To Jesus through Mary.

To Jesus through Mary.
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One of the central principles of Catholicism is

that the surest path to knowing and loving Jesus is through His mother Mary.

As a human being Mary is one of us.

The Creator of the universe,  being a Supernatural being,

is above us, natural beings.

But, He who is above us became like us

and one of us

by becoming a man through Mary.

From heaven God came to the world through Mary.

She is like a bridge which connects the opposite banks of a river.

She serves as a bridge between God and man.

We can go to God through her.

That is what is meant by the phrase,

'To Jesus Through Mary.'

Jesus was born through Mary to come to us.

How are we to be born through her to go to Jesus?

There cannot be a biological birth.

But there can a spiritual birth.

There can be a spiritual adoption.

We can become her spiritually adopted children.

A biological child

genetically  inherits or derives

the  qualities and characteristics

of its mother.

We can become her spiritual children

if we inherit

her spiritual qualities and characteristics.

What are her spiritual qualities and characteristics?

1. Submission to the will of God.

2. Union with God.

3. Mission with her Son.

Submission:
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If we submit ourselves to the will of God,

unite ourselves with Him

and carry out her Son's mission like her,

we become her children.

By becoming her children, we become one with Jesus, her Son.

Just as our Mother submitted herself to the will of God by saying,

"Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word," 

we must surrender  our God given  gift,

freedom of choice and action,

at His feet

and become His slaves,

as Mary did.

Our choice must be God's choice

and our action must be as per His will.

Submitting her will to the will God,

she  cooperated in the Incarnation of the Word,

and suffered with Him

from His birth in a cow shed

till His death on the cross,  crucifixion.

If we want to reap the benefits of His sufferings and  death, 

we too must suffer and die for  Him.

Mary brings us closer to Jesus by helping us suffer for Her Son.

Our submission  to the will of the Father

must  mirror Christ’s  own self-denial in the Garden of Gethsemane:

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

As the Creator, God’s will is providence,

His plan for all things and all times.

For us, as creatures, to submit to His will

is to consent to be what we were made to be.

Ultimately, we are all made to be with God.

Union with God:
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The result of  submission   is union.

What do we mean by union?

When two people have the same opinion about one thing we say that they are united in opinion.

When a group of people join together to work for a common goal, the united group is a union.

If the members of what is called union work for different purposes, they are not united and the group is not a union.

By submitting herself to the will of God,

Mary is united with God for one purpose,

Mary spent all her life for the salvation of souls in union with her son.

Mission with her Son.
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Mission means an important assignment given to a person or group of people, especially in a religious institution.

God the Father sent His Son into the world

with the assignment of forgiving the sins of the world

by His self sacrifice.

Mary was helpful to her Son right from her conception.

By accepting to become the Mother of God,

Mary accepted to work  for the  salvation of souls in union with her Divine Son.

The first step in this direction was  freeing one from original sin.

Mary herself was conceived without original sin by the grace of God,

so we can rightly say that Jesus began His salvation work

in union with His dear Mother

by giving her the first  fruits of salvation

by her immaculate conception.

The second fruit went to St. John the Baptist.

This was with the cooperation our Mother.

After knowing that her relative Elizabeth had conceived,

our Mother went  to her house to be helpful to her

during her pregnancy period.

The meeting of the 'to be mothers' occasioned the meeting of the 'to be born children.'

Jesus made use of the meeting to forgive 'in- the- womb- child' John's original sin.

This was possible only with the cooperation of His dear Mother.

Only as Mary came to Elizabeth, Jesus could forgive John's original sin in person.

Here Mary cooperated with her Son in the mission of forgiving sins.

Mary was the only human being, who was conceived without original sin

besides Jesus,

who is also God.

Mary and John were born without original sin.

After giving birth to Jesus,

Mary grew Him up as a sacrificial Lamb,

to be sacrifced on mount Calvary,

for the sins of the world.

Thus Mary cooperated with her Son to achieve the purpose for which He came into the world.

Cooking is as important as eating the food.

Growing up the lamb is as important as sacrificing it.

Without the former,  the latter is not possible.

After thirty years of care for the 'Sacrificial Lamb',

our Mother offers her Son to public life,

during which time she offers her cooperation by her non-interference,

except for her being with Him and his disciples, at the marriage of Cana.

During public life non-interference itself is a cooperation

as interference would serve only as disturbance.

But she was always  spiritually united with her Son.

The first miracle Jesus did was at the reqest of His Mother,

The marriage at Cana itself was meant for His first miracle

at the request of His mother

as per His eternal work plan.

It also aims at showing us Mary's influence over her Son,

knowledge of which will serve as a life giving force to our Marian devotion.

Separation from his Mother during public life 

can be inferred from the conditions

he gave his disciples for following him

and for dedicating themselves to proclaiming God's kingdom.

Nevertheless, Mary sometimes heard her Son's preaching.

We can assume that she was present in the synagogue of Nazareth

when Jesus,

after reading Isaiah's prophecy,

commented on the text

and applied it to himself .

After three years of seperation,

she came into direct contact with Her Son at His passion

in order to sacifice the lamb

grown for the purpose

on mount Calvary.

The murderers themselves cooperated in the salvation work,

not knowing it themselves,

negatively.

Mary was with Jesus when He was codemned to death,

when He was carryin the cross,

when He was nailed to the cross,

when the cross was lifted errect,

when Jesus appointed St. John ad her protector,

when He prayed to His Heavenly Father to forgive the murderers,

when He died offering His soul to His Father,

when His side was pierced with a lance

and

when His body  was taken down and buried.

All through her Son's sufferings, Mary was praying,

"Heavenly Father,

I am offering you

my Son's sufferings

as amendment

for the sins of the whole human race."

Jesus is the redemptor of the world.

Mary, our Mother is the 

co-redemptrix,

because  of her subordinate but essential participation

in redemption.

She gave free consent to give life to the Redeemer.

She shared his life, suffering, and death,

which were redemptive for the world.

Now coming to the main point,

as Mother and Son cannot be seperated,

we can reach the Son through His Mother.

She is the gate

through which

Jesus entered the world

and

we can and must use the same gate

to enter Heaven.

How can we do that?

By submitting ourselves to the will of God,

by uniting ourselves with God

and

by taking an active role in the redemptive mission of Jesus,

together with Mary, our Mother.

The will of God is revealed to us in the commandments of God!

so sweet commandments! 
  
commandments of love!

Nothing is sweeter than love!

God says,

"My dear child,

Love me!

I am waiting from all eternity for your love!

You stopped loving me, when you broke my commandments!

But I cannot stop loving you!

So, I became a man like you to regain your love!

Look at my five wounds, tokens of my love for you!

Is it difficult to love me?

Look at my Mother and learn from her how to love!

She is your Mother too.

Learn from her how to love me and your neighbour!

It is for your sake

that she accepted to give birth to me.

It is for your sake

that she offered me to My Father

when I was hanging on the Cross!

Even now she is praying for you all without ceasing!

So if you want to come to me,

which I want, 

catch hold of my Mother's hands tightly.

But, remember one thing,

you must walk in the same way

she walked with me, my way of the cross.

Don't get frightened,  I am always with you.

 My yoke is easy, and my burdenmlight.”   
(Math11:30)"

Mom, dear! Your
hands, please!

Lourdu Selvam