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The entire history of salvation is subjected to two poles: first and foremost, it is the self-revelation of God along with his desire to share his life with us; and second, is man’s own graced movement toward God in seeking understanding and salvation. Of course, while it is not for finite creatures to completely understand or to exhaust the divine mystery, we are exposed to as much of the mystery as we can comprehend. When we enter into eternity, we will progress ever deeper and deeper into the mystery of the Trinity, knowing eternal joy and discovery. In other words, there is no boredom in heaven. There is a foretaste of this knowing and loving in this world. Such is a component of romantic love, where a couple falls in love and then actively seek to know more and more about each other.

God may be the Unmoved Mover but heaven is not static. The saints share the beatific vision and are ever in motion, drawing ever closer to the Infinite Goodness which called us into existence and sustains us. Mary plays a significant role in both God’s self-revelation and our approach to the Almighty. So that we might know and love God more truly, in Jesus he takes to himself a human face.

God and man will be joined, not simply on the level of the spirit, but in the flesh. God becomes one with his creation.

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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. Along with the Eucharist, it is a great weapon in the Church Militant’s arsenal against sin and the powers and principalities which battle the saints.

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Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But the name of this tree was deceptive. They already knew the good, indeed, it was all they knew. Really, the fruit of this tree was the knowledge of evil, not in an academic appreciation but by an actual participation in it. Innocence is destroyed and ashamed of their nakedness they hide themselves.

We should ask ourselves, are we like the old Adam and Eve or like the new, Jesus and Mary? Full of grace, Mary has not been touched by sin. She is utterly devoted to her Son, the source of her holiness. She brings all her spiritual children to Jesus. She would invite them to put on the wedding garment of the Lamb. We do not have to be fearful or ashamed anymore. Forgiveness is available. But, without the Lord, we remain naked and exposed. We are called to put on Christ.

When I imagine Mary’s mantle, my mind races back to my childhood. My mother would tuck me in when I went to bed. She would check on me on cold nights and adjust the blanket. She desired to keep me safe and warm. Mary wants the same.

Mary’s mantle of mercy does not merely protect us from the justice of God; its very fabric is the Divine Mercy, himself.

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There are innumerable temptations and sins which afflict modern men and women. Honor given to Mary may be an antidote to many of these. Mary says YES to God when so many say NO. God was at the center of her existence. We push God off into the periphery of our lives and sometimes with a loss of faith, under the rug. We pretend that we do not need God and that we have a large level of control over our lives. This is a lie, though, and sooner or later mortality fails us.

Mary, on the other hand, humbly submitted herself into the hands of God. She trusted in his providence which called her forth and imbued her with the mystery of mysteries, the incarnate Christ. She was chaste and pure, qualities no longer deemed as having value. She accepted her miraculous motherhood. Today many women run away from this noble vocation and either medicate their fertility away or destroy the child in the womb.

Where do we find ourselves in the story of Jesus and Mary? Are we defenders of decency and champions for the Gospel of Life? It may be that some of us have compromised ourselves. Mary, like Jesus, will always embrace the prodigal who comes home.

We should not dismiss the guilt and shame we feel; rather, there should be acknowledgment of fault, repentance, conversion, renewed faith and healing.

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There is something strangely dynamic about Mary in that she receives within her the Christ so that she might give him to the world. It was with this insight that some of the Church fathers spoke about her as a tube or straw. Her personal virginity is not infringed upon and yet the one who is the Way comes into the human family by “way” of this maiden of Israel. She is there at the very beginning and she will be there when his saving work is accomplished. It is on Golgotha that she takes back to herself, into her arms, the Son that she gave to mankind. He is abruptly gone but she remains, given to our emissary John. When others ran away, she sought to be near her Son. She will always be near him.

After the Lord rose and ascended, the early Church cared for her in the desire of believers to be near Christ. They knew that respect and honor given her would be looked upon kindly by Christ. There was confidence that the bond she had with him had not been severed by his passion and death. Motherhood, and I should hasten to add, fatherhood, are not temporary jobs but lifelong vocations. This holy vocation of love lasts as long as there is life; and of course, in Christ, life is eternal.

The apostolic community saw in Mary’s intimacy with Christ something of its own hope for life and desire for union with Jesus.

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Response: Hear our prayer.

Mary, the maiden of prophecy, R.

Mary, conceived immaculately in the womb, R.

Mary, entrusted by your aged mother to temple service, R.

Mary, approached by God’s angel at the Annunciation, R.

Mary, watching over the Christ Child in a manger, R.

Mary, fleeing with Joseph and Jesus into Egypt, R.

Mary, warned of the piercing sword at the temple presentation, R.

Mary, searching for Jesus among the crowds, R.

Mary, weeping at the foot of the Cross, R.

Mary, holding the dead body of your Son, R.

Mary, witnessing the resurrected Christ, R.

Mary, matriarch over the whole Church, R.

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There are beautiful Marian hymns, ancient and modern, everything from Ave Maria and Immaculate Mary to the more modern, Sing of Mary, Pure and Lowly. But some have attempted to censor Mary and Jesus out of Christmas and Marian hymns. Austere Protestants might sanitize beautiful melodies of Marian references. Secularists and non-Christians would subtract Jesus. There are also new melodies and songs which portray Mary in ways that Catholics might find offensive. Desiring a larger audience, critics might mean well and no slight, but informed Catholics are still understandably disturbed.

Ending traditionally, I am reminded of Barry Manilow’s nondescript English “maiden’s prayer” substitution for the Latin, Hail Mary in the AVE MARIA. Subtle but problematic is the popular song, MARY, DID YOU KNOW? It has been claimed that the composer (Mark Lowry) intended a denial of the Catholic teaching about Mary as the Immaculate Conception (already saved). Sadly, Catholic parishes and schools sometimes perform songs without really reflecting upon the doctrinal content. We are so preoccupied with entertainment and performance that we have neglected the appreciation that hymns can teach and function as expressions of prayer.

Let us never forget that we must worship God and honor his saints in truth.

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I read a defender of Mary’s dignity and singular role in the Church, assert that we cannot treat her like ordinary women. I would not dispute this but I would object to the word, “ordinary.” Is there really such a thing as an ordinary woman? The women in our lives prove themselves to be quite extraordinary. Indeed, those who model themselves on Mary and who fulfill the counter-cultural exhortations from St. Paul and other Scriptural authors, illustrate both holiness and an intense capacity for sacrificial love. Married women honor and serve their husbands as they would Christ. Their husbands are to demonstrate a reciprocal love that is modeled on Christ’s acceptance of the Cross for his bride, the Church. There may be nothing in this world more moving and vital than the Christian woman. She is the heart of the home and of the Church. Mary is inseparably connected to these women as the supreme exemplar.

Mary testifies to holiness and unity with Christ. His flesh had been joined and dependent upon hers in the womb; but there was a spiritual connection which could never be severed. As the Immaculate Conception, she responded to the saving works of God like no other human being ever could.

The YES of Mary was not just a personal response but one for the sake of the whole world and all who would come to believe.

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