Mary, the Mother of God

Deacon Les
Homily

WEDNESDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER (C)
28 APRIL 2010

Acts: 12: 24 - 13: 5a

[Acts 12:24] But the word of God continued to spread and grow.
[Acts 12:25] After Barnabas and Saul completed their relief mission, they returned to Jerusalem, taking with them John, who is called Mark
[Acts 13:1] Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
[Acts 13:2] While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
[Acts 13:3] Then, completing their fasting and prayer, they laid hands on them and sent them off.
[Acts 13:4] So they, sent forth by the holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.
[Acts 13:5] When they arrived in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.

John 12: 44 - 50

[John 12:44] Jesus cried out and said, "Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me,
[John 12:45] and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.
[John 12:46] I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.
[John 12:47] And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.
[John 12:48] Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day,
[John 12:49] because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.
[John 12:50] And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me."



Preamble

Today the Church celebrates the memorial of St Louis Mary Grignion de Montfort (1673 - 1716).

He was born to a poor family in 1673, at Montfort-La-Cane in Brittany, and was ordained at the age of 27. He had a deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and wrote a book, The Secret of the Rosary, which is the first work to describe the method by which the Rosary is prayed today. He founded the Company of Mary, a missionary band of men, and the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Wisdom, a religious institute of women devoted to the poor.

Let us meditate on how we might share in St Louis' devotion to Mary, Mother of God.

Introduction

Whatever we say about the mystery of the Word made flesh is not intelligible without reference to Mary.
Whatever we say about Mary predicates from her unique relation to Christ.

To say that "Mary is the mother of God" is a rephrasing of "Jesus Christ is true God and true man".

Mary facilitates our union with Jesus. She does this in two ways: as guide and as example. As guide, she shows us a path to Jesus. As example, she shows forth her perfect union with Jesus.

Mary and the Communion of Saints

We affirm the doctrine of the "communion of saints" each time we recite the Apostles' creed.

In this communion of saints, the body of Christ, the Church, the Holy Spirit courses through its members, sanctifying them by enlivening them, principally through the sacraments, with that grace which is the very life of the Blessed Trinity itself.

Each member of the body of Christ cooperates with the Holy Spirit in being both recipient and conduit of His grace.

As recipient of God's grace, each of us is to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, the divine life given to us a precursor of our life in heaven. As conduit of God's grace, each of us is to mediate this grace to one another, in particular by intercessory prayer.

Our Lady is the pre-eminent Christian. She is pre-eminent as recipient of God's grace, and as our model for each of us as recipient.

She is pre-eminent as one who mediates this grace to others through her intercessory prayer, and as our model for mediating grace through our intercessory prayer.

When Mary and the rest of us experience the divine life of the Trinity; the divine life is not thereby multiplied; it is shared.

Likewise, when Mary and the rest of us mediate grace through intercessory prayer, mediatorship is not multiplied; rather, it is a sharing in the unique mediatorship of Jesus Christ.

Triumph Over the Evil One

Mary has made possible the liberation of the entire human race from Satan, sin, and death. Satan tricked the first Eve into sin, and so sin entered the world and Satan became the world's usurper. In return, Mary, the second Eve, tricked Satan and sin was overcome. How did Mary do this? She did it by wrapping the infinite one with her own flesh, to make visible him who had been invisible.

Mary gave to the world Jesus, triumphant victor over Satan, over sin, and over death. Our Lord's victory would not have been accomplished without Mary's fiat.

Coda

The Son of God is the linchpin of the creation: all things were created in him, through him, and for him.
The Son of Mary is the linchpin of the new creation, because she has bestowed on us its divine author.

WITHOUT THE SON OF GOD, THERE IS NO CREATION.

WITHOUT THE SON OF MARY, THERE IS NO RE-CREATION.