MARY MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

FIRST PENTECOST MARY AND APOSTLES

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

MONTH OF MAY HAS NEW MARIAN FEAST DAY
Pope Francis declared that Mary “Mother of the Church” feast would be celebrated on the Monday following Pentecost. This year, it falls on May 21. The decree said Francis wanted the devotion to “encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety.” The decree announcing the addition to the church calendar was released March 3 by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.

All “generations” of Christians share “one body and one Spirit…one hope…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, [and] one God and Father of us all” (Eph 4:5-6). And we also share one spiritual mother — Mary, the new Mother of all the living — and one Church.

This decree to highlight the maternal nature of the Church includes three important mysteries that are foundational to this theme, the Annunciation, Calvary, and Pentecost.

At the Annunciation and Mary’s fiat, “Let it be done according to thy word,” Mary not only became Mother of Christ’s physical body but spiritually as well, that is, His Mystical Body, the Church. At Calvary, Mary welcomes all peoples in the person of the beloved disciple, John. “Behold your Mother.”

Finally, at Pentecost, Mary assumes her maternal role as a caring guide to the emerging Church. Honoring Mary as mother of the church on the day after Pentecost highlights for Catholics that Mary was present with the disciples on Pentecost, praying with them as the Holy Spirit descended. From the first Pentecost Sunday, Mary has never ceased to take motherly care of the pilgrim church on earth.

The idea of Mary interceding for the church, as a mother does for her children, is important for Catholics to consider, especially as this new feast falls so soon after Mother’s Day. At the original Pentecost, our Mother Mary did what any mother would do; she prayed with her children and for her children in the same upper room her Son gave his body and blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist for the salvation of the world.

WHAT THE CATECHISM SAYS ABOUT MARY THE MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

963 ….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.

964 Mary’s role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. “This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to his death”

965 After her Son’s Ascension, Mary “aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers.” In her association with the apostles and several women, “we also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation.”

967 By her complete adherence to the Father’s will, to his Son’s redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church’s model of faith and charity. Thus she is the “preeminent and wholly unique member of the Church”; indeed, she is the “exemplary realization” of the Church.

SUMMARY

At the Annunciation, Mary’s fiat (“let it be done according to thy will” Lk 1:38) demonstrates her complete obedience to God and to His will for her. Her obedience, in fact, was the means that the mystery of the Incarnation was accomplished. Mary is not only Jesus’ mother but our spiritual Mother as well. As disciples of Christ isn’t it time we go to “Mom” and ask her assistance and intercession with Jesus along the way.

When Elizabeth acknowledged Mary’s singular blessedness at the Visitation, Mary immediately turned the attention away from herself so as to magnify the Lord (Lk 1:46), “God who is mighty” had done great things for her (Lk 1:49). Mary’s perfect humility constantly leads her to point to her divine Son. As St. Paul often said, I boast not of myself but of Christ, in my weakness I am strong in Christ.

Like Mary, our “humble faith” must lead us to bear witness to the great things God has done for us. We must proclaim Christ at every opportunity in a way that will invite others to “come and see.” Mary is the preeminent model of a “lived faith.”

Mary advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, from the Annunciation to Calvary and then to Pentecost, faithful every step of the way. Thanks be to God, all praise and Thanksgiving to Almighty God who loves us, cares for us, and wills our eternal happiness in heaven! This month of Mary let us add the Angelus prayer to our daily prayers in honor of Mary mother of God and Mother of us!

Angelus
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary
R. And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary…
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
R. Be it done unto me according to your word.
Hail Mary…
V. And the Word became flesh
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary…
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech you, O God, your grace into our hearts that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, your Son, was made known by the message of an Angel, may be his passion and cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.