Today the church commemorates The Queenship of Mary. Pope Pius XII established this feast in
1954. This memorial was
related to the Feast of the Assumption. The Feast of the Queenship of Mary was
set a week after her Assumption, body and soul, into heaven.
It is entirely
appropriate that Mary be made Queen of Heaven and Earth. Her entire life was
that of doing the Holy Will of God. Her openness to doing God’s Will was
evident from the start when the Angel Gabriel approached her to ask if she
would be willing to be the mother of the Savior. After the angel explained how
it would occur, Mary quickly said yes, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) Mary listened to what the Angel had to say, and was courageous enough to
say yes, even though she probably knew it would cause a lot of problems and
difficulties for her in her life. But she trusted that God would be present for
her to guide her throughout her life as Mother of the Savior. She had total
trust that God would protect her throughout her life.
Following Mary saying
“yes” to being the Mother of the Lord, she goes to serve and help her elderly
cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. This trip for Mary,
now pregnant with Jesus, would have been a difficult journey, but she made this
journey out of love and concern for Elizabeth. Upon Mary’s arrival, Elizabeth
says, “Why am I so greatly favored that the mother of my Lord should visit me?” (Luke 1:43) It was then that Mary gives us the Magnificat, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord…” (Luke 1:46) This prayer, prayed daily at Evening Prayer, shows the humility
Mary has towards all that has happened to her. She was always open to doing the
Will of God no matter how difficult, but she accepted it out of love for the
Lord.
Then all throughout the
life of Jesus, from his birth until his death on the cross to his resurrection
on Easter Sunday morning, Mary was always present to him in his needs. Looking
lovingly from the Cross, the Lord saw Mary there, tears in her eyes. Jesus also
saw the beloved disciple, John. At that point Jesus give Mary to John, and to
us: “Woman, behold your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” (John 19:26-27)
So, with all we know of
Mary from scripture, it’s no wonder that God, in his Wisdom, after Assuming
Mary into heaven, would make her Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Mary, our Queen, is now
in heaven at the side of Our King, Jesus Christ. Let us always feel free to
turn to our loving mother with all our problems and concerns in order for her
to bring them to her divine Son to respond in the way that’s best for us.
Holy Mary, Mother of God
pray for us sinners, now and forever.
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteVery good reflection.
I remember that for many years (when I was growing up), the feast of the Queenship of Our Lady was celebrated on May 31, which is now the feast of the Visitation.