Mary remained silent, as so often before she had remained silent, in the crowd; but now Jesus shared her silence. Jesus and Mary alone were silent in the midst of chaos, when the veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom and the graves were opened. They alone remained calm when those who a few moments ago had mocked at Christ, and those who had hammered the nails through His hands and feet, shouting and laughing to one another, were seized with dread and confusion of mind.
One of the soldiers came to pierce the heart of Christ with a spear, and as he drove it into His side blood and water flowed from it. Mary knew that that stream of blood was her own blood, emptied at last from his sacred veins, and she knew that that water that sprang like the spray of a fountain from His side was the mysterious breaking of the waters of birth. It was the birth of Christ in man, her son Christ who would indwell men until the end of time.
They took His body down from the cross and laid it in His Mother's arms, and she held it upon her heart; and in it, all those Christs to come to whom she was Mother now.
Caryll Houselander, The Way of the Cross
Who can imagine the grief that Mary must have felt when they placed her Son in her arms for the last time? On the other hand, this was the moment that she had been anticipating since Gabriel's visit, and now the worst was over. Perhaps along with her grief, she felt a certain peace when she heard Him say, "It is finished."
Her task, of course, was far from finished. Now, instead of being the mother of one perfect Son, she had a whole world full of sinful sons and daughters to tend to. How she must have loved John, and all those men that her Son had chosen, and how much they must have loved her. And how patient she must have had to be with all their faults and quirks and disagreements.
Mary was present at the birth of Jesus, and at the birth of the Church, and at the birth of every one of us. She has been our mother for our whole lives. Whenever our own mothers have failed us through tiredness or impatience, sinfulness or death, she has been there to help us even when we were unaware of her presence. Help of Christians, Refuge of Sinners, Seat of Wisdom, Mother of Good Counsel, she is all of this and more.
As in the case of many earthly mothers, sometimes her children run away. Whole denominations of her children have run away; some are even afraid of her. Still, I believe that she continues to work in their lives, quiet, unassuming, waiting for the day that they recognize her for who she is.
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 19:26-27
AMDG
The biggest puzzle for me about the Church's teaching on Mary is how she can hear and respond to the prayers of millions of people. I can sort of grasp this about God, in a theoretical way, because he's infinite. But she isn't. I rather look forward to finding out how it works. It would, logically, be a gift which will be in some measure possessed by everyone in heaven.
ReplyDeleteWell, we do credit the Saints with that ability, too. All I know is that there is so much evidence that she does respond to prayers that I can't not believe it. I'm pretty sure we couldn't understand how it works at this point anyway, so I try not to worry about it like I try not to worry about infinity and stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
And really, it's probably easier to understand than the vagaries of Blogger.
ReplyDeleteAMDG
It's not that I doubt it, I just can't figure it out. As if I had some right to...
ReplyDeleteI'm still holding a grudge against Blogger so I won't try to defend it.
It would be useless to try to defend it. This html in the comments is making me crazy.
ReplyDeleteAMDG