Mary, Mother of the
New Evangelization
Day 8
Theme:
Mary,
Our Hope
Scripture Passage John 16: 25 - 26, 28, 33
I have told you this in figures of speech. The
hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell
you clearly about the Father.
For the Father himself loves you, because you
have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the
world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
I have told you this so that you might have peace
in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered
the world.”
Marian
Reading
[Holy Mary], when Jesus began his public ministry, you had to step
aside, so that a new family could grow, the family which it was his mission to
establish and which would be made up of those who heard his word and kept it
(Luke 11:27f).
Notwithstanding the great joy that marked the beginning of
Jesus's ministry, in the synagogue of Nazareth you must already have
experienced the truth of the saying about the “sign of contradiction” (Luke
4:28ff). In this way you saw the growing power of hostility and rejection which
built up around Jesus until the hour of the Cross, when you had to look upon
the Savior of the world, the heir of David, the Son of God dying like a
failure, exposed to mockery, between criminals.
Then you received the word of
Jesus: “Woman, behold, your Son!” (John 19:26). From the Cross you received a new mission.
From the Cross you became a mother in a new way: the mother of all those who
believe in your Son Jesus and wish to follow him.
The sword of sorrow pierced
your heart. Did hope die? Did the world remain definitively without light, and
life without purpose? At that moment, deep down, you probably listened again to
the word spoken by the angel in answer to your fear at the time of the
Annunciation: “Do not be afraid, Mary!” (Luke 1:30).
How many times had
the Lord, your Son, said the same thing to his disciples: do not be afraid! In
your heart, you heard this word again during the night of Golgotha. Before the
hour of his betrayal he had said to his disciples: “Take courage, I have
conquered the world” (John 16:33). “Do not let your hearts be
troubled or afraid” (John 14:27). “Do not be afraid, Mary!”
In
that hour at Nazareth the angel had also said to you: “Of his kingdom there
will be no end” (Luke 1:33). Could it have ended before it began? No, at
the foot of the Cross, on the strength of Jesus's own word, you became the
mother of believers.
In this faith, which even in the darkness of Holy Saturday
bore the certitude of hope, you made your way towards Easter morning. The joy
of the Resurrection touched your heart and united you in a new way to the
disciples, destined to become the family of Jesus through faith.
In this way
you were in the midst of the community of believers, who in the days following
the Ascension prayed with one voice for the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14)
and then received that gift on the day of Pentecost.
The “Kingdom” of Jesus was
not as might have been imagined. It began in that hour, and of this “Kingdom”
there will be no end. Thus you remain in the midst of the disciples as their
Mother, as the Mother of hope.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, our Mother, teach us
to believe, to hope, to love with you. Show us the way to his Kingdom! Star of
the Sea, shine upon us and guide us on our way!
(Pope Benedict XVII, Encyclical
Letter Spe Salvi, 2007, #50)
Prayers
§ - an
Our Father
§ - a
Hail Mary
§ - a
Glory Be
§ - the
invocation “Mary, Immaculate, Help of Christians, pray for us.”
Image source: St. John Bosco's "Dream of the Two Pillars" Window in Chapel of Sacred Heart Center, Salesian Sister Novitiate, Newton, NJ
.jpg)
