Being
with child and not officially married; yet Mary
accepted.
The human emotions a mother-to-be goes through; yet Mary never questioned her
decision or challenged God.
Trying
to assure her betrothed spouse Joseph that she
was still a virgin, never
defiled; his
natural skepticism had to hurt her for she
was telling the truth, but she was patient
and understanding.
Bearing
up under the extreme weather conditions and harsh travel conditions in journeying by donkey to
Bethlehem to register the family. Modern doctors would agree that such
upheaval and constant motion would induce labor earlier than normal. Yet Mary accepted.
Putting
up with the scorn of rejection at
the Inn when she could have
told Joseph to go back in there and tell
them just who she
was and Who she
was carrying. But pride
never entered her heart or mind.
Accepting
the meagre and unsanitary
conditions of a cold, sterile
stable to deliver the Son of God.
Any modern doctor or mother would be alarmed at such conditions for fear
of infection both to the mother
and child. But Mary
knew God would provide.
Being
subservient to Joseph who awoke her in the middle of the night and just said,
"get up, we're going!" Going where? Mary knew intuitively and responded obediently.
The sorrowful times of her
life, beginning with the prophecy by Simeon, then losing
her Son
in the temple. Imagine what could have been going through her mind.
Any mother of today would be beside herself. Then the death
of Joseph, who
had been so pure and chaste
and always provided the strong, assuring arm of love, leadership
and protection in a quiet, unassuming way. Most widows
today would be devastated and lost. Yet Mary
pushed onward.
The day Jesus left the home at 30
to go into the world. Any mother would have a tear
and a fear after being with that Child for as long as Christ
lived at home, but Mary realized what had to
be done and gave Him her
blessing.
Throughout
His public ministry she
knew when people were sincere and when they
were merely caught up with the crowd. It had to thrill her
heart when they cried out in belief and had to hurt
her to the quick when they badgered Him
or rejected His
teachings.
Imagine
the emotions Mary
experienced when she saw her Son,
the Savior of the world, reduced to the
resemblance of a common criminal with caked blood and dirt clinging to His matted hair and crusted to His body
beneath fresh blood spurting from open wounds
in His skull,
hands, body
and feet. The crucifixion
would be bad enough but consider the condition Our Lord
must have been by the time He arrived at the
top of Calvary. How do you think Mary felt about all the Apostles
save Saint John who seemingly abandoned
her Divine Son
during the Passion. Any one else would have
held huge resentment toward them. But Mary found forgiveness
in her heart,
even for Judas Iscariot and the Romans and Jews
who put Him to death.
Think of
a mother's emotion when her Son
is breathing His last breath and the crowds
are eager for His death.
Just like an execution today, so also on Calvary Mary
had to feel so lonely and hurt but no more alone than when the dead corpse of her
Divine Son was laid in her
arms, forever perpetuated through Michelangelo's Pieta. A
moment in time that tells volumes of a Mother's
love.
Mary knew Scripture
and the prophecies but, being human,
she had to wonder like the rest. Was this
truly the end? She knew in her heart
it wasn't and because of her faith and trust
in God, was able to survive the tremendous storms that came into her life. The calm
after the storm came on that Easter morning when she
quietly celebrated His Resurrection. She could have shouted from the rooftops, "I told you!" but instead remained in the background as
the Apostles all came running back to Him.
A lesser woman would have held resentment,
asking "Where were you when He needed you?"
But Mary realized human
nature for what it was and
because of that is the perfect messenger
that God has sent over
and over for the past two millenniums
to reassure man that God
is the ONLY WAY!
When Jesus ascended into Heaven,
He left His
Mother with His
chosen Apostles to help get
them established. It was yet another fiat Mary totally accepted through her death
or dormition period and Assumption into Heaven
when God called her
home.
There
have been many instances of the dead
appearing to the living. In the Gospel, Moses and Elias
appeared on Mount Tabor to Christ
at the Transfiguration. At Christ's death,
many who were dead rose and appeared in Jerusalem.
The Blessed Virgin has, throughout the centuries, continued to appear to men; such instances are almost innumerable. She
has remained a constant as the chief messenger from Heaven.
But Saints have also returned to earth to
comfort or instruct the living; even souls
in Purgatory have returned, to beg for prayers. We must, however, be very careful about
believing in particular instances of appearances by the dead;
the devil can and often does use this
instrumentality to trick the gullible.
That is why the Church is so cautious
regarding apparitions and private revelation. Holy Mother Church would like to believe, she would like the faithful
to believe, but if it is a trick
of the evil one it will defeat and deflate.
You can imagine Mary's consternation
at times when true words from her are met with skepticism by
the Church and her
officials, the bishops - successors of the Apostles. But
she realizes caution and obedience are the wisest course and satan loves to imitate, mock
and urges disobedience. Therefore she asks all to pray
for discernment and is continuously
urging us to obey the Magisterium
of her Son's
Holy Church and focusing all attention on her
Divine Son, guiding us as a loving Mother
will.
The most confusing issue with non-Catholics
is Our Lady. As converted professor, former Prespyterian
Minister and Mariologist today Dr
Scott Hahn puts it, there were three things
that prevented him from joining the Church
earlier: "Mary, Mary, and Mary!" The non-Catholic
mentality is that Catholics put too much
emphasis on the Mother of
God and treat her
as God. That is a mistaken
assumption and nothing could be further from the truth
for Mary is totally human. There is no
divinity in her
except when she housed the Divine in her
human womb for nine
months. Catholics treat Mary just as Jesus
asks us to: with reverence and respect. We ask Mary
to intercede for us. Mary can do nothing
on her own, but there is no one in Heaven more persuasive who has God's ear first and foremost
than His Holy Mother.
That is why Catholics always joke about
having the inside track because we go through His Mother
and God can't say no to His Mother,
because God has elevated her to the highest place
in Heaven reserved for humans
- as Queen of Heaven which incorporates Queen
of Angels and Saints
as well as Mother of His
Church on earth. Every title attributed to her is inspired by the Most
Blessed Trinity for she is
the Daughter of the Father,
Mother of the Son,
and Spouse of the Holy
Spirit. When questioned by non-Catholics about how we
treat Mary, our reply should always be: Jesus obeyed
and respected His
Mother all His
life, should we do less? 