8/22/2014 - Friday of 20th week in Ordinary Time – The Queenship of Mary – Isaiah 9:1-6, Luke 1:26-38

      I just finished reading a book entitled Behold Your Mother: Priests Speak about Mary, edited by Stephen J Rossetti.   It talks about the special relationship we priests have with Mary, and it really touched my heart to read these reflections by different priests about how they see Mary in their lives and in their priesthood.  We have a lot of different days in the Church in which we honor Mary, but I thought that it would be nice to celebrate this special feast in honor of Mary today.   Mary is indeed  the mother of the King of Kings, so today we celebrate the Queenship of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth one week after we celebrated her Assumption into Heaven Body and Soul.  Pope Pius XII established the feast of the Queenship of Mary in 1954, but like most doctrines and dogma declared about Mary, the faithful for centuries had believed this before it was officially declared so by the Church. 

     Isaiah boldly proclaims in the first reading: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”   For us Christians, we see Christ as a light shining in the darkness.  We see Mary doing all she can through her motherly love for us to guide us to that light and to help us grow ever closer to her Son. In the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel appears to Mary with a greeting of Good News:  Greetings, favored one!  The Lord is with you!   The Lord was with Mary in a special way in the manner she consented to his will to be the Mother of our Lord. Through the lens of our faith, we see how special Mary was in the eyes of God for this task.  We as Mary’s adopted sons and daughters honor her today as our Queen.

     Just 2 days ago, we celebrated the Memorial of St Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor of the Church.  Bernard had a great devotion to Mary and his spiritual writings on Mary still have a profound resonance in our modern world.  I will close with some of his thoughts: “Whoever you are that perceive yourself during this mortal existence to be rather drifting in treacherous waters, at the mercy of the winds and the waves, than walking on firm ground, turn not away your eyes from the splendor of this guiding star, unless thou wish to be submerged by the storm. Look at the star, call upon Mary. With her for guide, you shall not go astray, while invoking her, you shall never lose heart if she walks before you, you shall not grow weary; if she shows you favor, you shall reach the goal.”