Editorial: Mary Our Sister?

Mary Our Sister?

T  here’s a jolting title being used for Mary; Mary Our Sister.

We’ve often spoken of “Our Lady,” “Our Mother,” “Our Queen.” But Mary Our Sister?  It sounds downright disrespectful! Or is it???

We do call Jesus, Our Brother. And if Jesus is our Brother, then perhaps we should call Mary our Sister? That Jesus is “Brother” is shown by Saint Paul who calls Christ “the first born among many brethren”. (Rom 8:29). Since we are His brethren, He is our Brother. Pope John Paul definitely so reasons, for in the Marian Year Encyclical, Mother of the Redeemer, he explicitly calls Jesus, “our Brother”. (#1).

Jesus is Our Lord and Brother

Jesus is our Brother for he is our God IN A FULLY HUMAN WAY. He is the Word of God personally manifested in and through our humanity. The amazing intensity of God’s love is revealed in the Incarnation. God, while remaining our God, is born into the human family, a family so tarnished, so twisted by sin. In becoming our Brother, he shares with us His own Life, and His divinity. As we share with Him our sinful human nature. The Incarnation is the “divinization” of man through the “humanization” of the Son of God. (cf. Mother of the Redeemer, #51).

Now if Jesus is truly our Brother because he is a member of the human family, shouldn’t we call Mary, “our sister?” The Second Vatican Council does so in equivalent terms when it declares; “At the same time, however, because she belongs to the offspring of Adam, she is one with all human beings in their need for salvation.” She is our sister then not only because a member of the human family, but also because she is redeemed, in the sublime manner we call the Immaculate Conception. Again, the Second Vatican Council speaks of Mary as a “daughter of Adam”.  Which is another way of saying, “our sister”.  Pope john Paul, in Mother of the Redeemer speaks of Mary as a “daughter of the human race,” and as “the first human creature to discover Christ . . .”

Mary’s Surrender Is In The Name Of The Human Race

In fact, it is difficult to understand Pope John Paul’s Marian Year Encyclical unless we are convinced that Mary is, first of all, our sister. The Holy Father stresses the faith of Mary, a total, loving surrender to the Lord not only in her name, but in the name of all of us, her brothers and sisters. She is our sister whom God has chosen to represent the entire human family in its yearning for salvation. In the mystery of His Wisdom he requests the faith-consent of our sister, Mary, before entering into our sinful family.

Through her “Yes,” the eternal Wisdom of the Father becomes our Brother, sharing with us His divine life and forgiveness. Mary, in the name of the entire human race, in the name of all creation, “raises high the gates” so that the “King of Glory may enter” and dwell among us. This is the foundation of the Marian Year Encyclical; Mary, our sister, is freely chosen by God to speak in the name of the human family; to throw open the doors of our house by her total faith; so that the Son of God may be our Brother, our Redeemer.

Mary Is Our Spiritual Mother

Does this mean that Mary is NOT Our Mother? By no means! Pope John Paul constantly refers to Mary’s maternal role within the Church. It is precisely because Mary our sister – a member of the human race – opens the doors of our home to our God that we call her “Our Mother.” She is truly our Mother spiritually, for through her Yes, we are reborn by the Spirit’s power into the image of the Son. Cooperating in our rebirth by accepting to be the Mother of the Redeemer, Mary our sister is also Mary Our Spiritual Mother, Our Queen.

The first step in the ladder to a deeper understanding of Mary is to accept the beautiful reality that she is truly Our Sister. It is the not- so-hidden foundation of Pope John Paul’s Marian Year Encyclical. Mary, our sister freely chosen by God to respond to His yearning to become our Brother; this is the basic truth of the reality of Mary. And it is the basis of Pope John Paul’s insights into the role of Mary in the life of the Church, the community of her brothers and sisters.

Paraphrasing the Book of Judith, we can say, “Our Sister, Mary, you are blessed by the Most High God above all women on earth . . .  You are the exaltation of our home, you are the great glory of our family, you are the great pride of your brothers and sisters.”