Readings: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/010115.cfm
“Google
is your friend,” is what I often tell my daughters, and my wife, whenever they
ask me questions that can easily be looked up.
I know – a little bit snotty of me to answer like that, huh?
Yesterday
I was curious about something so I got on google and googled “famous mothers in
history.” Interesting lists, on the
websites that came up.
One
site, called “mom.me,” lists eight famous mothers in history – they list Cleopatra,
Olympias (the mother of Alexander the Great), the physicist Marie Curie, Queen
Victoria, Queen Isabella, Harriet Tubman, Eleanor of Acquitaine, and Maria von
Trapp - of Sound of Music fame!
Another
site, run by the history channel, gives a top five moms in history - three are
in common with the other list - Cleopatra, Olympias and Eleanor of Acquitaine,
but this list adds Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Angelina Jolie to give the list a
more modern flair.
Now
I must say - as I was reading these lists, I sat there in shock, as nowhere to
be found on either list was the most famous, and not-even-close, most
important mother in history, of course I’m speaking of Mary, whose great
feast we celebrate this day, whose motherhood we celebrate today. Everybody
knows that the second Sunday of May is Mother’s Day, but today is also Mother’s
Day, for today we celebrate the Motherhood of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord.
Now
the word “mother” – if we stop to think about it – implies relationship. Two relationships, actually. Relationship with father, and of course
relationship with child.
In
the virgin Mary’s case, the father relationship is with God, for Our Blessed
Lord was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Her
relationship with God was one of great faith, of great trust, of great love. Her fiat, her “yes!” to the angel is the
greatest example we have of self surrender, of self-giving love of the Father, next
to Our Lord’s “yes” to His passion and death on the cross. For without both “yesses”, we would not be
saved.
And
“mother” means relationship with child. In
Our Lady’s case, with Our Blessed Lord, her Son, Jesus the Christ. True man and true God. By the incarnation of Christ, Mary became
“theotokos” – a Greek word meaning God bearer, Mother of God. Now thinking back to the lists I mentioned, some
of those mothers were famous in their own right – Harriet Tubman, Marie Curie,
Queen Victoria – famous women who also happened to be mothers. But some were famous because of their
offspring. The mother of Alexander the Great.
And
that is certainly the case with Mary.
Her renown is due to her relationship with her Son, Our Lord, without
Whom I daresay we would never have heard of this poor, humble Jewish girl. She was certainly holy, immaculate even, but
we attribute even those qualities to the merits of her Son, of His death and
resurrection. Now I’m pretty sure Mary
wouldn’t take offense to my saying her fame, her renown, is due to her famous
Son. No, in fact I think she would
insist on it.
You
see, Mary was all about her Son.
Her life on earth, and her life in heaven, have been about one thing
and one thing only – humbly pointing the way to her Blessed Son, our Savior.
Leading us to Him. Our protestant
brothers and sisters have it wrong when they accuse us Catholics of worshipping
Mary. We venerate her, we honor her, to
be sure, but as the earthly Mother of God Himself, the last thing she would
want, the last thing she would tolerate, is worship. For to Our Blessed Lady, it’s all about Him,
all about Her Son. She points the world to
her Son, by whom the world is redeemed.
But
- she also points her Son to us. For we,
too, are her children. The Lord Himself,
as he hung upon His Holy Cross, entrusted His Blessed Mother to His beloved
disciple, and entrusted him to her. At
the same time, He was, quote - “intending to offer his Mother as Mother to all
mankind,” as Pope St. John Paul II wrote.
So
it is – she is our mother, too, and we are entrusted to her gentle, tender
care, and she acts as intercessor before her Son, on behalf of us, her
spiritual children. Mary, Mother of God,
is also our mother, and that is a wondrous thing! Not only do we have a spiritual mother to
whom we can turn, who has “been there, done that” in all the joys and sorrows
of earthly life, but she also intercedes for us before the throne of Her
Blessed Son! And one thing I know about
mothers – they defend, they come to the aid of, they stick up for their
children. So it is with Mary, Mother of
Jesus and mother of the Church!
Ponder
that this day and in the new year, and celebrate, rejoice in this! In our fears, our temptations, our darkest
hours, in this vale of tears, we have a tender, loving, compassionate mother to
whom we can always turn, whom we can always trust. Who will bring our prayers to her Son, and we
can be confident that He listens to her whom he loves so very much!
So
let us now turn to her in prayer and humbly ask her intercession:
Hail Mary….
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