Kaukauna Catholic Parishes

Mary Mother of Hospitality

It is often said that Roman Catholics are over-preoccupied with the Blessed Mother. I sincerely hope we are because in John 2:5 Mary,
Jesus’s mother, said to the servants, “Do whatever he (Jesus) tells you.”

Now if these are the words that Our Blessed Mother said to the servants, they are pretty self-explanatory. She knows what he wants
and follows his plan. 

In Luke 1:38, we also read: Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. Yes, it is remarkably clear that Mary did God’s will in word and deed. We can not deny a unique bond between Mother and Son at his Incarnation, Birth, Death, and Resurrection. So, what about her Assumption?

For me, the Assumption makes total sense in the light of the Resurrection. If Jesus conquered death and manifested the resurrection, then we can surely say that his resurrected and glorified body prefigures something wonderful for us all.

His unique relationship with his mother on earth is transformed in the realms of heaven.

As a kid, I would marvel at the way the crew of the Starship Enterprise - Spock, Kirk, and Dr. McCoy - were beamed from the ship to other places and re-materialized. It was awesome. In a very rudimentary way this may help explain some dimensions of the concept even if it does fall short. But a resurrected and glorified Body and Soul like Mary’s is surely something to contemplate even if we don’t fully understand the mystery.

In 1994 I joined some 25 pilgrims as we visited the famous shrine of the Blessed Mother at Lourdes in France. We traveled on a Jumbulance, a unique, specially-designed coach ambulance, which provides safe and comfortable transport for travelers with disabilities and illnesses. Some of the pilgrims were terminally ill or had other disabilities, but it was truly a remarkable experience. The evening before we were to depart to return to England a small group of about five went down to the apparition site to say our goodbyes. It was about 11 at night.

One of our parties was Ros, a woman of about 30 who had Down syndrome. Her mom had died years before and her father had died just a few months before our visit there. Ros looked to the left and began talking to ‘The Beautiful Lady’- we redirected her to the right to where the original Apparition of the Blessed Mother had been, she told us we were wrong and continued talking into the air.

We respected her and just observed her on a beautiful night. Pretty soon we were joined by some German-speaking people and Italian-speaking people. They were drawn by the “peace.”  Sure, enough each one of us
experienced a profound sense of peace and inexplicable awe of calm. The experience lasted until about midnight we bid farewell to the other people and headed into the night.

I would like to assume that Mary was appearing to this young woman- with the gift of consolation and peace. Peace is the gift of the Resurrected Jesus and most definitely that of his Mother who is with him in heaven.

Blessings,
Fr. Mack