10 June 2019
Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
It is fitting, I suppose, when celebrating your birthday, not to ignore your mother or overlook her role in your birth. The Church, for example, celebrated its birthday just yesterday on the Solemnity of Pentecost. Today, then, the Church celebrates its mother: Mary. It was only last year that Pope Francis declared a new obligatory memorial in the Roman calendar celebrating our Lady under the title of “Mother of the Church.” This memorial may be new, but, the use of this title for St. Mary goes back at least to the fourth Century, A.D. Countless Church fathers and theologians have recognized Mary’s role as mother of the Church.
The logic behind this motherhood works like this. The Church is the mystical body of Christ, and Christ himself is the head (cf. Colossians 1:18). Since Mary is the mother of Christ the head, she must also be the mother of Christ’s body, the Church, because whatever is mother of the head must also be mother of the body. This logic is confirmed by the declaration of Jesus himself, while dying on the cross, when he told his blessed mother to accept his disciple John as her son, and then he told his disciple John to take Mary as his mother (Cf. John 19:26-27). We, too, like St. John, must take Mary as our mother.
What could this mean concretely? What does it mean to relate to a saint in heaven as your mother? One way to answer that question is to consider what it means to relate to a person on Earth as your mother. What is special to you about your earthly mother, the one who gave birth to your flesh? Consider that question carefully. Then come back and consider what is (or should be) special to you about your heavenly mother, the one who gave birth to the spiritual head of all the baptized. What do you do to honor your mother on this earth? What do you do to honor your mother in heaven?