In this
sharing on Mary as model of
hope for the Church, we are reminded in the first letter of Peter to “Reverence
the Lord Christ in your hearts and always have your answer ready for people who
ask you the reason for the hope that you all have.” (1 Pet 3:15) In listening
to the angel's message, the Virgin first directs her hope to the kingdom
without end, which Jesus had been sent to establish. (John Paul II, Mary: Model of Faith,
Hope and Charity)
Standing
at the foot of the Cross, Mary’s Heart was united to the sufferings of the
Heart of Jesus. Her Heart was mystically pierced by the same sword that pierced
Jesus’ Heart. This was the most painful time for Mary; yet, by standing at the
foot of the Cross, Mary revealed the strength and integrity of her Heart, the
undivided love for God and hope for humanity, and the faithfulness to her
mission. Standing at the foot of the Cross, she showed us that her Heart, being
immaculate and never touched by either darkness or sin, could not be touched by
evil in the darkest and most painful hour of the Passion and death of her Son. Mary
kept her interior freedom as a child of God because she did not allow herself
to be overcome by fear, despair or hatred, always the servant of the Lord and
His plan. At the side of her Son, she is the most perfect image of freedom and
of the liberation of humanity and of the universe. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith,
Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium; John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater).
Three
pillars sustained Mary's Heart at the foot of the Cross: her unshakeable faith,
her unfailing hope, and her profound sacrificial love. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith,
Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium)
Hope is
the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and
eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's
promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of
the grace of the Holy Spirit. (CCC 1817)
It is
on Calvary that we contemplate how far these virtues can move our hearts to be
faithful to Christ in the most difficult moments. If we nourish these virtues
we will be capable of doing what our Mother did at Calvary: stand at the foot
of the Cross. From Mary we learn to live in faith, hope and love at the foot of
our own crosses. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for
the Third Millennium)
These
three virtues are necessary to stem the tide of crises we face in difficult
times: a
crisis of faith, a crisis of hope and a crisis of love. They come from the
direct influence of Satan in the world and in hearts. If there is a denial of
the existence of God and His truth, there certainly will be a denial of His
promises of eternal life and the eternal consequences for those who live in
grace or in sin. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for
the Third Millennium)
The
greatest manifestation of the crisis of hope is the minimizing or even a
forgetting of the realities of eternal life, leading many to live only for the
pleasures of this world; to develop a materialistic way of life; to seek
self-fulfillment only in the things of this world; and to avoid any kind of
suffering which interferes with the idol and obsession of happiness. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium)
Mary
not only teaches us to stand firm in the midst of the storm by the power of the
three virtues but she comes to defend us with her maternal
presence and leads us through the desert of tribulation. Just as the column of
cloud during the day and the column of fire during the night preceded the
Israelites in the desert to show them the way and never left its place in front
of the people (Ex 13, 21-22), Virgin Mary, as the “New Column” described in the
dream of St. John Bosco, goes before us in these times of confusion and battle,
leading us safely to the Heart of her Son and to His Church. She is also the Mother of Hope for the Church. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith,
Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium)
Our
true fulfillment is in loving, which requires our self-denial and the taking up
of our cross and following the Lord. The Beatitudes invite us and teach us the
way to oppose the invitations of this world and to obtain abundant life now and
in eternity. (Mother Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for
the Third Millennium)
Like
Mary at the foot of the cross, let us empty ourselves of all that is passing,
and not be afraid to suffer what is needed for our purification. To repair for
the crisis of hope and for the materialistic attitude of our contemporary age,
we should pray and meditate on the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. By
contemplating the eternal rewards promised for our fidelity to the will of God,
even in the midst of suffering, we are called – and receive the graces – to grow
in “hope against all hope.” (Mother
Adela, Mary, Model of Faith, Hope and
Charity for the Third Millennium; 2 Cor 4:16-18).
References:
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
John Paul II, Mary:
Model of Faith, Hope and Charity: http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2bvm61.htm
John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater
Mother Adela, SCTJM Foundress, Mary,
Model of Faith, Hope and Charity for the Third Millennium: http://www.piercedhearts.org/mother_adela/mary_faith_hope_charity.htm
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