God offers us the Virgin Mary in the same way that He chose her for Himself; He entrusts us to her as He entrusted Himself to her.
Thus her place in our life is neither imagination, nor feelings, but our faith in the fact that the Lord was “conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.”
We are all children of Mary
More than anyone else, Mary was a disciple of her son. Her life was entirely given to bringing forth the Word of God.
She was conceived of the Redemption, and lived her life at the service of the Redemption. Then, at the end of her time on earth, she was taken body and soul into the Heavenly Kingdom.
She is both hidden within God and offered to all of us. Mary is near us in the glory of her Assumption. She is forever the one in whom the Holy Spirit has fashioned the image of the Mystical Body, the Church, that we constantly become.
Let us not reduce Mary to a saint we should call on now and again. The maternal love of the Virgin Mary is ever present. In God, we are forever her children. Let us receive her in faith, as St. John received her from Jesus on the Cross. Let us invite Mary into our lives, not just in our thoughts or in our spirituality, but in our Creed: with the whole Church let us profess Christ “conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.”
The darker the night, the more she shines
Some times, it might seem that Mary has disappeared from us. Yet that is the surest sign that she is here, silent and attentive as a mother with her child.
Can we see her amid the most profound despair that sometimes takes over? Let us remember: The more crushing the burden, the more she is there supporting us. The darker the night, the more she shines.
Our Lady of Solitude does not need our words to understand us. A mere glance of the heart, the slightest of emotions that stirs within us, is enough to turn her attention to us.
It seems that through her, God has allowed all of chaos to transform into a process of gestation. In our deepest despair, we have probably never been so close to her. Is everything collapsing around us? It is time for us to entrust ourselves to God. It is in her that we can find Him, for it is from her that he gets his fragility to share in our own, in all things except for sin. Mary is the mother of Mercy. Before our sins, her motherly heart is not outraged; it is torn apart to pour forth the superabundance of life.
Let us entrust all our troubles to Mary
At the foot of the Cross, she stood. The sword that wounds her liberates the flood of life that her Son had given for all of mankind. Mother of all the living by the power of the Holy Spirit –- let us constantly turn to her with simple words. Let us pray to her like children who talk to their mother, without flowery phrases, simply revealing our hearts. Let us pray to her with audacity and confidence that we shall be heard and understood.
Let us tell her that we love her. Let us never fear disturbing her with our solicitations, even the most insignificant ones. Mary puts her joy into us and brings us to her Son even beyond what we have asked for. Nothing that touches us leaves her indifferent. No detail of our lives, as small as it might seem, escapes her.
When Our Lady exercises her power of intercession
Has the wine of faith run dry? Have we lost all hope? Have we forgotten how to love? The Virgin Mary takes every occasion to perfect our obedience to the Spirit of her Son: “Do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5). Every thing is a tool for her to transform our shortfalls into abundance. This is how gradually, without us realizing it, she makes each beat of our hearts praise the Lord to the rhythm of her Magnificat. Whatever we do, wherever we are, she leads us to God.
Let us offer ourselves to the clarity that is Mary, so the light of Christ can shine in us. Let us entrust to her all of our worries and all of our plans. Let us ask her to do what she wills with them. Let us place ourselves into her hands, so she can care for us and our loved ones.
Monseigneur Louis Sankale
And today we celebrate...