribution.” –Dr. Taylor Marshall
As the Mother of the Church, the Blessed Virgin shares her Son—the only begotten Son of the Father—with the entire world. Her fiat made it possible for Him to have a human nature, and for God’s love to enter our lives as never before. She is like that little child who contributed five loaves and two fishes for the feeding of the five thousand (cf. John 6:1-15). By her humble cooperation with the Divine Will, our Lord Jesus feeds us with Himself as the Lamb of the new and eternal Passover. Without God’s chosen Mother, we would be starving for Him, the heavenly Bread, Who is life for the world (cf. John 6:33). What merciful grace is this, that even Judas the betrayer was included at the table? But instead of staying with the Beloved, he goes off into the night, into darkness…
“Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth.” (Revelation 12:3-4)
“See, the devil wants the Eucharist too. The devil wants the power of the Eucharist. Not on the terms of faith and of devotion and humility, but in pride. He wants to devour and defile the Son of God from the Virgin Mary. And he wants there to be sacrilegious, blasphemous communions. He doesn’t want people to go to confession. He wants people to receive the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin, a state of spiritual ruin. And so, we can see that this whole idea of the ‘fruit of the womb’—the Incarnation, the Eucharist—is deeply spiritual. It’s there for our own salvation, our own elevation in Christ, but it also can be twisted and distorted and deformed by the red dragon, by Satan, who himself wants this false, demonic, almost Dracula-type Eucharistic reception.” –Dr. Taylor Marshall
“Consequently, the reception of Baptism is necessary for starting the spiritual life, while the receiving of the Eucharist is requisite for its consummation….” –Saint Thomas Aquinas
This weekend, I attended a vigil Mass for Pentecost Sunday, and after receiving Holy Communion, kneeled down to pray. With my eyes closed, I saw an image of so much Blood. It was thick, dark red, alive. I didn’t understand what this vision could possibly mean, except that Jesus is willing to give all of His Blood for us.
“When love meets sin, there is sacrifice. You know this in your own life. It’s true in the divine economy as well.” –Dr. Taylor Marshall
“The Child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about Him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’ ” (Luke 2:33-35)
I’m struggling right now with what to do with my life. Family obligations have been keeping me busy, and it’s frustrating because I feel like I’m being pulled in a worldly, materialistic direction. Some mysterious health ailments have been afflicting me as well. I want to be cleansed by Jesus’ Blood, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I’d better head to Mass and confession. To Jesus, through Mary 🙂
