Motherhood of Mary
by Fr.Gus Carter
1/1/06

St. Augustine, among other Fathers of the Church, imagined the whole of creation being present at the Annunciation. When God asked the Blessed Virgin Mary to cooperate in the salvation of the world, the whole universe held its breath, hoping Mary would say. "Yes," This gives us some sense of the importance of Mary in bringing salvation to the world. In the Epistle to the Roman St. Paul expressed his idea in a different way: "We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies." (Rom 8:23) Through Mary the Word of God became one of us, so that he could suffer, die and rise from the dead. Thus, he opened the way to eternal life for all of humanity.

In the providence of God some human had to be chosen who would say "yes." Today, on the Feast of the Motherhood of Mary ~ celebrate that "yes." We honor the person who provided the essential link between God and humans. We rejoice in her conSent and we praise her courage.
Luke's Gospel portrays Mary as a believer and a disciple. A key passage in today's Gospel reminds us of Luke's experience of Mary: "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." Luke wants to portray how Mary penetrated the deepest meaning of the events that happened and of the signs that had been given. "Reflecting on" or "interpreting of' events, comes from an Old Testament term that portrays the patriarch Joseph and the prophet Daniel coming to understand events important in Jewish history. We read that the author of the Book of Sirach "Kept with concern" the sayings of Holy Scripture in order to understand them and to live by them. Jesus later in the Gospel of Luke describes the true disciple as someone "who hears the word of God and keeps it."

Because Mary was a woman of prayer, she was able to understand what God asked of her in the Annunciation. She was able to respond with enthusiasm and joy to the Lord's request. Among other things, Mary is the model for how followers of Jesus should act. Like Mary, each of us has been invited to carry out the Lord's plan for the salvation of the world. To do what God requests of us, Luke shows us that we must be like Mary. Nearly all of you here today desire to be true followers of Jesus. Luke's Gospel recommends that we take up Holy Scripture to hear the word of the Lord so that we may keep it. The Gospel is the most important place to hear the Word of God. Jesus is the light and the truth of how human life showed be lived. His words and actions challenge how we are living. Praying the Gospel as Mary prayed it, not only tells us how to live; our contact with Jesus gives us the power to behave as Jesus requested. Next to the Gospel, most people seem to find the psalms as most helpful in understanding God's ways and of being inspired by the way God is present in our lives. Nearly all Catholics at various times in their lives promise themselves that they will make the effort to be more deeply prayerful. Is this the year for you to fulfill the promise you have made to yourself as you think of your life in the coming year?

One of the tragedies of the Reformation was the Protestant emphasis on Scripture caused the Church to stress tradition and the Church. One of the outstanding characteristics of the saints of the Church as been their love for Scripture. Vatican II reminded us that we are sons and daughters of the Church, but we are also people of the Bible. One way to recover the love of Scripture would be to read the daily readings of the Mass. Reading these faithfully, we would cover the whole Bible in two years. The Sunday readings cover the whole of Scripture every three years. Devote reading of these would acquaint us well with the Bible. We would become what we truly should be, "people of the Book," meaning the Bible, of course.