Mary Was There

Jesus called her mother and like all good mother's she was there at every moment of his earthly life and ministry.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - Jesus called her "mother" and like all good mother's she was there at every moment of his earthly life and ministry. Mother Mary was there at the Incarnation, Birth, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of God Incarnate.

She was there throughout the often called "hidden years" in Nazareth. In the life of the Redeemer of the whole world, Mary's beloved Son, every word and every act was redemptive, revealing as it does the very life of God, the mystery of heaven touching earth, and the deeper purpose of our own lives.

She was there when He stretched out His Loving Arms and embraced the whole world, re-creating it anew. There, when blood and water flowed from His wounded side and the Church was born. There where heaven was rejoined to earth and earth opened upward toward heaven. She was there, given to the beloved disciple and to everyone of us who now call her mother. She was there, when the tomb was found empty and she knew His promise was true.

She was there in all of those moments whose impact is timeless. They are still as filled with the invitation of grace today as they were when they first occurred. They invite us, through their record in the Sacred Scriptures and the invitation of the Holy Spirit, into them.

She was there on the great day of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. She was there as the first evangelizer and disciple who gave the first Christian testimony to her cousin, Elizabeth, and won the first convert "in utero" in the person of John the Baptist. This event, traditionally called "The Visitation," is recorded in the Gospel of St. Luke (Luke l: 39-45).

This encounter immediately follows the visit of the Angel Gabriel to Mary (Luke 1:6-38) and is one of the fruits of her humble obedient response. That response was not a one time reaction. It was the fruit of a life of surrender and stretched forward to characterize her life. The Prayer and the life of Mary is about being more than doing. It is about response.It is about surrendered love, to her Beloved Son.

Mary was there.

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