Mother as Tabernacle
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or have no compassion for the child of her womb?” (Isaiah 49:15)
Can you imagine a woman who is just like any loving mother, except completely sinless? Can you imagine a woman so radiantly humble, so sweetly selfless, so perfectly pious? Is there any way for us to imitate such loveliness, despite our wretched inclination to sin? As the mother of Jesus, the daughter of the Father, and the spouse of the Holy Spirit, Mary was the first to learn the secret to heavenly fulfillment: Virginal emptiness.
A Catholic writer named Caryll Houselander explains Mary’s virginity in this way:
“That virginal quality which, for want of a better word, I call emptiness is … not a formless emptiness, a void without meaning. On the contrary, it has a shape, a form given to it by the purpose for which it is intended. … It is emptiness like that of the bird’s nest, built in a round, warm ring to receive the little bird.”
When the Angel Gabriel invited Mary to be the Mother of God, she did not ask, “How can I do that?!” She already knew that she could do nothing apart from God. Rather, she accepted God’s call, and allowed the Holy Spirit to join to her so intimately that she conceived His Son.
The mystery of the feminine body is that it inherently knows how to “grow” a person within it; it doesn’t take conscious thought to produce a head, tiny hands, and functioning organs. Jesus, once accepted and conceived in the Virgin’s womb, self-directed His own growth. He drew on the organic nutrients found in His mother’s body. He benefited from what she consumed, He was guarded from what she avoided; He basked in her body. Mary had little control over Jesus’ gestation, but that does not mean that she played a “passive” role in the story of Salvation—far from it!
Mary gives us the prime example of how to love God, and how to live a Christian life. We too must empty ourselves of our pride, anxiety and vice. We too must say “yes” to God’s will by inviting Him into our bodies as we receive Him in the Eucharist. We too must allow Jesus to use our time, energy, and gifts that He may grow within us. And just as a pregnant mother avoids harsh chemicals that would harm her pre-born child, we should be mindful of the way we treat our bodies, the thoughts we entertain, and the habits we develop.
Throughout this month dedicated to mothers, let us ask the world’s greatest Mother to teach us how to nurture the Child Jesus, Who abides in each of us.
Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress
This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→
Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk
(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→
My Name is Bernadette
April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→
Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy
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Divine Mercy Sunday – An Echo of Every Mass
Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’… ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:18)). Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and as we celebrate the end of the Easter Octave, we contemplate the wounded side of our Saviour, the Church’s source of life. On Good Friday in the[…]Continue reading→
First Holy Communion: Sermon from May 16, 1943
Here is a sermon from the good old days by +Rev. Msgr. Vincent Nicholas Foy (August 14, 1915 – March 13, 2017), from 1943. Readers may recall that Pope Saint Pius X, by the decree Quam Singulari in 1910, lowered the customary age of reception of Holy Communion – after the rigours of the plague[…]Continue reading→
In the Glorious Light of Easter, Alleluia!
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory (Col. 3:3-4). The Resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour[…]Continue reading→
An Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday
The time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is one of waiting, in silence, as the world wonders – anticipates – what will happen, after the death of Christ. We re-live this time each year in the anamnesis of our liturgy, and in turn look forward to the glorious re-creation of all things at the[…]Continue reading→
Europe’s Long Descent
(As we meditate on this day on Christ’s burial, and His descent into hell, it is fitting to ponder here with contributor Peter Marcus how the world seems to be heading there as well. The difference is that, although God cannot ‘redeem’ hell, nor those therein, He can and did redeem the world. There is[…]Continue reading→
Pope Saint John Paul II’s First Good Friday Homily
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS AT THE COLOSSEUM Good Friday, 13 April 1979 When we make the Way of the Cross from one station to the next, in spirit we are always at the spot wherethis journey had its “historical” place: where it[…]Continue reading→