yoUth: Mary - THE Friend

We see Mary in many ways such as Mary the Mother of God, Mother of Jesus, Mary the disciple and the list could go on if I asked you to speak of who is Mary to you…surely we cannot deny the fact that she is our heavenly Mother and the many titles could be attributed to be it from the litany or from the ejaculations we often say. We her sons in Jesus Christ and Don Bosco call her under the title - “Mary Help of Christians,” or “the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” In our lives we have spiritualized and divinized of and on Mary, as true devotees, which is right and good as Christians, Catholics, or even as religious and Salesians. I stand here before you all my brothers to reflect on Mary as my friend. Jesus openly reveals the depth of His love for his disciples when in John 15:15, He says: “I call you friends, since I have made known to you all that I heard from my father.” We see in the life of Jesus Himself, she proved to be a friend, from the very moment of the Annunciation – Immaculately Conceived till the death of her son and even after that being with the Apostles.

Why did I choose this title to understand Mary? Mary is the type and model of friendship. Mary’s own life can give us a living image of friendship. I think that it is more appropriate to look through Mary to get an idea of what a friend means to be and live, to have a realistic outlook full of experiences.

This reminds me of Eddie Catherine Doherty who wrote a biography entitled Wisdom’s Fool. In this work she penned about a priest called, Louis de Montfort. “There lived on earth a man who was in love with Mary, the Mother of God. He was so in love that he could truly think of nothing else but Mary.” As sons of Mary we too are called to be in love with her. Let us draw for ourselves a reflection in our daily living. How much of time you and I, really spend with her in thoughts, words, and deeds. There is no way but through Mary to Jesus. For without Mary there would be no Christmas, no Epiphany, and no kings undertaking long journeys by the guidance of the one bright star. Without Mary, we would have no Golgotha, no Cross, and no Easter! Without Mary, you and I would not be Christians. There would be no sons of Don Bosco, no dream, no Jesus entrusting his Mother to Don Bosco and to us Salesians. All this came to pass because of this one single three letter magical word – YES! by Mary. She is full of grace, she is beautiful, of a beauty which I call holiness; in the words of the canticle the church calls her all beautiful (tota pulchra). Her grace is the grace of the new covenant. In defining the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the Church declared that Mary was preserved from sin, “in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, our savior.” In this sense she is really, as Dante said, “the daughter of her Son,” and as Ratzinger said, “Daughter of Zion,” and Pius IX – called her the splendor of an entirely unique holiness. Let our hearts seek passionately to live in and with this holiness all our lives.

There used to be and still is a very popular spiritual book: The Imitation of Christ. People do not talk much about it now-a-days. Perhaps it is time that we think of writing another one: The imitation of Mary. It may not be one to be published or best selling but to reflect on Mary’s and my relationship seen as a friendship: the selflessness, listening attitude, the faith element, being active and contemplative, living life and doing the will of God. She has a special place and role of leadership and empowerment, indicated by titles like ‘mother’ and ‘sister,’ there is nothing like calling her a ‘friend.’ For in a friend what I treasure the most is the element of trUst with a capital “U,” The U – stands for understanding, emphasizing the ‘other’ in my life. This is what Mary did all her life.. And this is what I would continue to do all my life she being there for me always, showing me the path to lead others along with me, as a friend, a companion.