SPSE’s Lincoln, NE, team set up in front of their parish, St. Mary’s. During their time there, there was both a wedding and the Saturday evening Mass, so the team were able to give away many Rosaries and medals to a large crowd. The evangelists also took the time to pray with those who were experiencing serious struggles in their lives or in the lives of those they love. The team had the opportunity, too, to interact warmly with several people who did not yet have a solid commitment to the Church and to invite them into a closer communion with “Holy Mother Church”.
The understanding of both Mary and the Catholic Church as OUR MOTHER dates all the way back to the Early Church Fathers. Mary is seen both as a symbol of the Church and as a living example of the ideal Christian, “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (Eph 5:27). Both she and the Church are mother, and both are holy.
Through both Mary and the Church, Christ comes to the world. In the Church, Jesus Christ makes Himself present and truly acts through the Sacraments that He instituted. For example, “the faithful are born anew by Baptism” (CCC 1212).
Mary, by her “yes” at the Annunciation, gave consent to the Incarnation — that astonishing event whereby the eternal entered time and the transcendent entered our material world. But her virtue did not end at that singular moment in the past, as important as that was. She spent her entire life in selfless service to Christ. She lived as “the handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:38), always pointing beyond herself to her Son, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5).
But her role in our lives didn’t end when her time on earth was complete. “When the course of her earthly life was finished, [the Immaculate Virgin] was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory” (CCC 966). There, she continues to cooperate with God’s will and to intercede for us and for our redemption. Indeed, “she is our Mother in the order of grace” (CCC 966).
Thank you, Team Lincoln, for your witness. Join us?