1st Week of Advent Continues: The Mary Connection, Part 1

We are in both the first week of Advent and in the midst of two major Marian novenas. Friday we celebrate the Immaculate Conception, and Tuesday is Our Lady of Guadalupe. Up until about twenty years ago Guadalupe was an optional memorial in the United States, but was made obligatory by St. John Paul II in 1988 (moving St. Jane Frances de Chantal's observance to August). The same pope later declared it a Feast for the entire Western Hemisphere. In Mexico Our Lady of Guadalupe has long been observed as a Solemnity and a holy day of obligation, since Mary is Mexico's patroness under that title.  

I often hear the question, mostly from friends who aren't Catholic, but even from Catholics too, why do we need Mary? Why do we need any of the saints? Can't we just go to Jesus? Why is she, or any saint, necessary? I don't think it's a question of necessity. It's a question of God’s generosity and of His understanding of human nature. 

In chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews the unknown author goes through a litany of Old Testament patriarchs, highlighting their trials and triumphs, beginning chapter 12 by assuring us that this “"cloud of witnesses” surrounds us, spurring us on by their encouragement. We are never alone because those who have gone before us in the faith walk side by side with us. We often think of Heaven as a geographical or even galactic reality. In truth it is more of a dimension, and we are separated from it by a deceptively thin veil. When a miracle happens, or an apparition takes place, it is the veil being pulled back for us to see. There are those with charismatic gifts through which God allows them special access to what is lies beyond what our natural senses can perceive. The saints and angels are a major part of this reality.

When we pray to the saints we aren't conjuring them up because they are in a sense already here: not omnipresent like God, but easily accessible, for lack of a better term. They are counted among the living (Luke 20:38), among the most living creatures there are. There is no great chasm separating them from us, as is the case with those poor lost souls (Luke 16:26), so we can speak to them, asking them for their prayers. Their lives also give us examples as to how we should live the Gospel. In the occult the object is to control spiritual forces to get what we want. This is foolish, as well as dangerous. Devotion to the saints is meant to help us be more faithful to God, learn His will, gaining insights as to how to do it from the experts. And we also have elders in the Faith who can pray for us and offer protection.

The greatest of these heavenly patrons is Mary. Who is closer to Jesus than the woman who carried Him in her womb for nine months and nursed Him? Their closeness is greater than simply a physical relationship, because she did hear the word of God and obeyed it (Luke 1:38, 11:28). She, along with Joseph, fulfilled the responsibilities of parenthood, bringing Jesus up in the Jewish religion (Luke 2:22-52). She prompted Jesus to reveal Himself before "His time" (John 2:1-12). She was given to the Christian community, in the person of the Beloved Disciple, to be our mother (John 19:25-27). Because it was necessary? No, because it was generous.

It's a small point maybe, but I think God knew that in revealing Himself as Father, and the Second Person of the Trinity incarnating as a man, there would be the need for an unmistakably feminine component in His unfolding plan. Mary isn't divine, but she serves as the motherly presence we need, at the very least, on a psychological level. As Jesus' only human parent, she is our direct connection with the Savior. There is nothing the Blessed Mother wants more than to share this intimate bond that she enjoys with her Son, leading us into union with Him. 

Could God have done things a different way? Sure, he could have. He could have decided to just show up, fully formed, like some Greek god. He could have created His human body out of thin air, but He didn't. He chose to enter into our history, He chose to grow up in a family, He chose to share our life. He is God with us, the infinite who limited Himself for a time, and Mary is the bridge that connects us.

Though Jerusalem (Isaiah 66:11-13), and the Church (Revelation 12) are images of a mother, God knows we need something more than a metaphor or archetype to sustain us. We need a real mother, and He gave us one in Mary. She loves us as sons and daughters. She wants us to love her Son above all. She gives us the example on how to be obedient to God. She gives us protection from evil. She is the Queen of Heaven. She is our loving Mother.

More on Mary our Mother and Avent soon.