[Father Paul]
I begin with a beautiful story about a poor girl who was chosen, among many others, to give a gift to a benevolent king. She was looking rather sad because all she had to offer him were a few apples. When a woman saw how sad she was, she offered to take the apples and make a delicious apple pie. “I happen to know that the king likes apple pies very much, and no doubt when you give him the apple pie he will be very pleased.” So she gladly gave up the apples, and the little girl was able to stand in line proudly to give her gift to the king, and it smelled so beautiful! When her time came to give her gift, she presented it to the king, and the king looked at her and said, “How did you know? How did you know that this gift was my favourite gift in the whole world?”
“That lady next to you told me. All I had were a few apples, but she took those apples and made a beautiful pie for me to give to you.”
“Do you know who that lady is?” said the king. “That lady is my mother.”
And there, in a nutshell, is the whole theology of Mary, the Mother of God.
If you doubt this, just look at these 5 special occasions recorded in our scriptures:
Mary surrenders to Jesus more completely than anyone else in the world. The Annunciation - Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Mary exalts Jesus more than anyone else in the world. The Magnificat. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant, done great things for me, and holy is his name.
Mary cares for Jesus more than anyone else in the world. Consider the Nativity. “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.”
Mary understands Jesus more than anyone else in the world. The wedding feast of Cana. “Do as he tells you.”
Finally, Mary loves Jesus more than anyone else in the world. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. “Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much,” “You can never love her more than Jesus did.”
So on this beautiful feast of Our Lady, we believe in Mary, not as our saviour, of course, but as an advocate. Cast your cares into the arms of Mary, and she will present them to God, who will delight in our gift. Here is a prayer from this morning’s Divine Office:
“Father, source of light in every age,
the virgin conceived and bore you a son
who is called Wonderful God, Prince of Peace.
May her prayer, the gift of a mother’s love,
be your people’s joy through all ages.
May her response, born of a humble heart,
draw your spirit to rest on your people.”
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou 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 our death.
Comments