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)
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Mary, Mother of
Equilibrium
THE PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN FAITH AND
REASON
In the year 1967, while he was organizing the attic, a
Cistercian monk of Frattocchie in Rome found a slab of bronze with the
engraving that read “L’Alma Aequilibri Mater”, Our Lady of Equilibrium. There
engraved was Our Lady who was standing perfectly balanced with her hands held
open. The following year, a painting of the same image was given to the Pope.
When Paul VI saw it, he was very consoled and exclaimed: “Ah, this is exactly
what is needed!” Perhaps we did not even know of the existence of an “Our Lady
of Equilibrium”, and yet how many times have we invoked her, each time we
realize that “that is exactly what is needed” for our life or for the world and
the situations that are around us.
But, in the Christian sense of the word, what is the
more profound meaning of this equilibrium? We are most certainly not talking
about being immobile (like those “living statues” that attract tourists that we
see in the squares of Italian cities). This may translate into a certain
interior rigidness within us that leave us in situations that are not good for
us, simply because we fear change or failure. An example could be an unhealthy
relationship that does not construct a Christian project for life, but instead
has become a reassuring and comfortable nest. Or perhaps it could be the fear
of commitment that leaves us stagnant always postponing matrimony and prevents
us from taking the next step in a relationship. Every choice brings with it a
risk, but in wanting to evade the risk of living, one arrives directly at
death. If nothing else, we arrive at the death of our projects and desires. And
on this road, our relationship with God which is nourished by our willingness
to risk and be vulnerable dies too. It is the risk that comes with following
our most profound ideals, that comes with questioning what our vocation is,
that comes with asking ourselves if God is calling us to bring forth another
child into this world… A contemporary author is provocative in asking very
directly: “Is there a man so cowardly that he prefers to not fall even once
rather than vacillate forever?” (C. McCarthy). Thus, it is better to risk
losing equilibrium in the adventure of an entire life in order to find it.
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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