Explanation
of Prayer Card 2011 – Our Lady of the Way
Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,
Last Saturday, on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, we gave out prayer cards as was our custom. This year being our Parish Jubilee Year, we invite you to pray for our Parish by seeking the intercession of Our Lady of the Way. On the prayer card, you will find familiar images of our own Santa Maria della Strada chapel.
Santa Maria della Strada is the Italian for Our Lady of the Street
or of the Way. She is the patroness of our Jesuit Pastors, who in these 50
years have given us the spiritual anchor to be Christ’s Body today. Our prayer printed
against a backdrop of the Jesuits’ logo and our Parish crest reminds us of
this.
Recently, Fr. Simon reminded us that we are a pilgrim people on a
journey. Our Lady of the Way is sometimes used to symbolise poverty, the
homeless, etc. – those on the road or street. By asking her guidance and
prayers, may we be reminded always that we, too, are on the road, journeying to
our heavenly home. This journey is symbolised by the card background that
gradually lightens upwards.
The words “Our Lady of the Way, lead us to Jesus, The Way” set
against a dark background denotes our invocation as sinners in the world,
asking for her help.
The picture of Our Lady of the Way bridges us to Jesus Christ, shown
as the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle at the upper portion of the card.
As we tread through a world darkened by evil and sin, Our Lady of
the Way lights up our path to Jesus, the only Way to the Father, in Whom rests
our final destiny.
We hope that the prayer card will remind us to always strive to live
as Church in faithfulness to Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
Mary and the Church
This leads us into our theme for sharing this year – Mary and the Church. Mary is “of
the Way” and not “the Way”, because Jesus is the only Way that
will lead us to God our Father. Our devotion to Mary is never an end in itself,
but to bring us closer to Jesus. This explains the motto, “To Jesus Through
Mary”.
However, devotion to Mary has often drawn scandalous accusations,
and doubts and suspicion from the ignorant. This could be partly because we,
the devotees, give wrong impressions to others by exaggerated acts of devotion,
or are wrongly oriented in our veneration of our Blessed Mother. Understanding
more about Mary’s relation to us, the Church, may explain why the Church
upholds devotion to Mary since its infancy, and help us adopt the right
attitude and render her true devotion according to God’s will.
So who is Mary to the Church?
She is the Mother of God because her Son, Jesus Christ, is fully God
and fully man. But Mary is not a goddess. She is fully human as we are. Thus,
Mary is a member of the Church. Her salvific influence on us flows from the
superabundance of Christ’s merits, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on
it and draws all its power from it, as stated in the document Lumen Gentium
(LG) (LG, #60). Since we are the Body of Christ, Mary, the Mother of Christ, is
also our Mother. The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarised, “she is
mother wherever he is Saviour and head of the Mystical Body” (CCC, #973). And
so, Mary is the Mother of the Church.
Mary is also the Type, or the figure, of the Church in the order of faith, charity and
perfect union with Christ (LG, #63), as St. Ambrose
taught. The Church looks to her as the model of virtues (LG, #65).
In future sharings, we will see what these roles of Mary mean to us.
Hopefully then, our acts of piety and devotion would be more rightly ordered so
as to give proper honour to God and Our Lady. Meanwhile, remembering that she
is our Mother is enough to justify our devotion to her. As the Type of the
Church, she is the perfect example for us. And as Christ’s Mother, she would be
the best person to mould us into Christ Himself. That is why, in our Jubilee
Year of grace, to live as Church in faithfulness to Christ, we ask Our Lady to
lead us to Jesus, the only Way, the supreme Truth and Life itself.
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