Jesus cannot say no to his Mother.
Last month we celebrated the memory of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, the first successor of St. Josemaría Escrivá as head of Opus Dei. He strongly encouraged to have recourse to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom he called "supplicant omnipotence,” entirely effective when she asks for graces from her Son.
At a meeting held in Boston (United States) in 1988, Blessed Alvaro del Portillo explained this special power of Mary, pointing out that when she asks God to grant her something, "Jesus cannot say no to his Mother” as he is the best Son.
To give an example of this, Blessed Alvaro del Portillo reflected on the Gospel passage of the Wedding at Cana, in which Our Lady pointed out to her Son that the bride and groom had no wine to offer. To this Jesus responded by implying that it was none of his business.
Blessed Alvaro, however, considered that Christ gave this answer "so that we may know how to understand the effectiveness, the power of the Mother of God". He then described that Our Lady immediately commanded the servants to do what Jesus says.
"And, she continues to tell us that same thing, that we should do what Jesus asks from us. And Jesus performed his first miracle. And he will work so many miracles in our souls if we go to Mary," the first successor of St. Josemaría Escrivá emphasized.
St. Josemaría encouraged us to love the Mother of God very much, because "she is the good Mother we have in heaven, who obtains for us so many graces, so much grace from God!”
St. John Paul II, who attended the wake of Alvaro del Portillo when his Blessed friend died, also spoke of Mary's "supplicant omnipotence." At the general audience of May 2, 1979, in a speech on the Mother of the Risen Christ, the Pontiff said: "The revelation of the divine power of the Son through the resurrection is at the same time a revelation of the 'supplicant omnipotence' (omnipotentia suplex) of Mary in relation to this Son.”
The Pope pointed out that at Cana in Galilee there is shown only one concrete aspect of human need, apparently a small one of little importance ('They have no wine'). But it has symbolic value: this coming to the aid of human needs means, at the same time, bringing those needs within the scope of Christ's messianic mission and salvific power. Thus, there is a mediation: Mary places herself between her Son and mankind in the reality of their wants, needs and sufferings.
Let’s ask our Mother to help us against the snares of the devil, because “Where the Virgin is, the devil cannot enter.”
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