Thursday, April 20, 2017

Song of Mary



Song of Mary:  Sing of Mary, pure and lowly, Virgin mother undefiled, Sing of god's own Son most holy who became her little child. Fairest child of fairest mother, God the Lord who came to earth, Word made flesh our very brother, takes our nature by his birth.  Sing to Jesus, son of Mary, in the home at Nazareth.  Toil and labor cannot weary Love enduring unto death.  Constant was the love he gave her, though he went forth from her side, Forth to preach, and heal, and suffer, till on Calvary he died.
               Mary is the test of how well a Christian has accepted the gospel.    Our understanding of Mary reveals everything about how we understand Jesus and His saving work. 
               We live our sonship best by listening to Mary and loving as she loves.  Listening means responding when she says: "Do whatever He tells you."  Loving means standing by Christ, even to the cross.  Loving means choosing Him, in every instance, over sin.
               A true mother, Mary points out, she is only doing God's bidding: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38).  Even when she realizes her gifts, she recognizes that they are but gifts: "All generations will call me blessed" (Lk 1: 48).  For her part, Mary's own soul "magnifies" not herself but "the Lord" (Lk 1: 46)
               Mary fills the pages of Scripture from the beginning of the first book through the end of the last.  She was there, in God's plan, from the beginning of time, just as the apostles were, and the Church, and the Savior, and she will be there at the moment everything is fulfilled.  Still her motherhood is a discovery waiting to be made.
               Mary is not god, but she is the Mother of God.  She is only a creature, but she is God's greatest creation.  She is not the king, but she is His chosen queen mother.  Just as artists long to paint one masterpiece among their many works, so Jesus made His mother to be His greatest masterpiece.  To affirm the truth about Mary does not detract from Jesus-although refusing to affirm it does detract from Him.
               Form Mary to have given us her Son is remarkable.  But for Jesus to have given His mother to us-the very people who crucified Him and sinned against His Father-that's something great beyond imagining!  After giving us His mother, we can be sure that there's nothing He would withhold.
(gathered from Hail, Holy Queen by Scott Hahn)

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