"In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ" (Ephesians 1:11-12- underlining mine).I was struck by these verses at Mass last night for yesterday's solemnity. It puts me mind of Romans 1:20-21: "Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks." This refusal, according to St. Paul, is what ails the world, an ailment with which the woman who is, by the grace of God and for the sake of our salvation, both virgin and mother, was not afflicted.
We exist to praise God's glory, to show forth his goodness and his love, to always and everywhere give him thanks. This is what it means, fundamentally, to be a Christian- living in the awareness of Christ's Presence by the power of Holy Spirit, a Presence only possible because of the fact of God becoming a man.
Veni Sancte Spiritus, veni per Mariam