Welcome to our Fall 2014 WOW session! I am very excited that we will, again, be studying Mary and learning from her. Last year, we studied and learned more about Our Lady of Sorrows and were truly blessed by what Mary has to teach us about suffering. I want to take it to the next level this semester. I believe that God is calling us to MODEL ourselves after Mary, Our Mother. He wants us, as women especially, to be “little Marys” walking around this side of heaven, so that we may bring greater glory to Him.
So these next 10 weeks we are getting SERIOUS about growing in virtue, and in particular, the virtues of Mary. I think that the discussion of virtue has been lost in the modern world. We place so much emphasis on “feelings” and trying to find our purpose in life. That’s all great, but we need to also focus on growing in virtue, because that is the WORK of holiness. The Catechism tells us that ”Virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good”(1833). We will be looking to Mary to help us create habits in our life that will help us to choose to do good. I sure do need this focus!
This is what the bishops from the Second Vatican Council (a large gathering of all bishops and the pope in the 1960’s) have to say about Mary as our Model of virtues: ”But while in the most holy Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she is without spot or wrinkle, the followers of Christ still strive to increase in holiness by conquering sin. And so they turn their eyes to Mary who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues. Piously meditating on her and contemplating her in the light of the Word made man, the Church becomes more like her (Mary)...and continually progresses in faith, hope and charity, seeking and doing the will of God in all things” (Lumen Gentium 65)
This is what we are going to do over the next 10 weeks. We are going to meditate and contemplate Mary’s virtues in light of the Word of God. We will take scripture verses that show us about Mary, and we will draw out specific virtues from her life. We will also examine other scripture verses that pertain to the given virtue we are studying that week. So, we are studying the virtues of Mary, but we are also studying the virtues in general.
Why should we study the virtues of Mary, and not, say, for example, St. Paul, or any of the other great saints? First off, Mary is the EMBODIMENT of all virtues. We are focusing on specific virtues, but our list is not exhaustive. Second, Mary has a unique capability that no other human has. It is the ability, given to her by her Son, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, to SHARE WITH US these virtues. When we sincerely ask Mary to help us grow in these virtues, she WILL ANSWER OUR PRAYER. These virtues are SO GOOD, and us growing in these virtues will advance the mission of her Son, that she cannot deny us the request. Of course, we cannot ask once for these virtues and expect them to magically, overnight, have the perfect grasp of them. We have to participate with the grace that Mother wants to pour into our hearts.
Let me put it this way: The Angel himself said Mary was, “full of grace”. We can also say she is full of virtue, since all virtue first starts from grace born in our hearts. Because she is a “treasury” of virtues, we can say, she can SHARE these virtues (and grace) with us. The SOURCE of all grace is Christ and Mary is the DISPENSER of all grace. Jesus did the work of salvation, and Mary communicates this salvation to us. And part of our journey to salvation, to heaven, is gaining virtue.
There are have been times where I am tempted to think that Mary is “too perfect” and that I could NEVER be like her, especially since she is without sin. Listen to this, though: "Mary is the refuge of sinners. She knows what sin is not by the experience of its falls, not by tasting its bitter regrets, but by seeing what it did to her Divine Son." Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Mary does not want us to be a slave to sin. She has SEEN, IN THE FLESH, what sin does. It causes death. She is SO CONCERNED with the state of our soul, she does not want to see us experience a spiritual death, and ultimately, lose heaven. VIRTUES CONQUER SIN and MARY CONQUERS SIN . Put the two together, and we are on the path to sainthood!
In the “33 Days to Morning Glory”, we learn that Mother Teresa would often pray, “Mary, lend me your heart”. Well, the way I see it, these next 10 weeks, OUR main prayer will be, “Mary, lend me your VIRTUES.” Last week, I was trying to put Clara to sleep. She was fighting and not going to sleep easily, and I was getting very frustrated. I mean, serious anger here. I was ready to punch a wall! After going back and forth to her room, putting her down in the crib, listening to her cry, picking her up, rocking her, with no success, I just about lost it. I broke down crying. In that moment, thanks be to God’s grace, I started praying to Mary. I told her, “Ok, I cannot mother Clara right now. You, Momma, CAN Mother her better than I can. Please, take over for me. I am going to go back in there, but I want it to be YOU Momma who calms her with your gentleness.” I went back in the room, still fuming at the ears basically, and tried again. I was still mad. But I just kept talking to Mary through it. I kept repeating, “Momma Mary, take over. Mother Clara.” And Clara fell asleep.
Let’s now focus on our first virtue of Mary: Ardent Charity. What is charity? I think when a lot of us first think of “charity” we think of giving money or our time away to an organization. But, in the sense of which we are speaking today, it goes much deeper. Charity, in light of our faith, is synonymous with love. The Catechism says, “Charity is the virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God (1822). ”Charity, or love for God and for others, should be the driving force between ALL the virtues.
Mark 12:30-31 says, “One of the scribes,i when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’j The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”k
Mary is really quite the epitome of this verse from Jesus. As we examine Mary over the next few weeks, we will see that she, ultimately, is the best disciple of Jesus. She loves God above all things and she loves US above all things. Jesus later says, “No greater love is there than this: that man should lay down his life for his neighbor”. Mary, in suffering with her Son, took on His mission, and LAID DOWN HER LIFE FOR US AND OUR SALVATION. She laid down HER SON’S LIFE for us.
Now, what makes Mary’s virtue of charity any different from anyone elses? Let’s look at the verb “ardent”. As a theology student, I love words and language. Webster’s Dictionary defines “Ardent” as “ characterized by warmth of feeling typically expressed in eager zealous support or activity; fiery, hot; shining, glowing.”
So, Mary’s love for God and for us can be characterized as “zealous”, “fiery”, “shining”. Are those some of the first words you would use to describe Mary? I think a lot of us have this image of Mary as “gentle” and “refined”, maybe even sort of soft spoken? I do think Mary very well could exhibit those characteristics. She is very gentle. A gentle Mother. But there are two examples of Mary from scripture that I think pertain to this.
Luke 1:39-47 says, “During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.1When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,s cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.t And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord* should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed* that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”u And Mary said:*“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;w my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”
Mary went “in haste”, or in other words, in a hurry to see Elizabeth who was very pregnant. Scripture goes on to tells us that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months to help her out. Those words “in haste” really do speak to my heart. She was IN A HURRY to serve her cousin Elizabeth. Do I go “in haste” to serve my loved ones? Or do I go “in haste” to help the homeless or the poor? It really is quite an examination of our heart to think of this. And, really, because she was carrying Jesus, her “charity” toward Elizabeth was also “shining” as she brought Elizabeth so much joy. “How is it that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Our love for God should shine AS we are loving and charitable toward others.
Another example of Mary’s charity is “The Presentation” account: “When the days were completed for their purification* according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,h just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,”i and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord” (Luke 22:22-24).
Mary is “presenting” the most precious gift she has, her son, to the Father. She is simply following the commandments of the Jewish tradition and she brings the two pigeons as a sacrifice to God. It’s not much, but it’s the best she can give him. She follows the commandments and gives her best gifts she possesses to God. In John 15:9-13 Jesus says, “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love .fIf you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.g “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.h This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.i * No one has greater love than this,j to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” I could meditate on the scripture for so long! It says so much. Being able to “abide in Jesus’ love” has to do with keeping the commandments. Keeping the commandments is a FORM OF CHARITY. Following the commandments, OUT OF LOVE FOR GOD, will ensure that we “abide” in God’s love.
The Catechism says again, “The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God. He no longer stands before God as a slave, in servile fear, or as a mercenary looking for wages, but as a son responding to the love of him who "first loved us": If we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of slaves. If we pursue the enticement of wages, . . . we resemble mercenaries. Finally if we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love for him who commands . . . we are in the position of children.” The “Moral life” = doing what is good, doing the right thing; following the commandments. If that is animated by “charity” and love, then we are in the position of children in relation to God. Have you ever thought of following the commandments, or teachings of the Church, as a way to show God how much you love Him? I really think this is a radical way of thinking!
So, this week, let’s us focus on growing in ARDENT charity. I find a lot of hope in looking to Mary as an example of the virtues. From an objective viewpoint, Mary was just a simple girl with no extraordinary background. She even said herself, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord”. Often times, I feel like a “handmaid” to my children, my house, my husband, my job. But so much of Mary’s life was hidden, not known. I KNOW you can relate to that feeling, no matter what state in life you are in.
Yet, it was not the outward circumstances that makes Mary great. It was not her accomplishments. It was her virtues, which are a reflection of her heart. I have a simple heart, too, and I can unite it to Mary, and I can be a daughter who is pleasing to the Father. With Mary’s help, she can share her virtues with me, and I CAN live a life that is pleasing to the Father, I CAN conquer sin through her Son, and I CAN abide in His love throughout my days. Let us pray: Mother Mary, Queen of Virtues, pray for us.
