Reflection: Mary, Mother of the Church (Jun 6th)
O happy Virgin, you gave birth to the Lord; O blessed mother of the Church, you warm our hearts with the Spirit of your Son Jesus Christ.
We are all born of a woman, this is how we have come to exist. Through the grace of God, we were conceived and born from the womb of the woman chosen to bear us into the world. We passed into this cold and strange world amongst individuals who, if we were born in a hospital, were in scrubs and white coats. All we knew, at that moment, was one thing: our desire for contact with our mother. At that singular moment and at our first cry, our utmost desire was to be held in the arms of our mother, whom we knew loved us. She would hold us, in ordinary circumstances, so close and whisper loving things into our ear. We would calm down and snuggle up for a nice sleep. This is the first minutes of our life, for all of us sitting here. However, this is not the case for millions upon millions of other ones, who have never had a chance to breathe their first breaths or, if they were allowed to be born, were cruelly left on the table to die. Let us now pause a moment for the little ones who never had the chance to be held in their mother’s arms during those first precious minutes of life. [Pause here to pray and allow others to pray as well, for a moment]. However, let us speak now, after our moment of prayer, about a mother who has been spiritually given to us all by her only son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. We speak of course of Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church. In this reflection, I want to emphasize three traits that are common to Mary as Mother of the Church: silence, beauty and perseverance.
In the First Reading, in the Book of Acts, Jesus has just been taken up to Heaven and the Apostles have returned to Jerusalem. The Apostles, minus Judas the Traitor, are in the Upper Room having “devoted themselves with one accord to prayer.” This is to show that the Church is present, along with the followers of the Church, as it says, “together with some women…and his brothers.” As is in the middle of the women and the family of Jesus, is Our Lady of Silence, Mary, Mother of the Church. She could rightly be called Our Lady of Silence because, in this particular passage especially, she does not speak a single word, but is in “one accord to prayer” with everyone else.
In the Responsorial Psalm, we see the response being “Glorious things are told of you, O city of God.” I would like to focus on one glorious thing in particular, of the City of God and of Mary, which is her beauty. As it says, the Lord loves, “His foundation upon the holy mountains…the gates of Zion, more than any dwelling of Jacob.” What is truly more beautiful than the foundation of the Holy City, “the gates of Zion”, than Mary’s fiat, to give way to the Incarnation of the Son of God? For “the gates of Zion” were merely physical gates, but Mary’s fiat was that gate that gave way to the Living Word made flesh. As it says, “One and all were born in her, and he who has established her is the Most High Lord.” Only someone of such spiritual beauty as Mary could be Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son made Flesh, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit. As it says, “This man was born there…My home is within you.” Truly this is good for us to know, that Jesus Christ, the God-man, was born of a virgin named Mary, in which we can rightly call her Theotokos. It is true, “Glorious things are told of you, O city of God” is reflective of Our Lady of Beauty, Mary, most blessed among women.
In the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist, we see Our Lady of Perseverance, Mary, standing by the foot of the Cross with “the disciple there whom he loved,” whom we know is John. Jesus, Our Blessed Lord, says to Mary, “Woman, behold, your son.” This is the giving of Our Lady as Mother to us. Christ, Our Blessed Savior, says to John, “Behold, your mother.” This is the reception of Our Lady as Mother for us. As we read further, John “took her into his home.” His home, being the Church, is an indication that she was given to all of us as our Spiritual Mother. After such a blessed event, Jesus gives us two more words: “I thirst” and “It is finished”. In His thirst, He thirst for souls to be with Him. In His completion of the Sacrifice on the Life-Giving Cross, He makes note the true pinnacle of salvation is to be found here, on the Hill of Calvary.
