10 Minutes with Jesus
05-08-24 Theotokos (JK)
"My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me and that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My immaculate mother, Saint Joseph, my father, and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me. Today, Jesus, we want to pray about your mother. We love praying about Mary, praying with Mary, that lovely woman, Mary of Nazareth. And we want to consider the great devotion that the church has always had for her. And we do so by celebrating today's feast day, the feast of the dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major. It's a beautiful feast day, which is at the very root of our Christian identity. It's an ancient feast day, which commemorates the dedication of that church in Rome. The Basilica of Mary Major, which is located on the summit of the Esqueline Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome. And it's called the Basilica of Santa Maria Majore, Mary Major, because it is the largest church in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And it's also one of the four major basilicas of Rome. Today's feast is also called the Feast of Our Lady of the Snows, because tradition holds that during the pontificate of Pope Lebarius, so this would have been in, I guess in the early fifth century, the Roman patrician John and his wife, who were without heirs, they didn't have children, made a vow to donate their possessions to the Virgin Mary. They prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honor. An August 5th at the height of the Roman summer, and August in Rome is very hot. On that day, August 5th, snow fell during the night on the summit of the Esqueline Hill. And so in the morning, John and his wife saw the snow that had fallen on the top of the hill. In obedience to a vision of the Virgin Mary, that they had that same night, the couple built a basilica in honor of Mary on the very spot that was covered with snow, that is the spot where the basilica stands today, on top of the Esqueline. And I used to live in Rome, and I recall how on every August 5th, you could go to the basilica, and they would commemorate this legend, this story. And what do they do? Well, at the conclusion of solemn mass in honor of our lady, a shower of white rose petals is dropped from the ceiling. So there in the basilica, you look up, and all these white rose petals that look like snowflakes come down from the sky. And I think nowadays at sunset of the same day, as the sun is going down, they stage a similar snowfall as kind of a tourist attraction in the square, fronting the basilica. So if you're ever in Rome in August, check it out, August 5th. But you know, even before this story of the miraculous snow came about, the church was also known as not St. Mary Major, but St. Mary of the crib, Sancta Maria Al-Precipe, because this basilica holds a relic of the manger, or the crib, of the nativity of Jesus Christ. Your manger, Lord, four wooden boards of Sycamore that were believed to have been brought to the church in the time of Pope Theodore, so in the seventh century. And these are kept, they're protected, under the altar of the basilica, another thing to look at if you're in Rome. But perhaps most importantly of all, Jesus, and this is what we celebrate first and foremost on today's feast, is a basic tenet of our faith that your mother, Jesus, is rightfully called with the title, Theotokos, the mother of God, Mary of Nazareth, a human being like you and me. She is the mother of Jesus, and therefore can rightfully be called the mother of God. The basilica, Mary Major, was constructed immediately after the conclusion of the Council of Ephesus, which took place in the year 431. In that council, Mary was given the title of Theotokos, mother of God. That was in 431. The basilica was consecrated by Pope Sixtus III in 434. We know that the Council of Ephesus was called together because of the heresy of Nestorius, who claimed that Mary is not really the mother of God. There was this debate raging in the ancient world. Nestorius was taking this position and fighting him was the saint, Cyril of Alexandria. Over those two positions, we'll basically, without getting too far into it, Nestorius claimed that basically in Jesus there are two natures, which is what we believe, Jesus is both God and man, but he said there he is both two natures and two subjects, two different subjects, and the union, therefore between them, is quite superficial. So strictly speaking, Mary is only the mother of Jesus the man, but not the mother of the son of God, not the mother of God. And so people did not like hearing this because the popular devotion was always that Mary is the mother of Jesus, of God the son, and therefore we call her the mother of God. Thankfully, the Council, understanding this true faith of the Church, declared most solemnly, they said in the Council, "The humanity of Christ has no other subject than that of the divine person of the son of God who assumed a human nature and made it his own from his conception." And so Mary is not simply Christotokos, she is Theo Tokos, she is the mother of God. And Jesus, we celebrate your mother today, we celebrate the special mission that you gave to our lady to be your mother, your mother, which means that she's the mother of the word made flesh, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, Theo Tokos, she is the mother of God, literally the bearer of God, she carries God, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, the word made flesh in her womb. This is a deep, deep mystery, and of course over the years people have misunderstood this, not only in the time of Nestorius, but in other moments of the Church, people have lost sight of the role of our lady, they have relegated her to a corner, they no longer consider her important. And yet for us, Mary is the forerunner of our faith. And being the mother of God, she is the one who knows Jesus the best. She is the creature that God, like you and me, she's a creature, she's not a God. She is a creature who God gave special graces in order to carry out a most intimate life with Jesus. And so we can ask Mary right now, mother Mary, Theo Tokos, mother of God, help me to get to know your son better, help me to fall more in love with him as you do, as you did. Because Mary can teach us the things of God, she can teach us the divine life. She can show us what it means to have true union with Jesus. This is what our life is all about, this is what these 10 minutes with Jesus are always about. Jesus, we want to spend these minutes with you so that we can be more united to you. And Theo Tokos, the mother of God, was so united with you, so much so that you wanted her to be with you and both her body and soul and heaven through the assumption, which will be celebrating later this month. We conclude by invoking this title that the Basilica of Mary Major celebrates, Theo Tokos, Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, amen. I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me in this meditation. I ask your help in putting them into effect. My immaculate mother, St. Joseph, my father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede from me. [BLANK_AUDIO]