Example of Our Blessed Lady
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 17, 2024 at 12:00AM in Sermons
"Which is indeed the least of all seeds."-MATT. 13. 32.
1. Parable of encouragement.
2. Take example of our Blessed Lady: the least of all in her life.
3. What did she become? "Shall call me blessed."
4. Her position in the doctrine and her power in the devotions of the Church.
THIS parable of our Blessed Lord is meant for our encouragement. It teaches us that great results can spring from small beginnings. It teaches us that what the world sees is very, very different from what appears before the eyes of God. Humility, purity, obedience, patience are but of small account in the estimation of the world; but they are prized by the all-holy God, and great and wonderful are their results.
How plainly we realize all this, if we study it from an example-the example of our Immaculate Mother Mary herself. Contrast her life in this world, and her dignity, glory, and power, with which she is supremely blessed by God, now and for ever.
Picture, first, the humble house at Nazareth; the Virgin praying; the appearance and message of the Angel Gabriel; and her humility troubled at his saying. And when she had realized the tidings that he had brought, her meek and lowly answer, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word " (Luke i. 38). No complacency, no exaltation at the dignity conferred upon her! Chosen to be the Mother of the Savior, she only said, "Because He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid” (ibid. 48).
And at Bethlehem-still the least of all seeds-" she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn " (Luke ii. 7). And outcasts again were the Child and His Mother, for the Angel warned St. Joseph to flee with them to Egypt for fear of King Herod. And the long years at Nazareth, where the child grew up-how poor, secluded, uneventful were they. How despised a life in the eyes of the world, for when her Son began His public life, was it not cast against Him, "Can anything of good come from Nazareth?" (John i. 46).
Come to Calvary! Behold that poor, heartbroken Mother standing by the Cross on which her Son died, scoffed at, derided, blasphemed by those for whom He died. Well may unbelievers sneer at such an apparent failure the life of the Virgin Mother and the death of her Son! But we-thank God for the faith within us-deny the failure and humbly adore God's marvelous providence. The seed must die in the ground before the growth ensues. Yes, Mary was "the least of all seeds," indeed, but we see and believe and bless God for the result of her humility, her acceptance of the Will of God, her hidden life, her poverty, her sufferings. Behold the result! Immaculate Mary herself tells us," Behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me " (Luke i. 48, 49).
This poor, unknown, sorrowful Virgin—what has she become? The Queen of heaven, the Queen of Angels and of Saints! Acknowledged, reverenced from the earliest ages of the Church with a love and devotion increasing as the centuries roll on. A new era began for her at the Resurrection of her divine Son. Then did she realize, as He appeared to her, glorious, impassible, and immortal, what it was indeed to be the Mother of the Savior, for this was the Child of Bethlehem, this the Victim of Calvary. And at the Ascension what a vision of the glory of heaven was revealed to her longing soul! Ten days after, when the Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles and filled their souls with His marvelous gifts, even Mary's heart was enlarged, she realized that a new work was laid upon her-she became the Mother of the infant Church. For twelve years she remained with the disciples, a living answer to all who doubted that God had become man to redeem the world-for there still amongst them was found His Mother. From the earliest days there were self-opinionated men holding heretical doctrines, but one after another they failed and perished as true belief in Mary was taught and maintained by the successors of the Apostles. The powers of the wicked one, having ensnared the hearts of so many, were concentrated against our Blessed Lady. But the prophecy of old was verified, and the Virgin Mother "crushed the serpent's head" when, in the days of St. Cyril of Alexandria, at the General Council of Ephesus, it was declared as an article of faith that Mary was the Mother of God. The least, indeed, of all seeds had grown and become glorious in its triumph. The title "Mother of God" was the test of orthodoxy.
Not only did Mary become the test and strength of our faith, but hope in her, as the mediator with her divine Son, en-kindled piety and devotion to her.
Through succeeding ages the institution of festivals in her honor; the building of churches dedicated to her name; religious orders choosing her as their special patroness; the multiplication of devotions to win her compassion and her intercession-all these are the proofs of the glory of the Virgin of Nazareth.
Moreover, unlike the empires of this world that rise and fall, that for a space make the world resound with their prowess and their glory, and then pass away into oblivion, leaving scarce a shadow of a name behind-Mary's glory knows no decline! All these centuries has it existed, and now in our own age, in spite of all the evil and infidelity in the world, there is more widespread devotion, more public veneration, than ever. Proofs of this are plain. For witness, "the months of Mary," "the October Rosaries," the confraternities, the processions, the pilgrimages to Lourdes, the miracles that silence the tongue of slander. The whole world is the witness of these glories of Mary. Faith and hope are strengthened by remembering this example of the Mother of God. Let us devoutly ask of her to make us meek and humble of heart; to imitate now her poor and lowly life on earth, trusting that our Mother will welcome us to heaven and its glory hereafter." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey
