2 April 2013 Mary’s feelings before and after the Resurrection What greater grief can afflict a mother violently parted from an only son? What must have been the depth of Mary’s grief during the interval between the burial and resurrection of Jesus! How long must the time have felt to this most loving Mother, sighing for the Son so cruelly snatched from her, ardently longing to behold him again! Do I, an exile from the sensible presence of my Lord, sigh for the moment when I shall behold his glorified humanity, and be eternally united to him in heaven? Alas, no! And why? Because I know and love him so little; because I am so attached to earth and creatures. Imagine the joy of a mother who unexpectedly sees the son she has believed dead, and for whom she has long wept. We will then have a faint idea of our Lady’s joy when Jesus appeared to her after his glorious resurrection. Her joy was in proportion to her grief and to the glory she was to share with her Son in heaven. To her applies the words of King David, “According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, Thy comforts have given joy to my soul” (Psalm). Here we find powerful motives for rejoicing in slights and crosses suffered for our Lord, for self-sacrifice and continual mortification. These things are naturally hard and bitter; but the joys of the resurrection will enable us to bear them and will make them sweet and easy. Let us remember the words of the Apostle, verified in our blessed Mother, “As you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation” (2 Cor 1:7). Beyond doubt our Lord who appeared so often to his apostles, appeared still oftener to his Mother, always filling her heart with fresh joy by his presence. But these appearances were brief, leaving a void in her loving heart. Thus, during the forty days between the Resurrection and Ascension, Our Lady experienced alternating joys and sorrows. Our Lord treats his servants in like manner. Sometimes he overwhelms them with consolation and sweeetness of his presence. Then leaves, their mind and heart dry. We, too frequently experience such cycles. Let us learn to profit by them, to grow strong; and advance in service and love of God as advised by all masters of spiritual life. How has my conduct been in conforming to such teaching? Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp198-200 “... Blessed are you among women.” (Lk 1:28) ‘This stirring Marian greeting’ repeats and causes to re-echo through the centuries those words which Elizabeth uttered ‘filled with the Holy Spirit ... in a loud voice’ to the Virgin Mother of God. This greeting seems particularly appropriate ... to recall her apparition at Massabielle to the humble Bernadette, to entrust to her a special message of mercy and grace. And that message keeps its full value right down to our time. Mary made use of that unknown little girl with the intention above all of bringing sinners to conversion, asking for them and for their salvation, commitment on the part of the community of all faithful Christians. Her appeal aroused a fervent movement of prayer and charity, in service to the infirm and the poor above all. Many tried by pain and suffering are in front because an irreplaceable role has been assigned to you in the economy of salvation, in union with Him who is protagonist and artificer of salvation through His passion, death and resurrection: Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Lord. Ref: Cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, p184 Bearing witness to Jesus’ doctrine Today, too, people thirst for the words of Jesus, the only words that can bring peace to the soul ... “All the faithful, from the Pope to the last person to have been baptized, share in the same vocation, the same faith, the same Spirit, the same grace ... All share actively and with the same degree of responsibility (within the necessary plurality of ministries) in the one mission of Christ and of the Church.” ( A del Portillo, “Faithful and Laity in the Church”, Shannon) There is a great urgency in making Christ’s doctrine known, because ignorance is a powerful enemy of God in the world. It is the “cause and root of all evils that poison nations”. (Cf John XXIII, Encyclical, “Ad Petri cathedram”, 29 June 1959) This urgency is even greater in countries of the West, as Pope John Paul II has repeatedly pointed out. “We find ourselves in a Europe in which the temptation towards atheism and scepticism is becoming constantly stronger; in which there is taking root a grievous moral uncertainty with the falling apart of the family and the degeneration of morals; in which a dangerous conflict of ideas and movements dominates.” (John Paul II, “Address”, 6 November 1961) Every Christian must give testimony to the good doctrine of the gospel message, not only by example, but with words. And we must avail of every opportunity that presents itself with our relatives, friends, neighbours, colleagues; with all people we come across, even for a while, on a trip, at a conference, while shopping or engaged in business. The person who wants to travel along the way of sanctity cannot afford to make his life to be like a great avenue of missed opportunities. God wants our words to echo his teachings in order to move hearts. “... certain that God respects human freedom, that there may be people who ‘do not want’ to turn their eyes towards God’s light. But the grace God wants to pour out on earth is far stronger, more abundant and more plentiful. He makes use, as before and always, of the cooperation of apostles whom He has chosen to carry his light everywhere.” (Cf A del Portillo, “Pastoral Letter”, 25 December 1985, 7) Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:198-9 Saint Pedro Calungsod — A 14-year-old native of Cebu or Bohol who joined Spanish Jesuit missionaries to the Ladrones Islands as a catechist. On this day in 1672, two Chamorros killed them (in what is now Guam) for being Christians. Their bodies were thrown into the ocean. He was 17 years-old. Beatified in Rome on 5 March 2000. (“Manila Bulletin”, 2 February 2002) • Our Lady the Great, at Poitiers, where is shown an image of the Blessed Virgin, in whose hands the keys of the city were miraculously found while the mayor’s servant was looking everywhere for them, to open the gates to the English, to whom he had promised to betray the city. — Jean Boncher, Annales d’Aquitaine. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com) • Our Lady the Great. Poitiers, France. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html) • Our Lady the Great. Poitiers, France. Orthodox icons. Church in Israel. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm) • Our Lady of the Highest Grace, Higuey, Dominican Republic (1506). (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)