Tag Archives: Nova

Mary, the Mother of God

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Virgin and Child

The Feast of Mary, the Mother of God (January 1) is celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church as the Christmas celebrations end and a new year begins. This feast begins a month named for the Roman god Janus, the two faced god who looks ahead and looks back. Mary connects us to the world ahead as well as the world of the past, and so we pray to her “that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.”

Christian churches of the east have a similar feast at this time honoring the Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. .

“Marvelous is the mystery proclaimed today
Our nature is made new as God becomes man;
He remains what he was and becomes what he was not,
Yet each nature stays distinct and undivided.” Canticle, Morning Prayer

Mary’s Son who came “in the fullness of time” blesses all time:
“The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon you,
and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!” (Numbers 6, 22-27)

On this feast of Mary, the Mother of God, I think of a PBS special “What Darwin Never Knew” produced awhile ago on Nova. I don’t remember or understand a lot of the program’s scientific material, but its description of DNAs and embryos caught my attention.

According to scientists, embryos from different living beings–humans, animals, birds, fish– appear remarkably alike at an early stage of development, as if they were from the same source. Then, something triggers a different development in each species. Humans sprout arms and legs and begin human development. The other species develop in their own way.

A few years ago, I visited an exhibit called “Deep Time” at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington which described the development of the earth through 4.5 billion years. One section described our development as human beings from 4.5 billion years ago. Our human species developed over time in an evolving world.

In Mary’s womb, the Word became flesh, connected with the world of the past and the world of the future. Early theologians, like St. Irenaeus, say the Word became truly human, and therefore went through the same process of development as we do. They also say the Word had to assume all that he would redeem. Can we say that in his early embryonic journey in Mary’s womb the Word assumed the creation he would renew? The embryonic journey is a sacred journey that needs to be cared for and recognized.

“Blessed is the fruit of your womb,” Elizabeth says to Mary before Jesus’ birth. (Luke 1,42) At that moment, the Word of God gave the promise of redemption to another infant– Elizabeth’s son John. Was that promise also communicated to the rest of creation in Mary’s womb, by the Word made flesh, who dwelt among us– Jesus Christ, maker and Savior of all?

Evolution and Intelligent Design

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Nova’s presentation  “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial” was on last night at PBS.

The program, about teaching evolution in the public schools, reenacts the 2005 trial that pitted the school board of Dover, PA, against plaintiffs who objected to the theory of Intelligent Design being presented along with the theory of evolution in their local school district.  The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.

It’s interesting that Nova chose Dr. Kenneth Miller, a biologist from Brown University and a Roman Catholic to make the case for evolution and argue against the theory of Intelligent Design on its website:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/id/defense-ev.html

Miller is articulate and thorough explaining both sides. In the television presentation he makes the point that truth is one; religion and science don’t contradict each other, but they approach reality in different ways and are complementary.

I liked his answer to people who object to being descended from monkeys.

“Well, they’re right, they’re not descended from monkeys. They’re not descended from chimps or monkeys or gorillas or any other living organism.
The essential idea of common ancestry is that ultimately all living things on this planet share common ancestors if we go far enough back into the past. So, for example, to take the case that people talk about all the time, we share a common ancestor with all primate species. This means that we’re related, by having a single ancestor somewhere in the past, to monkeys, gorillas, chimpanzees, and so forth.

But the idea of common ancestry goes way deeper than simply saying we’re related to monkeys. We’re in fact related to all mammals. You go farther back, we are related to all vertebrates. And, ultimately, we are related, if you go far enough back, to every living thing on this planet. The almost universal nature of the genetic code, the fact that all life depends upon DNA, all of these things are evidence of this commonality of ancestry, if we go far enough back in time.”

In today’s readings, St. Ambrose offers what faith says. A great promise has been made to us by God. Called to be heirs with Christ, we share in his resurrection. But not only human beings receive this promise.  According to St. Paul writes, “creation also looks forward to this revealing of the sons of God.”  It too is a “son of God as it were,” groaning in bondage, till it shares in this glory. (Ambrose)

Together with the children of the church, and “all who are worthy of seeing the face of God,” creation waits in hope to rise in incorruption.
Our 4th Eucharistic Prayer expresses this same hope:

Then, in your kingdom,

Freed from the corruption of sin and death,

We shall sing your glory

With every creature, through Christ, our Lord, from whom all good things come.

We need more information on evolution from the Catholic Church, so it’s good to see a big conference on evolution in Rome sponsored by the Gregorian University, Notre Dame University and the Pontifical Council of Cuture for early March. More details  http://www.evolution-rome2009.net/