Jun 9 Mon
Is our Mother Mary the Mother of the Church?
“The Gospel passages about our Lady show her as the Mother of Jesus, following her Son step by step, playing a part in his redemptive mission, rejoicing and suffering with him, loving those whom Jesus loves, looking after all those around her with maternal care."
“Just think, for example, of the marriage at Cana. Our Lady was a guest at one of those noisy country weddings attended by crowds from many villages. But she was the only one who noticed the wine was running out. Don't these scenes from Christ's life seem familiar to us? The greatness of God lives at the level of ordinary things. It is natural for a woman, a housewife, to notice something is lacking, to look after the little things that make life pleasant. And that is how Mary acted."
“Notice also that it is John who tells the story of Cana. He is the only evangelist who has recorded this example of our mother's concern for us. St John wants us to remember that Mary was present at the beginning of the public life of our Lord. He alone has appreciated the importance of that fact. Jesus knew to whom he was entrusting his Mother - to a disciple who had learned to understand and love her as his own mother."
“Let's turn now to the days between the ascension and Pentecost. As a result of the triumph of Christ's resurrection, the disciples are full of faith; they eagerly await the promised Holy Spirit. They want to stay close to one another, and so we find them with Mary, the mother of Jesus, praying as a single family."
“But what is the Church? Where is the Church? Bewildered and disoriented, many Christians do not find sure answers to these questions. And they come to believe that perhaps the answers that the Magisterium has formulated for centuries - and which good catechisms have proposed with the necessary precision and simplicity - have now been superseded and must be replaced by new ones. A series of facts and difficulties seem to have come together to darken the bright countenance of the Church. Some maintain that the valid Church can be found only in their personal zeal to accommodate it to what they call modern times. Others cry out: the Church is nothing more than man's desire for solidarity. We ought to change it, they say, in accord with present circumstances."
“They are wrong. The Church today is the same one Christ founded, his Mystical Body. It cannot be any other. The Apostles and their successors are the vicars of God about the faith and the sacraments. Hence, the Church must be recognized by the four marks in the profession of faith of one of the first Councils, as we pray in the Creed of the Mass: One, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church."
“From the first moment of the Church, all Christians who have sought the love of God - that love revealed in Jesus Christ - have encountered our Lady and experienced her motherly care. She can truly be called the Mother of Christians, and Mother of the Church."
By venerating this Mother of ours without stain, and loving the Roman Pontiff, successor of St. Peter, we will preserve unity.