This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
Today is the memorial of the Queenship of Mary–important enough for 1/15 of the entire cycle of the rosary to be dedicated to it.
Still, the readings of the day default to Saturday of the 20th week in ordinary time, which as such will be the subject of these reflections.
What is striking is how gloriously the ordinary readings of the day, by apparent utter coincidence, reflect the splendor of Mary’s Queenship–and the secret of her regal stature.
The first reading is all about the glory of God entering into the temple. Mary, who carried Jesus in her womb for nine months, is the Temple of God par excellence. Indeed, bringing to fulfillment the role of the Jewish temple described in the first reading, we can hear God the Father speaking to His Son of Mary’s heart: “Son of man, this is where my throne shall be, this is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever.”
The Gospel seems to have little to do with Our Lady, much less her Queenship, as it starts by pointing out how the Pharisees do everything for show and for superficial honors. But then we hear Christ describe how we must be, in contrast to this attitude: “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Mary echoes these sentiments in reference to her own treatment by God, almost verbatim, in the Magnificat: “He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.” (Lk. 1:52)
Truly, the glory of the Lord entered triumphantly into Mary at the Annunciation, and she was the maiden most highly exalted, most highly lifted up, due to her humility, her lowliness.
Would we like to have a glorious crown in Heaven, like Our Lady? Would we like to have the power that she has in Heaven to intervene for the conversion and the eternal salvation of souls? What is the secret? After all, she didn’t “do much!” What is the difference between Mary and me?
The answer is almost literally painfully simple. That it is hard takes nothing away from its simplicity. The glory of the Lord is pressing to enter and flood your heart, your life, as it did Mary’s. All that is required is your authentic daily “yes,” like Mary’s at the Annunciation; a “yes” articulated clearly and simply to God in your time of prayer, a”yes” given to the Holy Spirit as you seek to heed Him during the day, a “yes” offered in full awareness of the lowliness of your being in His sight. It is this “yes” that brings the glory of the Lord to enter in, and causes God to say, “This is where my throne shall be.”
And ultimately, it is that glory, the glory of the Lord Himself, that constitutes Mary’s heavenly crown.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Consider and examine your “yes” to God. Consider its imperfections. Reassert to Him how deeply and truly you wish to make your “yes” purer, more constant, more consistent, so that He can do for others through you what He did for us through Mary.
Follow the Author on Twitter:Follow @mvhaywilliams
None of this is correct according to the Bible. This is like when the people used to worship Queen Diana. Mary was a wonderful woman because she gave birth to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, chosen by God, but Mary said “Jesus my Savior “! Jesus died for us and arose again. Mary did not! Have a good day! ❤️
Dear Marylou, I apologize for the time it took me to make your comment public and reply. I need to get better at that. 🙂
First of all, I want to commend your courage in posting your comment to defend and proclaim the sole sovereignty of Jesus Christ, our one Savior and Lord! Glory be to God through our one High Priest, our one Redeemer, from whom all grace of salvation comes.
Secondly, something you say in your comment leads me to want to clarify what we Catholics believe about Mary and what we don’t. My objective is not to compel you toward my way of thinking on this, but to allow you to make any objections you have based on what we really believe, rather than a misrepresentation.
You mention Catholic reference to the Queenship of Mary as similar to the pagan worship of Queen Diana.
First, let me clarify what we Catholics officially do NOT believe about Mary: 1) We do not believe that she should be worshiped; 2) We do not believe that she is divine; 3) We do not believe that in ANY respect, she should take the place of Christ or come between us and Jesus in our religious devotion and practice.
What we DO believe about Mary actually has implications about what we believe about the whole human race, and it is to this (I believe) that much Protestant doctrine in fact contrasts. The key Catholic doctrine in this regard is this: That just as Jesus took on our human nature, He called us through grace to become transformed into holy beings, that is, beings of the original pure humanity that we were called to at creation, but more: To actually participate in the divine nature. Now, I hasten to add that this of course does not make us “gods,” or in any remote sense nearer to equality with God. St. Paul specifically says in this regard in Philippians that Christ did not deem equality with God something to be grasped–the intention of His redemptive act was nothing of that sort. Participation in divine nature for the redeemed person, rather, is intimacy with God. As Paul says in 1 Cor 13:12, in eternity. we shall know Him even as we ourselves are known.
Now, this intimacy with God, while not (by any stretch) making us gods or divine, does elevate our nature to be something greater than what we are by our human nature alone. Also, we believe that, by God’s unmerited grace, this intimacy confers on our prayers for others special power.
There is another belief that we Catholics have about all saved persons who have preceded us in death that also bears on what we believe about Mary. We believe that we may speak to them, just as we speak to other Christians on earth. We believe in what we call the Communion of Saints: That the communion that exists between us Christians here on earth in Christ does not suddenly dissolve when someone passes. We believe that it transcends the death that Jesus conquered, and that we can ask our brothers and sisters who are enjoying eternal joy with God to pray for us.
Back to Mary. When we put all this together in the case of Mary, we believe, as you say, that she was a wonderful woman because she gave birth to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, chosen by God. We believe that she enjoys great intimacy with God in heaven, and it is this intimacy which raises her in stature–not to be divine or a god, but to be a beautiful and praiseworthy human who has gone before us and who can help us with her prayers. There is one special thing about Mary that we believe, though: We believe that she never said “no” to God, and that in choosing her, God destined her to enjoy the absolute fullness of the destiny for which he redeemed all of us. As such, her intimacy with God is especially close, and her prayer for us especially powerful.
In summary, just as our conversation in friendship with other Christians on earth takes nothing away from our prayer to the sovereign God, we believe that our conversation with Mary–particularly about things concerning Her divine Son–takes nothing away from our worship of the Trinity. Likewise, our conversations with others who have passed in grace.
But I will end this reply where I began. In the kindness of your tone, Marylou, I cannot but perceive an authentic love for our Sovereign Lord and desire to proclaim the uniqueness of Him as the only human worthy of worship, for He is indeed God Himself. As such I thank you again for your comment and wish you a blessed day and a blessed walk with the Lord.