Mary in the New Testament

(OUTLINE OF THE CONFERENCE)

1. PALESTINE IN MARY’S TIME

Mary lived in a particular time and place

-Palestine

-The Peace of Augustus

Territorial division of Palestine

-Three western provinces

-One Eastern province

Economic Panorama

-Agriculture, craftsmen, commerce

-Aristocracy (priests, landowners), middle class (merchants and craftsmen), and a multitude of the poor.

-An occupied country

-Rome

-Tensions

-Resistance

-A gamut of parties and religious groups

-Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, Herodians, zealots, Essenes

-Joseph, Mary and Jesus lived in this world.

2. Criteria for reading and interpreting the New Testament

-Historical facts written in light of the Lord’s resurrection

-Catechetical purpose: this gives color and tone to the writings.

-Literary instruments taken from the Old Testament

-Jesus occupied the center with Mary as his best collaborator

-Other collaborators: the apostles, disciples, men and women

3. SUMMARY OF BIOGRAPHICAL DATA

Birth and name

15-20 B.C.

In Nazareth

Her name “Mary”, as the sister of Moses

Espousal

-with Joseph

Family in Nazareth

-the Aramaic language, perhaps some Hebrew

-a life like the women of her time

attend to house work, illiterate, knowledge of Scripture and oral tradition

House and Synagogue

-prayer at home, the synagogue on the Sabbath, annual feasts

-Jesus begins his public life

-Leaves all: Nazareth, his craft, etc.

-A long life

-Joseph died before Jesus began his public life. Mary lived longer than Jesus and Joseph.

4. “Mary, from whom was born Jesus, called the Christ” (Matt. 1:16)

-Genealogy of Jesus

-A descendant of Abraham

-Jesus belonged to the Jewish people

-Jesus born of Mary

-Mary’s virgin birth insinuated

5. MARY, MOTHER OF THE MESSIAH

Infancy Narratives: (Mat. 1: 18-25, Luke 1:26-38)

-Mary, the wife of Joseph, virginal conception, mother of the Messiah

6. THE BIRTH OF JESUS CAME ABOUT IN THIS WAY” (Mat. 1:18-25)

Christological passage: Mary occupies a preferred, special place.

Espousal of Mary and Joseph

-a truly legal marriage. Conjugal living together came a year later

-Conception by the work of the Holy Spirit

-a creative act

The divine and virginal Motherhood of Mary

7. “THE ANGEL GABRIEL WAS SENT BY GOD” (Luke 1:26-38)

Literary genre of the Annunciation account. Numerous annunciations in the Old and New Testaments.

Common elements in the different biblical annunciations

-the angel, the greeting, the mother’s name, fear, objection, sign

Content of the account of Mary’s annunciation

-In Nazareth, Mary’s fear, announcement of the conception and birth, Mary’s objection, the intervention of the Spirit.

NOTE: Did it all happen by means of an angel? Or in Mary’s interior world?

8. “MARY WENT TO A TOWN IN JUDEA” (Luke 1: 39-56)

-she went to Ain Karin

-the purpose of the trip

-to tell what happened to another person?

-to tell Elizabeth?

-an encounter between both mothers y between the Messiah and the Precursor?

-Mary greeted Elizabeth

-the Messiah and the Precursor meet

-Mary and Elizabeth understand better their respective roles.

9. “MY SOUL MAGNIFYS THE LORD” (Luke 1: 46-55)

-Literary origin of the Magnificat

-Born in the church of Jerusalem

-Judeo-Christian hymn

-Composed from fragments from the Old Testament

-It sings of safvific acts: ancient and present day

-the Magnificat: mirror of Mary’s soul. Mary incarnated in her own life all the

Magnificat speaks of.

-a contemporary reading from a “liberation” point of view

-Paul VI

-Max Thurian

-John Paul II

10. “A DECREE WENT FORTH FROM CESAR AUGUSTUS” (Luke 2: 1-20)

-the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Five days on the road.

-Augustus (30 B.C.—14 A.D.) decrees a census

-the divine maternity of Mary

-“kenosis”: humility and poverty

11. “THEY FOUND MARY AND JOSEPH, AND THE CHILD LYING IN THE

MANGER (Luke 2: 8-20)

-the narration about the adoration of the shepherds: angel, announcement, fear and

sign

-literary genre: annunciation

-Messianic attributes of the newborn: Savior, Christ the Lord, Messiah. These are

the attributes the primitive church gave to Jesus.

-Poverty and humility

-Mary kept all these things in her heart

-She meditated deeply on their meaning

-she continually accommodated her life to what happened

12. “EIGHT DAYS LATER” (Luke 2: 21)

-Meaning of the circumcision

-eight days after birth

-sign of incorporation

-physical sealing of the Covenant

-The name of Jesus

-It indicates his role and his destiny

-Joseph and Mary are obedient to the Law

13. “WHEN THE TIME CAME FOR THE PURIFICATION” (Luke 2:22-24)

-Forty days after birth

-in the Temple

-the offering of two doves

-Purification of Mary according to the Law

-Presentation and rescue/ransom of Jesus

14. “THERE WAS A MAN IN JERUSALEM NAMED SIMEON” (Luke 2:25- 32)

-Simeon awaited the coming of the Messiah

-He was just, pious, belonging to the remnant of Israel

-Gratitude for the presence of the Savior

-Does this account transmit the faith of the post-Pentecost Church?

-Simeon looks towards the future

15. “A SWORD WILL PIERCE YOUR SOUL” (Luke 2:33-35)

-Jesus will be a sign of contradiction

-of division

-a sword will pierce your soul

-Mary’s physical and moral pain because of the passion of Jesus and the

rejection of Israel

16. SAINT MARY OF NAZARETH (Luke 2:39-40, 51-52)

-Jesus’ hidden life. Thirty years.

-The meaning of the hidden life

-he lived the Beatitudes

-Like us in everything

-House and family: usage and customs

-The house with its rooms, dishes, stove, etc.

-A patriarchal family

-Joseph’s and Jesus’ work; Mary’s work

-Food

-A religious dimension in everything

-scholastic teaching in the synagogue

-Mary is mother and teacher

17. “WHEN HE WAS TWELVE YEARS OLD THEY WENT UP TO THE

FEAST” (Luke 2:41-50)

-the obligation to go up to the Jerusalem temple

-three times a year; once for those who lived far away

-Five days on the road

-Jerusalem during the Passover

-an anthill of people

-flocks of sheep for the sacrifice

-The Temple sacrifices

-Sprinkling blood upon the altar

-Jesus with the doctors

-Jesus stayed in Jerusalem

-His parents returned to Jerusalem at the end of the second day

-His parents find him in the Temple

-Mary: Why have you done this?

-Jesus’ disconcerting reply to Mary?

-Jesus alludes to another paternity/fatherhood. The priority of the Father’s will.

-Combining closeness and distance in what has to do with his relationship with

his mother.

18. “A WEDDING WAS CELEBRATED IN CANA OF GALILEE (John 2:1-

12)

-Historical and symbolic value of the account

-the Wedding Feast: the moving of the wife to the husband’s house, blessings and

family meeting

-Food and drink

-Mary, Jesus and the disciples

-“They have no wine” Literal and symbolic meanings.

-How does your concern affect me?

-Does Jesus ignore the problem?

-Don’t move my “hour” forward.

-“My “hour” has not yet come.”

-“Hour”: death and resurrection

-“Do whatever he tells you.”

-Mary urges Jesus to perform a sign

-The new wine

-The water changed into wine and the person of Jesus

-“This was the first of Jesus’ signs”

-In order to show his condition as Messiah

-Mary’s attributes

-Collaborator in the work of her Son

-Intercessor

-Mother of Jesus

-Mediator before the Lord

-Growing faith

19. “THESE ARE MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS.” (Mark 3:31-35; Mat. 12: 46-50; Luke 8: 19-21)

-Jesus’ closeness and reserve in relation to Mary and other relatives

-Mutual relationship between Jesus and Mary during Jesus’ public life

-How to explain this mixture of ‘presence’ and ‘absence’ of Mary?

-Voluntary silence on Mary’s part?

-Did she choose to be discreet?

-Does she renounce the temptation to glory?

-Personal “kenosis” (self-emptying)?

-“Your mother and your brothers…are outside and are looking for you.”

-“Whoever fulfills the will of God is my mother and my brothers”

-A surprising answer?

-Value of the faith relationship with the Lord

-The twofold maternity of Mary

-Mary maintains two kinds of relationship with her Son: maternal and of faith.

20. “HAPPY THE WOMB THAT BORE YOU.” (Luke 11: 27-28)

-Jesus was speaking with the people/crowd.

-The exclamation of the enthusiastic woman.

-Jesus’ answer

-“Happy are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”

-New Order of Values

-Mary is happy/blessed because she is the mother of Jesus and because she

welcomes God’s word

-Mary bore Jesus in her womb and in her heart.

21. “NEXT TO THE CROSS WAS HIS MOTHER” (John 19: 25-27)

-Mary at the foot of the cross.

-With a group of women and John

-For humanitarian reasons?

-Clearly, and also to accompany her Son in his pain.

-“Woman, here is your son.”

-Mary’s spiritual maternity and John’s spiritual sonship

22. MARY IN THE CHURCH OF JERUSALEM (Acts 1: 14)

-Between the Ascension and Pentecost

-The only time in Acts Mary is spoken about

-They persevered in prayer in the company of Mary

-The apostles and some women

-Mary in the center of the apostolic church

-Mary, a fraternal and active member of the post-Pascal community

23. GOD SENT HIS SON BORN OF AWOMAN (Gal. 4:4)

-The sobriety/seriousness of the Pauline text

-Paul as a rule speaks of the Paschal Christ, dead and risen

-Jesus born of a woman: Mary

-Mary has an essential function: she is the mother of the Savior.

24. CONCLUSION

-Recent documents on the Virgin Mary

-Lumen Gentium (Vatican II)

-Marialis Cultus (Paul VI)

-Redemptoris Mater (John Paul II)

-Dimensions of Mariology

-Biblical

-Christological

-Liturgical

-Ecumenical

I have referred to the biblical dimension of Mariology

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION/REFLECTION

Among the N.T. passages referring to Mary, which one is for you the most important and suggestive? Can you say why?

Is your Marian devotion and that of the group with whom you share your faith truly biblical, or, on the contrary, do you more frequently look to other sources?

Bearing in mind the N. T. texts commented on this presentation, can you explain what Mary’s role/function is?

In light of the N.T. texts referring to Mary, can you explain in what way Mary is a model for Christians?

In your opinion and that of your group, which characteristics should a true devotion to Mary include?

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