It's a story that some sisters were
praying in church and a mother and her
child came in and when the child saw the
sisters he asked his mother, are they
the Blessed Virgin Mary? Are they the
Blessed Virgin Mary? Well, they say
religious life is an approximation of
Mary's self-dedication to God and it's
kind of contained in this gospel that
the highest form of human relationship,
the highest form of human friendship, is
marriage. But in heaven there is no
marriage because we will be totally
occupied with God like the angels.
Once death is destroyed they'll be a
greater
love than any love that we can
experience below because it will be this
purest of love. And religious life is
kind of a witness to that greater love,
the love of heaven. And we say
religious life, celibacy, virginity is an
emptiness for God. It's not a
handicap but it's a radical
dispossession of this world, not a
handicap but a catalyst for moving
forward spiritually. Nowhere is this
radical dispossession more clear than in
the Blessed Virgin Mary. It says
Mary loved God on earth the way the
angels and saints love God in heaven.
So Mary loved God on earth the way the
angels and saints love God in heaven.
And because she loved God on earth the
way the angels and saints love God in
heaven, it's like heaven came down to
earth. Not only God became man but
the the truth beauty and goodness of
heaven come down to earth. Father
Paton in one of his meditations on the
Rosary and the mystery of the
Annunciation says that Mary loved God unto
virginity. That's how she became the mother of God, because that virginity is
fruitful spiritually. That she was giving up anything never even occurred to her.
And saying this is the intimacy that God holds out for us in this life, but
above all in heaven. And again in the person of Mary we can see the
fruitfulness of the gift. They say in the 11th 12th centuries the Middle Ages
monasteries were not only religious centers but they were cultural and
intellectual centers as well, from there grew out universities, architecture
cathedrals.
Art flourished during those times.
And it was
a great time of convergence of truth, beauty, and goodness.
Truth meaning like education, flourished virtues, knowledge,
beauty, architecture, the cathedrals, chartes.
Many of the magnificent cathedrals
were built during those times.
Goodness, conversions took place,
and the lives of the saints grew out of that religious life.
All those cathedrals were named after the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mary is the catalyst for the conversion of the world.
There's a kind of a principle in the church that says,
as goes the church, so goes the world.
When the church is strong.
and flourishing, the world is good.
Because the church is the yeast, the leaven in the world.
But when the church goes flat, the world suffers.
Because as goes the church, so goes the world.
There's a corollary to that principle that says,
as goes devotion to Mary, so goes the church.
So when devotion to Mary is true and strong,
the church flourishes.
But when it's superficial, again, the world goes flat.
The world goes bad.
So devotion to Mary brings about the flourishing of the church,
a flourishing of truth, beauty, and goodness.
And it's kind of we look forward in the church
to a new age of Mary.
The devotions like the rosary, the scapula, miraculous medals
are a means to bring about.
Heaven down to earth, a new flourishing of truth, beauty,
and goodness in the world at Mary's intercession.
Again, devotion to Mary is the catalyst
for our transformation in Christ.
And ultimately, it's the catalyst
for the conversion of the world, for the triumph
of Mary's immaculate heart, the era of peace, which
is to come into the world.
During those Middle Ages lived St. Bernard.
St. Bernard is accredited with writing the Memorare.
And he also wrote of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
in dangers and anxieties, in doubt and need, think of Mary.
Call on her.
Let her never leave your lips.
Let her never depart from your heart.
And in order to obtain an answer to your prayers,
do not cease to imitate her life.
Following her, you shall not stray.
Invoking her, you shall not despair.
Thinking of her, you will not wander.
Upheld by her, you shall not fall.
Shielded by her, you have nothing more to fear.
Guided by her, you grow not weary.
Favored by her, you reach your goal.
There's that kind of axiom in the church that says,
to Jesus, through Mary, for the glory of God,
for the greater glory of God.
Mary is the most direct path to Christ.
And that always leads to human flourishing.
Like St. Irenaeus said, the glory of God is man fully alive.
To Jesus, through Mary, for the greater glory of God.
Okay, so turning to Mary will enable the world to flourish
in truth, knowledge, beauty, and in goodness,
in holiness of life.
Thank you.