MARY, THE SHINING STAR IN THE DEEP

What is a STAR? A star is the most luminous light in the sky. A star shows us the way, if we are able to read it. In the history of salvation for us, Mother Mary is the most luminous person when it comes to faith. And she, most definitely, leads us to Jesus. Just remember, “Do as He tells you,” and you will understand. That is why, Vatican II speaks of Mother Mary as the first believer and the best believer. For the Son of God to become man, God needed a woman in whom the Son of God could be conceived, for this God chose Mary.

Let’s us see for ourselves two significance of Mary, being our Shining Star. In the Wedding feast at Cana, Mary intercedes to Jesus to fix a simple issue: a lack of wine at the wedding. From this, we must realize that if Mary can ask Jesus to address something that ordinary, she will certainly intercede for us in any matter, large and small, weighing on our hearts and minds. “Do what He tells you,” sounds very simple, isn’t it? In the case of filling jugs with water, it might have been. What if, those five words were directed to each of us? Here itself, we have to face two challenges. First, to discern what God is calling us to do. And secondly, find the way to go about accomplishing it. Someone rightly said, “The young seminarians are entering into a building, which is already in fire.” Being a follower of Christ, in honesty and integrity, is not easy. Let the words ring in our hearts and minds, Honesty and Integrity!!!

If we go to see, Mary had difficult or rather impossible jobs too. We usually push this fact aside, by saying that, “Oh, she was conceived and born without sin. She had God with her every single step of the way.” Let’s check for ourselves; don’t we all have God with us at every moment? Easier to say than to realize, yes for you and for me. God gives us the grace and the strength that we need. He also gave us Mary, someone who can stand at her Son’s elbow and look at us and say, “Do what He tells you.”

The second significance of Mary, being our Shining Star is to show us how to hear God’s Word. How did Mary hear God’s Word? The Word of God was given to her that she was soon to conceive and then bear a son. She might not have understood a thing about it. In the temple, after searching for Jesus for three days; when questioned, what did Jesus say, “Why did you look for me. Don’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Mary didn’t understand this either. Yet we all know what she did. We see in Luke 2:19 that Mary kept the word in her heart and pondered over it. That is the way God’s Word is to be heard. 

Perhaps that is the difference between us and Mother Mary. There are many things, we have not understood in the Word, or the call we have received. There are many things that we have not understood in our life. Why are things going wrong for us? Not understanding, what do we do? We keep it all in our head and Mary kept it all in her heart. That’s fine, theoretically. Let’s see what significance it has for us. What is the difference between the head and the heart? The head does all the thinking. How do we think? We think in the light of our experiences and the knowledge that we have accumulated. And that knowledge is limited. Therefore, our thinking is ultimately limited. If we try to put stress on this aspect, then our heads break. We become desperate; self-pity, clinging to the law (or rules) rather than the spirit, need to please the persons in authority for acceptance, complaining about others to seek recognition, all these arise because inside we are broken. Because our thinking is! 

What about the heart? The heart is where God lives! According to the Bible, the heart is the ‘dwelling place of God.’ And whatever I don’t understand, I keep it in the heart and ponder over it; as to what is God trying to tell me. We wait upon God! Head is my thinking – my pride and self-righteousness. Heart is my humility – I do not know, I am not perfect. I wait upon God to reveal to me. I wait to listen to his Word. I wait to hear His voice. And that is done in Prayer. We allow God to speak, to guide and direct us. “Do what He tells you.” This is what Mary shows us- to listen to God’s word, not by the head but by the heart.

Let me sum up in three words; Mary, as the Shining Star, guides us closer to Jesus in Honesty, Integrity and Prayer.