"Risen Lamb Writings"
"Whispers of Light" (part 6)
One of Mary's great desires is to
share her faith, her fiat, her total surrender to God and her relationship with
the Trinity with each of us. How important it is that intercessors be open to
receive these priceless Marian treasures. For, a "Marian-formed", intercessor's heart is a "powerhouse of
prayer". We recall that:
"It was through her faith that
Mary--according to God's mysterious plan--enabled the Word to become man for
the salvation of the world" (Jesus Living in Mary: Handbook of the
Spirituality of St. Louis Marie de Montfort; p. 395)
This was
God's direct will at work. God willed that Mary's faith and consent should be
essential for the coming of the Lamb--the One Intercessor and Mediator between
God and humanity--into the world. We need Mary's faith so that we can receive
the Word deeply and purely; then Jesus, Wisdom Himself, can be born and grow in
us mystically. Mary desires to reproduce her faith--continue her faith--in each
of us. This is needed for powerful, effective intercession--to believe that
"Nothing will be impossible for God" (Luke 1:37).
"Mary's fruitful faith, which
enabled her to become the Mother of Christ is to be continued in us" (True
Devotion to Mary. St. Louis de Montfort; # 34); "Mary will share
her faith with you...she has preserved it for her faithful servants in the
Church Militant" (True Devotion, # 214).
The words of Mary spoken in Luke 1:38
express her very "personality"; they sum up her entire, interior attitude
towards God:
"I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done
to me according to your word."
At the Annunciation Mary, fully desirous to
serve the God Whom she loves dearly, surrendered her whole life to Him in an
active, responsible, solidified and permanent consent. Her fiat is both
personal and universal. It is personal in that Mary's "Yes", like the consent
given at a marriage, is a surrender to everything that will flow from her fiat"
(Jesus in Mary; p. 707). Yet, it is also a "Yes" given in the name of
the entire human race: All of those who bear a human nature. For, all are
called to become living members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Mary's "mission
is not only to give Jesus to the world, but also to reveal him, lead us to him,
and unite us to him" (Jesus Living in Mary; p.542)--and, hence, unite us
to his mission as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Today, Mary desires each of us to
offer our own permanent consent--to "allow" Luke 1:38 to become the "personal
paradigm" of our lives! Mary desires each of us to unite our fiat with hers,
and to give God complete permission to "do to me according to your Word"--to allow the "saving, liberating"
Word to dwell within our hearts and impact the world more powerfully through
us: "We will do everything that the Lord has told us!" (Ex. 24:3).
At the Annunciation, Jesus united Mary
to his total surrender to the Father. Jesus chose Mary as his inseparable
companion to be permanently associated with him in the mysteries of his life, death
and resurrection. Now, she teaches us how to remain in contact with the mystery
of God and to allow the mysteries of Jesus' life, death and resurrection to
continue within our humanity. Mary desires each of us to have a share in this
permanent, intimate union:
"They are so intimately united
that one is altogether in the other. Jesus is altogether in Mary and Mary is
altogether in Jesus; or rather, she exists no more, but Jesus alone is in her,
and it were easier to separate the light from the sun than Mary from Jesus"
(True Devotion; # 247).
Since Mary
has such desires to share with each of us, let us pray in the sentiment of St.
John the Baptist (see John 3:30): 'She must increase; I must decrease'!
(to be continued)
Questions:
1) What
aspects of my life still need to be "handed over" in order to live Luke 1:38
more fully?
2) What
aspect of "Marian formation" seems to be at work in my life currently?
Scriptures:
Any scripture from the text; Mk. 10:27; Rom. 4:20-21; 1 Thes.
1:5A; 1Thes. 2:13; Heb.
11:1,6.
