Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lectionary: 422

I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.
I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.
You shall live in the land I gave your ancestors;
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

As a young priest, eager to preach but sometimes short on something to preach about, I discovered that Mary is a terrific example of every virtue, and is found in almost any text from scripture. She never fails to appear in the readings assigned to her memorials, even when they only follow the ferial readings of Ordinary Time. Today's reading from Ezekiel is typical. 

Our first readings this week are taken from Ezekiel, and describe both the purified virgin church and the pure Virgin Mary:

I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

Mary demonstrates with her simple assent to Gabriel's message the simplicity of heart, mind, soul, and body that is available to every Christian, if we would only allow her Spirit, which is God's Spirit, to guide us. Conceived immaculately -- that is, without sin -- she has no interest, curiosity, or fascination with the "dark side." 

We're not unfamiliar with that kind of simplicity. Offered a choice between ice cream and turnips, most children know immediately what they want. It's as if they have no choice. Our moral choices are sometimes that simple, and they were for Mary. But there are occasions when we must stop, think, ponder, take time, and pray for guidance. And there are many occasions when we do none of that; we follow our base instincts and regret it soon afterward. Seeing the Angel, Mary knew immediately what she wanted. It was, as the bankers would tell you, Just that simple.

With experience, time, and grace we can learn not to repeat past sins; and we often wonder, "What on earth was I thinking?" (That's easy: I wasn't!) And most of us simply outgrow nonsense, although some people never surrender to wisdom. From them comes the old expression, There's no fool like an old fool.

Mary's Immaculate Conception means that she was born innocent by the grace of God's election.  If she did not expect a virginal conception she was prepared for it mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically when the moment came. The best parents, athletes, and soldiers know about that kind of total readiness. "Whatever difficulties arise, we'll handle it!" they say. Mary, the bright young woman, had the same confidence in herself and in the Lord who guided her. 

Ezekiel promised, "You shall live in the land I gave your ancestors." Walking in the Lord, for Mary, was as familiar as living in one's own land, in the ancestral country of our birth. The Bible is deeply familiar with exile; that's the unhappy side of the Bible. It began with the expulsion from Eden.

The Hebrew Prophets cited  the threat of exile many times to Israel and Judah. They knew that those who would not behave as God's holy people could not remain in his holy city or Holy Land. But, lest we get distracted, the Bible is no more a story of Jewish sins than it is a celebration of Christian innocence. We too have sinned,  like all our ancestors; and we too experience alienation and abandonment as our families disintegrate and our congregations scatter to more entertaining churches that feed them what want to eat. 

Mary calls us home. It's not as far away as we might think; and yes, Tom Wolfe, you can go home again.