Lectionary: 636"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home....
I was born on the feast of the Holy Rosary, started the seminary on the Feast of Mary's Nativity, ordained as deacon in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, and ordained as a priest in the Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation. The Mother of God has appeared frequently, by way of feast days and shrines, in my life.
Despite that I had a certain reluctance to honor the Blessed Lady. Perhaps I suffered that peculiar affliction that G. K. Chesterton described when he said, "America is a very Protestant country; in America even the Catholics are Protestant."
I finally put all that aside after reading and rereading Redemptoris Mater by Pope Saint John Paul II. As an English lit major I had a great love for the Scriptures and I found his interpretation of Mary's presence in the Old and New Testaments convincing, reassuring and delightful.
Today we have heard the words of the Angel Gabriel to Joseph, "Do not be afraid to take Mary... into your home."
We have also heard, Jesus' command to his unnamed "beloved disciple" -- who is you and me -- "Behold your mother!" and the disciple's immediate response, "From that hour the disciple took her into his home."
A minister asked me once, "Isn't Mary really just a symbol of the Catholic Church?" She is certainly that. But I answered him, "If I offered you an ice cream cone or a picture of an ice cream cone, which would you take?"
"Good answer!" he said.
We deal in symbols, certainly, but we don't neuter them. My human body is a symbol of me, and it also happens to be me. We don't love symbols, we are not united by our symbols. We love persons. Ours is a congregation of human beings united by bonds of affection and loyalty to one another. Anything less than a community of faith might be a political party, a self-help society or a hobby club; it would not be a church. It would not be the Body of Christ.
Mary is the first and truest disciple of Jesus. When we come to Bethlehem or Calvary or the Cenacle to worship him, we find her already there; and we join her in prayer.
We find in Mary fulfillment of the Isaiah's prophecy, given to Jerusalem. She is indeed the holy city and the mother of many nations:
Sing, O barren one who did not bear; burst into song and shout, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married, says the Lord. Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will settle the desolate towns. (Isaiah 54:1-3)Just as Mary has stretched the tent, curtains and cords of her heart to receive many nations and peoples, so do we welcome her into our homes.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.