Mother Mary comes to me

 

As a child I was always curious about the statue depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary. Dressed in blue and white, with her arms outstretched as if waiting to embrace us, she stood on top of a globe with a snake being crushed under her feet. I must admit, my interest in Mary had little to do with any devotion to her. I was interested in the snake. Was it like the rattler my brother told me about or was it one of these garter snakes we often taunted? At the time I had no knowledge that the artist who originally depicted Mary in this way was giving his interpretation of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent, the devil, as recorded in the biblical book, Genesis 3:15. Later I did develop an interest in Mary.

An interest that much later would spark my curiosity when I first heard the song, “Let it be”,  which  began with these words, “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom: let it be.” I immediately thought the Beatles were describing the Blessed Virgin Mary. For me, she is the one that comes to us in our times of trouble, whispering words of wisdom.  Then I discovered, as Paul McCartney explained in his biography, that his inspiration for these lyrics was his mother,  Mary Mohin McCartney. Apparently, whenever Paul McCartney was asked about the identity of Mary in the song, after explaining it was his mother, not Jesus’ mother, he would add, but people are welcome to interpret it as they wish. Now I am not about to change this song into another Marian hymn. However, as a person who believes you can find the sacred in all things, it was natural for me to want to reflect on the sacred meaning contained in these lyrics, especially since this weekend, Catholics celebrate the Queenship of Mary on August 22.   

Now before I share the insights I gained through my reflection, it is important to address those skeptics who dismiss Mary as insignificant, and complain how Catholics have turned Mary into a deity. The thinking here is a lot like that old axion: “Roman Catholics tend to adore Mary while Protestants and Evangelicals tend to ignore Mary.” I can understand why some of our Catholic beliefs and titles given to Mary might lead to this thinking, but from my perspective, neither adoration nor ignoring her is ideal. Anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus needs to include Mary in their faith life because she is a model of faith. She is not-God, but she is the one who said yes to God. This willingness to hear God’s will and do it would later be used by Jesus to describe those whom he regards as his mother, brothers, and sisters. (Mark 3: 33-35 and Matthew 12:50). It is for this reason when I hear the phrase, “let it be” I immediately recall  Mary’s words to the angel, “let it be with me according to your word.’ (Luke 1:38). Her yes makes her the mother of Jesus, but also makes her a model of faith, a template for all of us to copy. A way of life to imitate.  

Again, whenever I hear the song, “Let it be”,  I automatically think of how Mary, the mother of Jesus, comes to us in times of trouble. These lyrics written by Paul McCartney echo the long standing tradition in the Catholic Church that declares in times of difficulty we can ask Mary to intercede on our behalf. A biblical example of what I mean is found in the wedding at Cana as described by John in his gospel. At this wedding Mary intervenes on behalf of a couple to let Jesus know about an impending wine shortage. When Jesus says this is not our concern, she tells the servants, “do whatever he tells us you.” (John2:5)  Notice, Mary does not tell Jesus what to do, she simply draws his attention to a need. In the same way, our  Blessed Mother Mary is with us in our times of troubles. She is there drawing Jesus’ attention to our needs. She is there pointing us to Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

If you wish to know the Mother Mary that comes to me, take some time to ponder the words of a song she composed: Mary’s song of praise. (Luke 1:46-55). In her words, you meet a young joy-filled woman giving thanks to God. She identifies herself as a lowly servant but also acknowledges how future generations will call her blessed, not because of what she did, but what the Mighty One, God,  has done for her. This is the Mary we are asked to imitate, not admire. This is the Mary I see in those statues depicting her crushing the head of a serpent. My attention today is not on the snake but rather on Mother Mary’s outstretched arms waiting to embrace our every need.

 

Do you believe in me?

 

The following post is based on the readings for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time -Year B, especially Ephesians 4:30-5:2 and John 6:41-51

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

Whenever I read that line from today’s gospel, I can’t help but think about Charlie Brown in one of Charlie Schultz Peanuts’ cartoons.

The cartoon begins with him standing all alone. Peppermint Patty passes by, and as she does, Charlie calls out to her, “Believe in me.” But she keeps going.

Next Snoopy passes by, and Charlie calls out, “Believe in me.” But Snoopy keeps going.

Next comes Lucy – and the same thing happens. IN the last frame Charlie is now sitting, all alone; his head in his hands and he is saying, “I just can’t get people to believe in me.”

I wonder if Jesus felt the same way when he told the religious leaders of the day, “I am the living bread come down from heaven.”

They did not believe in Jesus. They couldn’t grasp what Jesus was saying, despite knowing his miracles, his teaching, his presence; they simply dismissed his declaration as nonsense. “How can the son of Joseph say he has come down from heaven.”

The difficulty they had is that they relied on visible and tangible evidence. For them only the visible is knowable.

But Jesus ignores them and continues with a catechesis on the incarnation, that he has come down from heaven, he is the Son of God.

After reasserting who he is, and just before he speaks about his real presence in the Eucharist, he declares: Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

In effect, Jesus is calling out all those who do not believe.   It is for this reason the Church chose the creed as our profession of faith, not a set of laws.

As Pope Benedict,  explained in his book, Introduction to Christianity, belief is the core foundation of our faith. Unlike Judaism where you express your faith by following the Law, or the world religions of the time, doing certain rituals, whether you believe in them or not, is all that matters.

For Christians, doing is secondary, belief comes first since it is our belief than enables us to transcend the visible to see the invisible, to see God, creator of all things visible and invisible.

Yet when Jesus says believe in me, there are so many of us are like Peppermint Patty, Snoopy and Lucy, and we carry on doing everything as usual, carefully relying on tangible and concrete ways of expressing our faith by following the Law and doing certain rituals.

But the Church, places the Creed, at the centre of the Mass. In the same way Jesus’ statement of belief is at the centre of the gospel today, the Creed, which we pray at every Sunday Mass (except during Covid) or at the beginning of the rosary,  is placed first to remind us that our faith is more than following the Law or doing specific rituals. It is about our faith in Jesus Christ, who came down from heaven as living bread for us.  

Our Church Fathers when writing the Creed, they left out the do’s and don’ts, not because the Law and Rituals are not important but rather as Saint Paul speaks about in the second reading, those who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God, will seek to imitate God, desiring to live in love, as Christ loves us; it is this belief in Christ that will remove.  “all bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, reviling, and malice. It is our belief  in Christ that will move us to be kind to and one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.”

It is belief in Jesus, who came down from heaven as living bread, that we profess each time we say,  “Amen” as we receive him in the Eucharist  and the promise of eternal life.