Developing True Devotion to Jesus' Mother

HOMILY

Developing True Devotion to the Mother of Jesus

4^th Sunday of Advent

December 21, 2014

For those of you who like music and poetry, you may be familiar with a poem that was written in 1865 called “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is the Hand That Rules the World.”  It is credited to William Ross Wallace.  In that poem, Wallace repeats over and over in the refrain: (quote) “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” (end quote)
 

The same person that gives birth to and raises a child exerts an incredible authority and influence in that person’s life and therefore the affairs of the world.  Mothers and even those with motherly roles carry a certain moral authority that no other person can really ever exercise.
 

We put pictures and images of our mothers around our houses or in our wallets or on Facebook or other social media.  We are proud of our mothers and we honor – not worship – mothers.
 

Let us take a second example also from human wisdom, but this time let us take the image of human courtship.  We as a society look down on men who simply impregnate a woman and then leave her and abandon her without taking responsibility.  The idea of using another person’s body and then discarding it does not sit well for reasonable people and does not respect the dignity of the woman.
 

I use these two examples about mothers and women to make this one simple point: Authentic following of Christ means having a profound devotion to and love for the Mother of Christ. 

For the past 2,000 years of Christianity, the Mother of Jesus has always – ALWAYS – been honored as an essential component of what it means to be Christian.  The first Christians honored her, and so we too should honor her.

As we enter the final and Fourth Week of Advent, dear brothers and sisters, today’s Gospel reminds how to prepare for the birth of Jesus by looking at the hand that rocks cradle of Jesus, savior of the world.  The past few weeks of spiritual preparation for Christmas we looked at the figures like John the Baptist and Elizabeth.  Today, we focus on Mary. 

There are three lines for the Gospel to help us develop a true devotion to the Mother of Jesus.  The Gospel today focuses on what is called the Annunciation from Luke Chapter One.  Here, we see the beginnings of what we call the “Hail Mary” or the Angelic Salutation Prayer: “Hail, full of grace.  The Lord is with you.”  The Second Vatican Council said here that Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role” (LG 56).  In order for Mary to give her free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly carried by God’s grace (Cf. Catechism 490).  The Bible shows that Mary is full of God’s grace.  (Ke-chari-tomene in the Greek. And Gratia Plena in Latin.  “Llena eres de gratia” in Spanish.  Or “napupuno ka ng grasya” in Tagalog. Actually, the Greek Ke-chari-tomene shows something unique by “having been graced” already.)  This is the first point: Mary is full of grace or she is one who is “having been graced”.

The second is when Mary asks how she would conceive a baby in her womb and the angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”  During the Nicene Creed, we publicly profess to the world, “and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man”.  The liturgy calls for us to bow during this line honor the Incarnation of Jesus in Mary’s womb.

And that leads to the third and last line for our reflection of the Annunciation.  Having been graced already, ke-chari-tomene, having been preserved from sin, she gives her “yes” to God.  “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your world”.  All the world hinged on this moment.  Mary’s “yes” – her consent – is the dawn, the beginning, of salvation history.  Mary is like the gentle dawn in the morning, not the morning sun itself (that’s Jesus), but she is the first rays of the sun on a silent morning.  Meditate on this the next time you watch a sunrise.  When she gives her “yes”, she is the New Eve.  The first Eve, like the first Adam, disobeyed God.  The first Adam and Eve, our first parents, gave their “no” to God.  But the Second Adam, Jesus, and the Second Eve, Mary, would reverse the first and original sin through their loving and free “yes”, a “yes” that is “full of grace”.  (Ke-chari-tomene!)

And for Mary to give her most complete and free and perfect consent, she is “full of grace”.  And when one is “full of grace” there is no ounce of sin in her “yes”.  It is a perfect “yes” that represents you and me and all humanity.

I know someone who, when he proposed to his now-wife to marry him, wanted the best “yes” from her—a “yes” unstained by any ulterior motives – the most perfect “yes” that a newly engaged woman can give.

So having been herself immaculately conceived by God, and redeemed from the first moment of her conception, Mary gives what is called in the “obedience of faith” that we see in the Second Reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans.  Faith is an act of loving obedience where one’s will is united to the will of the Father.

Mary’s “yes” in Latin is called her “Fiat”.  And at that moment Mary gives her “yes”, her consent to God  According to the tradition, it is at this moment that she becomes pregnant with Jesus.  God is incarnate in the womb of the NEW Ark of the Covenant.  According to the Fathers of the Church, the new ark is Mary.

In the first reading, we see the beginnings of the Old Ark of the Covenant.  Before the Temple was built in Jerusalem, King David wanted to build a resting place for the Covenant.  And just as the Old Ark carried the presence of God, Mary now is the new ark that carries the new and everlasting covenant in her womb.

And in a few moments, when we receive the Holy Eucharist, which is the True and Real Presence of Jesus, we too will carry Jesus within us, in the womb of our souls.  Mary, the Church, you and me, are all images and an icon of the ark to carry God within us.

Now there are some practical ways to develop a true devotion to Mary. The first is liturgical.  The liturgy is the official prayer of the Church.  Whenever there is a Holy Day of Obligation set for the Mother of Jesus, keep in mind that these holy days carry the same weight as a Sunday Mass, and there are a few of these throughout the year on a non-Sunday (like the Assumption or Immaculate Conception or Mother of God on Jan. 1).  Let’s celebrate these days as a community and not neglect these. 

The second is the holy rosary.  (Hold up rosary.)  The Rosary is a Bible-based prayer.  The rosary is a Bible-based prayer.  The rosary takes the scenes from Jesus’s life and turns it into prayer.  The Hail Mary, the words of which are taken from the Bible, as we saw in today’s Gospel, are used, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.”

The great saints of the Church are those that had a strong loving devotion to the Mother of Jesus.  Pope St. John Paul the Great devoted his entire papacy to her.  Also, look at John the Beloved Disciple, the Apostle loved the most by Jesus … is the one that took care of his mother.  (pause)  Let us be like the Beloved Disciple whom Jesus loved most.

The third devotion is called devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  The Heart of Mary is also in the Bible.  It is a heart that was pierced by a sword.  Mary pondered these things in her Heart.  One way to live the Bible is to pray the rosary which is based on the Bible.  This can be done, for example, on the drive to work in the car using your fingers, or throughout the day.  This can also be done by a practice called the “First Five Saturdays.”  This is where one attends Mass, goes to Confession, and meditates on the mysteries of the rosary for five straight Saturdays.  I will personally myself show you how to pray the rosary if you need help praying this.  Give it a try if you haven’t done this yet.  It will work wonders in your life!

And the final way is called consecration to Jesus through Mary.  All true devotion to Mary leads to Jesus. 

As we come to the close of our preparations for the birth of Jesus, let us take time to look not at the cradle yet, but that hand that cradled Jesus ever-so lovingly in her arms.

Mary, I am all yours, my queen and my mother, and all that I have is yours.  Lead us and the whole world to your Baby Son.  We, too, like you, give our “yes” to God.  O God, may your will be done to us, according to your word. 

Amen.