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1 the PRESIDENT's REPORT Mary, the Mother of Jesus, “Porta Fidei” Newsletter of the Pontifical Theological Faculty “Marianum”, n. 38 1/2012 Viale Trenta Aprile 6 - 00153 ROMA tel. 06-58.39.16.01 fax 06-58.80.292 Sito web: www.marianum.it - e-mail: [email protected] THE PRESIDENT’S REPORT Mary, the Mother of Jesus, “Porta fidei” ur world is experiencing an existential, philosophical and cultural leveling; re- ligious and ethical indifference and even atheism are not uncommon. Faced Owith this situation the Church urges believers and people seeking life’s mean- ing to make Pascal’s wager on the Person, Gospel and hope that is Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God and God himself1; He is the human and divine source of meaning: we must trust and have confidence in him without hesitation – we know to whom we have given our faith (Cf. 2 Tim 1, 12)2 Both before and after becoming Pope, Benedict XVI has suggested that his non- believer friends in this post-modern era live quasi Deus daretur (as if God existed); an echo of the wager Pascal proposed to his own non-believer friends in the seventeenth century3. With regard to “meaning and God” the Belgian theologian Adolphe Gesché quotes the French philosopher, Pierre Magnard, and stresses the need to avoid making God a bureaucratic “meaning provider”. We accept this as a premise. In this question of meaning and trust, John Paul II and Benedict XVI have led the Church to see Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Marian spirituality as a rich source of strategy and support. Men 1 Cf. G. MAINO, “Vivere come se Dio ci fosse”. La scommessa sulla verità di Pascal e Ratzinger, Messaggero, Padua 2009. 2 Cf. R. FISICHELLA, La fede come risposta di senso. Abbandonarsi al mistero, Paoline, Milano 2005, pp. 97-132: «So in chi ho creduto». 3 Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Incontro e dialogo con il clero della diocese di Aosta, lunedì 25 luglio 2005, in Insegnamenti di Benedetto XVI, LEV, Città del Vaticano 2006, vol. 1, pp. 354-355; J. RA- TZINGER, L’Europa di Benedetto nella crisi delle culture, Cantagalli, Siena 2005, pp. 61-63 and 142-143. 1 Marianum Notizie-News 1/2012 and women are still fascinated by the Gospel presence of Mary of Nazareth. Her witness and example are a loving and convincing path to the True, the Good and the eternally Beautiful. Mary is the one human person who has fully realized the God’s anthropologi- cal and salvific plan in all its specific and historical force. Without exaggeration she can be considered the humble and useful “anthropological paradigm”.4 In post-Vatican II theological and exegetical study and research the very im- portant act that Mary, the Virgin Mother, the Servant and believer of God-with-us, is a fundamental element of divine and biblical revelation has garnered more and more at- tention. Mary of Nazareth is inextricably linked to the mystery and Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is part of Christianity’s DNA. This was true in the past, is true in the present and will be true in the future. We need only think of the Marian dogmas of the first and second millennia. They are truths that provide Trinitarian, anthropological, ecclesial and soteriological light on the person, role and meaning of Mary of Nazareth and her in- volvement in faith and the life of faith. Making the necessary distinctions with Jesus the Lord, we see that the entire history and faith of Mary, his mother and faithful servant, unfold within the Christological dynamic of paradox and scandal that mark the mysteri- ous paths God chose for the Mother of his son. In spite of some inevitable past and pre- sent human confusion we see why these Marian dogmas, doctrines and practices help define this great Mystery - something that causes wonder, admiration, gratitude and joy among the faithful. Mary, the Image of Faith The sober but incisive writings of Joseph Ratzinger on the Mother of the Lord can rightfully be called a short Mariology. He has written little – but well – on the Mother of Jesus. Essentially he sees her as the living synthesis of Jesus’ Gospel and of the mission carried out in his name. She teaches the disciples how to accept and treasure the Word which converts, heals, teaches and saves. It may be a short Mariology but it is sufficient to expound theologically the great riches of Jesus’ Mother as an anthropologi- cal and personalist paradigm, an icon of salvation history, an archetype of the Church and an exemplary image5. Benedict XVI frequently cites Mary’s exemplary ability to hear and meditate on the Word of God (Cf. Lk 2, 19, 51); her intrepid faith6; her genuine humility; her unswerving adherence to Christ; her reflection of the Christian communi- 4 Cf. S. DE FIORES, Maria. Nuovissimo Dizionario, EDB, Bologna 2006, vol. 2, pp. 1241-1269: “Paradigma antropologico”. 5 Ratzinger’s Marian writings are basically two: La Figlia di Sion. La devozione a Maria nella Chiesa, Paoline, Milan 1978; Maria Chiesa nascente, San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo 1998, a short work co-written with the great Swiss theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar, in 1981. 6 Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Verbum Domini, nos. 27-28. 124, post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of September 30, 2010, LEV, Città del Vaticano 2010, pp. 57-61; pp. 230-232. 2 Marianum Notizie-News 1/2012 ty’s discipleship. She is the “teacher of Christianity”.7 With his recent “motu proprio” Porta Fidei the Pope has declared a Year of Faith (October 11, 2012 – November 24, 2013) to be celebrated with wisdom and pastoral vigor throughout the Church, on the universal and local level8. He calls us to a renewed and genuine conversion to the Lord – the one Savior of the world. (Porta fidei no. 6). The path of conversion and genuine dis- cipleship involve a serious study of the faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church promulgated by Blessed John Paul II (October 11, 1992) can be of great help in this. It is an authoritative, true and sure summary of the Catholic faith. It is “a permanent record of the many ways in which the Church has meditated on the faith and made progress in doctrine so as to offer certitude to believers in their lives of faith”. (Porta fidei, no. 11). The Pope goes on to say that a deep understanding of the faith requires knowing and admiring the witnesses, men and women, priests, religious, lay people who have provid- ed an example of discipleship over the 2000 years of Christian history. They give honor and joy to Jesus, crucified and risen; he is the one Lord in whom “all the anguish and all the longing of the human heart finds fulfillment”. (Porta fidei, no. 13). Foremost among these witness of Love to seek out and serve is Mary, the Virgin Mother and believer in the one necessary Being. Pope Benedict’s description of Mary’s theological and spiritual biography as it appears in the Gospel is swift and effective: “By faith, Mary accepted the Angel’s word and believed the message that she was to become the Mother of God in the obedience of her devotion (cf. Lk 1:38). Visiting Elizabeth, she raised her hymn of praise to the Most High for the marvels he worked in those who trust him (cf. Lk 1:46-55). With joy and trepidation she gave birth to her only son, keeping her virginity intact (cf. Lk 2:6-7). Trusting in Joseph, her husband, she took Jesus to Egypt to save him from Herod’s persecution (cf. Mt 2:13-15). With the same faith, she followed the Lord in his preaching and remained with him all the way to Golgotha (cf. Jn 19:25-27). By faith, Mary tasted the fruits of Jesus’ resurrection, and treasuring every memory in her heart (cf. Lk 2:19, 51), she passed them on to the Twelve assembled with her in the Upper Room to receive the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14; 2:1-4)”.9 Mary, the Virgin of Faith, that Pope Benedict describes is the disciple-mentor that the Church joyfully and gratefully presents to all of us. She will teach us the difficult – but inspiring – art of dis- cipleship, true and faithful friendship with the Lord. To understand and accept Mary into our life as believers as Jesus intended (Cf. Jn 19, 25-27) we Christians need the Holy Spirit. In Mary the Spirit “writes” and makes 7 Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Pensieri mariani, LEV, Città del Vaticano 2007; IDEM, Maria, Madre del sì, Pensieri mariani II, LEV, Città del Vaticano, 2008. 8 Cf. CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Note with pastoral recommendations for the Year of Faith, January 6, 2012, LEV, Città del Vaticano, 2012. 9 BENEDICT XVI, Porta fidei, no. 13c, motu proprio October 11, 2011 in L’Osservatore Romano, Monday-Tuesday, October 17-18, 2011, pp. 23-24. Marianum Notizie-News 1/2012 3 specific that Word which is Spirit and Life (Cf. Jn 6,63). He has made her a Word of God for the Church – for all the churches and communities of disciples. The evangelical and theological figure of Mary that emerges from Ratzinger’s writings helps us better understand the image of Christ’s Mother found in his most committed documents: the encyclical Deus Caritas Est (2005); the encyclical Spe Salvi (2007); the post-synodal exhortation Verbum Domini (2010). These are important documents in which the Church of Christ, servant and minister of the Word, understands and depicts the Mother of Jesus through the words of the Episcopus Episcoporum [the Bishop of Bishops] - the Pope.
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