from Pope St. John Paul II: "Mary's Relationship to the Trinity", General Audience, January 5, 1996
Reflection:
St. Paul writes to the Galatians saying
God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.This really emphasizes Mary as mother and how we're adopted children of God. Because Mary herself is Christ's mother, I can look to her as a mother since I'm an adopted son of God. It's comforting to know that, as St. Paul writes,
through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.It is comforting because there's an inheritance waiting. Not something of great wealth in the material sense, but something even better in the spiritual sense.
Pope St. John Paul II reflects that
Mary is the way that leads to Christ: indeed, she who "at the message of the angel received the Word of God in her heart and in her body" shows us how to receive into our lives the Son come down from heaven, teaching us to make Jesus the center and the supreme "law" of our existence.I can't think of any human person who knew Christ more intimately than His mother. And from what I know from being close to her already is that she's all about Him. She always points to Him. I can look to her example on how to receive Christ more fully just as she received Him fully in the Incarnation. When He was in her womb, Christ was literally at her center! Is Christ at the center of my life? When I receive the Eucharist, do I remember that Christ is and should be at my center, as He literally is at my center?
Response:
I should remember that reflection on how Mary kept Christ at the center of her life and pause to think about that throughout my day.
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
- JD
I am using Fr. Brian McMaster's Totus Tuus to prepare for Total Consecration
