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In the Mystery of the Presentation, Mary
officially gives her Son, the Son of God,
as the price of ransom, the pledge of
grace and of glory, and the Lamb Who
will bear the sins of the world. Mary
assumes her role as Mediatrix. She gives
herself as Mother, teacher, advocate and
dispenser of the treasures of her Son.
Mary pledges herself to serve humanity
in all these capacities with unceasing
charity.
God is calling us to follow Christ, to
compassionate Him and suffer with
Him for the sins of many. “Your own
soul a sword shall pierce.” Can we
drink this chalice? Jesus spent 30 years
in voluntary seclusion. Jesus obeyed. His
hour had not yet come; it was Mary’s
hour. The Child-God was confided to
the school of Mary. He was her Pupil,
not to dispel His ignorance, but for our
sakes, that we might be enlightened.
During this period, Mary prepared
Jesus for His mission.
This hidden life is vital to all who wish
to take a fruitful part in Catholic Action.
Neither Mary nor Jesus considered the
apostolate more important than the
duties of their state in life. Our pride
would like to foresee everything,
domineer over everyone, regulate
everything and do everything. No, no!
We must abandon ourselves to the
Will of God. With our apostolic charity,
we mingle so much indiscretion, selflove
and vain eagerness for human
approbation, that we obscure the
action of grace. “He must increase and
I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
Hidden in The Life of The Church
The Blessed Virgin stands out in the
scene on Calvary, nearest to her Son,
and in a sense, alone with Him,
opposing the Prince of Darkness,
already conquered a hundred times!
Mary represents the Church; She is the
entire Church. Later on, millions of
faithful souls will comprise the Church;
but during the Passion, the Church was
hidden in Mary; it was, so to speak,
concealed in her maternal womb.
Through Mary, each of us was present
on Calvary; by the agency of Mary, we
were taking part in the eternal drama
of the Redemption. Mary alone, as
mother, in the name of all her unborn
children, offered the Ransom and
received the reward of Salvation.
Whatever the Church does today, She
only imitates and perpetuates, through
the Ages, the solemn act of the Mother
of God on Calvary. When Mary offered
her Son, She also offered herself; while
She immolated her own Child, She
likewise immolated herself.
The Mother of God will ever be Our
Lady of Sorrows. Holy Mother Church
which lives in Mary, is obligated through
her to walk the way of suffering. The
Mother of God was the living theology
of the Church before the Doctors had
formulated the first outlines of dogma.
Together, Mother and Son suffered;
together they died because they shared
the guilt of mankind and together they
won the definitive victory over Satan.
It is through the zeal of Apostles that
the Blood of Jesus Christ must be made
to flow abundantly over souls still