“Would you let me
be your Mother?”
The absolute classic on Devotion to Our Lady remains
"True Devotion to Mary" by St. Louis de Montfort. If there is ever only one book you read on Mary this one is it. Our parish is selling copies of True Devotion to Mary in our narthex for $10.
______
At the heart of the lifestyle/spirituality of total consecration
to Jesus through Mary is an acknowledgement of ourselves as sons and daughters
of Our Lady. It is a simple but
heartfelt recognition of our relationship to her and being very intentional
about that relationship on a daily basis.
It is letting her perform her motherly role in our lives as Christ’s brothers
and sisters; His disciples.
Because of our baptism we have the life of Jesus Christ
within us. As St. Paul says, “It is no
longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”
(Galatians 2:20) It is because of this reality – this new life in Christ
– that we are able to call God “Our Father.”
(See John 20:17) We who have the Spirit of Jesus living within us are
thus able to cry out (just as Jesus Himself does) “Abba, Father!” St. Paul
refers to God’s plan of adopting us in Christ as His true children through “a Woman”
when he says “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of
a woman…so that we might receive
adoption. As proof that you are
children, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba,
Father!” (Galatians 4:4-7) We can call God our Father because our life is now
that of Christ’s life. His Spirit in us
cries out along with our spirits to “Our Father.”
That same Spirit of Jesus in us also addresses Our Lady as
“Mother.” (Note: we do not worship Mary.
We love and honor our Mother Mary as Jesus does.) We share in Christ’s filial
relationship with His Mother! This is why Jesus makes some of His final (and
therefore some of His most important) words in reference to our relationship
with the “Woman.” This is the Woman promised to us in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:15.
She is also spoken about in Galatians 4:4, at the Wedding Feast at Cana
in John 2:4, at the Cross in John 19:26-27, and as the Ark of the New Covenant
and the Mother of Christ’s disciples in Revelation 11:19-12:17.) From the Cross
Jesus tells Our Lady to look upon her spiritual child who is standing next to
her; the “Beloved Disciple.” He says to
Our Lady, the New Eve promised back in Genesis 3:15, “Woman, behold your son!” He
then tells that “Beloved Disciple” (which is really each one of us, too!) to “Behold,
your mother!”
The disciple of Jesus is one who is being conformed to
Christ through His Sacraments and a life of intentional discipleship to Him. To be a disciple of Jesus is to take on the
very life of Jesus; to become more and more Christ-like. As John the Baptist said, “He must increase,
I must decrease.” (John 3:30) If we are
to grow in the life of Jesus then we must allow His life to increase in us and
become very intentional about allowing the thoughts, sentiments, desires, and
relationships of Jesus to take hold of our hearts. We must love our neighbor because the love of
Christ within us impels us towards compassion and mercy. We must love the Father because the Spirit of
Jesus within us cries out, “Abba, Father!” Also, we must love our Blessed
Mother because Jesus’ own filial love for Mary lives with us. We only have to allow that love Christ has
for His Mother to take hold of our own hearts.
If Mary is our Mother then we must honor her as we ought to (Honor your
Father and Mother is the 4th Commandment!) and we must allow the
Heart of Jesus to love Our Blessed Mother with our very own heart!
Why all of this explanation? What does this have to do with
total consecration to Mary? Everything! Again, at the heart of the lifestyle/spirituality
of total consecration to Jesus through Mary is acknowledging ourselves as sons
and daughters of Our Lady. It is a
simple recognition of our relationship to her and letting her be our mother. Consecration to Jesus through Mary (aka Consecration to
Mary) is entrusting one’s entire life to the motherly care, protection, and
intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary just as Christ did. Like any good
mother she will be about her work of caring for her children whether we
acknowledge her or not. However, if we
acknowledge Mary’s role in our lives and let her be our mother then the graces
of living this personal relationship with her will be immense. We would be foolish to ignore our Mother!
This intensely lived filial relationship with Mary is one of
the “Secrets of the Saints.” If you want
to grow in holiness very quickly then you must devote yourself in a radical way
to the Blessed Virgin Mary as your
Mother. Allow her to form Christ in you
more and more. Accept in a complete and
total way the immense gift of Christ from the Cross when He reminds us to
“Behold, your mother!” Be like the beloved disciple who, after being entrusted
to Our Lady at the Cross, went and “took her [Mary] into his home.” Take Our Lady into your heart, into your
whole life, into the depths of your “home.”
Let Mary be your mother. Entrust
and consecrate, in a very intentional way, your whole self to this Woman. Your life will never be the same and you will
grow in your relationship with Christ by leaps and bounds. Accept all of His
gifts (especially Mary!) and then you will spiritually grow very quickly. You
will see.
“Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And
from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” (John 19:27) Will you take
Mary into your home today? “Will you let me be your Mother?”
