Theme: MARY - ICON OF CELIBATE FRIENDSHIP
Our heart is the source of who we are. Only God knows our hearts – our inward thoughts and feelings. Scripture reminds us that, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. When God was looking for a virgin who could give birth to His Son and nurture him as the Son of Man, he looked for someone with a pure heart. He found that kind of heart in Mary, the mother of Jesus. The fact that she was chosen for this awesome responsibility means that her devotion to God and the purity of her attitudes and behaviors are examples that we should study and emulate.
Mary is the one who, from the moment of her Immaculate Conception, most perfectly reflects the divine beauty. The relationship with Mary most holy, which for every believer stems from his or her union with Christ, is even more pronounced in our life as consecrated persons and as Carmelite Missionaries. Mary’s presence is of fundamental importance both for the spiritual life of each of us, and for the solidity, unity and progress of our community. Mary in fact is the sublime example of perfect consecration, since she belongs completely to God and is totally devoted to him. Chosen by the Lord who wished to accomplish in her the mystery of the Incarnation, she reminds us of the primacy of God’s initiative.
At the same time, having given her assent to the divine Word made flesh in her, Mary is also the model of the acceptance of grace by human creatures. Having lived with Jesus and Joseph in the hidden years of Nazareth, and present at her Son’s side at crucial moments of his public life, the BV teaches unconditional relationships and diligent service. In Mary, “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” all the splendor of the new creation shines forth. We look to her as the sublime model of personal and communitarian relationships to the Father, union with the Son and openness to the Spirit, in the knowledge that acceptance of the “virginal and humble life of Christ also means imitation of Mary’s way of life. Our Carmelite Missionary vocation implies a special reltionship with Mary. It entails a generous self-giving to her and at the same time her presence should characterize our mode of living. She should animate our existence and in a certain way models and shapes our personal prayer, our communitarian life and our apostolic service. We need to come closer to Mary, to know her better through study and meditation so that we can assimilate her life and virtues. We need to renew our Marian expressions, harmonizing and adapting it to the actual demands of our time, entrusting to her our commitment to interior life, fraternal love and apostolic service.
In Mary, we also find a Mother who is altogether unique. Indeed, if the new motherhood conferred on her at Calvary is a gift for all Christians, it has a specific value for us who have completely consecrated our lives to Christ. “Behold your mother!” Jesus words to the disciple whom he loved are particularly significant for our lives. We, like John, are called to take the BVM to ourselves, loving her and imitating her in the radical manner which befits our vocation, and experiencing in return her special motherly love. The BV shares with us the love which enables us to offer our lives everyday for Christ and to cooperate with him in the salvation of the world. Hence a filial relationship to Mary is the royal road to fidelity to one’s vocation and a most effective help for advancing in that vocation and living it fully in following Jesus Christ, her Son.
Liturgist: Sr. Rosario Fe Lorenzo, C.M.
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