{"id":13555,"date":"2012-12-24T11:23:16","date_gmt":"2012-12-24T16:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/?p=13555"},"modified":"2012-12-24T11:23:16","modified_gmt":"2012-12-24T16:23:16","slug":"the-worlds-salvation-is-not-the-work-of-human-beings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/2012\/12\/the-worlds-salvation-is-not-the-work-of-human-beings\/","title":{"rendered":"The world\u2019s salvation is not the work of human beings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Act of Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the occasion of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception<\/a><\/p>\n

…There is something else, something even more important which Mary Immaculate tells us when we come here, and it is that the world\u2019s salvation is not the work of human beings \u2014 of science, of technology, of an ideology \u2014 but it comes from Grace. What does this word mean? Grace means Love in its purity and beauty, it is God himself as he revealed himself in salvation history, recounted in the Bible and in its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Mary is called \u201cfull of grace\u201d (Lk 1:28) and with her specific identity she reminds us of God\u2019s primacy in our life and in the history of the world, she reminds us that the power of God\u2019s love is stronger than evil, that it can fill the void that selfishness creates in the history of individuals, families, nations and the world.<\/p>\n

These forms of emptiness can become hells where human life is drawn downwards and towards nothingness, losing its meaning and its light. The world suggests filling this emptiness with false remedies \u2014 drugs are emblematic \u2014 that in reality only broaden the abyss. Only love can prevent this fall, but not just any kind of love: a love that contains the purity of Grace \u2014 of God who transforms and renews \u2014 and can thus fill the intoxicated lungs with fresh oxygen, clean air, new energy for life. Mary tells us that however low man may fall it is never too low for God, who descended even into hell; however far astray our heart may have gone, God is always \u201cgreater than our hearts\u201d (1 Jn 3:20). The gentle breath of Grace can dispel the darkest cloud and can make life beautiful and rich in meaning even in the most inhuman situations.<\/p>\n

And from this derives the third thing that Mary Immaculate tells us. She speaks of joy, that authentic joy which spreads in hearts freed from sin. Sin brings with it a negative sadness that leads to withdrawal into self. Grace brings true joy that does not depend on possessions but is rooted in the innermost self, in the depths of the person, and nothing and no one can remove it. Christianity is essentially an \u201cevangelo\u201d, \u201cGood News\u201d, whereas some think of it as an obstacle to joy because they see it as a collection of prohibitions and rules.<\/p>\n

Christianity is actually the proclamation of the victory of Grace over sin, of life over death. And if it entails self-denial and discipline of the mind, of the heart and of behaviour, it is precisely because in the human being there is a poisonous root of selfishness which does evil to oneself and to others. It is thus necessary to learn to say \u201cno\u201d to the voice of selfishness and \u201cyes\u201d to that of genuine love. Mary\u2019s joy is complete, for in her heart there is not a shadow of sin. This joy coincides with the presence of Jesus in her life: Jesus conceived and carried in her womb, then as a child entrusted to her motherly care, as an adolescent, a young man and an adult; Jesus seen leaving home, followed at a distance with faith even to the Cross and to the Resurrection; Jesus is Mary\u2019s joy and is the joy of the Church, of us all.<\/p>\n

In this Season of Advent Mary Immaculate teaches us to listen to the voice of God who speaks in silence; to welcome his Grace that sets us free from sin and from all selfishness in order thereby to taste true joy. Mary, full of grace, pray for us!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Act of Veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the occasion of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception …There is something else, something even more important which Mary Immaculate tells…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-saints","category-theology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13555"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13557,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13555\/revisions\/13557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}