Mary as Mother

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Jesus gave Mary as Mother to mankind in the person of the Apostle John at Calvary. While we have seen great periods in the History of the Church when Mary was loved and honored all over the world, it is sad to see in the world today, not only less devotion but more indifference and worse, dishonor being given to her. Members are less like the Holy Family of Nazareth and more like the relatives of Jesus who did not believe in Him. Many members of the Catholic Church, have become more and more secular in my lifetime.

Let me quote from a Servant of God who lived through Vatican II and saw both the hope and also the dangers in the world:

…The state is only the sum of the individual lives, so what heights can it be expected to reach? A danger and a pain to themselves, what are the nations offering to the world at large but a bit of their own turmoil?

But suppose that into the community there enters a force which spreads like a contagion from one to another, and which makes the ideas of self-sacrifice, mutual love, and idealism pleasing to the individual! What a change is effected! The grievous sores heal up, and life is lived on a different level. Suppose a nation were to arise which built its life on lofty standards, and held up to the world the example of a whole people putting its faith into practice, and hence as a matter of course, solving its problems. Who can doubt that such a nation would be a shining light to the world, so that the world would come to sit at its feet for the purpose of learning.

… This idealism, being rooted in religion, is not a mere sentiment. It makes the individual think in terms of service, it elicits great sacrifices, it reaches heights of heroism, and it does not evaporate.

Why? The reason lies in the motive. Power must have a source. …Jesus and Mary were citizens of Nazareth. They loved that town and their country with a religious devotion, for to the Jews faith and fatherland were so divinely intertwined as to be but one. Jesus and Mary lived the common life of their locality with perfection. Every person and thing there was an object of deepest interest to them. It would be impossible to conceive them as indifferent or neglectful in any respect.

Today the world is their country and each place is their Nazareth. In a baptised community they are bound more intensely to the people than they were to their own blood-kindred. But their love has now to issue through the Mystical Body. If its members exert themselves in this spirit to serve the place in which they live Jesus and Mary will move through that place shedding their beneficial influences not only on souls but on the surroundings. There will be material betterment; problems will shrink. Nor is true betterment to be gained from any other source… (Underlining is mine for emphasis)

I shortened the quote and left out the sentences which mentioned the Legion of Mary since, I believe Servant of God Frank Duff was writing for the Catholics of the world. The Legion is the largest lay apostolate worldwide. This passage is taken from the Legion Handbook which can be read online HERE