1. To conclude our
reflection on the Holy Spirit in this year dedicated to him on our
journey to the Great Jubilee, we lift our eyes to Mary. Her consent
given at the Annunciation 2,000 years ago represents the starting
point of humanity’s new history. The Son of God, in fact, became
incarnate and began to dwell among us when Mary said to the angel:
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to
your word” (Lk 1:38).
Mary’s co-operation with the Holy Spirit, shown in the Annunciation
and the Visitation, is expressed in an attitude of continual
docility to the Paraclete’s inspirations. Conscious of the mystery
of her divine Son, Mary lets herself be guided by the Spirit to act
in a way appropriate to her mission as mother. As a true woman of
prayer, the Virgin asks the Holy Spirit to complete the work begun
at conception, so that her child will grow “in wisdom and in
stature, and in favour with God and man” (Lk 2:52). In this way Mary
is presented as a model for parents by showing the need to call upon
the Holy Spirit to find the right way in the difficult task of
education.
2. The story of Jesus’ presentation in the temple coincides with an
important intervention of the Holy Spirit. Mary and Joseph went to
the temple to “present” (cf. Lk 2:22), that is, to offer Jesus
according to the law of Moses, which prescribed the redemption of
first-born sons and the purification of the mother. Experiencing the
profound meaning of this rite as an expression of sincere offering,
they were enlightened by the words Simeon spoke under the special
impulse of the Holy Spirit.
Luke’s account explicitly stresses the influence of the Holy Spirit
on the life of this elderly man. He had been promised by the Spirit
that he would not die without having seen the Messiah. And so,
“inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple” (Lk 2:27), just as
Mary and Joseph were bringing the child there. Thus it was the Holy
Spirit who arranged the meeting. It was he who inspired in the
elderly Simeon a canticle celebrating the future of the child who
came as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” and “for glory to
your people Israel” (Lk 2:32). Mary and Joseph marveled at these
words which widen Jesus’ mission to include all peoples.
And again it was the Spirit who led Simeon to make a sorrowful
prophecy: Jesus will be “a sign of contradiction” and “a sword will
pierce [Mary’s] soul” (Lk 2:34, 35). With these words the Holy
Spirit prepared Mary for the great trial which awaited her and gave
to the rite of presenting her child the value of a sacrifice offered
for love. When Mary took her son from Simeon’s arms, she understood
that she was receiving him in order to offer him. Her motherhood
would be involved in Jesus’ destiny and any opposition to him would
touch her heart as well.
3. Mary’s presence at the Cross is the sign that the mother followed
to the end the sorrowful way marked out by the Holy Spirit through
the mouth of Simeon.
In the words Jesus spoke on Calvary to his Mother and to the beloved
disciple, we see another feature of the Holy Spirit’s action: he
ensures that the sacrifice is fruitful. Jesus’ words themselves
reveal a “Marian” aspect of this fruitfulness: “Woman, behold, your
son!” (Jn 19:26). In these words the Holy Spirit does not explicitly
appear. But since the event of the Cross, like Christ’s entire life,
takes place in the Holy Spirit (cf. Dominum et Vivificantem, nn.
40-41), it is precisely in the same Spirit that the Saviour asks his
Mother to consent to her Son’s sacrifice in order to become the
mother of a multitude of children. He ensures that this supreme
offering of Jesus’ Mother will have immense fruit: a new motherhood
destined to spread to all men and women.
From the Cross the Saviour wished to pour out upon humanity rivers
of living water (cf. Jn 7:38), that is, the abundance of the Holy
Spirit. But he wanted this outpouring of grace to be linked to a
mother’s face, his Mother’s. Mary now appears as the new Eve, mother
of the living, or the Daughter of Zion, mother of all peoples. The
gift of a universal mother was included in the Messiah’s redeeming
mission: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished ...”,
the Evangelist writes after the two statements: “Woman, behold, your
son!” and “Behold, your mother!” (Jn 19:26-28).
From this scene we can sense the harmony of God’s plan regarding
Mary’s role in the saving action of the Holy Spirit. In the mystery
of the Incarnation, her co-operation with the Spirit played an
essential role; in the mystery of the birth and development of God’s
children, Mary’s maternal assistance also accompanies the work of
the Holy Spirit.
4. In the light of Christ’s statement on Calvary, Mary’s presence in
the community as it waits for Pentecost acquires its full value. St
Luke, who called attention to Mary’s role in Jesus’ birth, wanted to
stress her significant presence at the Church’s birth. The community
is composed not only of the Apostles and disciples, but also of
women, the only one of whom Luke names is “Mary, the Mother of
Jesus” (Acts 1:14).
The Bible offers us no further information about Mary after the
drama on Calvary. But it is very important to know that she shared
in the life of the early community and in its fervent, unanimous
prayer. Without doubt, she was present at the outpouring of the
Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit who already dwelt in
Mary, working marvels of grace in her, now comes down again into her
heart, communicating the gifts and charisms necessary for the
exercise of her spiritual motherhood.
5. Mary continues to exercise in the Church the motherhood entrusted
to her by Christ. In this maternal mission, the humble servant of
the Lord does not compete with the role of the Holy Spirit; on the
contrary, she is called by the same Spirit to co-operate in a
maternal way with him. He continually revives the Church’s memory of
Jesus’ words to the beloved disciple: “Behold, your mother!”, and
invites believers to love Mary as Christ loved her. As the bond with
Mary grows deeper, so the action of the Spirit in the life of the
Church becomes more fruitful.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our preparation for the Great Jubilee, we turn once more to the
figure of Mary and her relationship with the Holy Spirit. From the
moment of the Annunciation, Mary was drawn into a mystery of
cooperation with the Holy Spirit which will continue until the end
of time. It was the Holy Spirit who inspired Simeon to foretell the
suffering which Mary’s motherhood would bring: “a sword will pierce
your heart”(Lk 2:34.35). This prophecy was fulfilled as Mary stood
at the foot of the Cross. Yet it was there too that the Holy Spirit
guaranteed the fruitfulness of her sacrifice. Calvary reveals the
close and enduring link between the gift of the Holy Spirit and the
gift of Mary as mother. From the crucified Christ, living water
flowed forth, the fullness of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 7:38); and it
was the crucified Christ who gave Mary as mother not only to the
beloved disciple but to the whole Church: “This is your son; this is
your mother” (Jn 19:26- 28). The link between the gift of the Holy
Spirit and the motherhood of Mary emerges again at Pentecost, when
she waited with the disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit,
whose fire descended upon all of them together. Therefore, as the
bond with Mary grows stronger, so the action of the Holy Spirit in
the life of the Church grows more fruitful.
To the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors, the Holy Father said:
I extend a warm welcome to those taking part in the International
Catholic Stewardship Seminar. I thank you for your efforts to
increase awareness among the faithful of their responsibility for
the Church’s mission. I greet the Kambilolo Village Group from
Kenya. Upon all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims,
especially from Denmark, Kenya and the United States of America, I
invoke the loving care of Mary, Mother of the Church, and the peace
of Jesus Christ her Son.
