The Queenship of Mary, our Model of Faith

Today we celebrate the Queenship of Mary, the mother of God Incarnate!  Mary, Queen of heaven and earth, describes herself in Luke 1:  38 as "the handmaid of the Lord," as God's servant.  When the angel Gabriel announced that she would "conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus" (Luke 1: 32), for he "will be great and will be called be Son of the Most High" (Luke 1: 32), Mary asks how this will come about. She is told that "the Holy Spirit will come upon you...and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God" (Luke 1: 35-36). Mary's response: "Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1: 37).

Truly, nothing is impossible with God. He choose a young peasant woman, a girl of 13 or14, to become mother of His Incarnate Son, sent to become one of us and to show us the depth of God's love for us.  Mary cooperates fully with God's plans for her and for us. Her obedience is complete, as was the obedience of her Son Jesus. Unlike the first man and first woman, Adam and Eve, of the Old Covenant,  this new Adam and new Eve, of the New Covenant, are one with God's plan for our salvation. Both now sit at the right had of the Father in heaven as King and Queen of humankind, of heaven and earth, interceding for us day and night, so that, we, too, will accept God's plan of salvation for us!

Are we aware of God's efforts to save us on a daily basis as we walk hand in hand with God  throughout the day in the challenging, the difficult and the awesome realities of each day?  Are we following the Lord's lead to reveal His Presence and/or discover His Presence in the events of the day, tasting a bit of eternity in the here and now?

Mary, our Queen-Mother and Intercessor

Today we celebrate the Queenship of Mary.  Mary is our Queen-mother. As such she brings our petitions to our Lord, intercedes for us, and has our best interests in mind as she approaches her son.  It was Mary at the wedding feast of Cana who noticed the distress of the wedding party as the wine ran out. She it was who brought the situation to the Lord and said to Him: Jesus, they have no wine. Though Jesus responded that His time has not yet come to reveal who He was by working a miracle on behalf of the distressed wedding party, Mary did not walk away by saying to the concerned persons: I’m sorry; there is nothing I can do.  Mary knew her Son and says to the attendants: “Do whatever He tells you.”  

Today, Mary, our Queen-mother, is the same!  She is our Queen-mother and the mother of her Son. She will intercede for us, as she did for the wedding party and the attendants at the wedding. They needed help and Mary knew it. In fact, she saw the need and alerted her Son even before the attendants approached her. So, too, today. She is alert to what is happening in your life and mine and takes her concern to Jesus always! She is not the kind of Queen who simply sits on a throne distant from us and detached from us. No, she is walking among us, paying attention to every detail of our lives and interceding with her Son accordingly. That is what a mother does for her children! Mary is no different than the most attentive and caring of mothers.