Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God

 One of the titles of Our Lady is Theotokos, which means ‘God bearer’ and that is what she is, not just the one who physically bore the Incarnation, but also the one who continually brings Jesus to us.

At the foot of the cross, Jesus entrusted Our Lady to St. John and St. John to Our Lady. In St. John’s gospel, John the apostle is presented to us as the model disciple, in other words, what we are called to be. He represents all of us.

When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother: “Woman here is your son. Then He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” So from that hour, this disciple took her into his home.…

(John 19:26-27)

Jesus entrusted us to her as our mother and as our mother she continues to look out for us and guide us when we are going astray.

In some of the different apparitions that have taken place, it is striking how Our Lady is always pointing to God, pointing to Jesus, the Eucharist, the mass and reminding us what our life here on earth is about. It is never about her.

As a mother, she continues to point out to us the path we need to follow and how we must take it seriously. This life is short and we need to use our time well. Here is something she said to Lucia in Fatima:

“Pray much and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to make sacrifices for them." 

In Lourdes she also asked for penance and sacrifices, but what is also striking is what is meant by penance and sacrifices.

Sr. Lucia—one of the visionaries of Fatima—said that many people become discouraged because they think that they will not be able to do much penance, but Our Lord explained to Lucia what he means by penance and sacrifice:

"The sacrifice required of every person is the fulfillment of his duties in life and the observance of My law. This is the penance that I now seek and require.

Our world is seeing an unprecedented amount of evil at this time and I have no doubt that a lot of that is being caused because so many people have abandoned the ways of God.

People live as though this world were everything, with a ‘grab all you can’ mentality. To think this way is to completely misunderstand why we are here on earth.

In one of his letters to the Christians in Corinth, St. Paul wrote:

“If our faith in Christ is for this life only, then of all people we are the most to be pitied” (1 Cor 15:19). If you think this life is what it’s all about, then you have completely missed the point!

At Lourdes Our Lady said to St. Bernadette: “I cannot promise you happiness in this life but in the next.”

The year before Our Lady appeared to the children at Fatima, St. Michael the archangel appeared to them. One of the things he said was this: “More than all else, accept and bear with resignation the sufferings that God may send you.”

Fatima

Jacinta (age 7 at apparitions; died age 9): “If [people] only knew what eternity is, how they would make all possible efforts to amend their lives”

Perhaps the best line to take with us today is what Our Lady said to the servants at the wedding at Cana. When she realized the couple had run out of wine, she pointed it out to Jesus. Then she said to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you.”

Guadalupe

Our Lady: “Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.” 

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