Today
I want to talk about Our Lady who was chosen by God to play such a
wonderful role in salvation. When the angel Gabriel was sent to Mary,
God asked her something quite extraordinary. First of all it seems
that having children was not part of her plan, even though she was in
the process of getting married. In fact she was already legally
married. It would have been the most normal and natural thing in the
world to have children, so why did she question the angel when
Gabriel told her she was to bear a son? Her reply was, ‘But how can
this be since I do not know man?’ Perhaps it was because she
intended to dedicate her life to God without having children; we
don’t know exactly. God was basically asking her if she was
prepared to forego her own plans for her life and follow the path
that God was asking her to take. No doubt Our Lady had wonderful
plans for her life, holy plans as to how she would serve God and then
she was presented with this strange message from the angel which must
have thrown everything into confusion. ‘Will you follow a
completely different path to the one you had in mind?’ Although
Mary was afraid—and she was afraid—she said yes. ‘Let it be
done to me as you have said.’
Now
skip a few months further on when it starts to become obvious that
she is pregnant. You can imagine the confusion this brought to Joseph
when he realised she was expecting. No doubt he knew that Mary was a
very holy woman, so this would have made absolutely no sense. Trying
to explain it to him would have made even less sense. At that time in
their culture a woman who was found to be pregnant outside of
marriage could be stoned to death. No doubt people began talking. So
there was a lot of suffering for Mary and Joseph from the beginning
as neither of them were sure how to handle it, or to explain it, but
Mary trusted that God would sort it out and He did, but not in the
way she expected and not without difficulty. This was to be the
pattern of her life. So many things were to happen that she didn’t
expect or understand.
When
Jesus was born it was in difficult and humiliating circumstances,
which must have seemed quite out of place for someone who was to be
so important. They heard talk of angels in the sky and shepherds
coming to tell them about what they had seen. Then they had to flee
the country because the child was in danger of being killed, but Mary
trusted that God would look after her. That doesn’t mean that she
just accepted all that was happening calmly. Like any of us I’m
sure she worried and she was afraid, but at the same time she
believed that God would sort it out.
As
Jesus was dying on the cross she must have wondered about all the
things the angel had said about him. ‘He will be great and will be
called “Son of the Most High” and his kingdom will have no end’.
Was she not remembering properly; was that all a dream? Now he was
dying a horrible death right in front of her and then after three
days Jesus rises from the dead; the last thing anyone was expecting.
Through all this I’m sure Mary was often afraid, worrying,
confused; and yet she trusted. This is what we are also asked to do
and that is why Mary is not only our Mother, but a model of faith for
us. She has been through it and so she understands us perfectly. More
importantly she came out the other side of it. Now we say of her ‘You
are the highest honor of our race.’
Believing
that God will sort things out doesn’t mean that we aren’t going
to worry, or be afraid. They are normal human responses. Sometimes I
think we believe that if we really trust God then we should be
totally at peace and not at all worried, but that is simply not how
we are as human beings. I think our strength is to look at Mary and
other saints and see what happened to them. They suffered, but they
also went on believing.
At
the foot of the cross Our Lady was entrusted to John the apostle. Now
in John’s Gospel, John the disciple is presented as the model
disciple, the one who is close to Jesus, the one who believes when he
sees the empty tomb. He represents all of us, you could say. And
Jesus gives Mary to him (to us) as our Mother. She is the one who
will guide us, and keep us on the right track. She is the one we
often turn to for help. She is not God, she is a human being, but one
who was given an extraordinary place in God’s plan for us.
Mary
is also the one who has been sent to us in many different parts of
the world—Knock, Lourdes, Fatima, Akita and others—why? To point
us back in the right direction, because that is what mothers do and
no doubt that is why God sends her. She has always given essentially
the same message, that we cannot live without God and if we try to we
may well destroy ourselves. God must be at the centre. Our Lady
acts as a signpost for God. ‘He is the one, follow him.’ Just
like at the wedding at Cana: ‘Do whatever He tells you.’
When
you find yourself confused, afraid, worried sick, remember Our Lady
and what she went through. This is why she is such a great source of
comfort for us and a great sign of hope. She made it and if we follow
the right path, we’ll make it too.
Our Lady, refuge of sinners: pray for us.