This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
Today’s readings are chosen for the memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church.
Sometimes it appears that, as Mother of the Church, Mary is nurturing a rag-tag group of unkempt ruffians. As we look at our brothers and sisters in the faith, and even at ourselves, we can become discouraged. Shouldn’t the Church have a higher quotient of perfection? Shouldn’t each of her constituents present a more worthy image of Christ the Master to the world? This discouragement can become particularly poignant when we observe defects in those leading us within the Church.
Today, we do well to look at this rag-tag band through Mary’s eyes. Many are those who seek to follow her Son whose intellects clouded by original sin do not apprehend the fullness of His truth, and whose wills, weakened by original sin, fail at times in their quest to give Him a consistent “yes.”
Judging from her appearances to visionaries throughout the centuries, such as at Lourdes and Fatima, Our Lady can be very demanding. She wants us to pray and sacrifice for sinners, for those estranged from her Son.
But when she looks at each of her Son’s disciples, with all of our imperfections, shortcomings, and sins, her eyes are filled with compassion, as at Cana, when she took pity on the couple who had run out of wine.
As today’s readings show us, and as many saints have reflected, Mary is the “new Eve”–as mother of Jesus, the Word Incarnate, she reverses the disobedience of Eve and gives God her perfect and consistent “yes.” As such, never straying, we see her faithful in today’s gospel, standing under the cross of Jesus, when so many others have fled.
And yet, as rock-solid as her “yes” is, as the Mother given to us by Jesus Himself under the cross, she looks at us, her faltering children, only with eyes of love, understanding, and profound desire for our happiness. She sees when we are lacking spiritual resources, and rushes to aid us. And her all-powerful Son listens to her when she tells Him: “They have no wine.”
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Thank Jesus for the gift of Mary, His Mother, to be our Mother, under the cross. Ask His help to remember to have recourse to her in your need, for she constantly has His ear and thus can deliver swift and effective aid.
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