TRIDENTINE LITURGY COMMUNITY

APRIL 2014

CHAPLAIN: REV. FR. FRANCIS LI ADVISORS: FR. PETER TSANG, BR. CARLOS CHEUNG

EMAIL: TRIDENTINE@LIVE.HK WEBSITE: TRIDENTINE.CATHOLIC.ORG.HK

SUNDAY MASS: 12.30PM IN EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE ROMAN RITE (CONFESSIONS: 11.45AM – 12.30PM OR BY ARRANGEMENT)

Holy Father’s Monthly Prayer Intentions

Universal: That governments may foster the protection of creation and the just distribution of natural resources.

For Evangelisation: That the Risen Lord may fill with hope the hearts of those who are being tested by pain and sickness.

Devotion for the Month

April – The Holy Eucharist

Upcoming Events

17 and 18 April Maundy Thursday at 7pm, School Hall of Tang King Po School; Good Friday at 7pm, Mary Help of Christians Church

4 May Solemn High Mass at 3pm, Rosary Church. Mass, luncheon and spiritual sharing, Vespers and Benediction at Mary Help of Christians Church would be cancelled that day

1 June Liturgical Formation Seminar “Act iv e Par t i c ipa t ion o f Vat i can II and the Use o f Lat in” delivered by Dr. Anna Chan (Vice Principal of St. Joseph University, Macau) at 2.30pm, Mary Help of Christians Church

MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS PARISH, 16 TIN KWONG ROAD, MA TAU WAI, KOWLOON.

Feasts of the Month (II class or above)

25 April St. Mark, Evangelist, II class

1 May St. Joseph the Worker, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Confessor, I class

Column Figures of Mary in the Old Testament

Alfred Lin

Apart from Christ, the Church and the sacraments, the Fathers of the

Church see rich and beautiful figures of Mary in the Old Testament. Let us

take a look at three of the many women and their lives that were to prefigure

Holy Mary in the New Testament.

1. Eve, the “Mother of the Living”

Eve was the first woman, and with Adam our first parent at the inception

of human history. According to the original plan of God, she should have

transmitted to her children a human nature sanctified by grace, by divine

filiation. Through the fall into original sin, she instead passed on to each of her

offspring that horrible “stain” which caused the birth of dead children,

“ch i ldr en o f wra th” of God (Eph 2:3). Thus, in fact, Sirach writes: “From a

woman s in had i t s beg inn ing , and be cause o f her we a l l d i e” (Sir 25:24).

In view of the fall into original sin, one may therefore say that Eve has

prefigured Mary only in a negative or antithetical sense, becoming effectively a

count e r - f i gur e of Mary. In fact, Eve was redeemed by Mary, according to St.

Irenaeus in his teaching on “recirculation” of grace. Thus, the f ia t of Eve to

the solicitation of the serpent/Satan (Gen 3:1-6) was redeemed by the f ia t of

Mary to the requests of the Angel Gabriel (Lk 1:30-38). In this way, the

personal cooperation of Eve in the fall with Adam into original sin (Gen 3:6)

was redeemed by the personal, active and immediate cooperation of Mary in

the redemption wrought by Christ.

2. Sara, the Wife of Abraham (Gen 17:15-16; 18:9-15)

Sarah was the “f r e e” wife of Abraham, in contrast with Hagar, the

“s lave” wife. Sarah was sterile, but became fruitful through an extraordinary

intervention of God.

On both points, Sarah prefigures Mary. Mary, in fact, is the “f r e e” spouse

in the truest sense, because conceived immaculately, without any stain of

original sin, the sign of the truest and most serious slavery, because “ev e ryone

who commit s s in , i s a s lave o f s in” (Jn 8:34). Further, Mary is a spouse, not

sterile, like Sarah, but v i r g ina l , and miraculously becomes Virgin Mother by the

work of the Holy Spirit.

In addition, Sarah became the mother of Isaac, her only son, who

constituted the old Israel. Mary is the Mother of Jesus, her only Son, who is the

“f i r s tborn among many br e thr en” (Rom 8:29) in order to constitute the new

Israel, the Church universal: “Sarah is the shadow of the New Covenant

sanctioned by God with Abraham and sealed with the blood of the

circumcision. The Virgin Mary, instead, is the r ea l i t y of the New Covenant

between God and his people, established by Jesus, who sealed it by his

immolation as crucified victim for a mankind to be redeemed.”

3. Rebecca, Spouse of Isaac (Gen 24)

The prefiguration of Mary on the part of Rebecca is linked to many

particular events, about which we can here only consider a few of the more

significant aspects. In the life of Rebecca, God’s providence that disposed all

things so that she might become the wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob, is

clearly apparent. At the same time and in a still more evident fashion, one

perceives how a special providence ordered events in such a way that Mary

became the ever-virginal spouse of St. Joseph, so as to be the virginal Mother

of Jesus.

The most important task of Rebecca was that of vesting her son Jacob

with the clothes of his brother Esau, so as to obtain from their father Isaac the

blessings for himself and his descendants (even though Esau had already sold

the privileges of being firstborn to his brother Jacob: cf. Gen 25:31-33). As

Roschini explains: “Mary, with the consent given to the angel, induced the

Word of God to clothe himself with human flesh, taking upon himself our

iniquity and offering himself to the eternal Father to obtain an eternal

blessing.”

This last event also manifests that Rebecca, placing herself between father

and son, prefigures the role of Media tr ix that Mary will exercise between men

and Jesus Christ, for the new Israel.

From the prefiguration above, we can find that the obedience of Mary to

God made the Word of God become flesh. Meanwhile, Our Lady actively took

part in God’s redemption for human beings and becomes the “Media tr ix”

between Jesus Christ and men in order to bring humans to God. All of these

are based on her love and obedience to God and because of that, she loves all

people and leads us to salvation. So we should all learn from Our Lady. We

should obey God, love God and love others. Also, during the time remaining

in Lent, we should prepare ourselves well by self-examination, developing

obedience to God throughout our bodies, hearts and souls, in order to get

ready for the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Reference:

Miravalle, Mark I., ed. (2008). Mario logy : A Guide f o r Pr i e s t s , Deacons , Seminar ians , and Conse c ra t ed Per sons . Seat of Wisdom Books, Queenship.

Confessions are now heard at a fixed time before Mass from 11.45am to 12.30pm every Sunday.