A Homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
[“The Holy Family” by Raphael]
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the great Doctor of the Church who preached and wrote so devoutly about the Blessed Virgin Mary, was one traveling with a poor, uneducated farmer. I would call the farmer Murphy, but I have heard that Msgr. Ken uses Murphy in his stories all the time. Besides, St. Bernard lived in France, so let’s call the farmer Pierre. Pierre noticed that the holy abbot kept his eyes downcast as they traveled along, so he asked Bernard why he kept his eyes looking down and not at the beautiful countryside that they were passing through. Bernard explained that he wanted to keep himself free of distractions as he prayed. The good farmer Pierre boasted, “I’m never distracted when I pray.”
The saint objected, “I don’t believe it. Now let me make a deal with you. If you can say the Our Father without one distraction, I’ll give you this mule I’m riding. But if you don’t succeed, you must come with me and be a monk.”
Pierre agreed and began praying aloud confidently, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by thy name…” Then, after pausing for moment, he asked St Bernard, “Does that include the saddle and the bridle, too?”
I think all of us can relate to that. There are always times when it seems so difficult to pray because we seem to be bombarded with distractions. What are we to do?
Children naturally look to their parents to be examples of how they are to live and act in different situations. St. Paul reminds us in today’s second reading that through our baptism, we have become the sons and daughters of God. Just as we receive our natural DNA through our parents, who make a gift of themselves to us, it is through the sacrament of Baptism that God makes a gift of Himself and infuses us with His Divine Life, His spiritual DNA if you will. Just as physical health depends on more than just good DNA – but also proper nutrition and exercise – our spiritual health depends on more than just Baptism. We need to develop the graces that we receive from God by fostering a life of prayer so to draw closer to God. As we might look to our own mother and father for how to eat healthy and exercise, the Church repeatedly points to the Blessed Mother as the model for our prayer and spiritual life.
During the Annunciation Mary model two key characteristics of the spiritual life: attentiveness, and docility to the Word of God. Throughout history, nearly every artist, in representing this scene, depicts Mary as being absorbed in prayer when Gabriel came to her. This demonstrates that Mary had learned the discipline of setting aside time to pay attention to the movement of God in her life. She recognized the importance of having a living, loving relationship with God, so she made time for God each day in her life. This attentiveness led her to docility before God, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. Mary knew that God loved her, and only wanted the best for her. Mary left her entire life open for God, and so when she received Gabriel’s message, she was able to say, “Let it be done to me according your word.” Because her life was always open to God, her womb was open to God so that the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us.
In today’s Gospel reading, the Blessed Mother once agains demonstrates attentiveness and docility before God. Shepherds came to her right after she had given birth to our Savior with marvelous tales of angels proclaiming her son’s birth, and instead of being swept up in the emotions of it all, “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” Pope John Paul II noted that Mary’s example “shows us that worship does not primarily consist in expressing human thoughts and feelings, but in listening to the divine word in order to know it, assimilate it and put it into practice in daily life” (General Audience of September 10, 1997).
This capacity and habit of reflecting in our heart on God’s action in our lives is both a sign and a source of wisdom. We can never become mature, courageous, and joyful followers of Christ unless we develop it.
Our Blessed Mother knows that it is hard to keep the clutter out of our hearts. We tend to get distracted by life’s hustle and bustle, by the shiny things of the world, even though they aren’t the most important things.
She knows we need help learning how to reflect deeply on God’s action in our lives, and she has given us that help. She has given us a tool for developing our interior life that has a 100% success rate. Everyone who has used this tool has come closer to God and grown in wisdom, courage, and joy. It is a tool that has been used successfully by both the most sophisticated and cultured nobility and illiterate peasants, by popes and bishops, and by widows, parents, sailors, soldiers – you name it. All of us know about it, but not enough of us use it. It’s called the Rosary.
The Rosary is a key letting us into Mary’s heart, where we can sit with her, and talk things over, letting Christ’s light shine on the dark, cold corners of our mind and heart, and letting His grace heal and strengthen all that is wounded and weak in our lives and in the world.
By attentively and docilely meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary, we participate more deeply in the divine mysteries. The Blessed Mother guides us “in meditating on the mystery celebrated and in participating in the saving event, by encouraging the faithful to desire an intimate, personal relationship with Christ in order to cooperate with the gift of [our] own lives in the salvation of all” (John Paul II, General Audience of September 10, 1997).
Our culture has a tradition of making a New Year’s Resolution. Why not make the resolution to spend this year learning from our spiritual mother how to let God put order, peace, and wisdom into our lives, by “keeping all these things and reflecting on them in our hearts” through the Rosary. If we take even that small step closer to Christ, he will surely take a giant leap closer to us.
