8- VIRGIN MARY.
The Gospel does not say much about Our Lady, but only few brief passages where we can find all the proofs of her virtues. Those virtues have created countless merits for Our Lady to be rewarded by God with the highest position under the throne of God.
The virtue that we love, respect, and talk about most often in Our Lady is the Virgin.
For some people, the word "virgin" is meaningless, absurd, outdated, old-fashioned...
But it is God who loves virginity first and foremost: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." That prophecy was also a covenant, a CONDITION from heaven: A virgin must be chaste, immaculate in all virtues, to be worthy to conceive and give birth Son of the Highest.
God is great, powerful beyond human understanding, He can create all things, He has the right to choose all precious things, He has to put hundreds of conditions to choose the One who gives birth to the Son of His love, why are there only two words "Virgin"? That is the virtue of virginity so esteemed by God!
Virgin Mary was born from a lineage that loved God with all their hearts and souls, so they kept their virginity from generation to generation, that virginity was purified through many generations until the time of the father and mother of Virgin Mary are Saint Joachim and Saint Ana to be very pure, so Mary inherits that merit from her parents, lineage, and trust and love God that she has blessed forever virgin and perfect in all virtues, that is not infected with bad habits from parents, descendants, and neighbors, no lusts for the flesh, no lusts for money, no lusts for fame, no worldly passions ... For worthy to be the Mother of the Savior, worthy to be the Mother of God.
But there are people who do not believe that Mary can live a virgin life forever, that is: after giving birth to Jesus, Mary lived with Saint Joseph like a normal wife, and gave birth to other children, claiming that it was nature, and the Bible says: Mt 1:24-25: "When Joseph rose from sleep, he did what the engel of the Lord had commended him. He took Mary into his home as his wife, but he engaged in no marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus."
First, let's talk about the two words "natural": the Son of God in the great and infinite POSITION in the Kingdom of God, incarnation as a human is not natural, but a very great mystery, only Mary lives forever virgin and perfect in all virtues is worthy to give birth to the Highest. As we can see, if it were natural, how could the Virgin Mary be conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit? and why should the Bible say: "But he engaged in no marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son." Then the Bible affirms that the Mystery of the Incarnation of God cannot be "spontaneous", and that alone is more than enough, too clear for us to believe that Mary was a perpetual virgin, because if the Bible clearly says: "Virgin Mary forever virgin" then what merit do believers like us get? And there's nothing to argue about.
And what did the Bible say about the brothers of Jesus: Mt 12, 47: Someone told him, "Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to speak with you." It is said that these brothers are the children of Mary and Joseph, after the firstborn Jesus:
- Consider the fact that when Jesus was 12 years old, he went to the Temple: If Jesus had some younger brothers, he must have in this period, for example, a ten-year-old, an eight-year-old, a six-year-old, yet Jesus After went back to church, he was alone in the Temple, which means that Jesus did not have any younger brothers to get lost, or if he was lost, he must have lost all three or four brothers, because everyone knows that brothers of that age are always attached to each other, tangerines together, otherwise the biblical writers also said the reason was that the two parents took care of the other children and let the Lord get lost. This is enough to prove that Jesus did not have any brothers, the word "brother" is just because the Orientals call cousins, friends, all call brothers.
-Once when Jesus returned to his hometown, people talked about his identity: Mt 13:55-56: "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? Are not James and Joseph, and Simon and Judas his brethren? And are not all his sisters, here with us?": This talk of some people who knew Jesus. Because they did not believe in him, wanted to say that Jesus was just a normal person, resorted to some sisters, and named his four brothers, so Jesus had seven or eight brothers and sisters? Is it possible that such a shocking story is not mentioned in other Gospels? This proves that the words "brothers" and "sisters" are used for cousins and friends.
-Saint Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John certainly wanted to identify Jesus, and they had to do it at the beginning of each Gospel, if Jesus had a brother, what was his name, what age, and where does he live? where are his wife and children... That is very important, very necessary, but all four Gospels do not mention any brother in the introduction of the Lord's background. So it is clear that Jesus is the only son of Mary.
-If Jesus had at least one biological brother, there was no reason for Jesus to leave Mary to Saint John on his deathbed, from which John took Mary into his home. Not to mention if Jesus had biological brothers, then the brothers of Jesus must stand at the foot of the Cross next to the Mother, and especially the removal of the nails and burial of the Lord's body must certainly be left to the brothers of Jesus to take care of because that is the case in the East are the duties and rights of siblings.
And there are many more reasons for us to understand and believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary:
First, Mary's virginity was purified by the lineage that worshiped God with all their heart, until the time Mary became completly pure, so when the Angel Gabriel informed Mary to be pregnant, she was surprised: "How shall that be," the reason is: "seeing I know not a man?" Although at that time Mary was engaged to Saint Joseph, that means Mary intended to remain a virgin for the rest of her life, otherwise, Mary would have thought of Saint Joseph and would never have said: "I know not a man." But when the Angel explained: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God." Then Mary answered without hesitation: "Behold I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word."
Second, with a great will to keep her virginity, Mary was chosen by God to give her only Son to mankind. It is an extremely great mystery, which shakes heaven and earth forever, so the BLESSING OF GOD must be poured out so that mankind can deserve to receive the supreme Holy One through the virginity and integrity of the Virgin Mary in all virtues, then that is the right situation, the right reason, that is the natural reason.
Third, the source of GOD's grace through miraculous and holy events:
- The Angel of God informed the Virgin Mary that she was pregnant.
- Virgin Mary went to visit Saint Elizabeth, and when they saw each other, the baby in her lap jumped for joy.
-Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus in a den of oxen and donkeys, poor and needy, but the angels of God sent news to the shepherds to come to worship, and the choir of angels descended from heaven to sing hymns. This passage of the Gospel clearly states Lk 2:18-19: "All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. As for Mary, she treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart."
-The Magi from afar followed the starlight to worship the Child Lord and offer offerings to kings.
- The day Our Lady and Saint Joseph presented the Lord in the Temple, Mr. Simeon joyfully foretold strange things about the life of Jesus and the life of Mary.
-The angel of God told Saint Joseph in a dream to take the Child Jesus and the Virgin Mary to Egypt to escape persecution by the tyrant Herod and then informed Joseph to bring Jesus and Mary back when the tyrant Herod had passed away.
-The Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph found Jesus in the Temple, dwelling in and dealing with the experts of the law. The Bible also clearly states about the contemplations of Our Lady: "And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart."
-Three years Jesus preached the Good News of Salvation along with miracles: the lame could walk, the blind saw, lepers were cleansed, the dead were raised... And he turned water into wine and turned bread to feed thousands of people...
-Jesus was resurrected triumphantly after the Virgin Mary witnessed the Lord being tortured, beaten to pieces, crucified and hung on the cross to die, and then pierced through the chest by a lance, and the mother and the disciples took Jesus' body down and buried it in a tomb.
- Our Lady witnessed Jesus ascend to heaven in glory.
-The Holy Spirit descended on Mary and the apostles.
All those holy events, which are powerful influences, become an abundant source of grace for Our Lady to keep her virginity for the rest of her life. In fact, just one of those holy events also made Our Lady love and adore God every moment, to maintain all virtues.
It must be further understood that the holy events before the time Jesus was about to be an adult and that Saint Joseph had witnessed, helped him realize that Mary was the one who was infinitely great, holy, and pure, be chosen to give birth to the Holy Son of God, so Saint Joseph wholeheartedly reveres Mary as a saint of God, and thanks to those miraculous events, it is the source of GOD's grace that Saint Joseph keeps his heart chastity for life, worthy to be a FATHER of the Son of God. It is a very carefully arranged choice of God, choosing Saint Joseph from a lineage that has worshiped God wholeheartedly for many generations to become a perfect saint in all virtues to help the Virgin Mary nurture the Son of God.
2004
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