Mary uniquely participated in the Redemption of humanity with her Son Jesus Christ, although in a completely subordinate and dependent manner to that of her Son.
Works for me.
As I like to say, Mary said, "Yes," to God. So God planted His Love deep within her beneath her heart. And His Love grew in her, and she brought His Love into the world. Isn't this what we all want for ourselves? Don't we want the grace to give God our whole-hearted Yes? Don't we want Love to be planted and to grow in us? Don't we want to share God's Love with the world? I do.
To describe giving birth as "dispensing", well, it's not the first word that leaps to my mind. But Jesus is the embodied sum of the Grace of God. All God's Grace is in Jesus. And Jesus was in Mary. And she bore Him to us.
Q.E.D.
Then to, you'll pardon the expression, flesh it out, if the touch of the hem of our Lord's garment could heal the women with the issue of blood, then what can we hope for from the touch of His lips at her breast, His hand on her face, His stroking her hair, as babies do.
We parents come about as close as I can imagine to blessedness when we see our child smiling and running to us full of greeting and love because we came home. What blessings must Mary have received when she returned to the crib where she laid her child?
It seems to me that even were we to deny her perpetual virginity, her immaculate conception, and her assumption, we would still hold her the most blessed not only of women but of all humanity, save one.
How intimate is the relationship between parent and infant! How joyously grave the responsibility of that brief period when the parent is the joy of the child, and his comfort and the embodiment of all that is good for the child! With what happy bereavement do we give up that time of unspeakable closeness for the distance which growth and freedom require!
Our hearts quicken at our children's anxieties. Their small pains cut more deeply than our gnawing sorrows. Their triumphs and joys lift us higher than any other thing can do.
And all this heart-touching-heart compassion our Lady shared with our Lord. How can she be less than more glorious than the mighty cherubim, higher than the burning seraphim, the brightest created light in all the heavens?
I love her.
It is right and good that you should love her.
For Love loved her first and all that He loves should be the object of our love as well.
And she was the first on earth to love Love—therein the circle of love is completed—an example for all of us to come.
God bless you for this post.
This is so beautiful. Thank you.
So beautifully said, I am so touched by your words...Ave Maria...