Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lectionary: 424

The voice said to me: Son of man, this is where my throne shall be, this is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever.


In today’s first reading, Ezekiel describes a visionary, triumphant return of the Lord God to the temple in Jerusalem, a temple recently destroyed by the Babylonian army. Israel’s faith, though anchored in time, does not rely on historical events, which are occasionally catastrophic, but on the Spirit of God which abides forever. When we seem to be utterly abandoned and lost, the Lord reappears.

We generally expect great things of the Lord, and we often have detailed diagrams for what those great things should be. They include security, success, abundance, and substantial peace. But, as the pundits say, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Faith teaches us to wait on the Lord. If we expect our needs to be satisfied and our hopes to be fulfilled, that’s fine -- but wait on the Lord in any case.

A week after the solemn feast of the Assumption we celebrate the Queenship of Mary. I sometimes remind Veterans in the hospital, “You do not know Jesus if you don’t know his crucifixion.” Likewise, we know nothing of Mary if we don’t know of her profound sorrows.

In her personal history we discover a recapitulation of the history of the Jewish people from initial call to deep distress to amazing exaltation. She did not suffer martyrdom for the faith like many Christians of every age, but she suffered like most of us a life of unexpected and undeserved hardship. Innocent of all sin she endured punishing tragedy as she watched from afar her son’s journey.

But we find no evidence of betrayal in her story. Readily she accepted the angel’s invitation, willingly she fled from Bethlehem to Egypt, sorrowfully she realized her son must go to Jerusalem, faithfully she stood by the cross. If she expected a different, easier, more successful, satisfying, and triumphant end to the story – and what mother doesn’t? – Mary trusted the unseen Hand of God in every moment of her life. Even as she stood at the foot of the cross she must have whispered to her son, “I believe in you.”
Catholics celebrate the Fourth Station of the Way of the Cross, “Jesus meets his afflicted mother.” In his movie, Mel Gibson described the moment and Jesus’ reassuring words, “See, Mother, I make all things new.” I believe Mary and Jesus found deep comfort in one another’s presence even in that dreadful place. It was not a joyful moment; that must come later. But with their infinite capacity to give and receive comfort, they proceeded to Calvary together. There was no betrayal between them, and no abandonment. “Here I am!” they said. The only prayer that matters.
For this reason, we celebrate the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary as we celebrate Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.