[Coffee with the Saints]: The First Among the Saints

This coffee with the saints is a series that I am doing to reflect on the lives of the saints; if you want to read more about it or see other saint posts, you can click the tab on the top of this page or click this link Saints. 

Mother of God. Virgin of virgins. Mother of Christ. Mother of the Church. Blessed Mother. Our Lady. Madonna. Blessed Virgin. The Sorrowful Mother. Our Lady of Peace. Queen Mother. The Immaculate Conception. 

Mary

Tomorrow, the last day of May, is the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Mother to her cousin Elizabeth (shown in a painting in that image above) and the last day of the month of May, a month dedicated to Mary. In my somewhat regular posts on saints so far we have talked about a couple of different saints, but I think it is about time that we stop and talk about the first and greatest among the saints, our Mother Mary. 

Now if I happen to have anyone who isn't Catholic reading this: welcome. This post is not, however, intended to be a defense of our devotion to her. I believe firmly that our devotion to her is what the Lord desires from us, which I think is firmly rooted in Scripture [Luke Chapter 1, John 19:26-27] as well as Tradition. Taking the fact that we can/should venerate her for granted, I want to briefly look to why she is so vital to the life of a Catholic. 

The feast of the Visitation is about Mary, who had newly found out that she was pregnant, running ("went with haste," more literally) off to the hill country to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was also pregnant. Elizabeth was much older than her, and Mary went to be with and to help her. In a way that broke every single tradition which was common at the time, Elizabeth was the one who greeted Mary with a song of exaltation and praise (if you want to know where Marian devotion comes from, read that part in Luke 1:39-56 and you'll have a good idea). What I want to focus here is on what happened right before Elizabeth, in verse 42, proclaims her song of excitement towards Mary: her son (John) leaps in her womb (cf. Luke 1:41). 

Why is this so important to us? I think it reminds us of the most important truth of Mary: when we are with Mary, we are in the presence of her Son, Jesus. John leaped within the womb of his mother because of his great joy at recognizing the presence of God within her womb; when we are the presence of Mary, the first tabernacle, we are very specifically brought into the presence of our God. Through Mary's 'yes,' the God of the Universe took on human flesh, and through this act He redeemed each of us and gave us our ability to achieve eternal life. 

(Meme credit: Catholic Memes)

Mary's choice to say 'yes' to God, Mary's choice to be a Mother who loved and cared for her Son, Mary's choice to give her life completely to God, Mary's continued prayer and reliance on God, and Mary's whole life are integral parts of Christ coming to earth and redeeming us. Is it true that without Mary, God could still have saved us? Of course. But that's NOT what He chose. God chose to come to earth and save all of humanity by relying on the 'yes' of a young girl when she was scared and unprepared, but still willing to trust in Him. 

So, if her 'yes' was good enough for Him to choose to honor her as His mother, then we should do the same. We should pray the rosary, we should ask for her intercession, and we should trust in her motherly care, all the time knowing that when we rely on her presence He is made present to us in a unique and special way. 

Blessed Mother Mary...Pray for us!

"It is Mary's obedience that opens the door to God. God's word, His Spirit, creates the child in her. He does so through the door of her obedience. In this way, Jesus is the new Adam, the new beginning 'ab integro'--from the Virgin, who places herself entirely at the disposal of God's will So a new creation comes about, which is nevertheless tied to the free 'yes' of the human creature, Mary." -Pope Benedict XVI 

"Mary is the sure path to our meeting with Christ. Devotion to the Mother of the Lord, when it is genuine, is always an impetus to a life guided by the Spirit and values of the Gospel." -Pope John Paul II