Holy Mary; Mother of "God"

Holy Mary; Mother of “God”

We cannot continue to the Passion of Christ without the very essence of how we are redeemed by God.  Mary is the Holy and chosen singular entity that would become the Mother of the Incarnation, Jesus Christ, our only victory for eternal life with God.

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.   Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He shall be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his Father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”    (Lk 1:  30 - 33).

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word.”   (Lk 1: 38).

Mary’s acceptance of God’s choice to ask her if she was willing to hand her life over to suffering for the salvation of mankind.  Although she didn’t have all this at hand but soon discovered through Simeon; (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.  (Lk 2: 35).

Since the Virgin Mary’s role in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now to consider her place in the mystery of the Church.  “The Virgin Mary ...is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer …She is “clearly the mother of the members of Christ”....since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head.”  Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church.”  (CCC 963).

For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.  Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”  (Lk 1: 44 - 45).  Elizabeth’s faith is also a large portion of our own belief.  

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”   Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me?  My hour has not yet come.”  (Jn 2: 1 - 4).  A plea from his very mother to which he listened as any son would respond to a mother.

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdala.  When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said, “Woman, behold your son.”  Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.”   (Jn 19: 25 - 27).

Mary, the mother of Jesus, God Incarnate, is more than a virgin chosen to fulfill a prophecy; “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:  the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel”  (Is 7: 14).  

The Lord, God, did not choose Mary just to complete what was written in Isaiah, he already provided a Holy woman who would become mother to his Son and she is a vital heavenly saint who stands ready to bring more than pictures and visions to children and others to spread the need of prayer in a profound effort for world peace.  It is through her intervention to her son that God is about to keep the redemption of mankind true to the final appearance of Jesus Christ during the final completion of world turmoil.  (Rv 19: 11 - 21).

After speaking of the Church, her origin, mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary.  In her we contemplate what the Church already is in her mystery on her own “pilgrimage of faith," and what she will be in the homeland at the end of her journey.  There, “in the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity,” in the communion of all the saints,” the Church is awaited by the one she venerates as Mother of her Lord and as her own mother.   (CCC 972).

Ralph B. Hathaway