Lectio divina
Handmaid
"Behold, I am the handmaid".
(Lk 1:38)
The Second Vatican Council refers to Mary of Nazareth as the "New Woman" animated by "ardent charity".
(Lumen gentìum, n. 61).
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I am the Handmaid
Overshadowed by the Holy Spirit (cf. Lk 1:35), filled with his Presence of love, Mary is the woman of love, of self-giving, of generosity, of total availability to God and men. The mystery of Mary is all contained in her "fiat" to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in her feeling herself to be a "servant", completely available in the love of the saving plan of the Trinity for man: "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."
(Lk 1:38)
Through the Holy Spirit, God's love was poured out fully on Mary (cf. Rom 5:5), making her the most beautiful work of creation, the masterpiece of his grace. Through Mary, God wants to transmit his love to all humanity.
"God the Father gathered together a mass of all the waters, which he called the sea (in Latin maria). Similarly, he gathered together a mass of all the graces, which he called Mary.
This great God possesses a treasure or a very rich emporium, where he has enclosed everything that is beautiful, splendid, rare and precious, even his own Son; and this immense treasure is Mary, whom the saints call "Treasure of the Lord", by whose fullness men are enriched".
(S. L. M. de Montfort, Treatise on True Devotion to Mary, n. 23).
Mary is "the place of the superabundant fruitfulness" of God's love (H. U. von Balthasar, The Perception of Form, in Gloria, vol. I, p. 311). Those who, by the impulse of the Holy Spirit, live in this temple of charity, experience the Love that gives life, its regenerating power.
Mary fulfills in us, her children, the first and greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself" (Lk 10:27). She reminds us that only charity "will never end" (1 Cor 13:8); that everything will cease: virtue, charisms, faith, hope..., only love will never pass away; that man is only as good as he loves God and his neighbor, and nothing more.
Giving and receiving love is the fundamental law of existence: having come into the light through an act of love, we are constitutionally marked by love, we cannot help but love so as not to contradict ourselves and our deepest being. Love is the supporting structure of our personal being, as we are made to divine measure, created in the image and likeness of a God who is love.
(cf. Jn 4:16).
No one can live without love: "God who created man for love, has also called him to love, the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being".
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1604).
Mary helps every woman and every man to rediscover their dignity in the call to love and to find the fulfillment of their personality in the sincere gift of self: "The dignity of women is intimately connected with the love that she receives by reason of her femininity and also with the love that she in turn gives. The truth about the person and about love is thus confirmed. Regarding the truth about the person, we must once again turn to the Second Vatican Council: "Man, who is the only creature on earth that God willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of self". This concerns every man, as a person created in the image of God, both man and woman. The ontological affirmation contained here also indicates the ethical dimension of the person's vocation. The woman cannot find herself except by giving love to others" (John Paul II). We need to be loved!
We need to love! We cannot do it alone. We have been given a mother, an intimate friend of God because she is penetrated by his Wisdom (cf. Wis 7:27) and an extraordinary sister because she is closer than anyone else to our situation as a creature. Mary is a gift placed by God on our path, a teacher of charity at our complete disposal, a model of life to whom we can constantly refer. «Because of her full adherence to the will of the Father, to the redemptive work of his Son, to every motion of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the model... of charity for the Church» (Catechism of the Catholic Church).
She, "mother of fair love" (cf. Sir 24:24 Vulgate) teaches us the difficult art of love, explains to us "how" to achieve it. Mary, fortunately for us, is not an immobile model who simply lets herself be portrayed, like human models. She herself helps us to imitate her: she does as the mountain guide who, having overcome a difficult pass, waits for those who follow her to overcome it in turn, and if she sees that they are not capable, she goes back to take them by the hand and help them. Our Lady helps us above all in the decisive pass of life which consists in leaving the love of self to enter into the love of God and neighbor.
Mary's truest identity is found in her total availability to God (cf. Lk 1:38) and at the same time to man (cf. Lk 1:39.56). The ardent love for God that urges her within pushes her to give herself freely to the children and brothers who have been entrusted to her and to be present in their lives, intimate with their condition, close to their struggles and toils. As she was present throughout the earthly life of her Son, so she is now close to the Church of Christ during his earthly pilgrimage and to every disciple who is worth the blood of his Master.
The Holy Virgin gave birth to Christ "at the nodal point of all the roads between the Old and the New Covenant" (H.U. von Balthasar), introduced him into the human family (Lk 1:28-38), gave him to the world (cf. Lk 2:7.16; Mt 2:11), accompanied him throughout his hidden life until he was 30 (cf. Lk 2:39-40.51-52), and introduced him to the ministry by suggesting the gesture of Cana.
(Jn 2:1-11).
During the three years of separation, her spiritual communion with her Son deepened further. She found him again at the hour of the cross, of the passion and of death on Calvary "where, not without a divine plan, she stood (cf. Jn 19:25) suffering profoundly with her Only-begotten Son and associating herself with a maternal spirit with His sacrifice, lovingly consenting to the immolation of the victim she had brought forth."
(Second Vatican Council, Lumen gentium, n. 58).
The love that animated her allowed her to be beside her Son in the supreme hour and sustained her in the immense pain that tore her heart.
There is no love without pain. True love is tested by suffering. Mary is great in love, because she knew how to offer herself in pain.
«Having learned that Jesus was dead, Pilate allowed his body to be handed over to Joseph of Arimathea, an authoritative member of the Sanhedrin, "who was also waiting to see the kingdom of God" (Mk 15:43). Joseph, "bought a shroud, took Jesus down from the cross and wrapped him in the shroud" (Mk 15:46). Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also present.
Many years before, the old Simeon, taking his child in his arms, had said to her: "A sword will pierce your soul".
(Lk 2:35).
And now, receiving the lifeless body of Jesus in her arms, Mary realized that the prophecy had come true.
She who had embraced the Son of God with her love, now embraced all humanity with her pain. She whose heart had been so pure as to be a worthy dwelling place for the Savior of the world, was called to carry in her heart all human suffering and thus become the mother of us all.
The intimate union between love and pain, which was formed while she held her divine son in her arms, continues today in all those who choose to live close to the heart of God. To truly love means to be willing to embrace pain. To love God with all one's heart, with all one's mind and with all one's strength means to expose one's heart to the greatest pain a human being can know.
Every time we try to avoid pain, we become incapable of loving. Every time we choose love, we must shed many tears. When silence fell around the cross and everything was accomplished, Mary's pain spread to the ends of the earth. But all who feel the same pain in their hearts know that it is inseparable from the love of God and hold it dear as the hidden mystery of life" (H. Nouwen).
After the moment of trial, Mary prepared and accompanied with prayer the birth of the Church (Acts 1:14); finally she found her Son in the glory of the Assumption.
Her "presence" of love in the mystery of Christ now becomes concrete closeness to the disciples of the Son for all Christian generations (cf. Jn 19:26-27). It is certainly not comparable to divine omnipresence; it is instead a presence of grace attentive, watchful and caring towards us that springs from the awareness of her bond with us in Christ and in the communion of the saints. In any case, it is a permanent, universal presence, a feminine, maternal presence, full of charity, entirely referred to God and therefore universally human, according to the vocation that Christ conferred on her from the height of the cross saying to her: "Woman, behold your son".
(Jn 19:26).
Mary of Nazareth: presence that transmits love; presence that forms to love, educates to divine charity, to the divinely great joy of forgiveness, the game of God.
«The most beautiful game is to imitate God, His Providence, His Love: by borrowing that style from Mary Most Holy, one feels oneself growing and growing. Have you ever tried to taste the virginal sweetness of an act of charity that no one noticed, completely buried in silence? And have we not felt our innermost being tremble after a gesture of kindness - a gift, a favor, a service - rendered to someone who had stepped on our feet or struck our cheek?
Who has not prayed for his adversaries - a co-worker, an office colleague, a sister-in-law or daughter-in-law or mother-in-law or a child!... or a spouse - strongly feeling the presence of God, made expert in a transcendent and divine style?
And giving more than is right, beyond the demands of convenience, of the vast space of generosity? And lending, without being asked; offering without being asked; thanking those who have put a good face on our charity or allowed us to do it?
And charity is fun; it is God's usual game.
It leaves a caress in your heart.
"Take away this star of the sun that illuminates the world: where does the day go?
Take away Mary, this star of the sea (stella maris), yes of the great and immense sea: what remains if not a vast fog and the shadow of death and thick darkness?" (St. Bernard). Mary of Nazareth is the light because she brings the Light, the true one.
(cf. Jn 1:9).
Let us allow ourselves to be illuminated, enlightened, guided by her! Mary is the uncontaminated beauty that brings Grace.
(cf. Jn 1:16,17).
Let us allow her to shape us into new creatures! Mary is the love that gives us fullness and joy of life. She is the "best way of all" (1 Cor 12:31) to go to Christ, to be authentically his. All we can do is walk it with deep gratitude to God.
"This is the way, walk it" (Is 30:21), the Spirit whispers to us!
