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pagan or disfigured by sin. Sadly,
mankind as a whole ignores the truth
of the necessity of cooperation through
suffering. Jesus asks of us what He
asked of His Mother - that we carry
with Him the weight of the sins of the
world and bear also the weight of
redemptive suffering.
Catholic Action does not imply only
reform of society; it is first of all a
reparation for the sins of society; for
one does not build upon sin, but on the
wood of the Cross! When we contemplate
Mary, who on Calvary comprised
the entire co-redemptive Church, who
endured the same sorrows as her Son,
one cannot conceive a Catholic Church
that would wish to save the world
without participating in the Passion
of Jesus. The Church must be suffering
with the Son. Like Mary, we should love
suffering for the unique reason that it
assimilates us to Jesus Crucified. The
redemption of souls does not result
from our efforts or suffering, but from
the Passion of Christ.
THE BIRTH OF THE CHURCH
The Church which had been begotten
by Mary only, so to speak, is born as a
child from the womb of the Mother of
Jesus. At Bethlehem, Mary gave birth
to the mortal Body of the Son of God; on
Calvary, She brought forth His Mystical
Body, the Church. From the height of
the Cross, shortly before His death, Christ,
performed that miracle which was for
Him, even then, like a resurrection of
His Body. Two-fold in effect, His miracle
operated both in Mary and in St. John:
in Mary, it extended her maternity to all
men redeemed by Jesus; simultaneously,
it made St. John the first child of the
Church; the child who would succeed
Jesus Christ Himself. From this time
forward, the Church began to have a
distinct existence: John, the spiritual
child; Mary, the Mother of that child.
As Jesus was born of the Virgin by the
power of the Holy Ghost, so the Church,
too, was born of the Virgin through
the power of the Holy Spirit. This is a
fact; it is not colorful writing, poetry
or symbolism. Expiring on the Cross,
Jesus completed His divine work by
His last creation, more important than
the preceding ones. The sonship of
which Jesus spoke was not according
to the flesh. On Calvary, the Church took
a concrete form in the order of grace,
that of a child of the Mother of God.
“Mother, behold thy son!”
“Son, behold thy Mother!”
The devil recoiled in defeat and was
sealed in his doom at these words. The
children of Mary would crush his head.
Principalities and Powers were despoiled
and taken captive by the Conquerors.
With the spiritual birth of the Church
in the person of Saint John, the mystical
life of Christ began. While awaiting the
rapid and prodigious extension of the
Church in the world, Mary sowed in men
the seed of faith in the Resurrection;
She gathered the disciples together
in the Cenacle, after the Ascension;
She taught them the meaning of the
Eucharist, She prepared them to receive
the Holy Spirit; this tremendous work
was a prelude to her eternal mediation!