Mary, Mother of the Church

Commentary on Genesis 3:9-15,20; John 19:25-34

The memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, was established as a new liturgical celebration by Pope Francis in 2018. This memorial takes place on the Monday after Pentecost, a feast that symbolizes the birth of the church through the action of the Holy Spirit. Mary, already recognized as giving birth to Christ our redeemer, is now recognized as part of the events that give birth to the church. Mary is Mother of God, but also Mother of the Church and their emphasis is not the same. The readings set for this feast day present two images of giving life: one involves trickery (Eve) and the other offers no deception concerning the risk involved (Mary).

Our first parents
The opening chapters of Genesis form a part of biblical literature referred to as ‘creation stories’ or ‘origin stories’, sometimes shared in part with the ancient cultures that surround the biblical narratives. Within this creation setting, however, a curious interrogation takes place in the garden of Eden between God and our first parents, Adam and Eve. The questioning in today’s first reading is reminiscent of the body of biblical writing known as ‘wisdom literature’. Biblical wisdom invites us to ask questions about the meaning of existence and getting along with others in society. It provides an opportunity, also, to pay attention to the answers, if any, that are provided.

In the First Reading, God comes back to bask in his own creation, except our first parents are nowhere to be found. Three questions are presented to the man and one directed to the woman, all of which follow after both had eaten of the tree:

• Where are you?
• Who told you that you were naked?
• Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?
• What is this that you have done?

The last question to the woman is striking, but not more than her quick-witted response and its simplicity.

The serpent tricked me, and I ate.

Her response is more profound than a surface reading allows. She is somewhat challenging God with God’s own creation. What sort of plan is this anyway? What kind of experiment is taking place in this so-called paradise? The role of the serpent is to be the most cunning of all wild creatures and it is placed in the garden with our first parents by God’s hand. There is little surprise that the woman and man are tricked by the most cunning of all wild animals.

Nonetheless, the first humans are disobedient. They fall for the deception. A part of this creation story makes us contemplate the origin of deception (sin) and the difference between what it means to be a human person made in the image and likeness of God, and a wild creature like the serpent. It is not the same. The passage ends with a description of Eve as mother of all the living.

The Place of Mary
If one were to consider Mary’s theological place within the feast day of the Immaculate Conception, for example, you would be encouraged to contemplate Mary as the new Eve who crushes the serpent’s head. Mary, without sin, is able to aid the faithful in battle against the cunning forces of evil. Luke’s Gospel leads the reader in that direction:

Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you. (Luke 1:28)

But today’s feast day places Mary in a unique role as symbol and mother of the church. The Gospel is not from Luke, but rather from the Gospel of John, with Mary and the other women at the foot of Jesus’ cross. This is an entirely distinctive image. What is consoling is to notice how involved are all these female figures in today’s readings. There is no passivity, but instead an active willingness to participate in the passion and cooperate with God’s plan of salvation. Mary, in today’s scene, is at the heart of salvation by standing with her son at the foot of the cross, a scene that only the Gospel of John introduces. What’s more, she takes on the role of mother to the beloved disciple and perhaps for all disciples after Jesus’ death:

He said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

If Eve becomes the mother of all the living, in spite of the trickery and deception involved in her fall along with her partner Adam, then Mary becomes the mother of all the Church, those living a new life marked by the death and resurrection of her Son. The birth of the Church, however, does not come about unscathed by the realities of chaos, evil, and suffering. Mary, though she is without sin in Christian tradition, faces all the suffering that humanity presents in every age. She goes to the cross and consoles all disciples afterwards who will have to confront places where sin and death impose themselves. Like the beloved disciple, we can take Mary into our own home and contemplate God’s plan of salvation, not as orphans, but as people with a mother in faith.

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The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Commentary on Genesis 3:9-15,20; Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12; Luke 1:26-38

The Immaculate Conception means that Mary from the first moment of her existence was totally free from the influence of that universal sinfulness which touches us all from the time we are born. The reason behind this belief (which is not explicitly contained in Scripture, and was only infallibly defined in 1854 by Pope Pius IX in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus) is that only a totally sinless environment was fitting for the Son of God in his becoming a human being. It has a very long history in the Church (dating back as far as the 2nd century).

The First Reading reminds us that it was a woman (Eve) who was instrumental in bringing pain and suffering, the result of sin, to the whole world. It will also be a woman (Mary) who will be instrumental in bringing to the world its salvation and healing.

The Second Reading tells us that all of us have been called by God to share his love and blessings long before we even existed. This is even more true of Mary, who was singled out from eternity by God to be the Mother of his Son.

Today’s Gospel speaks, not of Mary’s conception, but that of Jesus. It begins the moment Mary says that ‘Yes’. The angel greets her saying:

Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you…

In our Hail Mary prayer, “favored one” is translated as “full of grace”. Mary is filled with God’s love and God’s favour and especially singled out for this moment. “Full of grace” has always been interpreted as indicating Mary’s total freedom from any taint of sin in her role as ‘Ark of the Covenant’. It was believed that the Incarnate Word should begin his human existence in an environment untouched by sin.

We can apply each of the readings to our own lives. We have been often the cause of sin and pain in other people’s lives. Let us rather be people who bring wholeness and healing.

As well, let us be deeply aware that, long before we were born, every single one of us has been called by God to know, love and serve him. We have been the constant recipients of his blessings. How will we respond? Unlike Mary, we were born touched by a sinful world. But we also can become filled with grace if, like her, we say a resounding and unconditional ‘Yes!’ to all that God wants from us. Let us ask Mary today to help us to love Jesus as she did, right through the pain of the Cross to the joy of the Resurrection.

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