"God . . . can take the 'nothingness' of unfruitful virginity . . . and make of it the fruitful motherhood of the Virgin, with a fruitfulness that extends to the whole world" (Balthasar 1988-98).
What if Jesus emptied tombs to fill up wombs that would otherwise bear no fruit?
Hey Helen, I don't understand what you're saying here. Help?
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm getting from Balthasar is that Jesus, the fruit of Mary's unfruitful (virgin) womb, becomes both the fruit and the fruitful womb that extends to the world through his resurrection. If this is so, just how far does this fruit and ability to bear fruit extend? For example, what would it mean for Jesus to be both the fruit and fruit bearer in marriages where procreation is impossible (e.g. the woman is barren, the man is sterile, etc)? If so, what might that fruit look like? Could it be that Mary's remarkable and unusual "fruit bearing" is a sign of the extraordinary fruit (i.e. not just male-female procreation) that can come from a marriage relationship centred on Christ?
ReplyDeleteAhhh, I see it now. Missing the dual meaning of fruit before. Very cool.
ReplyDelete