Daughter, mother and bride of the trinity

BY SIHLE MAGUBANE

A question that often arises, not only in Protestant circles, is that of the Catholic Church’s solemn invocation and veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The simple response to that would be to reflect on the unique relationship she has with the Godhead, and the virtues each represents, and how that has merited her the full spiritual and bodily assumption into heaven.

Perhaps most important is to recognise the relationship she has with God the Father: she is his daughter as we too are sons and daughters of the Father. Moreover, she is a faithful daughter, one who was able to say freely and completely: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.”

That kind of trust is evidence of Mary’s humility. It’s a humility based on her self-awareness, something to which we are all called.

The question she asks, “How can that be”, is not evidence of any doubt on her part. Rather she was comfortable in her own skin – she was a virgin and she knew it. She never boasted of it. That is the kind of children we should be to God. He created us and therefore he knows us more than we know ourselves. Why not be honest with him?

Mary is the mother of our Lord. Her acceptance of God’s will allowed her to be the best she could have been: a mother to God himself. She is the only biological parent to Jesus.

As the mother of Christ she had displayed an awe- inspiring love and faith in her son: the faith at the wedding in Cana, the love trough her enduring presence beneath the cross. It was at the cross that she assumed this role of motherhood to the entire human race.

No doubt, our Lord�s nature created enemies for him. God he is, and God he said he was. This truth, perhaps more than the other unpleasant truths he spoke, led to his crucifixion.

Painfully, almost all his disciples left him, in his greatest hour of need. His mother, more than any other, was there with him. Every breath he took, she took with him. Every painful blow he suffered, she felt in her heart. She endured through all the pain. How many times do we endure?

And finally, Mary is called the “spouse of the Holy Spirit”. The Spirit descended on to her, in a special way that no other human ever has experienced. She conceived of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of wisdom, gentleness and courage espoused her in a special way when she conceived of him. She was pure enough for the Holy Spirit to dwell in her.

And so she is a child, mother and spouse to the Holy Trinity.

As we explore this relationship of Mary to God, one fact becomes clear: Mary becomes the queen of heaven because her whole life is centred around her king, her son. The same life we are called to live – built around Christ.

When we enter heaven, we do so because our life has been a living sacrifice to God. And in no other way do we see this more clearly than in Mary.