The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to meditate on the role of Mary as Mother to the Body of Christ.
Path to the Basilica
The reading from the Book of Genesis establishes the source of enmity between evil and the woman.
* [3:15] They will strike…at their heel: the antecedent for “they” and “their” is the collective noun “offspring,” i.e., all the descendants of the woman. Christian tradition has seen in this passage, however, more than unending hostility between snakes and human beings. The snake was identified with the devil (Wis 2:24; Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9; 20:2), whose eventual defeat seemed implied in the verse. Because “the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8), the passage was understood as the first promise of a redeemer for fallen humankind, the protoevangelium. Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. A.D. 130–200), in his Against Heresies 5.21.1, followed by several other Fathers of the Church, interpreted the verse as referring to Christ, and cited Gal 3:19 and 4:4 to support the reference. Another interpretive translation is ipsa, “she,” and is reflected in Jerome’s Vulgate. “She” was thought to refer to Mary, the mother of the messiah. In Christian art Mary is sometimes depicted with her foot on the head of the serpent.1
Psalm 87 praises the joy of living in Zion.
* [Psalm 87] A song of Zion, like Ps 46; 48; 76; 132. * [87:2] The gates: the city itself, a common Hebrew idiom. * [87:5–6] The bond between the exile and the holy city was so strong as to override the exile’s citizenship of lesser cities.2
The Gospel of John describes Jesus dialogue with the Beloved Disciple ‘Woman, here is your son.’
* [19:26–27] This scene has been interpreted literally, of Jesus’ concern for his mother; and symbolically, e.g., in the light of the Cana story in Jn 2 (the presence of the mother of Jesus, the address woman, and the mention of the hour) and of the upper room in Jn 13 (the presence of the beloved disciple; the hour). Now that the hour has come (Jn 19:28), Mary (a symbol of the church?) is given a role as the mother of Christians (personified by the beloved disciple); or, as a representative of those seeking salvation, she is supported by the disciple who interprets Jesus’ revelation; or Jewish and Gentile Christianity (or Israel and the Christian community) are reconciled.3
Cindy Costanzo comments that Mary is an inspiration for so many women (past and present) who have demonstrated a level of faith that is extraordinary.
Women accept impossible jobs, take significant risks, are marginalized, and overcome insurmountable barriers, yet they achieve the impossible. Women have the most amazing gifts, one of which is supporting each other. This is described so well in The Visitation. After accepting the invitation to bear the Son of God, Mary visits Elizabeth, her older cousin who is also with child. Women supporting women. So today, let’s give honor to our Holy Mother Mary. Let’s celebrate the women in our life. Let’s work in partnership with the women in our lives. I know this will make a better world. God will guide us.4
The Word Among Us Meditation on John 19:25-34 comments that although her arrangement with John helped Mary, we can assume that Mary’s presence was, in turn, an even deeper blessing for John and all the disciples.
What parent doesn’t love to talk about his or her children? Maybe this was the first time the apostles had heard about Jesus’ birth and his early years, stories that eventually made their way into the Bible. But most important was the motherly love that Mary showed the apostles—the way she encouraged them in their mission and comforted them in the face of difficulties. Mary was the perfect mother, first to Jesus, then to John, and now to us. She is not some distant saint to be admired from afar. She is family. Her love for the Church—and for you—is intimate, pure, and stronger than any earthly love. What a comfort it is to know that she is guiding the Church, always leading us closer to Jesus! “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, your children!”5
Friar Jude Winkler looks at the evolution of the image of Mary crushing the serpent with her heel. The matrimonial symbolism in the Gospel has Mary become Mother of the Church with a mission to raise up children for Jesus. Friar Jude notes the Church is Jesus next of kin with Mary in the role of Mother of the Church.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Peter, Paul and John are looking for a corporate, communal, participatory image of what’s really happening, because the individual cannot carry such glory and greatness—and neither can the individual bear such universal suffering and sadness.
On my own, I don’t know how to believe that I am a child or heir of God. It is being together in our wholeness, with the entire body of Christ, that makes it somehow easier to believe that we are beautiful. We each have our own little part of the beauty, our own gifts of the Spirit, as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul says that the particular way “the Spirit is given to each person is for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7). Paul’s word for this is a “charism”—a gift that is given to each person not just for themselves, but to build up the community and even society. Since we don’t have the full responsibility of putting it all together as individuals, we can shed the false theology of perfectionism. All we have to do is discover our own gift, even if it is just one thing, and use it for the good of all.6
In the Body of Christ, we have a corporate communal relationship linked to Mary as Mother.
References
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