In Medias Res

Anyone ever hear of Homer? I don’t mean Homer Simpson. I mean the storyteller of ancient Greece.

'Aristotle with a Bust of Homer' by Rembrandt

Homer told his stories in a famous way. He starts you out in the middle. Then, as the story unfolds, he fills you in on how things got to the point you found them at the beginning.

At the beginning of the Iliad, the Greeks have set up camp on the eastern banks of the Aegean. What are they doing there? Read on, and you will find out.

At the beginning of the Odyssey, Odysseus languishes in prison on the isle of Ogygia. How did he get there? Read on to find out.

Perhaps you will recall that, about a month ago, I started trying to review some of the changes in the English translation of the people’s parts of the Mass, the words which we will begin to use in two weeks.

When we first started talking about the new Missal, we discussed how we pray the Sacred Liturgy as our common work together. Liturgy means ‘public work.’

Our Quasi-Omnipotent Lady

 

 

 

          “Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun, as awe-inspiring as bannered troops?”   Song of Songs 6:10

Today we rejoice in the birth of the Mother of God.  She was conceived immaculate in her mother Ann’s womb, and nine months later, she was born.

When she came of age to bear a child, the Archangel come to propose God’s plan to her, and she gave her consent.  With her Son, she walked down the path of humility and suffering.  After our salvation was won, God exalted her, like her Son, to the highest heaven.

Obviously, the Blessed Virgin Mary is not God; she is not divine.  God made her.  He did not, on the other hand, make Himself.  He made the humanity which He took to Himself, but God the Son always was and always will be.  Christ is a divine Person, not a creature.  We cannot worship the Blessed Mother the way we worship God.  Only God is God.  Our goal is to give glory to God, just like the Blessed Virgin does.  No one worships God better than our Lady worships Him; she worships God in Christ perfectly.

From God’s point-of-view, our Lady is splendidly beautiful, but of course she is infinitely less than He is Himself.  He keeps her in existence at every instant.  If He did not, she would disappear without a trace.

From our point-of-view, though, the Blessed Virgin might as well be God.  Our Lady is in charge of all the angels; they serve and adore her.  All the graces God gives to us come through her.  She is our life, our sweetness, and our hope.  She is the everlasting Garden of Eden.

Let’s not fret and fuss about falling into “Mariolatry.”  Damn the torpedoes, when it comes to Protestants trying to criticize us on this.  We cannot venerate and love our Lady too much.  Why get technical about the difference between worshipping God and throwing ourselves at our Lady’s feet?  The experts who make sure that the prayers we use are orthodox can worry about things like that.

          Here’s a weak analogy:  An expert land surveyor might be able to tell the difference in height between Mt. Everest and K-2, just by looking.  I am sure, though, that if I laid eyes on Mt. Everest and then Mt. McKinley, I couldn’t tell the difference in height.  In both cases, I would say, “Wow, that is an awesome mountain.”  When I think of God, I say to myself, “Awesome.”  When I think of our Lady, I say to myself, “Awesome.”

          From where I am standing, the Blessed Virgin Mary is infinitely powerful.  She is immeasurably more powerful, holier, more excellent and glorious than me.  I rely on her for my life’s breath.  If by “infinite” I mean simply that I cannot measure what I am talking about, I have to confess that our Lady is infinitely wonderful.  I beg her to take care of me.