10th August : Our Lady Of Ransom
10th August
Our Lady Of Ransom
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Accustomed as we are through the established teachings of our Faith, to live and think in terms of a world that has been redeemed, we do not always appreciate the full measure of the deliverance that Christ’s coming brought to the souls of men. Without Him we should still be slaves of sin, of hell, of Satan. By one stroke He freed us from them all. We know this, our Faith teaches it, but do we appreciate its full meaning?
Perhaps those who know from experience what it is to have the burden of an enemy occupation on one’s back in time of war, perhaps such, are in a better position to understand what a great boon it is to enjoy this inner freedom and to be able to love God as his adopted children, instead of being slaves of the devil. Christ, our Head, has gained for us the sovereign freedom of the children of God, so that we may now live, not in the remorse of sin and in the terror of chastisement, but in the possession of a soul delivered from evil and cringing fear. We can now look to God with filial hearts and, like His Son, live in fellowship with the Father. Every member of His Mystical Body shares with the Savior the joyful freedom of being a son of God, with the heartfelt yearnings and love of a son.
In the deliverance of souls, Mary again had a great part. It was Christ alone who paid the price of our redemption by freely giving His own life as the Word Incarnate; but it was His Mother, remember, who gave Him the Blood of Redemption. Together with one accord they gave their consent to one and the same sacrifice, offered by Jesus in His Passion, in His own Person; by Mary in her Maternal Heart. If God had asked it, Mary was prepared to immolate her Son herself; so great was her desire to secure God’s glory through expiation for sin and the redemption of souls. Together with Jesus she expiated all, merited all, ransomed all, saved all.
