Mary, The Immaculate One

Mary, The Immaculate One

Submitted by Thomas Stidl

         Saint Maximillian Kolbe inspired this article.  The article was entitled, “Mary, Another Path To Divine Mercy”.  It was also inspired by the prayer, “The Litany In Honor of The Immaculate Heart” prayed in the month of August.  As we all know, Jesus gave us His Mother to be our Mother while dying on the cross to Saint John the Apostle.  The Litany declares that the Heart of Mary is the Mirror of the Heart of God.  It also states that Mary’s Heart is the perfect image of the Heart of the Eternal Father.  So exactly, what image can we ascertain from this?  I believe that Jesus explained what was in Our Father’s Heart with the parable of the Prodigal Son.

         All of us at one time or another in our lives act like the younger son.  Now we may not live lives of drink or debauchery, but we do go and rebel and commit sin. It grieves Our Father greatly.  Sooner or later, we come to our senses (possibly by the infusion of actual graces by the Holy Spirit, another gift given to us by Our Father and Jesus) and turn our lives back to God.  When humans repent of their wrongdoings, and see the distance of the road we traveled, some of us despair as to how much work that it will take to return to God.  When the soul takes one small step towards God, then the Forgiving Father, who has been patiently waiting and watching for us springs into action.  He greets us on the road with hugs, gold rings for our fingers and fine robes to replace our tattered, soiled clothing.

         When we return, Our Father and Jesus send Mary and Saint Joseph to keep our ways straight and narrow and growing to serve the Triune Godhead.  Using a sports analogy, the sinner has met the “Dream Team”.  The team consists of The Heavenly Father, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, Mary, and Joseph.  They went seeking another person for their team.  The repentant sinner (you and I) are now part of that team.  How do we assist them in their quest for more souls?  We live good moral lives showing by example how we have changed from our former way of life.  If someone should ask about our former way of life, we explain our change and the holy joy that we possess. 

         As for the moral of this article, God’s power is infinite.  The Holy Spirit leads us to the other players of the Dream Team, that is Our Heavenly Father, Jesus, Mary, Saint Joseph, or other humans.  

         The true beauty of Mary’s life is always to point to Jesus, Our Heavenly Father, and The Holy Spirit.  Mary wants us to worship God and keeps herself out of the limelight.  She is another laborer in the God’s vineyard.  Mary’s work will not be done until all her children are safely nestled in Our Father’s House.

         Until next time, Laus Tibi, Christe.  Deo Gratias.  Gloria Tibi Domini.  Praise be to God.  See you in Paradise. Amen.