Behold, Your Mother

Behold, Your Mother

Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. John 19:25-27

Piety

The Canticle of Mary.

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.

He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” (Luke 1:46-55)

Study

Usually, today would be Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time. However, last year, Pope Francis inserted the ancient devotion of the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, into the Roman Calendar on the Monday following Pentecost Sunday.

St. Augustine says that Mary is the mother of the members of Christ because with charity she cooperated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church. St. Leo the Great says that the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, thus indicating that Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, and mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church.

The connection between Christmas, Easter, yesterday’s “birth” day of the Church (Pentecost) and Mary’s maternal care is evident. Mary became the mother of Jesus on Christmas morning. Acts 1:12-14 and Genesis 3:9-15,20, if read in the light of the “New Eve,” show that Mary became the ‘Mother of All the Living” at the foot of the Cross when Jesus commanded us to “Behold your mother.” She remained with the disciples praying in the Upper Room when the Holy Spirit descended upon the believers.

Mary had been waiting in the Upper Room with the Apostles, her Son’s closest friends. As any good natural mother, she would have loved them because he loved them. She would have wanted the best for them and likely had high hopes for them because of their closeness to him. She would have loved them despite their failure to stand by Jesus when things turned terrible and he was arrested, tortured and crucified. They, on their part, would have loved and honored her because she was the mother of their best friend.[1]

One might ask, are there not enough memorials and days honoring Mary? We certainly had quite a few already before today’s memorial was put back into the calendar. Throughout the liturgical year, the Church honors our Blessed Mother with at least fifteen special events of her participation in the mystery of salvation.^[2] These are:

The Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary (December 8) S
Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12) F
The Nativity of The Lord (Christmas) December 25 S
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary And Joseph (December 31) F
Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (January 1) S
The Presentation of the Lord (February 2) F
Saint Joseph, Spouse of The Blessed Virgin Mary (March 19) S
Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church (May 21) S
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (May 31) F
Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (June 9) S
Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (July 26) M
The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15) S
The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 22) M
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 8) F
Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15) M
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (November 21) M

Our “study” of Mary’s place in the life of Jesus and the life of the Church from the Immaculate Conception and Annunciation through Pentecost and the Assumption would not be complete by skipping over any of these. This comes full circle with the Mysteries of the Rosary.

Action

What place does Mary have in the Church of Your Life?

Mary has come to me as a teacher and as a guide – the first among women and the first among the saints. While the Synoptic Gospels all contain a Nativity narrative of some kind, John skips the history lesson and gets right to the heart of the message. Mary is there at the first miracle Jesus performs – turning water into wine at the wedding reception in the village of Cana. Her words at that event are her first verbal lesson: His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:3)

From there forward the “Marian-ology” that emerges from the rosary and the string of solemnities, memorials and feast days carve out Mary’s role pulling me along more with the power of her deeds than her sparse words now and (hopefully) also at the hour of my death.

What does your soul proclaim?

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[1] http://www.ncregister.com/blog/mfenelon/why-the-new-memorial-of-mary-mother-of-the-church-is-so-remarkable

[2] Not to split hairs, but solemnities are the celebrations of greatest importance indicated with an “S” on the list above. Each Solemnity begins on the prior evening with first Vespers (evening prayer) and several of the solemnities have their own Vigil Mass. Feasts indicated with an “F” are of secondary importance in our liturgical calendar and are celebrated on a particular day. These feasts do not have a first vespers or Vigil Mass the prior evening. Next in line are memorials, which are classified as either obligatory or optional. Memorials (“M”) commemorate a saint or saints. Obligatory memorials must be observed whereas optional memorials do not have to be observed. If reading this sequence seems a bit confusing, perhaps that is why the Bishop’s Committee on the Liturgy of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops publishes an annual Ordo which outlines the proper celebrations and their particulars throughout the liturgical year.