"You
have heard, O Virgin, that you will
conceive and bear a son; you have
heard that it will not be by man but
by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits
an answer; it is time for him to
return to God who sent him. We too
are waiting, O Lady, for your word
of compassion; the sentence of
condemnation weighs heavily upon us.
The price of our salvation is
offered to you. We shall be set free
at once if you consent. In the
eternal Word of God we all came to
be, and behold, we die. In your
brief response we are to be remade
in order to be recalled to life."
These words of St. Bernard of
Clairvaux bespeak the historical,
global, and eternal significance of
the response of a 15-year-old virgin
for the salvation of the entire
world. The price of our salvation is
indeed offered to her, and her "yes"
will set us free, because it will
set the Redeemer free.
St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that
Mary's fiat is a "yes" which is
uttered in the name of humanity in
general: a willingness of human
beings to use their free will to
cooperate with God in the saving of
souls, beginning with our own.
From the ancient Church of the
second century, St. Irenaeus tells
us that the obedient Virgin of
Nazareth becomes the "cause of
salvation for herself and the whole
human race." A contemporary version
of the same truth is found in the
words of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:
"Of course Mary is the co-redemptrix.
She gave Jesus his body, and the
offering of his body is what saved
us." The Letter to the Hebrews
confirms both the early Apostolic
Father and the modern Apostle to the
Poor: "We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all" (Hebrews 10:10). From
whom does Jesus receive his body,
the instrument of his redemption?
Free cooperator
Any erroneous idea that Mary was
simply a "physical channel" and not
a free, moral cooperator in this
event of salvation does harm to the
authentic revelation and image of an
infinitely loving Father, a God who
does not use people or their bodies
against their will. Mary was a free,
personal, and feminine cooperator in
God's plan of salvation. It was not
a Pope, nor a bishop, nor a priest,
nor a layman who joined the New Adam
in redeeming the world by her fiat
and consequent lifetime of fiats. It
was a woman who became a mother.
This was neither an accident nor
accidental to divine providence. It
was God's perfect will to grace the
human race with a new "Eva" or
mother of the living.
The Immaculate Virgin's fiat was
indeed a lifetime yes to cooperating
with Jesus in the Father's mission
of Redemption. Gabriel does not
re-appear at Calvary, offering the
same Virgin a second invitation of
being spared from the climax of the
cross of her vocation, which was to
share in the horrific immolation and
redeeming death of the victim born
of her ("Lumen Gentium," No. 58).
Mary's yes to the greatest human
suffering along with her Son was
already given some 33 years earlier.
Is this not the same for many of us,
who have given our "fiats" to a
priestly vocation, to perpetual vows
of religious life, to an
indissoluble bond of matrimony many
years ago? When "personally
historic" parish conflicts,
community divisions, or dark nights
of marriage enter our lives, we
should not expect (and in fact must
be most wary) of any apparent
"second option" which might appear
to spare us the great suffering that
always comes with a lifetime
vocation of working intimately with
the Redeemer.
Jesus always abundantly blesses and
sustains those who work and suffer
intimately with him. He does so most
of all by his accentuated presence
for those who give him more time in
prayer during times of great
vocational trial, especially during
times of Eucharistic adoration,
where we can all directly experience
the fruit of Mary's yes in the
Incarnate Jesus present in the
Eucharist. As we strive to persevere
with Christian faith and hope in our
lifetime vocations, Jesus floods the
soul with daily graces and eternal
merits far beyond our needs and our
imaginings to remain steadfast in
our life vocations.
And he did nothing less in daily
grace and eternal merit for his
mother in her lifetime vocation as
the co-redemptrix with him.
One heart
"Is the Annunciation a 'Jesus' feast
or a 'Mary' feast?" This
well-intentioned question recently
posed by a caller on a live radio
program nonetheless reflects a false
dichotomy. Perhaps the more
compelling question is how could
either Jesus or Mary be left out of
this solemnity?
John Paul II reminds us in "Redemptoris
Mater" that there are two
inseparable Christian mysteries: the
Incarnation of the Word made flesh,
and the Divine Motherhood of Mary.
St. John Eudes confirms that the
Hearts of Jesus and Mary are so
completely united in love, will, and
purpose that one could rightly speak
of "one single heart" between the
two. St. Bridget of Sweden records
the following words of Jesus in her
Church approved and lauded
Revelations: "My Mother and I saved
man as with one heart only, I by
suffering in My Heart and my flesh;
she by the sorrow and love of her
heart."
Jesus, uncreated grace and source of
all grace; Mary, the mysterious
mediatrix. The sublime Annunciation
solemnity must celebrate both, as
these two lovers of humanity
cooperate like none other in
bringing saving graces to a world of
sinners, of whom we all are all
members.
Benedict XVI reflects this essential
Catholic doctrine in his most recent
March 21, 2010 Sunday Angelus: "Dear
friends, let us learn from the Lord
Jesus not to judge and not to
condemn our neighbor. Let us learn
to be intransigent with sin --
beginning with our own! -- and
indulgent with people. May we be
helped in this by the Holy Mother of
God, who, free of every fault, is
the mediatrix of grace for every
contrite sinner."
|
Dr.
Mark I. Miravalle, S.T.D.