"It Is Not Good That The Man Should Be Alone" (Genesis 2:18)
Why pray to Mother Mary? What has She to do with our salvation? Is not God enough for us? Is it not enough that I go straight to God?" There is a real confusing thought arising here. This confusion is caused by the two trends of thinking. We can describe these two philosophies as two visions of life
- 'Individualistic' and 'Communitarian.' In the individualistic vision of life, the individual "I" is at the centre, and all the thinking revolves around me. It is 'I and my family ', 'I and my children', 'I and my destiny', 'I and my career'… So in continuation I work out my salvation with my God as 'I and my God'. This is predominantly a Western type of thinking.
There is a communitarian vision of life. I am no longer at the centre here. There is my family, my community, my parish, my church having a central and decisive role in my living. And it is not "I going on my own to God" for there are no lone-rangers in this journey to salvation. I go to my God with my family. God comes down to me in my church and in the community. I do not consider myself as an isolated identity separated from the community. So when I come to pray, I am not just praying on my own, for myself. I am not just offering to God my pain and my concerns. I am offering to God the pain of everyone in distress. I stand before God as an integral part of the whole of humanity.
The Catholic Church has always affirmed the conviction that when "I stand before my God, it is not I standing alone. I stand with the whole church and indeed with all of human race. I open my heart wide to hold the pains and sufferings and trials of the whole world." And so when my son is sick, I come to God praying not only for my son, I open my heart to reach out to the many parents around the world who are similarly burdened by the pain of their children suffering. I pray with all of them. I place the sickness of my son with the sickness of all the children and the concerns of all the parents - a communitarian dimension of prayer and salvation prevails.
Empowered with the love of a mother and the support of a community, together we go to God. As God came down to us as the son of a mother, we approach Him similarly with our Mother holding our hand and leading us to Jesus. The Mother who received Jesus into her womb and brought Him to us, will receive us into Her heart and into Her prayers and bring us to Jesus. It is in this vision of a communitarian dimension of salvation that Mother Mary becomes important. She is the mother always by my side, a key presence in my movement towards salvation.
That is why the Oriental Churches address Mother Mary as the Morning Star. In the early hours before sunrise, this star appears in the dark sky and declares the advent of the great star, the sun. St. John presents Jesus the Saviour as the true Light who shines in darkness and which the powers of darkness are not able to overcome (ref John 1:5). But for the Son to descend to human existence, the great Light to dawn upon the world, God the Father approached Mary, a virgin girl from Nazareth, wanting her to be the Morning Star. In Her, the Son of God will be conceived. Then He will be born as a man, the Saviour of humanity. In Mary you see the Morning Star that lights up our way to Jesus. As it was at Cana where Mary guided the family to the salvation of Jesus - "Do as he tells you to" (John 2:5), she leads the Church to her Son. Pope John Paul II has beautifully affirmed this teaching of the Eastern Churches presenting Mother Mary as the Morning Star,
going ahead of the pilgrim, leading us to God.
Adapted, edited and posted from internet resources.15.5.2011
Why pray to Mother Mary? What has She to do with our salvation? Is not God enough for us? Is it not enough that I go straight to God?" There is a real confusing thought arising here. This confusion is caused by the two trends of thinking. We can describe these two philosophies as two visions of life
- 'Individualistic' and 'Communitarian.' In the individualistic vision of life, the individual "I" is at the centre, and all the thinking revolves around me. It is 'I and my family ', 'I and my children', 'I and my destiny', 'I and my career'… So in continuation I work out my salvation with my God as 'I and my God'. This is predominantly a Western type of thinking.
There is a communitarian vision of life. I am no longer at the centre here. There is my family, my community, my parish, my church having a central and decisive role in my living. And it is not "I going on my own to God" for there are no lone-rangers in this journey to salvation. I go to my God with my family. God comes down to me in my church and in the community. I do not consider myself as an isolated identity separated from the community. So when I come to pray, I am not just praying on my own, for myself. I am not just offering to God my pain and my concerns. I am offering to God the pain of everyone in distress. I stand before God as an integral part of the whole of humanity.
The Catholic Church has always affirmed the conviction that when "I stand before my God, it is not I standing alone. I stand with the whole church and indeed with all of human race. I open my heart wide to hold the pains and sufferings and trials of the whole world." And so when my son is sick, I come to God praying not only for my son, I open my heart to reach out to the many parents around the world who are similarly burdened by the pain of their children suffering. I pray with all of them. I place the sickness of my son with the sickness of all the children and the concerns of all the parents - a communitarian dimension of prayer and salvation prevails.
Empowered with the love of a mother and the support of a community, together we go to God. As God came down to us as the son of a mother, we approach Him similarly with our Mother holding our hand and leading us to Jesus. The Mother who received Jesus into her womb and brought Him to us, will receive us into Her heart and into Her prayers and bring us to Jesus. It is in this vision of a communitarian dimension of salvation that Mother Mary becomes important. She is the mother always by my side, a key presence in my movement towards salvation.
That is why the Oriental Churches address Mother Mary as the Morning Star. In the early hours before sunrise, this star appears in the dark sky and declares the advent of the great star, the sun. St. John presents Jesus the Saviour as the true Light who shines in darkness and which the powers of darkness are not able to overcome (ref John 1:5). But for the Son to descend to human existence, the great Light to dawn upon the world, God the Father approached Mary, a virgin girl from Nazareth, wanting her to be the Morning Star. In Her, the Son of God will be conceived. Then He will be born as a man, the Saviour of humanity. In Mary you see the Morning Star that lights up our way to Jesus. As it was at Cana where Mary guided the family to the salvation of Jesus - "Do as he tells you to" (John 2:5), she leads the Church to her Son. Pope John Paul II has beautifully affirmed this teaching of the Eastern Churches presenting Mother Mary as the Morning Star,
going ahead of the pilgrim, leading us to God.
Adapted, edited and posted from internet resources.15.5.2011
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