REFLECTION
Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 1-2, 2021
The month of May brings thoughts and images of spring, of new life, just after we celebrate new life in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is new life made possible by Jesus, yes, most definitely, but it was Mary’s ‘Yes’, Mary’s fiat that allowed the Word to become man, and dwell among us. It is Mary, who through the work of the Holy Spirit, brought our Lord and Savior into this world; literally, new life. Of all the human beings that ever will walk this earth, Mary, understands more than any the deepest love of God, the greatest sorrow in the loss of her only son. Mary is the first disciple of Christ; a model for all of us. The history of Marian devotion and prayer goes back to antiquity. For any number of reasons, the celebration of Mary and her role in salvation history is celebrated and it is because of her role in salvation history and her intimate relationship as mother to our Lord Jesus Christ that those celebrations have continued through the ages to this age. The May crowning of Mary is not celebrated everywhere, every May…in some respects that is a sad fact. Losing sight of the importance Mary played in God’s plan for us is something we need to correct. Waiting on a parish to have a Marian Crowning is not an excuse. Throughout history public and private family crowning ceremonies have taken place to keep alive the love and the understanding of the relationship between Mary, God the Father, and her Son. Unlike other celebrations, the entire month of May is set aside, as Pope Paul VI said, in his encyclical Mense Maio in 1965, “For this is the month during which Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God’s merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother’s throne.” This May, consider the importance of Mary’s role in our salvation. When Mary said ‘yes’ she became our Mother because as faithful believers in the Risen Christ, it is in our baptism that we are brothers and sisters of Christ and hence Mary is our Mother too. So this May, lets help renew our own devotion to Mary by teaching our young ones of the love that is found in that loving embrace of a mother, a very specific mother, the mother of Jesus Christ, Mary. “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us!”