DRE, Ibadan Archdiocese

BIBLICAL NOTES ON THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

 

1. By faith, Mary became the perfect example of what the Gospels mean by spiritual motherhood. When Jesus heard his mother praised for having borne him and nursed him, he replied, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it”, - (Luke 11:28). Mary is a model of faith and inspires us to be the same.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Mary is the Mother of God, Mother of the Church, Model of faith and an intercessor on our behalf. What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.

The one whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly the Mother of God (Theotokos) – [Catechism 487, 495].

Catholic devotion to Mary flows from Catholic faith in the mystery of the life of Jesus Christ. Mary’s whole mission in her life was to bring people to Jesus. Her ‘YES’ to the Father at the Annunciation made possible the conception of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary never draws attention to herself, only to Christ. “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord”. – Luke 1:46. The more hidden she becomes, the more visible her Son. Scripture portrays her in contemplative and prayerful terms. It is in the silence of her prayer that the angel Gabriel comes to her at the Annunciation. Our lasting glimpse of her in Scripture is at Pentecost, praying with the Church for the coming of the Spirit. Tradition says that she went to live with St John in Ephesus. As Mother of God, a model of faith, prayer, contemplation and powerful intercession, Mary is the strong and valiant woman of the New Testament.