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Mother of Mercy

Homily
Sunday, May 13, 2007, 6th Sunday of Easter, Year C

St. Joseph Parish, Detroit

            “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our dwelling with him.” (Jn 14:22-29) In no one’s case is this more perfectly manifest, except in that of the Blessed Virgin Mary, daughter of Joachim and Anne, the Mother of God. For she said, “Let it be done to me according to your word,” and God dwelt within her, not only spiritually by grace, for she was full of grace, but also corporally, in her body, for Jesus was incarnate in her very womb.

            On this Mother’s Day, then, let our hearts turn to Mary with love and affection, with admiration and praise, with humility and trust. And to aid us our hearts to such an enterprise, I wish to meditate on Mary as Mother, and, turning to the great prayer, “Hail Holy Queen” (Salve Regina), with a focus on her title, “Mother of Mercy.”

            Mary is the Mother of Mercy. St. Alphonsus de Liguori says, “So long as a sinner,… (finding himself chained by some passion which keeps him a slave of hell) recommends himself to the Blessed Virgin, and implores her, with confidence and perseverance, to withdraw him from the state of sin in which he is, there can be no doubt but this good Mother will extend her powerful hand to him, will deliver him from his chains, and lead him to a state of salvation.”[1]

            And so St. Alphonsus, Doctor of the Church, tells us that Mary has great pity for repentant sinners and can help them like no other creature in the whole of the entire universe. But he also says that sinners require repentance. For Mary cannot love those who are obstinate in their love for sin; for sin excludes God, excludes Mary, excludes the entire Church militant, suffering and triumphant, and no one can help that sinner until that sinner decides to repent.

            How often we see it that children attempt something then fail, and their mother comes to praise them for their good effort, to encourage them to try again, to help them succeed? What mother is not overjoyed to see her own child achieve small steps and good steps: when he or she learns how to walk, reads for the first time, shows an act of kindness to someone else, or says a prayer with evident sincerity. Such things fill a mother’s heart with indescribable joy. Now, the child in question has not attained his or her perfection of human maturity, or the fullness of adulthood, but there is progress. Similarly, when Mary sees us striving to receive the sacraments worthily, to fill our minds with the teachings of the Church and with the sacred scriptures, to live out the virtues, and especially to become free from our slavery to sin, she then experiences indescribable joy, is moved with such pity to help us sinners, she encourages and praises, and obtains for us all the graces we need from God.

            But there are some who have difficulty recognizing their sinfulness, and their slavery to sin. They are proud, and think they are perfect. They don’t need of any improvement, and should anyone reprimand them for their misconduct or deficient faith, they respond with countless rationalisms of pride, such as “who are you to tell me what to do or think,” or “how dare you think lesser of me,” or “you just think your better than me,” or the ever more used sophism, “you’re just judging me.” With such souls, it is nearly impossible to help them, for they consider themselves above all help. And so Mary, Mother of Mercy, so eager and so able to free each of us sinners from the slavery to sin, cannot do anything to help, to show the power of her Mercy.

            But when we turn to Mary in all of our miseries, especially the misery of sin, but not only that misery, she is true to her motherly love. She embraces, protects, uplifts, purifies, rectifies, sets free and conquers all evil and darkness. For all the powers of hell combined can do nothing against Mary; indeed, the entire wicked army of hell can only do one thing in her presence: flee. Indeed, even on earth, she fills her followers with this power of her soul, great because of her union with God, and she has set up her Legion, the Legion of Mary, in the world, to bring greater glory to her Son, and to save sinners in arduous spiritual combat.

            Go to the Mother of Mercy, therefore, in all your needs: in your temptations and failures, in your sicknesses and pain, in your struggles and difficulties, in your sighs and tears, in your poverty and misery, in your humility and lowliness, and watch how powerfully Mary aids you. Go her, and be humble. Flee to her, and she will protect you. Pray to her, and she will intercede for you. But love her, love her deeply, and do not be afraid to show her any sign of affection, for she is a real woman, the perfect woman, the Mother of God, and your mother in heaven. Amen.