Mary, The True Christian
Father Donald MacDonald, SMM
Mary, The True Christian
A mother had a dream in which she was praying for one of her sons before the statue of Our Lady in the parish church. In her dream, the statue came alive as Our Lady leant forward and took her by the arm; “Don’t worry about your son” she was told, “he is a good boy”.
The mother, a devout northern Catholic with her feet firmly on the ground, wondered whether to heed this. I would say ‘Yes’, as events later proved so very positive. Regardless of the outcome, it is a gentle, personal, allusive approach. It is a reflection of the practical presence of God in a language the mother might understand. This is Mary today and yesterday – a lovely reflection of God’s presence.
CAPACITY TO RECEIVE
Reflection on the Gospel over the centuries of the Church, has seen in Mary an utter capacity to receive whatever God chooses to give. As God essentially gives himself, the overflow from that is a reflection of the presence of God. “Hail, highly favored, full of grace…” (Lk. 1:28), is Our Lady’s identity, who she is, fashioned in the creative love of God. The greeting is the equivalent of her name, not just a handsome compliment.
She is now seen reflecting God’s presence because she was so willing to receive God’s gift of himself in Christ; “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High…therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, Son of God” (Lk. 1:35). It is Mary’s wholehearted response to the creative presence of God’s Spirit, as “the Lord’s slave . . . (who) kept all these things pondering them in her heart” (Lk. 1:38, 2:19), that is the reason why She is a sheer capacity to reflect the presence of God in Christ.
The Annunciation – Fra Angelico – (circa 1446)
An Early Renaissance fresco by Fra Angelico in the Convent of San Marco in Florence, Italy. Fra Angelico is known as the inventor of this type of painting, where Gabriel visits Mary in an outdoor setting. This painting is one of his most well known of his art work. Specifically, it “achieved heights of singular elegance.” Known for his artistry in envisoning space and lighting, this work was revolutionary because it depicts Mary outdoors, vs. a prior period having Mary indoors.
PRESENCE OF GOD WITHIN
Mary wrote no book, formed no group, never formally taught anyone, yet in the providence of God, she has been found by so many, who see in her a lovely reflection of God’s presence. John Henry Newman speaking of the Christian in general, perhaps helps us understand the attraction of Our Lady in particular when he said that, “A true Christian . . . may almost be defined as one who has a ruling sense of God’s presence within him” (P.P.S.V.).
Indwelt by the creative Spirit, with God in Christ in her heart, her body, her arms and her home . . . and now in glory, Mary is supremely
that – God’s temple, with a ruling sense of God’s presence within her. That is what people have felt in her company. Her being is a sympathetic reflection of the presence of God.
But Newman continues; “As none but justified persons have that privilege, so none but the justified have that practical perception of it”. In
other words, only those living at one with God’s will, as far as they can, will be able to recognize this with the insight of faith. Alive to the presence of God ourselves, we may then intuitively become aware of it in others, not least in Our Lady.
The light which first enlightened her, will now illumine us too. The light reflecting revelation and glory for Jew and Gentile, for example,
which Simeon was graced to see in Our Lady’s arms as she brought her child to the Temple, was because, “the Holy Spirit was upon him . . . revealed to him by the Holy Spirit . . . inspired by the Spirit . . . ” (Lk. 2:25-27). This is scarcely an understatement! Overshadowed by the Spirit, Simeon was able to see. At first sight, what he saw was open to anyone blessed with eyesight. To really see who is there is open only to the insight of faith.
PRACTICAL lNSlGHT
The woman whose dream began these reflections, enjoyed that ‘practical perception’, as Newman called it. Only in so far as we are similarly blessed with the insight of faith, are we able to recognize the presence of God in Mary. It is a Spirit given practical medium which enables us to live in the presence of God, and so to translate everyday experience into the currency of the Gospel.
Responding in wonder and awe to a ruling sense of God’s presence within us, may release adoration from the core of our being. We may then become aware of everyday life in a very different light. Not the least of what we are given to see through the enlightening Spirit, may well be a sense of wonder, “that the mother of my Lord should come to me”, as Elizabeth experienced when she “was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Lk. 1:41, 43) as Mary entered her house. Aware of the presence of God within us in the household of the faith, which Mary so faithfully reflects, may similarly enlighten us.
