November 8—Bl. John Duns Scotus, Priest and Religious

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It only took 685 years for today’s saint to be beatified after his death! John Duns was a Franciscan priest and friar born about 1265/66 and died in 1308. He is called Duns Scotus meaning Duns the Scot because he was from Scotland. He was a philosopher and theologian graduating from Oxford University. He is called “the Subtle Doctor” because of his complex and nuanced thought. He taught a metaphysical argument for the existence of God through the concepts of cause and effect. He also advocated for free will by stating that a person cannot stop what the person is doing if there is no free will; and yet people can stop what they are doing! 

He also defended the teaching of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, following St. Anselm of Canterbury’s principle: “God could do it, it was appropriate, therefore he did it!” In other words, according to Bl. Pope Pius IX, who infallibly defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854: “At the moment of her conception, Mary was preserved free from the stain of original sin, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ.” 

Philosophy is the handmaiden of theology! What this means is that the Church uses philosophy to help us understand what God supernaturally reveals to us by using our natural reasoning ability, which God gave to us! We are not fideists, meaning, all we do is believe blindly and not think. Nor are we rationalists, meaning, all we do is use our own unaided reason as the ultimate basis of truth or falsehood and thus not believe. We believe and we think! One is a supernatural gift, faith, and the other is a natural gift, reason. By using both we can share what we believe in a rational manner. Bl. Duns Scotus, pray for us!

*https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/JohnDunsScotus_-_full.jpg 

Justus van Gent, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Second Friday after Trinity Sunday—Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

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The heart is a common symbol of love in our day, used in song and poetry, as well as everyday speech. So, it should be no surprise that the Church has a feast day dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the one who loves us beyond love. The most significant promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart was St. Margraret Mary Alacoque of France in the 17th century. She received apparitions of the Sacred Heart and promoted its devotion. 

The first papal approval came from Pope Innocent VI in 1353 when he instituted a Mass in honor of the Sacred Heart. Pope Pius IX authorized the feast for the whole Church in 1856. Pope Leo XIII decreed a consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1899 as well as First Friday Devotions. Pope Pius XII wrote a letter instructing the Church on the devotion to the Sacred Heart in 1956 and Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the importance of this devotion in 2006. 

Pope Benedict wrote, “When we practice this devotion, not only do we recognize God's love with gratitude but we continue to open ourselves to this love so that our lives are ever more closely patterned upon it. God, who poured out his love ‘into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us’ (cf. Rom 5: 5), invites us tirelessly to accept his love. The main aim of the invitation to give ourselves entirely to the saving love of Christ and to consecrate ourselves to it is, consequently, to bring about our relationship with God. This explains why the devotion, which is totally oriented to the love of God who sacrificed himself for us, has an irreplaceable importance for our faith and for our life in love.”

*https://live.staticflickr.com/2327/2317894926_8585f50d6b_c.jpg

December 8--The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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First and foremost: The Immaculate Conception is about the conception of MARY, NOT JESUS. We celebrate her birthday on September 8, nine months later. The conception of Jesus is celebrated on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel came to Mary and declared God’s will for her that she become the Mother of God. The virgin birth of Jesus is then celebrated nine months later on December 25!

So, now that we have that straight, what is the Immaculate Conception? The Immaculate Conception is the dogma, as defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854, that Mary was conceived in her mother’s womb without the stain of Original Sin. She is immaculate, or pure! She had the fullness of God’s sanctifying grace in her life from the moment of the beginning of her existence. How do we know this? From God’s Revelation. In Luke’s Gospel, the Angel Gabriel declared to Mary: “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” (Lk. 1:28) This also comes to us as: “Hail (Mary) full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” Sound familiar? It is the beginning of the “Hail Mary”. It continues: “Blessed art thou among women,” which is from the greeting Elizabeth gave to Mary in Luke 1:41. Further: "And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." Mary always points to Jesus!

Does this mean that Mary did not need salvation from Jesus Christ? No! Her fullness of grace was given to her by God in anticipation of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But why was she given this gift and not the rest of us? Because she is the Mother of God! She was given this special gift in anticipation of her fiat, or yes, to God’s request that she become the Mother of God.  A side note:  She is the patroness of the United States of America!  And so, we pray: Immaculate Mary, pray for us.
*By Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - [2], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3118612