Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
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May 21, 2018
Today marks the newly decreed Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. For Catholics, seeing Mary as mother is about as natural as making the sign of the cross. It is ingrained. Mary is Jesus’ mother, after all; the Blessed Mother. However, how often do we stop and think of Mary as our mother, personally? What does this revelation mean for us as Christians right here and now?
Today’s gospel sheds new light on how Mary chooses to relate to us as our Mother. Among Jesus’ last words when death was near were “Behold, your mother.” With this command, Jesus plants in us the seeds of this eternal relationship with His mother as her children, as members of the mystical body of Christ - the Church. As mother, Mary has born pain and sacrificed. As mother, she serves as guide, protector, advocate, nurturer, and so much more. With this in mind, how can I offer Mary anything but my deepest devotion? How else can I approach her but with the utmost piety? What does it mean to do so?
To honor Mary as our mother is to realize the grace it took for her to bear Jesus to the world, and so bear the Church into the world as its mother. Indeed, to honor Mary’s maternity to us is to emulate it. Yes, as man and as woman, to emulate Mary and so emulate her example of bringing Christ into the world. Let us share in this creative act as a perpetual prayer as we devote ourselves to our Blessed Mother. Amen.