Victor Paul Mohn: German Painter:
No Room at the Inn: late 1800’s
… And Her Time Drew Near …
When a person makes their Act of Total Consecration, it is only natural to desire to want to know Mary better. This conference is Fr. Hugh’s gift to all Queen of All Hearts’ members. During this conference, the process of beginning to know Mary better, and also to understand how God sees Mary, is communicated.
This dual goal of knowing Mary better and understanding how God sees Mary is accomplished in three audio sets entitled … And Her Time Drew Near. The conference looks at the phrase from St. Luke’s Gospel within the lens of three perspectives:
- Her Time is His Time, meaning it’s the Son’s Time
- Her Time is Our Time, meaning its Our (Man-kind’s) Time
- And finally, Her Time is Mary’s Time.
The third conference will be the audio that will enable us to know Mary better and know how God sees Mary. But we can not fully appreciate the content in this audio without having listen to the first two audio sets.
Queen of All Hearts prays that all members listen to each audio set. We know that in listening all members will know Mary perhaps in a way that one has never been exposed to previously. In doing so, you’ll appreciate ever more so how God sees Mary.
Queen of All Hearts wishes you all a Blessed Christmas season!
Read the audio conferences description by scrolling down, or:
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Conference #1: And Her Time Drew Near: Introduction: Her Time is His Time
The name of this reflective conference is … And Her Time Drew Near … a title that we should all be careful with, since often when we hear this phrase in St. Luke’s Gospel, the tendency is to rush to the end of Mary’s pregnancy and focus on the birth of Jesus. What is meant by this phrase? What does it mean to say..”Her Time”? Additionally, what does it mean to say “Your Time”?
This conference will unpack this idea under a number of aspects and the first is this: Her time is His Time. Meaning Her Time is Jesus’ Time. Further, Her Time is Our Time. Meaning. Her Time is Man’s Time. Lastly, Her Time is Her Time, meaning Her Time is Mary’s Time.
Why is this important? When we often speak of Our Lady, the natural tendency is to speak about her maternal intimacy with the Lord. As wonderful and powerful as that is, by focusing on this point of view we may miss, at times, the fuller picture. We may miss the fuller picture of Our Lady’s life and role and impact. To understand what it means to understand the phrase … And Her Time Drew Near … we need to stretch our minds. We cannot understand Our Lady without understanding the fact that Our Lord has chosen to save the world. Hear more in Conference 1 as we understand that everything about Our Lady is connected to the Lord and … everything about Our Lady is also connected to your salvation.
What does time mean in the Lord’s perspective? To comprehend this, we need to understand what was said in the passage Genesis 3:15. This is one of the key Marian texts of Sacred Scriptures. This passage is also referred to The Gospel before there were Gospels. We need to go back to man’s first sin. Because the place of Our Lady in history is as old as the need for man’s salvation.
This passage is where The Lord announces evil’s fate…Satan’s fate. I will put enmity between you and THE WOMAN. What woman? Note what the Lord says. There will be THE WOMAN who will be equally uncompromising in her opposition to evil as I am. Where the serpent will be filled with venom, SHE will be filled with grace. Where the serpent is proud, SHE will be humble. Where the serpent will be deceitful, SHE will know nothing but the truth. Where the serpent longs for vengeance, SHE will be forgiving. Where the serpent will be greedy, SHE will be generous. Where the serpent will be filled with sin, SHE will be sinless. The first announcement of the Immaculate Conception occurs at this point in time. Her Time Drew Near. And HER time is HIS time. See why we must broaden our view to know what the phrase means: We must understand the announcement of THE WOMAN.
Our Lady is placed at a point in time that is decisive for our salvation. During this Conference #1 the image (at the right) that you see within this post is also discussed and highlights the topic covered within this conference. Her time is HIS time. The time of THE WOMAN is the time of the SON. The time of the SON is the time of victory over the serpent. Refer to the image as it is discussed and reviewed within the audio.
When Gabriel comes to Mary, it is connected to what God has been doing every place else. The time for salvation, the time for fulfillment of the promise of salvation, involves THE WOMEN. Her Time is His Time. His Time is Her Time. What this means is explored further in the last part of Conference #1.
When you read St. Luke’s Gospel about the Nativity Story, and read / hear the words …Her Time Drew Near … you’ll meditate perhaps differently on these passages after hearing Conference #1. Hear more about Our Lady’s role in salvation in Conference 1.
Caravaggio: Italian Painter: 1571-1610
Madonna and Child with St. Anne, 1606
Conference #2: And Her Time Draws Near: Her Time is Our Time
Hail, Full of Grace….these words do not come from this earth. They have no earthly origin. No earthly author composed them. No earthly heart first spoke them. These words come from heaven. First spoken on earth by Angelic lips. This is the speech of heaven. These words are the Lord’s when He speaks about the fullness of time. When you say these words you echo the speech of heaven. The Hail Mary is not a little devotional prayer. No prayer composed by an earthy being can approach the greatness of this prayer. There is no way of speaking to Mary that exalts her as the way that God exalts her. If one pays attention, one can speak in the language of heaven… in the language of salvation, if only one pays attention. These words are not simply Our Lord speaking to Mary, but rather heaven speaking to earth. When the Lord speaks to her, it impacts the entire world.
Conference #2 discusses these words and provides us with insights. With this as the background, the audio then returns focus to the words from heaven. These are not just the words from Gabriel (they are), but they are more than that. These words are also the announcement by the Lord. When we hear these words we call them the Annunciation. Strange that an announcement would initially be focused on one person; not normally what one considers when an announcement is made-only one person heard it. The Savior was announced to Mary, but in doing so, the world now knows the Savior is coming. But it only knows…because Mary knows. The words that Mary hears when the fullness of time was reached, are the words that mankind have been waiting for – HER Time is Our Time. It is indeed, the time the world have been waiting to hear. It is important to realize this connection. Mankind has been waiting for this time and this announcement.
The Church reminds us that Advent is not just getting ready for Christmas. But rather, we take as our model the preparing to receive the Lord at Christmas to teach us how to continue to look for Him; to hold vigil preparing to receive the Lord when He comes again in all His Glory. What does it mean to wait for a King? Hear about Her Time is Our Time and the meaning of waiting for the King in Conference #2.
During the last portion of the conference, a discussion centers arounds St. Louis de Montfort’s observation. In Conference #1, God states He will create a sign to mankind as He announces THE WOMEN, a virgin, will conceive a Son and name Him. In the Annunciation, Heaven (via Gabriel) announces Full of Grace, a virgin, will conceive a Son and name Him (Jesus). Full of Grace (Mary) is THE WOMEN.
Listen to this discussion on the observation and the sign. Listen to Her Time is Our Time.
Conference #3: And Her Time Draws Near: Her Time is Her Time
In listening to the Annunciation passage, often the beginning is either skipped or simply not focused on. Let’s consider who it is that we are talking about in the Annunciation passage. Who is Mary? Obviously, she is the Mother of God! Well, yes, that is true. But let’s further consider who it is we are talking about. Lets get to know the person…the person of Mary! If we are talking about Her Time is Her Time. Well, who is she?
There is an element to Devotion to Mary that is paid too little attention to in our spiritual life. To be truly Devoted to Mary, we must know her. Not just know about her! We must know her. The conference begins the process of knowing Our Lady. In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel is sent …. St. Luke in his Gospel unfolds something very beautiful. The Lord sends His Angel at a specific moment in the history of the world (the fullness of time). In connecting the Annunciation with the birth of St. John the Baptist, St. Luke emphasizes the moment has arrived and the events unfolding in the history of the world. The moment has arrived. The time has arrived where she is. The setting is not Nazareth, but rather the fullness of time. Salvation comes to the world. As it arrives, THE WOMAN is waiting; she is there waiting for the Lord. Hear more about this in the first part of Conference #3.
In the Annunciation story in St. Luke’s Gospel we learn that the Angel Gabriel was sent to a town…to a virgin named Mary. This is when the world hears HER name. The is when THE WOMAN is first revealed to the world. We learn HER name, before we learn HIS name.
Hail, Full of Grace. The audio will focus on these words within Gabriel’s greeting. Mary has been listening to the Lord; she has been waiting for Him. That is one of the first things we learn about Mary. She is not waiting for what the world had to say; she waits and listens for the Lord. This is Mary and who she is.
The Angel … was sent from God to a city in Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. What is St. Luke’s Gospel passage telling us when he gives us these details? The message is sent to everything that makes her Mary. This listening of Mary is listening for the will of God. Hear this discussion about the details of this message. Learn more of what the Gospel tells us. Learn more about Mary in the first portion of this audio.
Why is the message troubling to Mary? We likely would be troubled, scared even, if an angel appeared to us. Yet, Mary was not scared of the Angel, but rather, what was said. Why? Even Mary does not know who she really is! She has been a secret, not only from the world, but from herself until God tells her. Hail, Full of Grace. That is God’s name for her. Gabriel does not say, Hail Mary….we say that. Gabriel calls her by the name God and Heaven calls her….Hail, Full of Grace. It’s not a description! It is her name! It is who she is in the eyes of God. It is now that she discovers who she is. The Lord reveals the secret of who she is. Hear more on who Mary is…in the eyes of God in the first half of this audio.
When we speak of Our Lady’s time drawing near….this is the first part of this statement. Its actually the second part, with her Immaculate Conception being the first part. Having grown up sinless and attentive to the Lord, now Her Time Has Come. She knows who she is! This is something we all need to consider, even for our lives. Unless the Lord reveals to us the truth of our lives, we will never know it. We can guess, but we cannot know it, unless it is revealed to us by Him. If all I am is my ambition, or my career, then I have nothing. Life is given to us from God. Each of us. He does so for a reason. Hear this discussion within the middle of the audio.
Hear more about the sign communicated by God at the time of original sin, and the announcement of the fulfillment of the sign during the Annunciation. Hear more about this in the middle of this audio. Hear what Mary is … in the eyes of God. Hear more about who she is … THE WOMAN.
In St. Luke’s Gospel there is a beautiful attribute that needs to be highlighted. In the beginning of the passage, the Lord tells Mary who she is: In the end of the passage, Mary tells the Angel, tells the Lord who she is! How beautiful. What does Mary say? Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. This is who Mary is! May it be done to me according to your word! Mary is the servant of the Lord and obeys the Word. She is at the service of the Lord. How does the Word arrive? The Word arrives by the one who listens for the Lord! Hear about Mary’s faith. Hear about who is Mary.
Her Time Drew Near….that line implies more than just a movement toward Bethlehem. It is. But it also THE WOMAN and the Son. It’s the fulfillment of the great sign foretold by God himself so many years prior to the Journey to Bethlehem. It’s the King. It’s the Savior. Its forgiveness. All of this is moving toward Bethlehem. The Lord comes into the world through the listening of Our Lady. St. Augustine once said Our Lady conceived the Lord in her heart, before she conceived Him in her womb. This is who Mary is!
Hear more about as Her Time Drew Near…hear more about Her Time in Bethlehem…hear more about Her Time at the birth of Our Lord. Hear more about who Mary is!
