Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

Lectionary: 572A

Note about this today's readings:
On February 11, 2018, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments inscribed a new obligatory Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, into the General Roman Calendar. This memorial is celebrated every year on the Monday after Pentecost.  Latin liturgical texts were also promulgated the same day.

When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying,

Peter and John and James and Andrew,

Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Many years before the disciples' gathering in the Upper Room, the Angel Gabriel had announced to the young virgin, Mary of Galilee, that she would be the mother of the Messiah. When she asked, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" she was told, 

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God."

It was only fitting that she should be there in Jerusalem, when the same Holy Spirit overshadowed the disciples of Jesus. They should understand, as we do, that the Church is pregnant with the Word of God and brings forth the Son of God through our innumerable works of charity.

This bringing forth is not just a spiritual thing. The Word of God is tactile and tangible, practical and historic. It makes a difference which is sometimes controversial, sometimes political, and often opposed. As the inspired disciples rushed out of the Upper Room to announce the Gospel to the crowds in Jerusalem, so today his disciples eagerly show and tell the Lord to our contemporaries.

The Mother of Jesus is often described as representing something, and that might suggest something less than her real presence. The Evangelists Luke and John present her as the most faithful hearer and disciple of Jesus. If she appears only twice in the Gospel of John, they are critical moments. Named only as the Mother of Jesus she knows what he is about and directs the servants to "do whatever he tells you." In fact, her knowledge is quite intimate, because she is moved by the same Holy Spirit that compelled Jesus throughout his life. Their purpose is the same; there is no more disagreement between Jesus and Mary about his mission than there is between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

As the disciples stream out of the Upper Room into Jerusalem and, thence, to the "ends of the earth," they must also be compelled by that intimate knowledge of Jesus' purpose. This knowledge, however, cannot be clearly defined in so many words. No catechism can contain it, no creed can define it to the complete satisfaction of an inquiring skeptic. 

Can a mother describe her son or daughter to an interested third party, so completely that this other might say, "I know her child well?" Can her description replace the face to face encounter with her son? 

Of course not, but her spirit can be caught -- if not taught -- by those who listen to her; and they can conceive a passionate desire to know her child.

Nor would Wisdom counsel anyone to ignore his Mother. How could that stand to reason? The claim of knowing Jesus without an abiding affectionate attachment to his mother counters common sense. 

And so we celebrate Mary as the Mother of the Church, a title which flows naturally from Theotokos, ("Mother of God"), which was announced and celebrated at the Council of Nicea, when our Nicene Creed was formulated. We travel with her through the mysteries of the rosary, from Nazareth to Jerusalem; from the Annunciation to her coronation as Queen of Heaven and Earth. Like the Cross, Mary is a touchstone as we discern the direction and purpose of our lives, for her Spirit is infallible.