The Moon reflects the Son

One of my favorite aspects about Catholicism is our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. We are the lucky ones who acknowledge and embrace Her as our Mother! Of all the differences between Catholics and other Christians, this is the one disagreement that I least understand. Devotion to our Blessed Mother is not only biblical, but logical.

Loving and venerating our Blessed Mother is not the same as worshipping her. We never worship Mary; we only worship God. But of all the humans to ever walk the earth, Mary holds the most special place of them all. She gave birth to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! She is literally the Mother of God. All of us have earthly parents. Those of us who accept Jesus Christ as our Savior also recognize that we have a Heavenly Family--Christ our Brother, and God our Father. It only makes logical sense that because Christ is our Brother, that His Mother would also be our Mother, as His Father is also our Father. Lucky for us, too, it is written in Scripture, that Jesus gave us His Mother. When He was dying on the cross, overcome with pain and exhaustion, and very near to the end, He looked down to see John, Mary Magdalen, Mary His Mother, and Her sister Mary of Cleophas. St. John recounts:

When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own. (John 19:26-27)

He commanded Mary to become the Mother of all men. He commanded all men to embrace Mary as their spiritual Mother. Thank you, Jesus!

Let's back-track a little and go all the way back to the Old Testament. In the Book of Isaiah, Mary's own existence and role in history was prophesied. "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel." Isaiah 7:13-14. No one can deny that this virgin was Mary. I love to look at St. Luke's first two chapters about Jesus' birth and Mary's importance in history. Particularly, let's first look at the annunciation and the visitation:

And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: Because no word shall be impossible with God. And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.

I added emphasis to a few parts here. For one, as I stated above, Mary is the virgin prophesied by Isaiah. Mary was no ordinary woman, for Gabriel says, "Hail, full of grace...blessed art thou among women." Mary was full of grace and blessed among all women! God's own messenger said so!

We believe that Mary was conceived and born without sin. This makes some wonder if Mary did not need Jesus to be saved, but that is not true. Mary was just saved first, while we are saved second. Or to us an analogy: sometimes children may play around a well, and only after they fall in do they need to be saved. This is our fall and saving from original sin. However, sometimes a child may also go near a well, and he may be saved before he ever falls in. This was Mary's saving. Later in the Gospel, Mary also confirms that she was saved when she said, "my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." She needed to be saved from Her sin first because She could not have been born with sin. She had to have been a perfect human, the new Eve, to be the only one who could bear Jesus, God, the New Adam. Those who deny Mary's sinlessness must not truly believe that Jesus was both fully human and fully Divine. A sin is any "offense against God." A woman who has even the slightest offense against God on her soul, cannot possibly bear He Who is God. She had to have been perfect in order to give Jesus a perfect human nature. Just as God the Father gave Jesus his Divinity, so too did Mary give Jesus His perfect humanity.

We also know that God created Mary, as He creates all of us. Logic would tell us, too, that God would have wanted a perfect Mother for Himself. Mary was the only mother in history who was created by her child. Who wouldn't want to make the most perfect, beautiful, kind woman possible to be their mom? "Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee..." Jeremiah 1:5.  

Now let's continue in Luke's Gospel, where we left off. After Elizabeth's greeting to the "Mother of [our] Lord," Mary, too, was moved by the God Who was within Her and exclaimed her beautiful Magnificat:

My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.
He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy:
As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

Again, I make a few emphases. The first statement is Mary's purpose. We don't look to Mary for the sake of looking to Her, but for Her to magnify Jesus, to make Him bigger, more important, to grow our love for Him, to point us in the right direction. Mary is like the moon. The moon only reflects the sunlight. Without the sun, the moon is just another rock. But with the sun, the moon becomes radiant and bright. We see the moon best when we are in the dark, but we also see the moon during the day. The moon takes nothing away from the sun, but just reflects its light. So, too, is Mary the Moon, reflecting the light of Her Son. Without Him, she is but another woman. With Him, she is the Mother of all mothers, the Mother of God. Her prophesy is that all generations may call Her Blessed. So it is written, so it shall be done. Did you know that even Muslims consider Mary to be "most blessed" in Heaven? Her nearest "rival" is Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed, but even upon her death, Mohammed said and it is written, "Thou shalt be most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after Mary." She is mentioned at least 34 times in the Qu'ran, where Her perpetual virginity and sinlessness are taught as truth. Mary may very well be the one common link to bring peace between the Muslim and Christian worlds. Martin Luther, considered the father of the Protestant Reformation, also held Mary to a high regard. In his famous 95 Theses against the Catholic Church, number 75 suggests that violating (or failing to respect) Mary is one of the greatest sins man can make. (75. To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the Mother of God is madness). It can't make Jesus very happy for His brothers and sisters to ignore, or even violate, His own Mother. When we visit a friend's home and family, we do not ignore their mother. Just because we came over to see our friend, it is no reason to ignore their mother! That does not land us in good favor with the mother or the friend. It is more suitable to have conversations with their mother. Even more chivalrous is to do something nice, like bring her flowers! Our friend would not be upset because we are paying attention to their mother instead of them. It would please them more than you showed such respect and love to the person they love so much.

The bond and love between Jesus and Mary was unlike any human and spiritual love that this world has ever known. Jesus the God loved Mary because He loved everyone, and especially She who was full of grace. Jesus the man loved Mary because she was His Mommy! Likewise, Mary's soul purely loved Jesus because He was Her God. Mary the Mom also loved Jesus because He was Her Little Boy! Her only Son of the flesh. We don't stop loving a family member just because they have died, and neither did the love between Jesus and Mary end. For 30 years, ten times longer than His time with His disciples, Jesus was subject to Mary as His Mother. He began His Ministry at the request of His Mother at the wedding at Cana. Jesus cannot refuse the request of His Mother, just like none of us can disregard our mothers' requests. So we turn to Mary to intercede for us and guide us. As She did in Cana, She will tell us, "Do whatever He tells you." She understands the anticipation of receiving Him and seeing His beautiful Face, as She did for nine months before His birth; She can help us to build such anxious anticipation. She understands what it is like to lose Him, when She lost Him at the Temple. She was frantic and felt a darkness without Him; She can help Her children when we, too, lose Jesus in our lives. At Her request, Jesus performed His first miracle and began His Ministry; she can intercede for us. Her requests are powerful and who can refuse their own mother?

My hope is for Catholics to increase their love and devotion to Mary, our Universal Mother, and for other Christians to "behold thy Mother" and "call her blessed." The Church has beautiful prayers for Mary. Of course, we have the Hail Mary (note that most of the prayer is derived from the Gospel of Luke from above):

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Another prayer I have fallen in love with is the Memorare:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who feld to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Of course the ultimate prayer to Mary is the Rosary. Rosary means "crown of roses" and it is a sort of spiritual boquet given to our Mother. It's an incredibly powerful prayer. During each decade (ten Hail Marys), you meditate on various mysteries, and most are about the life, death, and ministry of Jesus. The vast majority of the Rosary is based in Scripture, and it is no more a vain repetition of prayers than it is a vain repetition to tell a loved one "I love you" over and over again. We can never spend enough time in our lives meditating on Jesus and telling Him (or our Mother!) "I love You." The times that I have sincerely asked Mary to teach me or enlighten me through a meditation, my request was answered, and I entered deeper into the mystery, learning something so profound that I never knew before. I can attest to the power of the Rosary. It is something that I pray with my husband every night, and it is like a meal to my soul.

Growing in love and devotion to Her can only keep you on the right path, as any mother would try and steer their children in the right direction. The moon will enhance the beauty of the daytime sky, and shine brightest when you are in the darkness.

Blessed Mother, Our Lady, Queen of Heaven, pray for us!

And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars: And being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered... And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod: and her son was taken up to God, and to his throne. Revelation 12:1-2,5