Articles

The Voice of the Immaculata - Oct. 2002

By Fr. Tim Alkire

Dear friends in Christ,

This month, with the second issue of Voice of the Immaculata, let's consider a wonderful reality: Mary is one of us. That is to say, she was a member of the human race. Through Eve, the first woman, sin and all its consequences entered the world. Through Mary, chosen by God from the same humanity that rejected Him, our salvation dawned with the birth of her Son.

St. Maximilian Kolbe called our Blessed Mother the "summit of creation." He wrote that while Mary was obviously not God, she lived fully the life of the Holy Spirit. What did he mean by that?

First of all, in the first chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we see her free obedience, her surrender in fact, to the will of God by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Unlike Eve, seduced by the temptation of a fallen angel, Mary is completely conformed to God's will, and gives birth to God by her very love for Him.

Like all of us, Mary depended completely on God, but in her constant openness, her constant "yes," we see that she is the holiest and most perfect of all creatures. And here is the marvel on which we can meditate: Mary is not only the summit of all creation - demonstrated by her fidelity throughout all her life, she is also the summit of love, that example for which we can and must strive, as we long to see God face to face.

The summit of love is complete and utter openness to God's will, no matter who we are, no matter what our vocation. The summit of love is to allow God to perfect His work in us, as Mary did with her every choice for His way, His will, and His plan. It is only in allowing God free use of us his children, that we offer Him, as Mary did, the gift of ourselves, His own creation.

Think of it, a love so deep that the creation offers itself to the creator - a minute-by-minute, breath-by-breath renewal of all we were created for. This is the example of love perfected, this is the example of the Blessed Virgin, who had free will just like us, and who chose to surrender it to Him, knowing that was the very purpose of her vocation. In that act of surrender, we not only offer ourselves as God's instruments, but also acknowledge our purpose in life as we prepare for heaven.

St. Maximilian wrote: "We must acknowledge that in His creative omnipotence God made the Immaculata all holy. As a creature she is close to us; as Mother of God she touches Divinity itself. The Immaculata is the summit of perfection, of holiness achievable by creatures. No one else could ever attain this degree of grace; only the Mother of God could ever reach it."

Yes, as spouse of the Holy Spirit, when she spoke those most precious human words ever spoken, "Let it be done to me as You say," Mary is raised forever as pattern of our human holiness, calling us to strive for the height of all perfection that we think is impossible because of our fallen human nature. This is why we love her so much. Her life says constantly: it is possible to accomplish in everything we undertake, the will of the Holy Spirit.

We tend not to believe that because I suspect we see ourselves as essentially sinful. We are not! God has created us truly good, and furthermore, in the weakness of our wills, has given us through His Son, all the spiritual tools we need to live and choose and love and Mary did. We could rightly feel the despair of our humanity if we did not take His very Flesh in our flesh, His Blood in our blood, His Soul in our souls at every Holy Communion!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us the value of Mary's free acceptance of God‚s will - not just for her but for each one of us related to her by our common humanity: "The Virgin Mary cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation. She uttered her yes in the name of all human nature. By her obedience she became the New Eve, mother of the living." (n.511)

Even though we may in fact feel weak or incapable of following Mary's example, by her life and her actions, Mary reminds each of us of our serious responsibility to accept God's plan in our lives. When she accepted God's loving plan, she became a model for us as we all do our best to "hear the word of God and keep it." (St. Luke 11:28)

The Second Vatican Council's document Light to the Nations explains Mary's complete openness and dedication to God's will and His work: "She devoted herself totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with Him, serving the mystery of redemption, by the grace of almighty God." (Lumen Gentium, n. 56).

And so must we be devoted to Him in the same way. Now is not a time for fear because we're weak, now is a time to rejoice that through the prayers and example of Mary the summit of all creation, and strengthened by the Grace we receive through the Sacraments, we too can live God's will completely.
Fr. Tim Alkire, MI

If you are not already consecrated to our Blessed Mother, please prayerfully consider making this beautiful commitment to strive to love as she loved. Click here for more info on Marian Consecration.

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