Full of grace: Maria is her name.

No matter what belief system we profess, mothers are special creatures, aren't they?  If we are one of the lucky ones who have had the experience of a loving and caring mother we probably have an extra special devotion to her. Our culture celebrates it with a special day of the year in honor of her.  If our mother is no longer with us, we may think of her on that day and we celebrate her life and her legacy in our own way. Some of us may visit her grave, or light a candle or place a rose in a vase in her honor or quietly contemplate her picture on our mantle or item she possessed that reminds us of a time when she was still with us. Humans find comfort in symbols and images that remind us the love of our mother.   When we love our mother, no one dares to speak ill of her. My own mother's name is Olga.  When I hear that name anytime, I can't help but think of the woman who created a peaceful home for me,  who baked cakes and let me lick the bowls,  who comforted me when I was scared, who framed my artwork on our living room wall, who constantly reminded me to be good and loving by showing me through her daily actions.  Because she is my mother, she is holy and humanly perfect...no one can ever convince me otherwise.

As a Catholic, our faith naturally allows us to transfer that same kind of devotion to the mother of our Lord. We realize the honor she was given as a gift by God himself.  A young Jewish woman freely said yes to God's invitation to be the Mother of the Messiah. This is celebrated in the Catholic faith and as any good Catholic, we celebrate as joyfully as we can! And because our Christian faith is about relationships, we celebrate as a large family in a gathering that we call "church". When we worship God at Mass, we thank him for choosing Mary and we are reminded of her special call to be Jesus' mother.

Thomas Merton wrote of Mary, "“The genuine significance of Catholic devotion to Mary is to be seen in the light of the Incarnation itself. The Church cannot separate the Son and the Mother. Because the Church conceived of the Incarnation as God’s descent into flesh and into time, and His great gift of Himself to His creatures, she also believes that the one who was closest to Him in this great mystery was the one who participated most perfectly in the gift. When a room is heated by an open flame, surely there is nothing strange in the fact that those who stand closest to the fireplace are the ones who are warmest. And when God comes into the world through the instrumentality of one of His servants, then there is nothing surprising about the fact that His chosen instrument should have the greatest and most intimate share in the divine gift.”

Merton provides us a beautiful image of Mary, as the one who was so close to the flame of love that she herself shared intimately in this gift to humanity.  She carried him in her womb (many theologians refer to her as the new ark of the covenant), nurtured him as he grew, and then participated in his ministry that ultimately led her to weep at the foot of his cross.  The Bible tells us that she being full of grace was there and it was there where Jesus told John, "behold your mother" after he had turned to his mother and said "woman, behold your son". In that moment, she became our mother too. (Jn 19: 26-27)

While in St. Peters in Rome, I marveled at the moving Pieta by Michelangelo. Here he interprets for viewers the moment when our mother held the tortured, limp body of her loving and innocent son after it was taken down from the cross.  He depicts a moment full of God's Grace in marble.  Our Christian faith compels us to ask for such grace. Do we dare ask for such an open heart, so FULL of grace, that would allow itself to break if that is God's will for us, having faith that it will not be destroyed?  A heart that is open to God's will that it would permeate our soul and allow us to be obedient so that we can be transformed to find God in all people, in all things, in every moment? A heart that calls us to eternal communion and an intimate relationship with our God? Do we dare? Such was the heart of our mother, Maria. Maria, like a good mother, shows us how it is possible.  This is what this sculpture seems to want us to contemplate.

 

 

It is no wonder that from the very beginning of Christianity every nation, every village, every where where the good news was taken and spread, where ever Christianity was active and alive there has been a devotion to our blessed Mother's heart .  In my own country of Cuba, she is celebrated for her heart of charity as  La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre.  (The Virgin, Our Lady of Charity.)

But always and simply, Maria is her name.  And so all Catholic mothers and fathers teach our children to yearn for such a humanly and graceful heart as we can find in her.  She demonstrates a love that  goes beyond nationality or race or politics or religion.  This is a mother who loves all of God's children equally and wants us all to love her son as she loves him and to have a personal relationship with him.

"Hail Mary Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  Amen!"