Mother of Our Redeemer

Mary, Mother of Our Redeemer We call her our mother Mary, my mother, your mother, our mother, because she brings us together. She gathers us around her Son when we receive his word and share his body and blood. But Mary is not only a gatherer, she is also a sender. She sends us to announce and promote the kingdom of God; she sends us into the mission of her Son. To be gatherer and sender, these are the two major roles Mary plays in our Church. Today, I would like to address the second: Mary's role as sender or evangelizer. For indeed, there is an intimate link between Mary and evangelization. It is especially at Calvary and on Pentecost that Mary becomes a powerful model of evangelization. In both instances, at Calvary and Pentecost, Our Lady plays a pivotal role. She is Our Lady of Promise at Calvary, and she is Our Lady of Fulfillment at Pentecost. At Calvary, in the hour of apparent disaster, Mary represents hope. At the foot of the Cross, she stands (with the beloved disciple) for the future church. At Calvary, the mother of the living is about to conceive again her Son. This time, no longer in her heart and body only; Mary now receives her glorious Son to pass him on to the community of his believers. And so, at Calvary, Mary is Our Lady of Promise. Again, she plays a pivotal role at Pentecost. She is a magnet and beacon for the future pilgrim-church. In the midst of the disciples, she represents fulfillment. She is a coworker and witness of Christ's redemption. Mary is a sign of Christ's presence. In her person, for everybody visible, Christ has set a model of human existence accomplished in faith. And so, at Pentecost, Mary is Our Lady of fulfillment. This is what is meant by the title, Queen of Apostles: Mary is to be Our Lady of Promise and Our Lady of Fulfillment. Calvary and the Cenacle anticipate and inaugurate–what we are used to calling–the time of the Church, the time when Jesus Christ no longer walks with his disciples, the time when alone and together they have to learn how to be Church—with the Holy Spirit dwelling in the depth of their souls. And it is because of Mary, Our Lady of promise and fulfillment, that Christ her Lord and bridegroom makes a lasting pledge of fidelity not only to the Church of Peter, Paul, John and James, but also in subsequent times to that of all the baptized of salvation history.