Deacon Antonio: can we be like Mary?

June 15, 2012 / MariaNews.com

Deacon Antonio: can we be like Mary? 

By Deacon Antonio

At one time, “While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers (relatives) stood outside wanting to speak to him.  Someone told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside wanting to speak to you’, He replied to him, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’  Pointing to his disciples he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and my mother.’” (Mt 12:46-50)  The glory of Mary is that no one did the will of our Heavenly Father more perfectly than she did. On another occasion while Jesus was speaking, a woman cried out from the crowd, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you.  Jesus replied, “Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and obey it” (Lk 11: 27). Again, no one ever listened to the word of God more attentively and obeyed it more faithfully than Holy Mary.

November 21st is the feast day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  On that day in the second reading of the Divine Office, St. Augustine is quoted as saying that the greatness of Holy Mary is not derived from the fact that she conceived Jesus in her womb and gave him birth.  Her greatness comes because she conceived him first in her mind through faith.  What is conceived in the mind through faith is greater than what is conceived in the body. St. Louis Marie De Montfort says that no one ever had more faith than Holy Mary.  He says that she had more faith than all the Patriarchs, all the Prophets, and all the Saints and Apostles combined (True Devotion to Mary #214).

Hugo Rahner in his book, Our Lady and the Church, says that what can be said about Holy Mary can equally be said about the Church and about an individual soul.  I will give only one example:  We profess that Mary is the Mother of God because Jesus is a Divine person. But the Church can also be called the Mother of God because she gives birth to the members of the Mystical Body of Christ at the Baptismal font.  Our soul can also be considered the Mother of God when we consent to the birth of Jesus in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit.

To be like Mary we must also have and practice the virtues of Mary, especially the virtue of humility.  In the Magnificat sung by Mary after Elizabeth called her “blessed among women” and identified her as “the mother of my Lord”; Mary truthfully proclaims that all generations will call her blessed, but gives God all the credit by adding, “Because He who is mighty has done great things for me.” St. Louis Marie De Montfort says that Mary’s humility was so profound that she had no inclination on earth more powerful or more constant than that of hiding herself, from herself, as well as from every other creature, so as to be known to God only.  By emptying herself Mary was able to be “full of grace”.  By emptying herself of all her personal desires, she was able to be totally receptive to do all that God desired of her.  By her total surrender to God’s wishes she was able to become a cooperative instrument in the hands of God.

Yes, we can be like Blessed Mary, if we continually ask God for the grace to listen to his word and obey it, for the grace to do his will, for the grace to increase our faith, and for the grace to humbly empty ourselves and surrender to him.  Yes we can be like Mary.

Read more from Deacon Antonio here: http://marianews.com/wordpress/category/readersblog/deacon-antonio/

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Antonio is a retired deacon in the Archdiocese of Denver. Last September his wife, Maud, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of cancer. They were told that she didn’t have long to live. Since she is 83 years old, they decided to refuse the chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Last October they were sent to Hospice. They have now been there for 8 months. Antonio’s wife is not experiencing the symptoms of multiple myeloma other than the fact that she cannot move and has to stay in bed all the time. She is also in the last stages of Alzheimer’s disease. You prayers will be appreciated. Antonio spends the entire day with his wife.

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