[In Defense of Mary]
When I worked as a Physical Therapist, my supervisor and I had an agreement of sorts. At one point I humbly admitted to her that when I was confronted with conflict, I don’t respond well on the spot. I do much better when given some time to process and then come back with my response. My supervisor gave me the [grace of space] recognizing that I often returned with wisdom and a solution. I am not a debator. My mind, when faced with a challenge, becomes like a hamster wheel and fails to deliver coherant speech. I have often identified with the mute man in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus releases this man with a single word, “Ephphatha.” I have prayed to be released of this “thorn” much like St. Paul. The Lord keeps me as I am and in response I become more like Mary, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) This is our call with all that troubles us. When we take our struggles to the heart we are taking them to the space where the Holy Spirit can do His work. I recently found myself in the middle of a brief debate between a faithful Evangelical and a faithful Catholic on the role of Mary. My mind swirled with lots of thoughts, but my muteness prevailed. I spend a lot of time pondering this in my heart. I have shared that my walk with Mary has been paved with doubt, prayer, frustration and at times anger. And that’s not my walk in prayer with Mary, but with the Lord. I spend many years struggling with the relationship so many Catholics hold dear, but that I myself just didn’t understand. Our gentle Lord, through His Holy Spirit, has been working on my heart for nine years now. I am ready to share what Wisdom the Lord has brought to me that has helped me to recognize Mary as a part of my spiritual team.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you (Lk 1:28)
Words matter with God. Jesus Himself is the Word made Flesh. If we are to believe that the Holy Bible is God’s inspired Word, then the words of the Bible matter. Hail Mary is a salutation reserved for royalty. Mary is a common Jewish girl given a royal title by God’s own messanger. This sets Mary apart. She is given this title before her fiat, before the conception of our Lord. Hail Mary. “Full of Grace.” What does this mean to be full of grace? The angel defines it in his next words, “The Lord is with you.” Mary is filled with the presence of God. Again, this salutation takes place before the conception of Jesus. Mary is announced as royalty filled with God’s very presence. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:41) proclaims our next inspired truth:
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb! And why is this granted me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Luke 1:41-43)
The Holy Spirit inspires Mary’s new identity, mother of my Lord. Mary is no longer just Elizabeth’s cousin, she has been given a new title. Mary upon giving her fiat and conceiving of Jesus steps immediately into her mission. She sets out to help Elizabeth who also plays a key role in God’s kingdom plan. Mary responds to Elizabeth with what is called her Magnificat:
May soul magnifies the Lord (Luke 1:46)
Mary identifies in a moment of inspired joy her role, to magnify the Lord, to point us to Jesus. Mary is not the object of false worship, she is the lighthouse to the Lord. Mary’s mission continued as Jesus’ own mission began. Looking at the key points of Mary in the Gospels I can see how Mary’s earthly role shapes her heavenly role.
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:1-5)
I find this exchange to be vital. Mary is the one who is aware of the need (of presumably a good friend or relative) and she brings that need to Jesus. She intercedes out of love. It is so important to see how she does this because it is so key to our understanding of her role in heaven. Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus says. She points to the authority of Jesus. Mary’s intercession at the wedding at Cana has an Old Testament precursor that harkens back to the greeting of Mary as royalty.
When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand. “I have one small request to make of you,” she said. “Do not refuse me.” The king replied, “Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.”
In Jewish tradition, the king’s mother held great sway with the king. She was a trusted advisor. This stems in part from God’s fourth commandment, Honor thy father and mother. Jesus, fully God and fully man, honors the fourth commandment. He is not exempt from the law, He tells the Pharisees, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17) Jesus honors His mother. We cannot deny that Jesus received His humanity from Mary. St. Paul helps me to link Mary to myself.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1)
If we are all part of the body of Christ and Mary is the mother of Christ, then is it such a stretch to recognize her as our spiritual mother? And if not our spiritual mother, then at least a part of the great cloud of witnesses that we can rely on to strengthen us in this race called life? Jesus himself entrusts His mother to His beloved disciple from the cross.
Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, behold thy son'. Then to the disciple he said: 'Behold your mother'. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home' (John 19:25-27)
Are we not called to model the actions of Jesus and His disciples. Were Jesus’ commands and words not intended to stand independent of time and space? Why are these words any different, “Behold thy mother.” Mary, taking her role to heart, remains with the disciples during the three days following his death, during the forty days after His resurrection, and awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. Mary remained steadfast to her son and to His disciples.
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[c] from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. (Acts 1:12-14)
The beloved disciple John, in his book of revelation, gives us the heavenly glimpse of Mary:
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. (Revelation 12:1)
Mary is introduced to us in Luke’s Gospel with the greeting, “Hail Mary” and she is brought to us at “the end” in the book of Revelation with a crown upon her head. Mary’s presence in the Gospels and in Acts helps me to understand her eternal role to all who call Jesus, “Lord.” Mary is one who rushes to the assistance of one on mission for God, as she did for Elizabeth. Mary is one who brings the needs of those who hold her close to Jesus and asks Jesus to intercede, as she did at Cana. Mary is one who walks with the disciples of Jesus in prayer and waiting, as she did following the ascension. When I am in need of an intercessor, a prayer warrior, or a spiritual mother, I now feel confident in turning to Mary. I have no confusion who God is, and great confidence in who Mary is to God.
Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death, Amen.
