Mary at the Heart of the Culture of Life

Mary is the Mother of Life: first of all, because at the Incarnation she received Life itself in her womb, the divine Word come to give life to the world; secondly because at the time of the Passion, by the Cross of Golgotha, she received universal motherhood over each human child, toward whom her crucified Son pointed when he showed her the apostle John: Behold your son ... (cf. Jn 19: 26).

Therefore, Mary is at the heart of the Culture of Life, on both natural and supernatural levels. As the mother of the Child Jesus, she is an experienced mother, deeply aware of all the self-sacrifice required on a daily basis to raise a little boy to manhood. Don’t we know that Jesus shared the life of the Holy Family for thirty years in Nazareth? As the mother of men and mother of the Church, Mary exerts a spiritual motherhood over all those who accept to enter into the Covenant with her Son through Christian baptism.

Finally, when we contemplate the life of Mary and Joseph within the Holy Family, our understanding of man and woman’s respective vocation is enlightened and renewed. Mary and Joseph loved each other and even though their loved was expressed through perfect chastity, they were true spouses; theirs was a marriage of the heart and the soul. And yet, how many very trying obstacles, humanly speaking, which could have shattered their union!

So now, how can we not turn to Mary, mother, spouse, educator and bearer of the One who is Life itself, particularly when it comes to problems concerning family life, education, the openness to life and to love in couples?

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MDN Team