Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 117 - Part IV.

YOUCAT Question n. 117 - Part IV. How could the Holy Spirit work in, with, and through Mary?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Mary was totally responsive and open to God (Lk 1:38). Thus she was able to become the “Mother of God” through the working of the Holy Spirit—and as Christ’s Mother to become also the Mother of Christians, indeed, the Mother of all mankind.          

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 725) Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's merciful love (Cf. Lk 2:14), into communion with Christ. And the humble are always the first to accept him: shepherds, magi, Simeon and Anna, the bride and groom at Cana, and the first disciples.    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Mary made it possible for the Holy Spirit to work the miracle of all miracles: the Incarnation of God. She gave God her Yes: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, she went with Jesus through thick and thin, even to the foot of the Cross. There Jesus gave her to us all as our Mother (Jn 19:25-27).

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 726) At the end of this mission of the Spirit, Mary became the Woman, the new Eve ("mother of the living"), the mother of the "whole Christ" (Cf. Jn 19:25-27). As such, she was present with the Twelve, who "with one accord devoted themselves to prayer"(Acts 1:14), at the dawn of the "end time" which the Spirit was to inaugurate on the morning of Pentecost with the manifestation of the Church.     

(The next question is: What happened on Pentecost?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 117 - Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 117 - Part III. How could the Holy Spirit work in, with, and through Mary?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Mary was totally responsive and open to God (Lk 1:38). Thus she was able to become the “Mother of God” through the working of the Holy Spirit—and as Christ’s Mother to become also the Mother of Christians, indeed, the Mother of all mankind.          

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 723) In Mary, the Holy Spirit fulfills the plan of the Father's loving goodness. Through the Holy Spirit, the Virgin conceives and gives birth to the Son of God. By the Holy Spirit's power and her faith, her virginity became uniquely fruitful (Cf. Lk 1:26-38; Rom 4:18-21; Gal 4:26-28).    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Mary made it possible for the Holy Spirit to work the miracle of all miracles: the Incarnation of God. She gave God her Yes: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, she went with Jesus through thick and thin, even to the foot of the Cross. There Jesus gave her to us all as our Mother (Jn 19:25-27).     

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 724) In Mary, the Holy Spirit manifests the Son of the Father, now become the Son of the Virgin. She is the burning bush of the definitive theophany. Filled with the Holy Spirit she makes the Word visible in the humility of his flesh. It is to the poor and the first representatives of the gentiles that she makes him known (Cf. Lk 1:15-19; Mt 2:11).    

(This question: How could the Holy Spirit work in, with, and through Mary? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 117 - Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 117 - Part II. How could the Holy Spirit work in, with, and through Mary?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Mary was totally responsive and open to God (Lk 1:38). Thus she was able to become the “Mother of God” through the working of the Holy Spirit—and as Christ’s Mother to become also the Mother of Christians, indeed, the Mother of all mankind.            

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 722) The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of him in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Col 2:9) should herself be "full of grace." She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty. It was quite correct for the angel Gabriel to greet her as the "Daughter of Zion": "Rejoice" (Cf. Zeph 3:14; Zech 2:14). It is the thanksgiving of the whole People of God, and thus of the Church, which Mary in her canticle (Cf. Lk 1:46-55) lifts up to the Father in the Holy Spirit while carrying within her the eternal Son.   

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Mary made it possible for the Holy Spirit to work the miracle of all miracles: the Incarnation of God. She gave God her Yes: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, she went with Jesus through thick and thin, even to the foot of the Cross. There Jesus gave her to us all as our Mother (Jn 19:25-27).   

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 712) The characteristics of the awaited Messiah begin to appear in the "Book of Emmanuel" ("Isaiah said this when he saw his glory" (Jn 12:41; cf. Isa 6-12), speaking of Christ), especially in the first two verses of Isaiah 11 (Isa 11:1-2): There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD (Isa 11:1-2).      

(This question: How could the Holy Spirit work in, with, and through Mary? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 117 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 117 - Part I. How could the Holy Spirit work in, with, and through Mary?

(Youcat answer) Mary was totally responsive and open to God (Lk 1:38). Thus she was able to become the “Mother of God” through the working of the Holy Spirit—and as Christ’s Mother to become also the Mother of Christians, indeed, the Mother of all mankind.          

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 721) Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary (Cf. Prov 8:1- 9:6; Sir 24). Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the "Seat of Wisdom." In her, the "wonders of God" that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ and the Church began to be manifested.     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Mary made it possible for the Holy Spirit to work the miracle of all miracles: the Incarnation of God. She gave God her Yes: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, she went with Jesus through thick and thin, even to the foot of the Cross. There Jesus gave her to us all as our Mother (Jn 19:25-27).    

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 711) "Behold, I am doing a new thing" (Isa 43:19). Two prophetic lines were to develop, one leading to the expectation of the Messiah, the other pointing to the announcement of a new Spirit. They converge in the small Remnant, the people of the poor, who await in hope the "consolation of Israel" and "the redemption of Jerusalem" (Cf. Zeph 2:3; Lk 2:25, 38). We have seen earlier how Jesus fulfills the prophecies concerning himself. We limit ourselves here to those in which the relationship of the Messiah and his Spirit appears more clearly.

(This question: How could the Holy Spirit work in, with, and through Mary? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 116 - Part IV.

YOUCAT Question n. 116 - Part IV. What does it mean to say that the Holy Spirit has “spoken through the prophets”?

(Youcat answer - repeated) Already in the Old Covenant God filled men and women with the Spirit, so that they lifted up their voices for God, spoke in his name, and prepared the people for the coming of the Messiah.         

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 715) The prophetic texts that directly concern the sending of the Holy Spirit are oracles by which God speaks to the heart of his people in the language of the promise, with the accents of "love and fidelity" (Cf. Ezek 11:19; 36:25-28; 37:1-14; Jer 31:31-34; and cf. Joel 3:1-5). St. Peter will proclaim their fulfillment on the morning of Pentecost (Cf. Acts 2:17-21). According to these promises, at the "end time" the Lord's Spirit will renew the hearts of men, engraving a new law in them. He will gather and reconcile the scattered and divided peoples; he will transform the first creation, and God will dwell there with men in peace.    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) In the Old Covenant God sought out men and women who were willing to let him use them to console, lead, and admonish his people. It was the Spirit of God who spoke through the mouth of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and other prophets. John the Baptist, the last of these prophets, not only foresaw the coming of the Messiah. He also met him and proclaimed him as the liberator from the power of sin.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 243) Before his Passover, Jesus announced the sending of "another Paraclete" (Advocate), the Holy Spirit. At work since creation, having previously "spoken through the prophets", the Spirit will now be with and in the disciples, to teach them and guide them "into all the truth" (Cf. Gen 1:2; Nicene Creed (DS 150); Jn 14:17, 26; 16:13). The Holy Spirit is thus revealed as another divine person with Jesus and the Father.    

(The next question is: How could the Holy Spirit work in, with, and through Mary?)