Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - Well into our Lenten journey, it comes as no surprise to see the whole Church celebrate one of the year's major solemnities: the Annunciation! We are, as it were, led back to the source, from where it all began: to the Incarnation of the Son of God in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary through the working of the Holy Spirit.
We are following Jesus as he turns resolutely towards Jerusalem to live the days of his passion, death and resurrection, and suddenly it is March 25th, and we celebrate this profound mystery: when Mary's 'yes' allowed the God's Word to assume our human nature.
We cannot fail to see this special grace-filled pause along our Lenten path, as a call to contemplate Mary as she gives her unconditioned assent "Here I am, the handmaid of the Lord" , (Lk 1, 38), and makes possible the birth of Our Lord. Set at the centre of the Incarnation, the Mother of Jesus cooperates with the great mystery of the Lord's death and resurrection. If Jesus had not taken on human flesh how could we have been redeemed? And who welcomed Him, who gave Him to us: the Mother, indissolubly united with the Son? As in Bethlehem, so too on the Hill of Calvary, we find "the Child and his Mother”.
The mystery of the Incarnation, celebrated every year on March 25, is also pondered in the recitation of the Holy Rosary as the First of the Joyful Mysteries. The Son's mystery entwines itself with the mystery of the Mother: without His “Here I am ” Mary's “here I am” would never have been. God chose her and made her Immaculate, in view of the infinite merits of the Redemption. In Mary grace and freedom, the will of God and the will of the creature, are one, in total harmony.
This loving meeting of freedoms allowed the Son of God to come on earth and to restore lost freedom to every man and woman who believes in Him. The freedom of the Mother, perfectly in keeping with the Will of God, prepared the way for the Son of God.
When the Angel Gabriel asked for her free consent, the Blessed Virgin Mary replied 'yes' and that 'yes' has never ceased. That yes enabled the most beautiful flower of creation to blossom in her immaculate womb: the Incarnate Word! “Nel ventre tuo si raccese l’amore per lo cui caldo ne l’eterna pace così è germinato questo fiore” (Paradiso, XXXIII, 7-9).
The Mother, a creature, receives everything from her Son. The Son, as man, chose to receive his human heart from his Mother. This solemnity celebrated during Lent, calls to mind the indissoluble bond between Mother and Son. At the culminating moment of the Passion we will hear once again Jesus' testamentary words to John and to the whole Church: “here is your Mother” (Jn 19, 27). And Jesus says to us too: my Mother is your Mother! The Church made these words of Jesus on the Cross her own: the Son gave John his own Mother, who “pondered all these things in her heart” (Lk 2, 19). Mary is the first and most perfect example of the living Gospel.
So John was the first to “contemplate” her heart, to “read" the most profound mysteries contained therein. Was it not because he “contemplated” Jesus through the heart of Mary that John wrote such a profound and sublime Gospel? Certainly Mary's presence, the perfume of her holiness, her maternal concern, left a mark on the disciple whom Jesus loved, and the same mark is given to every member of the Church if we accept Mary as our Mother.
Twenty five years ago, on 25 March 1984 in St Peter's Square, the Servant of God, John Paul II, together with all the Catholic Bishops of the world, solemnly consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary entrusting all peoples to Mary. This collegial act of consecration was the response to a request from Our Lady of Fatima, whose statute had been brought to Rome for the occasion at the request of the Pope. Kneeling in front of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima the Pope, as the universal shepherd, placed the intentions of his heart in the heart of the Mother.
Only heaven knows the effects of that consecration to Mary. From what did it protect us? How many gifts of conversion did it obtain? John Paul II concluded his heartfelt prayer with these words: “May the infinite salvific power of the Redemption: the power of God's loving mercy, reveal itself once again in the world! May it put an end to all evil! May it change hearts! May all men and women see the light of Hope coming from your Immaculate Heart!” (John Paul II, Sunday, 25 March 1984). (Agenzia Fides 25/3/2009; righe 57, parole 806)
