1. When people hear that Mary is the "Mother of God" or the "Queen of Heaven," they often get nervous. Isn't God our only King and Father? When Elizabeth greeted Mary at the Visitation (Lk 1:42), she declared, "Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!" When we talk about Christ and His glory we, like Elizabeth, always have to emphasize Mary's role in God's plan for our salvation.
2. Calling Mary the "Mother of God" safeguards Jesus' real and full humanity - Mary wasn't just a "tube" through which Jesus came into the world, but she heard the Word of God so well that He became incarnate within her womb, "consubstantial" with her very flesh! She fulfilled Jesus's own words: "Blessed is she who hears the word of God and keeps it" (Lk 11:28). That's why, as in the Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians (4:4), we can never talk about Jesus without mentioning Mary as His mother, who points us back to Him, saying, "do whatever He tells you" (Jn 2:5).
3. But Mary isn't just some person in the past; she is our model of Christian discipleship, keeping the Word always in her heart (Lk 2:19), she is the model of the Church, our Mother in grace (Rev 12:1), she understands experienced the pains of our sins when she suffered with Christ on earth (Lk 2:35), she brought about Jesus' first miracle at Cana (Jn 2:3) and she intercedes for her children today. Christ made her the mother of all Christians when He said from the Cross, "Son, behold your mother," (Jn 19:26-27) and we are all called to honor our heavenly Father and our spiritual Mother, Mary, by putting ourselves and the needs of our world in her immaculate hands: Pray for us now and at the hour of our death!
Written by Br. James Rooney, OP
Join us as we celebrate Mary and all mothers at our special Mother's Day Mass at 11am in Graham Chapel this Sunday, May 13.
