For Tommy : The March of the Emperor Penguins

A few days ago I was viewing this documentary “The March of the Emperor Penguins” captured by the cameras of Geographic magazine.
Every year the penguins make a journey of 70 miles from the ocean to the interior of the Antarctic continent for breeding. They walk step by step in file – the leader, the oldest of the group, at the head of the queue. As they approach the rendezvous point, other groups of penguins come together. At times, the leader seems hesitant about the Direction to take; however, another from the group promptly takes over and the shuffle towards their destination continues. When someone gets weary and tired, he/she drops onto its stomach and glides along until it is able to walk again.
Finally, when the destination is reached, the males and females choose each other. The period of breeding is not very long; the harsh Antarctic cold and blizzards will soon be approaching. After the egg is produced, the female very gently places her egg above the feet of her partner. If unfortunately the egg rolls off the feet of the male, the freezing cold of the Antarctic gets the upper hand and the young one is lost. After the delicate transfer of the egg from female to male is finished, all the females walk all the 70 miles back to the ocean to gather food for their young ones who are kept warm by the males above their two little feet. The males shuffle around among the throng of penguins; the warmest area of the group is towards the centre; so, ever so often the concentric circles move in and out in an organised manner; at the same time the male must make sure that the egg does not touch the cold Antarctic floor. This living process continues for 3 months. In the meantime, the female penguins speed towards the waters of the open ocean to harvest food for their young ones; some of the mothers perish or become preys to predators; the young chicks of these unfortunate mothers will perish.
After a successful foraging of food, the mother penguins make the long trek back to the Antarctic nursery where the little ones have already hatched and are very hungry. On reaching the nursery the mothers seek out their partners and their babies (some mothers find their partners but not their babies); the hungry babies eagerly relish the food their mothers have brought for them.
The male penguin has conscientiously cared for his offspring and now leaves the mother to cater for the needs of the baby chick. He must now march the long 70 miles to nourish himself remembering that he has not eaten for a long time.
The penguin chicks in the meantime get nourished by their mothers and grow rapidly; of course, they are not out of danger; predators like the albatross appear and take away some of the young ones. Finally, after the young ones are fully matured, the female penguins depart leaving the adults to themselves. The harsh Antarctic winter is at an end. The ocean is once more accessible; it is not too far for the females and the young adults to being their lives in the blue waters of the ocean and to nourish themselves.
Indeed, God looks after the penguins, the living creatures, the birds and plants and flowers – THE WONDERFUL CIRCLE OF LIFE. WE, humans, can earn from the Emperor penguins, many valuable and salutary lessons. We, Catholics, too must resort to this natural process – CONCENTRIC CIRCLES TEMPLATE; God, Jesus = the CENTRE; the pope, bishops, priests and the laity = the concentric circles; SHARING, LOVING, SUPPORTING, NOURISHING, SERVING EACH OF OTHER; THE GOAL being the SURVIVAL and PERPETUATION of the KINGDOM of God.
Jesus has given us the way to follow. Paul and John in their writing have clearly mapped out the path we must follow to be children of the Kingdom of God.

Bible Reflection fron Fr.Tom : Psalm 56.14

“I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living” Ps 56.14.

I am writing this article for my own meditation of the word of God. Writing makes my reflection more sharp and helps to imprint the word in my mind and heart. Besides I think writing. I share it with others so that if what helps me can help others too, I would feel blessed.

“In the land of the living” is a Hebrew way of saying living the present moment here and now contrasted to the “land of the dead”, that is when I am finished with this life. “Walk” indicates not only the locomotion of going from here to there but living this day. When I can call to mind what Paul told the Athenians (Acts 17.28) regarding God: “In Him we live, move and have our being” is living in the awareness that God is with me and is the witness to all what I think, desire, speak, act, and feel (Ps 139.2. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar….7. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8. If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.) There is no place I can go to to hide from Him (cf. Ps 139.11. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12. even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.)

I can either think of his presence as that of a police man who monitors all what I do via his radar or hidden cameras or by a computer chip implanted under my skin that tracks me where I go and what I do. It is undue interference in my life which I would rather not have. It is an assault on my person hood and liberty. He is not interested in what good I do. He is watching me do anything against the law to restrain me, to punish me.
I can also think of being in God’s presence as of being in the presence of my darling Papa who loves me, who delights in me (“the Lord delights in you” Is 63.4), who dotes on me. He watches me to enjoy my being his child, to see his image in me (cf.Gen 1.27). He loves to watch me with pride seeing me make even a little progress in growing up. His presence (his name is “Immanuel, God with us” (Mt1.23, cf Is 7.14) encourages me to love him and avoid anything that would hurt even slightly his fatherly heart. I feel secure and protected in his presence knowing that with him around, nothing can harm me. “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want”(Ps 23.1). When I do something good or honest, I can see him smile and approve with pleasure what I do. This thrills my heart. I am sure that it thrills his heart too. If in my weakness I stray away from him, I know he will guide me back to his embrace (cf Lk 15.5, 9,20). I am sure that if I were to live like this every day of my life, I would indeed be in the land of the living both now and in the land of eternal living. So, I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living all the days of my life. Amen.

'Good Morn & Good Night' - Moses' Style!

 " Good Morning":  (Numbers (NAB) 10) 34 And when they set out from camp, the cloud of the LORD was over them by day.35 Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say, "Arise, O LORD, that your enemies may be scattered, and those who hate you may flee before you."

A beautiful morning prayer by a man who had a deep personal relationship with God. The prayer should remind us in the  morning that our daily life is a Spiritual Warfare and that we too are on an Exodus with a destination. Lets be assured of the Cloud of Divine Presence which travel with us as the day begins.

"Good Night"  36 And when it came to rest, he would say, "Return, O LORD, you who ride upon the clouds, to the troops of Israel."

And that's the night prayer of Moses with a heart full of gratitude towards the dear Lord who travelled with them each moment of the day in the Cloud above their heads in the scorching heat through the desert.  Lets me thankful too as we say this prayer at the end of the day with Moses -  thankful to a Lord who is Emmanuel!

Bible Reflections from Fr.Tom Luke 6:45

It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks” Lk 6. 45c

There are several other renderings of the same passage: “For a man’s words flow out of what fills the heart (NAB). “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (ETV).

Jesus was speaking in the context of giving principles of life that should guide a Christian. Just before this he spoke of the good tree giving good fruits and bad tree giving bad fruit. This sentence we are figuring out is a beautiful summary of it. It is another principle of life to guide ourselves by. You give what you have.

I recall an incident from the era of the infamous Berlin Wall that separated the Communist “heaven” of the East Berlin from the free West Berlin. Barbed wires and armed guards with fierce hounds on leash prevented those from outside to get in nor allow those inside “heaven” to get out. The life in East Berlin was horrible, many risked their lives to get out to the free world. Many died in the attempt. Guards marched up and down the artificial separation, day in and day out. As could be imagined, the soldiers often became quite bored of this task they had to do. They sought some relaxation. So the soldiers on the East Berlin side made a parcel of some very filthy things, packaged it nicely and threw it over the wire fence. Soldiers parading along the West Berlin side, more to help the escapees than to guard, picked up the parcel. When they opened it they were deeply disgusted. They wanted to play the game, so they went to market and bought lovely chocolates, toffees, and goodies that were hard to come by in “heaven” and made a parcel of it and threw it across with a note attached: “ Everyone gives what he has most”!

We cannot give what we have not. From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. If your heart is full of venom, hatred, violence, rape, murder, and abuse, it will surely pour out when they can act out these ideas with impunity. Godara and Orissa are fresh examples of this. If your heart is full of love, forgiveness, peace, joy and brotherliness, it is sure to pour out when there is need for it. Jesus was full of forgiveness and love, so in his final moments of extreme agony on the cross when one would have expected him to get engrossed in his own agony, but he cried out those immortal words: “ Father, forgive them for they know now what they do” (Lk 23.34, cf.23.43). Jesus’ heart was full of this forgiveness, so no wonder that is what poured out of him in his final hours of suffering. That was how Stephen died, with forgiveness on his lips for his murderers (Acts 7.60).

This is why St. Paul writing to his Christians of Philippi urged them: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you (Phil 4.8-9).

Paul earlier in the same letter to his dear Philippians asked them to have the mind of Christ: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…..” Phil 2.5.

Our Christian formation must be to fill our hearts and minds with the spirit and “mind” of Christ. In a world filled with values and maxims contrary to Christ’s values, we need to heed the advice of Paul to his Christians of Philippi quoted above. While we live in the world we must not allow its values of exploitation, pleasure seeking, deceit, murder and the like to invade our hearts (cf Rom 7.7-25). Be careful of what you listen to, read, speak about and think about. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…. (Rom 12.2)..Be careful of what you watch especially in the internet. How many young people have had to shed bitter tears for having allowed themselves to indulge themselves in it “for just once!” What we watch in the quiet of our rooms and cells and internet caffes, have a tendency to get chiseled into our minds with terrible consequences. Remember how fragile we are: 2 Cor 7.7. Unconsciously the venom is sure to worm its way in your heart. It is very difficult to get ourselves detoxified of it except by the Blood of Christ. So be aware! Be warned!

Bible Reflections from Fr.Tom on Psalm 119, 130

“The unfolding of your word gives light. It teaches the simple.”

Ps 119, 130.

Unfolding of your word: the first image that comes to mind is unfolding our clothes before we can wear them. So is the word of God. The Word of God must be unfolded, opened up, unraveled, explained so that we can understand them. Often we are too lazy, too languid and too uninterested to take the trouble to reflect on the word and make it digestible. It is like the food we eat, unless it is digested, it can do us grave harm to our health. So also, the Word of God unless we take the trouble to ‘unfold’ it, it remains useless for us. Jesus explained that the seed of God’s word not understood would be stolen by the birds of the air if they fell on the foot path of life ( cf Mt 13.19).

Word of God must be received with joy and humility and treasure it in the heart and meditate on it. Mother Mary is the model of this attitude. Of her Luke says: Mary remembered all these things and thought deeply about them” Lk 2.19 (cf Ps 119.15: I meditate on your preceptsand consider your ways..) She remembered them and thought deeply about them. This is the process of unfolding. Thought deeply: this is meditating. Some one has aptly said: if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. Meditating is turning over an idea in our mind over and over again – as we do when we worry – until the idea becomes clearer and clearer with time. “By simple definition, meditation is continued or extended contemplation, especially of a spiritual or devotional nature. In practical terms, meditation involves concentrating on a single thought or mental image to the exclusion of all others.”

Our modern world militates against this process: we want precooked food, instant noodles and coffee and the like. We do not want to take the trouble to weigh, think and assimilate the word we hear. To us, alas, can be applied what Jesus lamented in Mt 13. 13-16. Jesus was saying why he speaks to the crowds in parables. Parables need unfolding to understand: 13This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: " 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.^] 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.

There is another malaise: surfeit of information. We are bombarded with an avalanche of information that was never available before. We hardly digest the message we have just received when another one comes with pressing urgency. In order to do what Mother Mary did we need silence of the heart and mind to receive the word of God and profit from it. We need to become more and more choosy about what we expose ourselves to; choosy in what we want to receive and choosy in what we want to meditate upon.

The Word of God is quite unlike human word. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to listen, treasure, ponder over and put it into practice. We need the Lord to open our minds (Lk 24.45; Acts 16.14) to hear and be transformed. Then the word of God becomes light that lightens our path: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Ps 119.105).

Such wisdom is available only for the simple hearted, the humble of spirit, those who hunger and thirst for God’s word: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Mt 5.6).

Few Notes From The Sunday Bible Class of 07/09/2008

My Thoughts on Sunday Bible Study Class: When a JY brother invited me for this class I expected food there. ;-) But on attending the few sessions I realized what one gets there is ‘food for thought’ & ‘food for the soul’ which is word of God. I like the scripture in apostolic letters where we are exhorted ‘To be able to give an account of the hope we have’ – or in other words we have to be equipped to explain/defend our faith. For this we need knowledge & insights into our catholic faith. This Sunday class is working towards the same. Lets ask ourselves, can we ever be fully catholic without knowing anything about the treasure-trove that it has in the form of its teachings which cater to our spiritual needs. And lastly, the best thing about this class is – Its FREE !! ;-)

Bible class of 7/9/2008 – A Short Summary
Fr. Tom enlightened us on 2 topics this day, which touched upon,
a)Paul’s Paradigm shift & his qualities
b)The immaculate conception

A) Paul’s Paradigm shift:
As we all know well, the ‘Christ Encounter’ on the road to Damascus changed Saul forever. Until then an upholder of the Law, we see dramatic change in Paul. From a persecutor he is now a preacher. Earlier the Law alone was his reference, now Christ & Grace become his refrain. This ‘change of thinking’ which results in ‘change of person’ is what can be simply put as a ‘Paradigm shift’ or ‘Paradigm change’. Later we see renewed Paul exhorting us to ‘Put on the MIND OF CHRIST’ or ‘not to conform to the standards of the world, but to be transformed, by the RENEWING OF THE MIND”.
We see clearly how paradigm shift in Paul resulted in changes in his Attitudes ( the way we respond to people, situations) & thoughts , actions. Paul went thru what is called ‘Metanoia’ – change of attitude. The call to change is for all of us. Let us check ourselves – has the Christ experience brought about any changes in my attitudes & thinking? Like Paul can we also say “Be imitators of Christ, as I am of him”? Are we thinking with a Christ’s Mind? Do we look at people & situations through Christ’s eyes?

Trivia Time: Did you know 1 Thessalonicans is the first ever book of the Bible to be written down. Gospels were written much later. Imagine Paul writing this letter not knowing it would one day be part of the Bible. He was building on nothing. No wonder scholars look up to him as a ‘greatest mind’ next only to Christ.

B) Immaculate Conception: Many are not aware that Immaculate Conception is NOT birth of Jesus thru a virgin. This dogma of the Catholic Church asserts the immaculate conception of Mary, in her mother’s womb. Jesus being born of a virgin is refered to as ‘Virgin Birth’ & is akin to God’s act of original creation, where in thru the power of spirit, he created everything out of nothing.
Immaculate comes from the latin origins – Im(without) + Macula (stain). An assertion of this is also reflected in the annunciation where angel of the lord addresses Mary as “Favored one” – in the greek original the word used is “Kecharitomane” which translates to ‘full of grace, intensively & extensively”. So Mother Mary was without sin – even at the time of conception & afterwards too.
To understand this better, lets look at our own lives. For example I have never indulged in smoking or drinking. In fact never felt like doing it for there was not even a temptation to see its taste. This is not because of my own strength. So I will say ‘God has given me the GRACE not to be into this sin’. If god can give me GRACE to stay away from some sins, can not the same God give full GRACE to Mary to stay away from all sins’.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Mary (Saint Thomas Aquinas).

I just happened to read this article and thought it would be interesting to look into ourselves and ask Mama for what we lack.

 

1.Gift of Fear	Annunciation
2.Piety	Visitation
3.Knowledge	Presentation
4.Fortitude	Finding in the Temple
5.Counsel	Wedding at Cana
6.Understanding	"Who is my mother?"
7.Wisdom	Passion

1.In the Annunciation the Archangel frees Mary from her fright so as to bless her with the holy fear of the lord. For the Holy spirit's gift of Fear disposes us to reverence God and to be completely devoted to him. As Mary proclaims, "God's Mercy is from age to age on those who fear him". Fear of the lord is a kind of foundation on which the other gifts are built and is the beginning of wisdom(Ps 111:10). It is not a matter of 'servile' fear -the fear of one who obeys the master because of punishment - but a 'filial' fear- the fear a good son should have about ever losing his relationship with his father.

2.In the Visitation and in the Magnificat Mary manifests the Spirit's gift of Piety that prepares God's people to be promptly responsive in a special way to the divine inspirations he sends. Real Piety is a virtue that governs our behaviour at all times and not only when we are engaged in prayer, worship and other acts of religious devotion.

3.The gift of knowledge provides sure and correct judgement about the things of faith, in differentiating between what is and is not consistent with the faith. In presenting Jesus to the temple and making the offering 'in accord with the law of the lord' Mary manifests the gift of knowledge . This also blesses Mary with new knowledge from the words of Simeon and Anna.

4.The gift of Fortitude enables us to stand our ground amidst dangers. Through the event of losing Jesus in the temple Mary is being prepared for the even more gruelling experience of the cross.

5.Counsel is reasoned inquiry that leads us to deliberate action. Mary's words of counsel lead the waiters to her Son and the Gift of Counsel leads us also to Jesus.

6.In the incident where Jesus asks "Who is my mother?" Jesus enlightens the crowd of their need to reach beyond their own preset notions, conceptions and prejudices to certain deeper truths that only the Holy Spirit can reveal.

7."Near the cross of Jesus there stood his mother'(Jn:19:25 )How could Mary endure to witness the agony of her son? Wisdom empowered her to witness this passion. The wise person is one who considers the ultimate cause of things and uses it to judge other things with certainty. Despite the suffering of the passion, this gift enabled the blessed mother to see beyond the anguish to the ultimate cause and the ultimate need for her Son to die for sinners.

Source: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit According to St.Thomas Aquinas by Fr. Peter John Cameron,O.P.

Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

The Blood that reminds....

Today looks like I  got out of the wrong side of the bed! My little one too was cranky. He  insisted on going to the balcony in the chilly wind outside. As he persisted I just put him angrily in the balcony. No sooner had I put him over there I found him standing in a mini pool of blood with a small wound on his little foot - I guess must have scratched somewhere in the balcony. My emotions are difficult to explain but its anybody's guess. The sight of the blood  made a deep impression in my mind.I was full of compassion for the poor little fellow as I kissed him a thousand times.

That reminded me of the Father God who looks at the Blood of his Son! I know He is a much better Father, beyond comparison and am sure He didn't put His Son into the world the way I put my little one into the balcony. By the way, is He too guilty of putting His Son's life at risk? But,  I guess  He would be looking at the Precious Blood the way I looked at my son's blood. He would have had an everlasting impression of this Blood in His heart too! He would say 'No, Never again! I pardon! This Blood is too valuable for Me! He would be filled with Compassion and Forgiveness.

Lets keep reminding the Father about the Precious Blood of His Son. Litany of the Precious Blood

The secrets of the Heart from Fr.Tom

“God who knows the secrets of the heart?” Ps 44.22.

I am of the opinion, that if the Holy Spirit were to inspire us to understand the full import of this verse, I think our lives would dramatically change. If we were to be deeply aware and convinced that God knows every intention, desire and motive of our every action and wish, we would be mighty careful of what we do, say and desire. God will expose the motives of men’s hearts: 1 Cor 4.5: He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. Let us explore this further.

When Holy Scripture uses the word “ Heart” it means the inmost part of our make up as human beings. It is the very essence of our being, emotions and sensibilities. We might now call it our soul, our spirit. That is why when we say that we love someone with our whole heart, we mean that we love that person very dearly, very deeply from the depths of our being. That is how God wants to be loved: with our whole hearts: Deut 6.5: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

For Jesus, the heart is the source of our being and acting. “Mt.15.19.For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. Again: Mt 6. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Sin begins in the heart: Mt 5. 28.But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Our hearts can be sinful and sullied by sin. Human heart can be very deceitful: Jer 17. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? So in Ps. 51. 10 we pray with the psalmist: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. In the beatitudes, Jesus tells us that those who have clean, pure heart will see God: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Mt 5.8). This is why we need to have clean hearts. Since sin sullies our hearts, we need to shun sin as a plague, as a venomous serpent.

Sinful hearts can be purified by the word of God: “You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you” Jn 15.3. This is why we need to keep the word of God in our hearts like our Blessed Mother: “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart (Lk 2.19). So it is not enough to hear or read the word of God but we need to understand it (St Mat. 13.19: “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart”.

Jesus was deeply aware of what the Pharisees and the Scribes were thinking and the motives of their actions. So in Mt 23. 1-36. It is a sad reading. They who thought were serving God ended up doing exactly the opposite because their hearts were perverse. We had better take care lest we be indicted too.

Let us end with a prayer for a change of heart as he did for Saul: 1 Sam 10.9: As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart…” Lord change my heart too. Or better ask the Lord for a new heart and a new spirit: Ezechiel 36. 25 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

The Wind & The Heat Package

As the day was getting hotter with the Sun shining through the closed window, cursing the heat ,I felt like opening the window.Wow, much to my relief, the cool breeze took away with it my frustrations.I guess many of us would have had this daily experience. The window when it was closed, just let the Heat in and when it was opened it also let in the Wind which made things easier.I didn't know (with the windows closed) it came as a Package -the Wind was there with the Heat!

Isn't this the way the Ruhah or Pneuma (Wind-Holy Spirit ) works in our lives? At first sight when the Heat (the troubles) comes into our lives we experience only the Heat of it but when we decide to OPEN the windows to let the Wind in it becomes a different experience! The cool breeze just takes away the Heat and lets us relax amidst all the Heat around us.

Lord help us to look out for the Wind which accompanies(or follows)the Heat of our lives!

John 3:8 The wind blows...so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

joe

Dogma - Mary,Mother of God

Sharing – Nisha Francis (Asst.Coordinator - Wednesday Prayer Group)
*********************************************************************************On Sunday, the 31st of August, a group of 11 of us gathered at the JY office for the Bible group to learn more about “Mary, our Mother”. The session was led by Mr.Paul Cheerankal, who works for GE & who led us through an extremely enlightening 180 minutes of facts about our Mamma Mary.A briefing of the session would be as follows: The Catholic Church since many, many years has been issuing ‘Dogmas’ or teachings which are openly accepted by the church. These dogmas are nothing but interpretations of the Holy Scripture and every dogma is based on a reference to the Holy Word of God. One such dogma released by the Church states that Mary is the Mother of God. We may often wonder that God is the Almighty, so why would He need a mother. It is by His great virtue that Mary has been titled the Mother of God. This can be compared to the great truth that we are called the sons and daughters of God, not because we deserve it but only because of our Lord’s virtue & His great Love due to which He sent His only Son to die on the cross for us and pay ransom for us by His Precious Blood. God is the Holy of Holies, in spite of this; He came down, humbled Himself and welcomes us to have union with Him.
Mary is called the Arc of Covenant (carrier of God’s glory). There is only one mediator between Heaven and earth – Jesus – because in Him the nature of God & nature of man is fully united. 1Timothy 2:5 says that Jesus is our mediator. For those who might argue that we already have a mediator then why do we need Mother Mary, the answer is in James 5:16 (The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective) Mother Mary is our most powerful intercessor. Mary’s intercession is not valid without Jesus. She receives all her energy from Jesus, since she is born Immaculate (without stain of sin). Whenever we take a look at a person, we analyze them & understand them by our flesh & blood. Similarly, our flesh & blood reveals to us that Jesus is the Son of Man but it is a revelation from God to make us understand that Jesus is the Son of God (Mathew 16:13-16 Peter’s Declaration of Jesus)
Luke 1:41-45 talks about Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth who is totally unaware of Mary’s condition, filled with the Holy Spirit, addresses Mary as the Mother of God, in the same way as Peter addresses Jesus as the Son of God by the power of the Spirit within him (Mathew 16:13-16 as seen above) .
A mother does not give birth only to the nature of a person but to a person completely, so Mary did not deliver the human nature of Jesus but gave birth to Jesus, true God and true man.
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About Nisha - she works with accenture and is presently the asst.coordinator for professional wednesday prayer group who meet @ st.anthony's church 6:30pm