Mary and the
Three Covenants
Trying times have led us to expect conflicts as one usurper seeks power
and the entrenched fights back. Jesus warned there would be “wars and rumors of wars” until he
returns. Today we are in a great spiritual battle with the world-wide spread of
radical Islam vs Asian and Western civilizations that have largely rejected
their moral and spiritual foundations. Evil against evil, yet both are very
redeemable. God’s covenants always provide a path for repentance. With the
spread of modern technology, the conflict is much more visible and
far-reaching.
The hatred of the Islamic countries toward the West is projected against
all seen as “infidels” or hold to the tenets of a competing Islamic theology.
The temporal power of Islam is returning on a worldwide scale. Islam is a
theocratic religion with a strict code of laws – at least for those outside the
ruling circle - Sharia. Muslim writers stated around 1950, "When the locust swarms darken vast countries, they bear
on their wings these Arabic words, "We are God's host, each of us has 99
eggs, and if we had 100, we should lay waste to the world and all that is in
it."
The Three Covenants - “God’s Word is without repentance.” God will
fulfill his solemn covenants with Ishmael, Isaac and his Church. Abraham loved
Ishmael just as much as he loved Isaac (Genesis 21:9-13), and Ishmael (the
ancestor of the Arab people) and his descendants were loved and blessed by God
(Genesis 21:13, 18) just as were the descendants of Isaac (the ancestor of the
Jews, and Israelites of the other 11 tribes), but in a different way, for a
different purpose. Jesus established his
Church as the fulfillment of the primordial promise of a Redeemer made to Adam
and Eve.
Muslims already have a devotion to Mary. The Prophet Mohammed held Mary,
Virgin Mother of Jesus, in highest esteem above all women, even his beloved
daughter Fatima. The late Bishop Fulton
Sheen was a student of Islamic teaching. He understood the meaning of the
Universal Love of God as it applies to all mankind. Sheen noted Islam’s high
regard for the Virgin Mary as a key element in bringing about that rapport. We
should all be encouraged to build on that devotion as a sign of obedience to
God’s covenants.
Scripture, ancient traditions and the stars of the sky show that our
adventure on this earth has eternal meaning.
Mary, Virgo of the Stars, is the penultimate human being. Jesus named
her our Mother as He was dying on the cross for the sins of all humankind.
Mary has revealed herself in our
times. She longs to bring all people together. A seed planted by the Prophet Mohammed
in the Qur’an; her miraculous apparitions in Guadalupe (1531), Lourdes
(1858), Fatima (1917) and perhaps Medugorje
(current). She loves us as her children, scolds us, warns us of dangers, and
exhorts us to repent for the Glory of God. (Detailed
apologetics available through the Vatican and other Catholic
websites. As a Catholic I respectfully yield to any official Church
teaching that is contradictory. Medugorje, e.g., is not yet officially
recognized by the Catholic Church – nor does she deny the apparitions.)
Mary seems to be making an extraordinary effort to awaken all of us to
freely accepting our responsibility to bring Universal Love of God and
childlikeness back to our hurting world, before we self-destruct or others
destroy us. We too often tend to justify ourselves by laying blame on others.
Bishop Sheen taught us of Mary’s love for Islam. The Qur’an has many
passages concerning the Blessed Virgin, e.g., belief in her Immaculate
Conception in the womb of her mother. Her genealogy goes back through Abraham,
Noah and Adam. Mary’s aged mother (St.
Ann) says in the Qur’an: "0 Lord, I vow and I
consecrate to you what is already within me. Accept it from me." When
Mary is born, the mother says: "And I consecrate
her with all of her posterity under your protection, O Lord, against
Satan!"
The Qur’an also has verses on the Annunciation, Visitation and Virgin-borne
Nativity of Jesus. Angels are pictured as accompanying the Blessed Mother and
saying, "Oh Mary, God has chosen you and purified
you, and elected you above all the women of the earth." In the
19th chapter of the Qur’an, there are 41 verses on Jesus and Mary. There is
such a strong defense of the virginity of Mary here that the Qur’an, in the 4th
book, attributes their condemnation of the Jews to their calumny against the
Virgin Mary. (Any other ideas? In my opinion there may also be a connection
to the extraordinary sensitivity of Muslim men toward physically and intellectually
sheltering the female members of their families…. Until one is raped!)
Mary is for the Muslims the True Sayyida or Lady. The
only possible serious rival to Mary in the Muslim creed would be Fatima, the
beloved daughter of the Prophet Mohammed. After the death of Fatima, Mohammed
wrote: "Thou shalt be the most blessed of all the
women in Paradise, after Mary." In a
variant of the text, Fatima is made to say,
"I surpass all the women, except Mary."
This brings us to the pivotal issue, namely why the Blessed Mother
revealed herself in the significant little village of Fatima, Portugal in 1917,
so that to all future generations she would be known as "Our Lady of
Fatima" as a pledge and a sign of hope to the Muslim people, and as an
assurance that they, who show her so much respect, will one day accept her
divine Son whose virgin birth endowed her with such high esteem.
I don’t pretend to understand the hand God has allowed us to deal
ourselves with our poor exercise of individual and collective free wills. I
believe we of all faiths or lack thereof are facing this challenge because we
have created a spiritual vacuum by slowly abandoning not only our
Judeo-Christian values, but the greatest resultant secular gift known to
mankind: The Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution. The contrast between the fruit of individual
freedom under the law of love and that of the law of death and domination
requires us to refill that vacuum with the law of love; E pluribus unum. Love
is the currency of eternity and there’s plenty there for everybody. We need to
start spending it. Mary’s role is to promulgate that love here and now.
One of the bright, but puzzling items comes out of
the reported daily apparitions of Mary to several Bosnian young people, one of
whom is Mirjana. Father Jozo, the pastor
of St. James Church in Medugorje, interrogates the young people regularly. Mirjana looks at the others (young
visionaries) and told Father Jozo she complained to the Virgin, “I was telling Madonna it wasn’t always
easy for me to live a good life and remain close to God.”
“What did she answer?”
“She
told me to look to my neighbor, Pasha, as an example. The Madonna said that she
is a saintly woman and very close to God,” answers Mirjana.
“Isn’t
Pasha a Muslim lady?”
“Yes!”
“Why
would the Madonna single out a Muslim lady?”
“I don’t
know. The Madonna only said that our relationship with God was important and we
should make every effort to spend time in prayer with Him.”
“Is the
Madonna saying that we should all become Muslims in order to be close to
God?”
‘No!” responds Mirjana, “she did not say that we should become Muslim. The Madonna did say
that in the eyes of God, we are all His children. He makes no distinction
between Orthodox, Jew, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist
or whatever.”
Why would this
eternal Jewish Mother whom Mohammed held in highest esteem of all women, tell a
Catholic girl to seek out a Muslim lady? She said, “I have come to wake you up!”
*Most of the apologetics is drawn from a paper
written by Bishop John R. Sheets, SJ, featuring comments by the late Archbishop
Fulton J. Sheen and given to me in 1973. I realize today that our Father John
was trying to tell us something he knew deep in his very holy soul. This work
and all others for the rest of my life are dedicated to his holy and most delightful
memory.
A 6,000 word expanded version is available
on request, or study the full context in:.
“God’s Prophetic Zodiac plus BELs and
Whistles on Human Behavior” ©2007
Gerald V. Todd 335 pages www.lulu.com
“Guide
25–25 Constitutional Values for Politicians and the People Who Vote for Them” ©2010 Gerald V. Todd 129 pages
Both are available at www.lulu.com in print or download 1323 words
Taken from “The Story Behind Medjugorje” by Ronald Bourne fmc777@aol.com
Chapter
6, The Interrogation, page 27
