A vibrant Catholic devotion to our Blessed Mother Mary is a widely known fact in the Christian as well as in the non- Christian world. Such honor becomes more pronounced during the months of May and October. Hence, I felt that I woul be remiss in my responsibility as a devotee to let the month of May pass without taking time to reflect on Her role in my life as in the lives of those she has touched.
Volumes of books about Mary, our Blessed Mother, point out that among all the women who ever lived, she is the most celebrated, the most portrayed, the most honored and the most venerated. Among Catholics, our Lady is recognized, basically, as the Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
"What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ," so states the Cathechism of the Catholic Church. It is best for us to know Mary, our Blessed Mother, as explained in this book since it embodies the whole precepts and truths which every Catholic should recognize and believe.
Among the truths about Mary are :
1. Mary's Predestination
God prepared Mary to be the Mother of His Son. To prepare a body for Him, He wanted the free cooperation of a woman. Mary was invited and she accepted to conceive the Son of God in whom the fulness of divinity would dwell "bodily." The Holy Spirit santified the womb of the Virgin causing her to conceive the Son of God in a humanity drawn from her own. Thus, the Word was made flesh! Her "Yes", her "Fiat", provides believers the perfect model of humility and submissiveness. Her Magnificat, a paean of praise and justice is one of the most daring songs of liberaton ever chanted by any man or woman!
2. Mary's Immaculate Conception
To become the Mother of the Savior, Mary was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role. By the grace of God, she was preserved from all stain of original sin at the instant of her conception.! God the Father blessed Mary more than any other created being and chose her, " in Christ to be holy and blameless before Him in love." It means that the Holy Spirit dwelt in and totally possessed her at the first moment of her conception. Since every human being inherits human nature tainted by Original Sin, the action of the Holy Spirit on Mary is called Immaculate Conception. The grace we receive in baptism, God gave to Mary even before her birth to prepare her to be the Mother of the Redeemer.
3. Mary's Divine Motherhood
In the Liturgy, we honor Mary, Ever-Virgin, Mother of God - a title which was declared to be the faith of the Church at the Third Ecumenical Council held in Ephesus in 431 A.D. At that time, the question was whether Jesus Christ was one person or two persons. The Church teaches that Jesus Christ has two complete natures- human and divine, but is only one person, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. If Jesus were two persons - human and divine- then Mary could not be the Mother of God but only mother of the human person. Defining Mary as the Mother of God was the clearest way for the Church to say that Jesus Christ although having two natures was and is only One Person.
Mary is rightfully called Mother of God not in the blasphemous sense of having existed before God but as an affirmation of the truth of the Incarnation. Belief in the Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith!
4. Mary"s Virginity
From the first formulation of her faith, the Church teaches that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Church sees here the fulfillment of the divine promise given through the prophet Isaiah: "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son." This account understands the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses human understanding. The meaning of this event is accessible only through faith which understands this mystery in the totality of Christ's mysteries from His Incarnation to His Passover!
The role of the Spirit in Jesus' conception represents the constant thinking of the Early Church about the relationship of Jesus to the Spirit. Eventually, John's Gospel will clearly place that relationship as existing even before conception since in John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."
5. Mary's Assumption
Another aspect of the holiness of our Blessed Mother is brought out in her oldest liturgical feast - Mary's Assumption - celebrated yearly on August 15th. It means that Mary is one with the Risen Christ in the fullness of her personality - body and soul.
Pope Pius XII solemnly proclaimed on November 1, 1950 :
" The Immaculate Mother of God, Mary Ever-Virgin, after her life on earth, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." In her assumption, Mary manifests the fulness of redemption and appears as the spotless image of the Church - the people of God. Our Lady sharing the glory of her Son strengthens our hope in the destiny of the entire Church. It is our Catholic conviction that in her present union with the Risen Christ, we shall be with her in heaven after our earthly sojourn. She is therefore solicitous over our welfare. She is ever desirous that we become more like Jesus - His hands and feet on earth!
6. Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces
"Mediatrix" is a familiar Catholic term to describe the unique role of the Mother of Jesus in her Son's mission to redeem mankind. As Mediatrix, Mary takes away nothing of Jesus Christ's all sufficient mediatorship between God and us. Pope Paul VI put it this way, "Since Mary is rightfully regarded as the way we are led to Christ, the person who encounters Mary cannot help but encounter Christ."
This title, Mediatrix of All Graces, refers to two activities of Mary :
1. Her role in the redemptive death of Jesus
2. Her role now in interceding for God's blessings
Mary's physical role in Christ's death is clear in the Gospel of John 19:25 which describes her as standing close to Jesus at the cross. God allowed her to feel the excruciating pain of seeing her beloved Son suffer in Calvary so that here and now she is with us infused with the power of sharing with us Redemption. Certainly, Mary shared in God's redemptive plan.
Mary is the Mediatrix of All Graces because she intercedes on our behalf for God's blessings. In the same manner, we ask our favorite saints to pray and intercede for us and for our special intentions. Mary's compassionate heart intercedes for us, sinners, who call on her for help, who reach out to her for strength and endurance as we extricate ourselves from the mire of sin and bondage of addiction in any form.
Mary's life can and should affect the life of everyone of us. Let us turn to Mary to help us offer to God not just our joys and our sufferings but ourselves - our life of faith and love. Let it encompass the poor who are not only those who hunger for bread but also those who hunger for affection and justice; the thirsty who are not only those who long for a drink but also those who yearn for a touch of kindness in the midst of their loneliness and want and the naked who are not only those who need a piece of cloth but also those who seek dignity and respect. Yes, let us turn to Mary, our Blessed Mother, to help us be true messengers of God's boundless love!
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