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God is the source of all creation and he is infinitely good. There is no comparable evil deity. Satan is merely a fallen angel, a creature no longer empowered by grace. His rebellion has rendered him perpetually handicapped and disfigured. Out of spite he sought to extend his self-destruction, but God gave our first parents the promise of mercy and redemption. This hope is realized in Christ who is the Son of God and the Son of Mary. Evil is a privation, the absence or loss of a good, notably the life and favor of God. Another term for this favor is grace. Mary has what Satan and all the devils and damned can never have— the life-giving gift of grace. All who accept Jesus in faith as their Savior can have a share in this divine life and abide in the hope of their salvation. It should also be noted that while salvation means union with Christ and solidarity with Mary and the saints; damnation does not imply any kind of friendship or genuine fellowship with Satan and the devils. There can be no true unity or community among the damned, at least none that would bring consolation or solace.

When we look to Mary we find someone filled with God’s presence and deeply in love with him. Love always brings forth life. This was true at her Annunciation when the Incarnation began. It was also true in the Resurrection and Mary’s Assumption when love proved stronger than death.

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Is God truly our Father and Jesus our brother if we fail to acknowledge Mary as our spiritual Mother? Jesus reveals the face of the Father; but he also directs us to his Mother as our Mother. The analogy of a family is made complete.

One of the greatest challenges and a persistent failure of Christianity is to fully realize the familial nature of the Church. The pattern of a family is stamped upon every level of her structure and reality. God is our heavenly Father. The Pope is called Papa or Father. We call our priests by the title, Father. Similarly, we address both Mary and the Church as Mother. We are kin to Christ and with the saints. Nevertheless, in practice do bishops and priests always manifest the canonical “father-son” relationship? Do pastors really view their parishioners as their spiritual children? Do congregations acknowledge the role of father that belongs to their shepherds? Do we love and care about each another as brothers and sisters? Too often we treat others as strangers who do not matter. Too often pastors allow fatigue to inhibit their work for “the least of the brethren.” Too often gossip and faithlessness leads to disrespect of clergy. Too often dissent or fear of scandal eats away at our solidarity with the Holy Father and the living Church. Mother Mary beckons us to realize our commitment as her sons and daughters, kin to each other.

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God pours himself into Mary and enters the human family. Mary’s free consent offsets the disobedience of the first Eve. The children of Adam and Eve were born in sin. Christ, the new Adam, will assail the forbidden tree (now made into a cross) so that there might be a new birth of sons and daughters, remade in his likeness.

“When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).

A secular world or kingdom can make no sense of the Incarnation. It seeks either to ignore it entirely or to displace the truth with a bombardment of romantic sentiment and/or juvenile fantasy. Christmas becomes a time for sales and shopping. Instead of celebrating Christ, we focus upon ourselves. Children sing songs in school about a red-nosed reindeer or a snowman that came to life one day or a merry old elf who brings presents— but next to nothing about a child in a manger, shepherds and wise men or the joyous hymns of angels. Not wanting to offend those with non-Christian beliefs, we end up offending all religion and people of faith.

The message is never happy holidays but Merry Christmas. Keep Christ in Christmas!

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Because Jesus is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, he joins the kingship of David to his divine kingship. Mary is the vehicle of this union. Now the kingdom of God will begin to break into the world. We see something of this kingdom in the Church. We speak of Mary as the Mother of the Church. She is also envisioned as one crowned among the saints since she is the Queen Mother. Her “fiat” or yes to God continues in her maternal role for the Church, a nation of prophets and a royal priesthood. As I have often preached, every citizen of the Church or kingdom is more than a subject, but a member of the divine royal family.

Mary is the embodiment of Christ’s kingdom and symbolizes the clash between the values of the world and those of our Lord and his brethren. Earthly kingdoms exploit their subjects for power and profit. But Mary is all about humility and poverty in spirit. Her great treasure is Jesus and she would have us both imitate our Lord and see her Son in all our brothers and sisters. She is the Mother of the Gospel of Life, urging us to defend human dignity and rights. Jesus went out to the poor, the sick, the suffering and the marginalized. Like Jesus and Mary, we must be the voice for the forgotten who have no voice of their own.

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While we regularly give emphasis to Adam and his sin, the actual story seems to highlight Eve. She is the one intimidated and tempted by the serpent or dragon. Adam was merely seduced by Eve into tasting the forbidden fruit. The first father of mankind comes across as a first class wimp. I suspect the biblical author deliberately wanted to communicate this weakness on Adam’s part. His fall is not only a disgrace but an embarrassment to all the men who would follow him. He displays none of the traits which we hold in high regard for men. He is a weakling and a coward. The contrast with Jesus is drastic. Adam runs away and hides in the Garden, taking Eve with him. Christ waits for his betrayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and when he suffers his Cross and Passion, Mary follows him to the bitter end. Adam makes excuses when he is questioned by God. Jesus proclaims the truth when he is interrogated by Caiaphas and Pilate. The parallels are many, including the living tree that brought death in the Garden and the dead tree on Calvary which brought forth the fruit of eternal life. Jesus is God but he is also a man, indeed, he is the most authentic specimen of manhood ever to walk the earth. Mary is entirely a creature of God, and yet as a human person, there is none of higher esteem in the human family. Mary is not simply “a” woman; she is “the” woman.

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We are all searching for meaning and answers. Mary and Jesus are at the core of this pursuit for Christians. Meditation upon the mysteries of the Rosary helps us to access what we need to know and insures that we do not lose our bearings in a secular society filled with distractions. If the Church is a ship and the Pope is our captain, then we sail as pilgrims by the Mary Star to that Promised Shore where Christ awaits us. While the Bible is a library of inspired books, the Rosary is a collection of prayers. I have often preached upon how Catholicism interprets saving faith as humble obedience or submission to God’s will. Jesus tells John, “Behold your Mother” (see John 19:26-27). Notice that he does not ask a question like, “Please, would you take care of my Mother for me?” Rather, he gives a direct command to John and through him to all mankind who would be redeemed. Further, he attests to her motherhood but leaves the full dynamics of the relationship unspoken. There is a duality in this command. We are being told to cherish Mary as our spiritual Mother, always insuring her rightful place in the lives and hearts of believers. There is also a final summons for Mary. Mary accepted the motherhood of Christ in the Annunciation. At Calvary, she embraces her new role as the Mother of Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church. She cooperates in the redemptive work of her Son and becomes our chief intercessor among the saints.

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