by Rene Recamara – Chapter Head
Mary can both be an invitation to Catholicism and to many Protestants, an obstacle to Catholicism. Even in the life of a young Pole named Karol Wojtyla who later became Pope John Paul II, Mary a bit of an obstacle. He began to question his devotion to Mary, believing that if it become too great, it might end up compromising the supremacy of his devotion to Jesus Christ.
But during the Nazi occupation of Poland in World War II, Karol Wojtyla started reading a book entitled True Devotion to Mary, by a French theologion named Monfort. Monfort taught in his book that all true devotion to Mary was Christocentric or Christ-centered as it necessarily points to Christ. And since it always points to her Son, it is not only Christ-centered, it is also Trinitarian.
A Swiss theologian by the name of Hans Urs von Balthasar, considered a genius of the modern Catholic world, has written a book entitled The Office of Peter and the Structure of the Church, wherein he suggested that the church in every age is formed in the image of the great figures in the New Testament.
The Church of Proclamation and Evangelization for example, is formed in the image of St. Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles. The Church of Contemplation and Mystical Insight, is formed in the image of the apostle John, the beloved disciple who rested his head on the Lord’s breast at the Last Supper. The Church of Authority is formed in the image of Peter, to whom Christ gave the power of the keys, the power to bind and loose. And the Church of Discipleship, which is the basis of everything else, is formed in the image of a Woman, Mary, whos is the first of disciples and thus the Mother of the Church.
How? Because it is in Mary’s Fiat, “Be It Done Unto Me According To Your Word” that we discover the pattern or form of all Christian Discipleship. Through this Fiat, we learn a lesson that will take a lifetime to learn. The lesson is that we are not in charge of our lives. God is in charge of our lives.
To know that is to be liberated in the truest sense of human freedom. To knpw that is to be set free from the restlessness that besets every human heart in every age. Mary’s Fiat at the Annunciation, “Be It Done Unto Me According To Your Word” is completed by Mary’s silent Fiat, the reception of the dead body of her Son at the foot of the cross which some ancient spiritual writers referred to as “Mary’s Martyrdom”. In both instances, Mary teaches us to trust in God’s wisdom which so often contradicts the wisdom of this world.
Indeed, to have devotion to Mary is to take our first steps in the spiritual discipline of trust and dicipleship.
