May 14 Thu
5. What is the connection between Eve and Mary?
Throughout the Old Covenant, Mary’s mission was foreshadowed by the missions of certain women (Sarah, who conceives a son despite her advanced age; Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith). At the very beginning is Eve: despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a descendant who will defeat the Evil One, as recounted in the Book of Genesis.
With Mary, the exalted Daughter of Zion, after the long wait for the promise, the time has come, and the new plan of salvation is inaugurated. Mary stands out among the humble and the poor of the Lord, who confidently await salvation from him and welcome it.
Saint Josemaría:
If you and I had had the power, we too would have made her Queen and Lady of all creation.
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman with a crown of twelve stars upon her head. -Clothed with the sun. -The moon at her feet. Mary, Virgin without stain, has repaired the fall of Eve, and she crushed the head of the infernal serpent with her immaculate heel. Daughter of God, Mother of God, Spouse of God.
6. What does it mean that Mary is full of grace?
At the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel greets her as “full of grace.” Indeed, to give her free assent of faith to the announcement of her vocation, she needed to be entirely guided by God’s grace: Mary was endowed by God with gifts commensurate with such an important mission.
This means that she was conceived without original sin. Over the centuries, the Church has come to recognize that Mary, whom God called “full of grace,” had been redeemed from the moment of her conception. This is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception professes: "The Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved free from all stain of original sin from the first moment of her conception by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race."
Saint Josemaría
Mary, you are queen of peace, because you had faith and believed that what the angel announced would, in fact, happen. Help us grow in the faith, with a firm hope and a deeper love.
7. How can a woman be the Mother of God?
Mary is truly the "Mother of God" because she is the mother of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself, as God’s Revelation through Sacred Scripture tells us. This is a truth of faith that all Christians have lived out since the earliest times.
The gaze of faith, in harmony with the whole of Revelation, can uncover the mysterious reasons why God, in his plan of salvation, willed that his Son be born of a virgin. These reasons pertain both to the person and redemptive mission of Christ and to Mary’s acceptance of this mission on behalf of humanity.