"Mary and the Eucharist"

CMSWR Eucharistic Congress
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Washington, D.C.

by the Most Reverend William E. Lori, S.T.D.
Bishop of Bridgeport
September 24, 2004

 

Dear sisters, dear friends in Christ:

I am very happy to be with you – women of consecrated life participating in this Eucharistic Congress organized by the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious. Some of you may know that I had a front-row seat when, under the leadership of Cardinal Hickey, the former Archbishop of Washington, and some extraordinary major religious superiors, the CMSWR was brought into being. It is a great sign of hope and a source of support for consecrated life in the United States, now and in the future.

Please pray for Cardinal Hickey whom I visited earlier this morning. He is receiving loving and very capable care from the Little Sisters of the Poor. And even though infirmity and advancing years prevent him from saying all that is in his heart, I know he loves you very, very much – and would rejoice, as I do, to be a part of this great gathering, centered around Our Lord in the Eucharist.

This Eucharistic Congress is situated strategically between the Year of the Rosary and the Year of the Eucharist. The strategic planners of this Congress asked me to talk on the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Eucharist. It wasn’t hard to say yes to request like that. My presentation is inspired by the Holy Father’s leadership and writings, most especially his Apostolic Letter, “On the Most Holy Rosary” and his encyclical letter, “On the Eucharist” – “Ecclesia de Eucharistia”.

You will also be happy to know that this is not a complicated talk. It has a fundamental idea, a thesis, followed by 6 questions designed to explain and expand on the thesis. The nicest part is that there will be a break after the 3rd point!

The Fundamental Idea

The fundamental point of this talk is just to illustrate how Mary’s life, example and role in salvation history help us develop a greater understanding of and devotion to the Eucharist, the Mass. Pope John Paul II would tell us that, for the next few moments, we are going to school – “The School of Mary – the Woman of the Eucharist.” By taking a few credits in that school you and I will be better prepared to celebrate the Year of the Eucharist in a way that will deepen our spirit of holiness, our communion with the mysteries of Christ, our commitment to our vocations, and our spirit of loving service to the Church.

Six Points to Explain and Develop This Basic Idea

Now here are the 6 questions which I will use to explain and develop an understanding of the relationship of Mary and the Eucharist:

1. Do the Scriptures speak of Mary’s relationship to the Eucharist? How are we justified in calling her “The Woman of the Eucharist?”
2. How does Mary lead us to the Eucharist? What attitudes and virtues of hers should we bring to the Eucharist?
3. What does the Incarnation of the Son of God in Mary’s womb teach us concerning the real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist?
4. How does Mary, as the first disciple of the Lord, show us how to “remember” and “relive” the mysteries of Christ, especially his paschal mystery?
5. How did Mary at the foot of the Cross share in the sacrifice of her Son on the Cross?
6. Finally, how does Mary teach us in the Magnificat to offer God authentic praise? How does Mary teach us who are being conformed to Christ in this life to strain toward the heavenly liturgy?

Now all this may seem like 12 credit hours crammed into one lecture! But be of good cheer! The School of Mary is not burdensome! And maybe, through her intercession, this erstwhile professor in Mary’s School of the Eucharist will not be a burden either!

1. How can we speak of Mary as “The Woman of the Eucharist”?

In his encyclical on the Eucharist, Pope John Paul II points out that none of the Gospels mention the presence of Mary at the Last Supper. So far as we know, only Jesus and the apostles were present when Jesus instituted the Eucharist.

So where does that leave us? When we speak of Mary as “The Woman of the Eucharist” are we in the realm of pious legend and conjecture? Not at all!

Following the lead of Pope John Paul II, we might speak of Mary’s DIRECT and INDIRECT relationship to the Eucharist. Allow me to explain.

When we speak of Mary’s DIRECT relationship to the Eucharist, we mean that Mary actually participated in the Eucharist. Put another way, Mary went to Mass!

How can we know this? In the Acts of the Apostles at 1:14 St. Luke tells us: “When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” (AA 1:14)

This passage from the Acts of the Apostles is situated just after Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. The Apostles, the Virgin Mary and other women who had followed Jesus and who well may have witnessed his death on the Cross, (Luke 23:49) gathered to watch, wait and pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit. What this passage helps us understand is that Mary was an intimate part of the life of prayer of the very first Christian community.

A second important passage is Acts 2:42. This passage is situated after Pentecost, and the amazing proclamation of the Gospel that followed the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Virgin Mary. After telling us about the many people who were won over to Christ, the author of the Acts of the Apostles describes the communal life of the earliest Christian community at Jerusalem: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles, to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread, and to the prayers.” (Acts 2:42) As you can readily see, this passage from the Acts of the Apostles actually describes the basic elements of the Mass: the teaching of the Apostles, that is, the proclamation of the Word of God, together with doctrinal instruction, followed by the “breaking of the bread,” a most ancient term for the Eucharist.

Commenting on that passage, Pope John Paul II has written: “Mary must have been present at the Eucharistic celebrations of the first generation of Christians….” [EdeE, 53]

…And think of what that must have been like! Again, to quote our Holy Father: “What must Mary have felt as she heard from the mouth of Peter, John, James and the other Apostles words spoken at the Last Supper: ‘This is my body which is given for you’ (Luke 22:19)? … For Mary, receiving the Eucharist must have somehow meant welcoming once more into her womb that heart which had beat in unison with hers and reliving what she had experienced at the foot of the Cross.” [EdeE, 56] You know, Mary’s presence at the Eucharist pretty well punctures any excuse for being absent from the Eucharist, or for being inattentive during the Eucharist!

In addition to Mary’s direct relationship to the Eucharist, we can speak of Mary’s indirect relationship to the mystery of faith. This means that, even before Mary directly participated in the Eucharist, she indirectly foreshadowed the Eucharist by word and example: by her obedient and faith-filled acceptance of the living Word of God; by consenting that Eternal Son of God would be made substantially present in her womb; by her remembering in her heart the mysteries of Christ unfolding before her eyes; and by her sharing in the sacrifice of her Son at the foot of the Cross. Thus, her unique identity and vocation, and her response to all that God asked of her, lead us to the Eucharist and help us to open our heart to the mystery of faith. The remaining 5 points will spell this out!

2. How Mary Leads Us to the Eucharist

Well, I wish that Mary would personally visit everyone in my diocese and bring them to Church on Sunday! So often I examine my conscience: Why are so many people absent from Mass on Sunday? There are many suggested answers. Some point to the scandals which have taken a toll on the faith of many. Some say that the preaching is not all it should be, and anyone who takes this responsibility seriously knows how demanding it really is. Others suggest that if only the liturgy were celebrated more attentively, the music were livelier, and the priest and people more welcoming, and the church were clean and well decorated, more people would be attracted to Sunday Mass. There is some merit in that opinion. I think we have to see the ongoing efforts of the Holy See to reform the liturgy in that light.

But merely improving externals doesn’t do the job. We know that painting the exterior of a house and cutting the grass does not make an unhappy family happy! Even welcome improvements in liturgical externals aren’t enough!

Mary, however, teaches us the most basic step necessary for wholehearted participation in the Eucharist. It is her peerless faith. Pope John Paul II writes: “If the Eucharist is a mystery of faith which so greatly transcends our understanding as to call for sheer abandonment to the word of God, then there can be no one like Mary to act as our support and guide in acquiring this disposition.” (EdeE, 54). Just as Elizabeth declared Mary blessed because she trusted that God’s promises would be fulfilled (Luke 1:45), so too we are blessed when we open our hearts in faith to the gift and mystery of the Eucharist. When Mary said “yes” to the announcement of the angel that she was to be the Mother of the Redeemer, she demonstrated that obedience of faith (Romans 16:26) without which we cannot truly encounter the Lord. (See RM, 13.1). Her obedient faith shows us how to encounter the Eucharistic Lord even when conditions are not optimal!

The Holy Father draws a wonderful parallel between the command of the Lord at the Last Supper and the command of Mary at the wedding feast of Cana. At the Last Supper Jesus commanded his apostles, “Do this in memory of me” and ever-thereafter the Eucharist has been celebrated. At the wedding feast of Cana, Mary commanded the waiters, “Do whatever he tells you.” And with that the stewards filled jugs with water which Christ changed into wine. Mary is telling us as once she told the waiters: “Do whatever he tells you.” Pope John Paul II adds: “Mary seems to say to us: ‘Do not waver; trust in the words of my Son. If he was able to change water into wine, he can also turn bread and wine into his body and blood….” (EdeE, 54).

Faith, as we know, is not manufactured but given as a gift. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that: “Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him.” It goes on to say that: “Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior help of the Holy Spirit who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and ‘makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.’” (CCC, 153). Faith is given in the waters of Baptism. But it is nurtured by the witness of the whole Christian community, including parents, godparents, teachers, clergy and the witness of consecrated life. This witness includes prayer, good example and explicit teaching with the express goal of helping the baptized to accept what the Church believes and teaches as revealed by God and calling for the assent of faith. (LG, 25; RM, 13.2). But for that to happen, those who have been given the gift of faith must be evangelized and catechized. Their hearts must be opened to the wonder of God’s love revealed in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and they must be explicitly instructed in the faith. Un-evangelized and un-catechized Catholics are not likely to grasp the mystery of faith and see it as the source and summit of their lives.

With that in mind, Pope Paul VI lovingly identified Mary as “the Star of Evangelization,” (EN, 82) and accurately he spoke when he said that: “Knowledge of the true doctrine regarding the Virgin Mary will always be the key to the exact understanding of the mystery of Christ and of the Church.” (See John Paul II, RM, 47.2).

3. What the Incarnation Teaches Us about the Eucharist

In his recent encyclical on the Eucharist, Pope John Paul II identifies the parallel and the link between the Incarnation and the Eucharist. The Incarnation, of course, refers to Mary’s assent of faith when the angel told her she would become the mother of God. We proclaim this each Sunday in the Creed: “For us men and for our salvation, he (the Eternal Son of God) came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” (Nicene Creed). Reflecting on this mystery, Pope John Paul II writes: “…In a certain sense, Mary lived her Eucharistic faith even before the institution of the Eucharist, by the very fact that she offered her virginal womb for the incarnation of God’s Word.”

You know, sometimes we tend to focus only on the relationship of the Eucharist to Christ’s death & resurrection. We know that the Eucharist is the living commemoration of Christ’s Paschal Mystery. But sometimes we overlook the relationship of the Eucharist to the incarnation of the Son of God…. summed up in the immortal Eucharistic hymn: “Ave, verum corpus natum de Maria Virgine!” – “Hail, true Body, born of the Virgin Mary!” Mary, in her womb, in a certain sense, anticipated what happens at every celebration of the Eucharist. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Son of God was conceived – body, blood, soul and divinity – precisely the One whose body, blood, soul and divinity we receive, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in Holy Communion.

Deeply and personally, Mary confronted the mystery of faith as the Angel stood before her. Mary’s soul was filled with wonder and awe as she spoke her “fiat”: “let it be done to me according to your word.” When we are confronted by the announcement, “the Body of Christ”, our “Amen” should imitate Mary’s “fiat”. As Christ comes to dwell in us – body, blood, soul and divinity – we must say as did Mary, “let it be done to me according to your word.” And we must do this over and over again until we can say, “It is not I who live but Christ who lives in me!” (Galatians 2:20) In a certain sense -- not equal to but comparable with the incarnation of God’s Son in the womb of Mary, Christ becomes truly present in our flesh and blood and in the depth of our human soul. So do we echo the beautiful opening lines of Father Olier’s prayer: “O Jesu, vivens in Maria, veni et vive in famulis tuis in plenitudine virtutis tuae…” “O Jesus, living in Mary, come and live in your servants in the fullness of your power…”

The actual presence of the incarnate Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary was also recognized in faith by Elizabeth and by the child of her womb, John the Baptist. Elizabeth said to Mary, “the moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy!” (Lk. 1:44) Pope John Paul II refers to Mary as “the first ‘tabernacle’ in history— in which the Son of God, still invisible to our human gaze, allowed himself to be adored by Elizabeth, radiating his light, as it were, through the eyes and voice of Mary.” (EdeE, 55). Mary who carried Christ in her womb teaches us to love the Church in whom Christ dwells, truly and substantially, in the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the tabernacles of our Churches. It is not hard to see why Eucharistic adoration is the source of such graces for parishes and dioceses!

4. How Mary Helps Us Remember in a Living Way What Christ Did for Us

In several places, the Gospels tell us how Mary carefully stored in her heart the mysteries of Christ. When we speak of the mysteries of Christ, we do not mean to say that Jesus he had a puzzling, enigmatic personality! No, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, the phrase, “the mysteries of Christ” refer to “Christ’s whole earthly life – his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking — as the Revelation of the Father” (CCC, 516). The root of the word “mystery” is the Greek verb “to hide”; Jesus by his whole life reveals the Father who is hidden from human sight. So we refer to the mysteries of Christ because his whole earthly life was like a sacrament that revealed the Father dwelling inaccessible light! This is the whole point to the luminous mysteries, “the mysteries of light” which our Holy Father put forth in his Apostolic Letter on the Most Holy Rosary (see no. 21). No one knew more intimately than Mary the mysteries of Christ, including those years before his public ministry began. Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ illustrates this so well. For example, when Jesus fell beneath the Cross, only Mary would remember Jesus’ taking a fall as a child and running to him as any loving mother would!

Jesus was Mary’s flesh and blood. She stored in her heart the wondrous things that accompanied his birth. She kept in her heart how Simeon foretold the crucifixion. She remembered the words of Jesus when he was found in the temple engaging the teachers of Israel, as later he would do in his public life! And as she witnessed his preaching and miracles and the mounting dangers of those who rejected him, Mary’s storehouse of memories continued to grow. But Mary’s memory was a living memory. She was not stuck in the past, like we so often are. Her memory linked what she had seen and heard to the unfolding drama of salvation, especially as she stood beneath the Cross.

In a certain sense, the memory of Mary who stored the mysteries of Christ in her heart, foreshadows the living memory of the Church in whose heart is stored the mysteries of Christ -- that become present to us in the celebration of the Eucharist. It is as if, the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, infused the Church at her beginnings with the all that Mary remembered so that the Church could extend the mysteries of Christ to every time, place, and culture.

What do I mean by this? At Mass, the Church remembers & re-presents the mysteries of Christ, that is to say, all that he said and did for our salvation. This includes his Incarnation, his hidden life at Nazareth, his preaching of the Kingdom of God, his miracles – all culminating his saving death and resurrection, the Paschal Mystery. As the Scriptures are proclaimed and the various liturgical seasons and feasts are celebrated, we recall various events in the life of Christ. But indeed, we do more than recall them mentally, in our head! In a certain way, all that Christ did and said, the mysteries of Christ, become truly present -- so that we actually share in what the Lord said and did to save us! So, when the Scriptures are proclaimed, Christ speaks to us. And the events recounted in the Scriptures are not merely remembered but rendered present and actual to us, as they were to Mary. We are thus the crowd listening to the Beatitudes, the man who seeks out Christ at night, the lepers who were cured, the bystander forced to carry the Cross. And all this happens so that, grasping the richness and beauty of the one mystery of Christ from its various aspects, we might have Christ formed in us!

And why is this so? Why is Christ so thoroughly present to us at Mass? The answer is because the Christian life is not simply exterior conformity with the example of Jesus – but rather a deep adherence to and communion with Jesus’ life, with what Jesus said and with what Jesus did. As St. John Eudes explains it, “…Since the members (of the Church) are animated by the Spirit of (Christ) their Head, and are living his life, we must live his life, walk in his ways, be clothed again in his sentiments and inclinations, to do all our actions with the dispositions and intentions with which he did his….” (St. John Eudes, The Life and Kingdom of Jesus in Christian Souls.) Not even Mary fully understood her Son and his mission but she had a wondrous union with him – a union of nature and grace. Each time we celebrate the liturgy, Mary invites us to know her Son and his mysteries more deeply so that with her help we may accept St. Paul’s invitation to have in ourselves the mind of Christ.

5. How Mary Helps Us To Share in the Cross

Some sixteen years ago, in the midst of a Marian Year, my old boss and mentor, Cardinal Hickey, was asked by the Holy Father to conduct his annual retreat at the beginning of Lent. Wisely, Cardinal Hickey chose as his theme, “Mary, at the foot of the Cross – Teacher & Example of Holiness.” It was an extended meditation on how Mary shared in that “hour” at the heart of God’s plan to save the world. The Cardinal pointed out how the sinless Mary – the Mother of the Redeemer and his first disciples – shared more intimately in the sacrifice of the Cross than any other human being.

At the Last Supper, Jesus commanded his disciples, “Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) Again, what does the word “remembrance” mean? The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “the Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passover, the making present and the sacramental offering of his unique sacrifice, in the liturgy of the Church, which is his Body.” (CCC, 1362). Pope John Paul II adds that “…in the ‘memorial’ of Calvary all that Christ accomplished by his passion and death is present. Consequently, all that Christ did with regard to his Mother for our sake is present also.” (EdeE, 57) At Calvary Christ entrusted his Mother Mary to the beloved disciple John and to all of us – “behold your mother.” In Redemptoris Mater Pope John Paul II teaches that the crucified Redeemer personally entrusted his Mother Mary to every individual (RM 45.3). Mary is the Mother of the Redeemer, the Mother of the Church, and the Mother of every adopted son or daughter who, by Baptism, claims Christ as Brother. But, as Pope John Paul II points out, Mary is also “the mother all mankind” (RM, 23.2) for Christ died to redeem all humanity. Thus the II Vatican Council taught, Mary became “a Mother to us in the order of grace” (LG, 60) a motherhood that flows from her divine motherhood. She stands at the center of that mystery whereby Christ redeemed the world. And it is that mystery which is re-capitulated and re-presented every time the Mass is celebrated.

The Gospel of John tells us that the beloved disciple “took Mary into his own home” – as do we – for the Church never celebrates the Eucharist, in either the East or the West, without commemorating the Blessed Virgin Mary and recognizing her presence in the mystery we celebrate. We do this not only because we rely on her maternal care by which she leads us to Christ, encourages us on our pilgrim way, prays with us and for us – but also because Mary’s response of holiness defines what it means to be an authentic follower of Christ. Mary’s response of faith by which her whole existence was shaped, Mary’s response of praise and thanksgiving, sets the standard for our response, as individuals and as a community, to the Mystery of Faith, the Eucharist: “The Lord has done great things for me! Holy is His Name!” (Lk 1:55). The very word “Eucharist” itself means “thanksgiving.” So Pope John Paul II comments: “Mary praises God ‘through’ Jesus, but she also praises him ‘in’ Jesus and ‘with’ Jesus. This is itself a true Eucharistic attitude.” (EdeE, 58)

6. Mary and the Liturgy of Heaven

The II Vatican Council clearly teaches that “in the earthly liturgy we take part in a foretaste of that liturgy which is celebrated in the Heavenly City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, minister of the holies and of the true tabernacle.” (SC, 8) Mary, who stood beneath the Cross and shared fully in the sacrifice of her Son, Mary who heard and believed the news of the resurrection and prayed with the apostles in the Upper Room as the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them – Mary is also at the heart of the liturgy of heaven beckoning us to share in that fullness of life and love made possible by the death and resurrection of her Son.

The Pope speaks of how Mary’s prayer, the Magnificat, not only thanks God for the his mighty deeds of redemption in the past but also looks toward their fulfillment in heaven. This is precisely what we do in the Eucharist. In the Mass, the saving deeds already accomplished by God are renewed and made present once again so that we might be redeemed of our sins, and made fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. But there is more. The Pope teaches us “…every time the Son of God comes to us again in the ‘poverty’ of the sacramental signs of bread and wine, the seeds of that new history wherein the mighty are “put down from their thrones” and “those of low degree are exalted”, takes root in the world.” (Luke1:52). Mary teaches us to long for the coming of the Kingdom as we pray in the Our Father, “a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice love and peace.” (Preface, Christ the King) Your consecrated lives are profoundly Eucharistic because they foretell that heavenly Kingdom and its worship.

Conclusion

Well, this concludes the concentrated weekend course in Mary’s Eucharistic School… and she will be issuing credits for your patience in listening to me! But the best part of Mary’s school is that it is always available “on line” --- it’s just a matter of picking up a Rosary and contemplating the face of Christ with Mary. How Mary helps us to love the Eucharist and to be able to tell the un-churched and barely churched what a great gift and mystery the Redeemer has given us. And how Mary helps us respond to the Eucharist – by which “our life, like that of Mary” may become completely a Magnificat!

Thank you and God bless you!