Mary, Mother of
Equilibrium
THE PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN FAITH AND REASON
Lk 1:26-38 -- The Birth of Jesus Foretold - It-taħbira tat-twelid ta' Ġesù Kristu
It-taħbira tat-twelid ta' Ġesù Kristu
[Lq:1:26] Imbagħad fis-sitt xahar Alla bagħat l-anġlu Gabrijel f'belt tal-Galilija. jisimha Nazaret, [Lq:1:27] għand xebba, mgħarrsa ma' raġel jismu Ġużeppi mid-dar ta' David. Dix-xebba kien jisimha Marija. [Lq:1:28] L-anġlu daħal għandha u qalilha: "Sliem għalik, mimlija bil-grazzja, il-Mulej miegħek". [Lq:1:29] Hi tħawwdet ħafna għal dan il-kliem, u bdiet taħseb bejnha u bejn ruħha x'setgħet qatt tfisser din it-tislima. [Lq:1:30] Iżda l-anġlu qalilha: "Tibżax, Marija, għax inti sibt grazzja quddiem Alla. [Lq:1:31] Ara, inti se tnissel fil-ġuf u jkollok iben u ssemmih Ġesù. [Lq:1:32] Hu jkun kbir, u jkun jissejjaħ Bin l-Għoli. Il-Mulej Alla jagħtih it-tron ta' David missieru [Lq:1:33] u jsaltan għal dejjem fuq dar Ġakobb, u ma jkunx hemm tmiem għas-saltna tiegħu". [Lq:1:34] Iżda Marija qalet lill-anġlu: "Kif ikun dan, ladarba ma nagħrafx raġel?". [Lq:1:35] Wieġeb l-anġlu u qalilha: "L-Ispirtu s-Santu jiġi fuqek, u l-qawwa ta' l-Għoli tixħet id-dell tagħha fuqek. U għalhekk dak li jitwieled minnek ikun qaddis, u jissejjaħ Bin Alla. [Lq:1:36] Ara, il-qariba tiegħek Eliżabetta, fi xjuħitha, hi wkoll nisslet iben fil-ġuf, u ġa għandha sitt xhur dik li għaliha kienu jgħidu li ma jistax ikollha tfal, [Lq:1:37] għax għal Alla ma hemm xejn li ma jistax isir". [Lq:1:38] Imbagħad qalet Marija: "Ara, jiena l-qaddejja tal-Mulej: ħa jsir minni skond kelmtek!". U l-anġlu telaq minn quddiemha.
Lk 1:39-45 -- Mary Visits Elizabeth - Iż-żjara ta' Marija lil Eliżabetta
Iż-żjara ta' Marija lil Eliżabetta
[Lq:1:39] F'dawk il-ġranet Marija qamet u marret tħaffef lejn l-għoljiet, f'belt tal-Lhudija. [Lq:1:40] Daħlet għand Żakkarija u sellmet lil Eliżabetta. [Lq:1:41] Malli Eliżabetta semgħet lil Marija ssellmilha, it-tarbija qabżet fil-ġuf tagħha u Eliżabetta mtliet bl-Ispirtu s-Santu; [Lq:1:42] u nfexxet f'għajta kbira u qalet: "Imbierka inti fost in-nisa, u mbierek il-frott tal-ġuf tiegħek! [Lq:1:43] U minn fejn ġieni dan li omm il-Mulej tiegħi tiġi għandi? [Lq:1:44] Għax ara, malli smajt f'widnejja leħen it-tislima tiegħek, it-tarbija li għandi fil-ġuf qabżet bil-ferħ. [Lq:1:45] Iva, hienja dik li emmnet li jseħħ kull ma bagħat jgħidilha l-Mulej!"
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1. Mary, the Virgin Mother (Luke 1:26-45)
also in AUDIO study --- http://www.jesuswalk.com/christmas-incarnation/virgin-mother.htm
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Pope at Santa Marta: Christians should not be afraid to get their hands dirty - Published on 6 Nov 2014
Pope at Santa Marta: God goes to the limit so no one should be lost (archivioradiovaticana.va)
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Mary, Mother of
Equilibrium
THE PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN FAITH AND
REASON
This is because the Christian can never settle down. His equilibrium is not one of he who sits comfortably in the middle, without ever making himself too vulnerable, never being too vocal, for fear of offending others. Sometimes, we prefer a “quiet life” and we let injustices, unfair prejudices, or gossip pass by us without ever taking a stand. The Christian is not neutral, and he who seeks peace in this way is not seeking after Christ who came rather “to bring war” (cfr Lk 12:49). Simon Weil writes that “the duty of the spiritual man is to re-establish equilibrium, bringing to his side those who are lost and are oppressed”, and that this means being ready to move with those in our world who are continually moving justice.
Therefore, the virtue of equilibrium is not as how the
wisdom of the world would care to define it – oftentimes using a criterion of
personal convenience. For the Christian, “being wise is more dangerous than
being crazy. Wisdom is the equilibrium of a man behind horses running towards a
precipice” (G. K. Chesterton). This is because the Christian wisdom is living
and thinking based on Christ and His living presence in history. He is God who
comes, who lives in our midst, who has thoughts of peace, who intervenes and
opens roads in our deserts, and who sows seeds of newness in our days that are
ever the same. If we live and think based on Him and in reference to Him, we
have a new center, a new center of gravity for our existence. In Mary, from the
moment of the Annunciation, all this occurred in a unique and exemplary way.
Mary is the woman of equilibrium because she allowed God to bring her right to
the edge of the greatest precipice. “You will be the Mother of God”: abyss of
mystery, profound paradox, where the mind of man can only stop, full of fright.
It is an annunciation that makes one giddy. Mary’s life was so suspended
between the human and the divine that it was an entire life of giddiness – the
ineffable greatness and the concreteness of the body of a baby. And yet Mary
did not fall over because she accepted the risk of being led by God, brought by
His own Son Himself.
A woman with child relearns equilibrium because,
although imperceptibly, the centre of gravity of her body changes thanks to the
baby she carries within her. The saints, those who carried Christ in their
person, in their hearts, in their minds, in their bodies – and found themselves
carried by Him – were men and women who renounced their own equilibrium and
offered it to Christ. They gave up all those things that are so difficult for
us to abandon: worries, calculations, fears, and personal stakes. Christ knocks
us off our feet. He “unbalances” us in order to give us a new equilibrium. It
is precisely the equilibrium of a man “behind horses running toward a
precipice”, a man constantly open to new horizons, willing to say his fiat,
made for generosity. “The love of Christ pushes us onward” (2 Cor 5:14) – here
are new horizons, those same risky equilibriums that Mary, Saint Paul and the
great army of saints all lived.
We too can humbly learn at their school, accepting the
opportunity to train, like a tight rope walker on a rope. For example, we could
denounce all that is in us that is immobile, motivated by fear, conditioned by
the pervading mentality of society; all that does not make space for courage,
for generosity. In fact it is generosity that balances our life in all its
dimensions because being generous means being driven by the love of Christ who
has made himself our pillar of strength. An example is the generosity of the
young husband of Milan, who asked his wife, already mother of their two
children, to welcome another child into their home by adoption. In response to
the fear of his wife, who laid out to him all the potential difficulties of
such a project and saying “What if I die shortly after?” he replied “Anna, but
I don’t live for you”. This is the courage of a man who fears nothing because
he lives in equilibrium on the great, powerful tightrope of the faithfulness of
God.
written by Sr. Sabina
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Prayer to Mary, Mother of Equilibrium
(my translation)
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