They have no wine (Jn 2: 3), the gentle voice of our Mother Mary echoed into the ear of her son. Her voice carried an air of urgency and total reliance on Jesus for solution. Woman…my hour has not come yet (Jn 2:4), Jesus
responded, almost to the disappointment of any onlooker. But Mary is not an onlooker! She is the mother. The rhythm of her heart resonates with that of her son. She had soaked herself into the mystery of Christ. Who else could at that time know what Jesus could do? Who could so daringly approach Him at the “not yet” hour? It is only the immaculate Mary so closely united with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And so receiving such a response, Mary was not perturbed, not discouraged and she said to the servants, “do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2: 5).MARY OUR MOTHER
How close is the union between a mother and her child! Their level of understanding is so deep that their communication goes deeper than words; deep calling unto deep! (Ps 42: 7). Mary the mother of Christ, the Theotokos, is equally our mother; the Mother of all believers. God has made us his adopted sons and daughters in Christ (cf. Eph 1: 4—5). And inasmuch as we do God’s will, we are brothers and sisters of the Lord (cf. Mk 3: 35). As adopted children, Christ handed Mary to us as Mother in the person of John (Jn 19: 27). See how much Jesus loves us: He emptied His whole self for us (Phil 2:7), giving us all that belongs to Him, including His mother! Thus, our interaction with the Blessed Virgin Mary must bear every characteristics of the relationship between mother and child.
The effectiveness of Mary’s motherhood to us flows directly from her union with Christ. “This union of mother with her Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to his death; it is made manifest above all at the hour of His passion” (CCC 964). She submitted herself wholeheartedly to God’s will and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit. Mary cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity to Christ’s work of redemption. She is the model of all believers; our mother in the order of grace. All generations that will proclaim God’s salvation will have Mary as their model and Mother, and call her blessed (cf. Lk 1: 48). Mary is our mother. She continues uninterruptedly to cover us under her mantle with her manifold intercessions (CCC 967—970). Her gentle motherly voice re-echoes once more in our day, almost from the depth of her silence: do whatever He tells you!
AT THE SCHOOL OF MARY
Therefore, we come to the school of Mary. As a member of the body of Christ who achieved the perfection we strive for, in Mary the Church is already all-holy (CCC 829). Full of grace (Lk 1:28), she is ever ready to train us to obtain and cooperate with God’s grace so that we too can achieve that same perfection and holiness in Christ. But do we realize how urgently we need this training?
In the feast of life, we easily run out of wine: the wine of moral courage, faith, hope and burning charity. Our relationships easily loose all their freshness and get sour. Sometimes the sweet wine of good health disappears. In some cases, the jar of the fresh wine of married life or religious commitment dries up, if not shattered! What is the result? Like the host of the wedding in Cana, we are confused, tensed and in search of hope with an eye of hopelessness. All we see at this time is emptiness and dryness. But Mary, the Mother of Perpetual Help is attending our feast! She is not a mere by-stander. She is mother wherever Christ is Savior (cf. CCC 973). So she trains us that our will may be strengthened, our faith enkindled, our hope enlivened, such that our charity becomes an oblation unto the Lord.
Hence, at the school of Mary, we are pre-disposed and guided for an overwhelming encounter with Christ. When Mary said to the servants, do whatever He tells you, she at once introduced her Son to them, calmed the
heat of their hopelessness and directed their heart to the source of hope—Jesus Christ. Thus, the servants were prepared for that encounter, which would lead to the manifestation of the power of Christ and effective discipleship (cf. Jn 2: 11). What would have happened had it been the servants disregarded the Mother of Jesus? It is erroneous to claim Jesus as Savior while at the same time heaping all sorts of contempt and disrespect on His Mother. Again, we need a training at the school of the Blessed Virgin Mary at our moments of happiness and success, so that we would never get over excited and forget that it was the Almighty who has done these great things for us (cf. Lk 1: 49). Devotion to Mary in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ for us, but rather shows its power (cf. CCC 970).DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU
The Virgin Mary’s voice re-echoes in our day. Her admonition reminds us that she keeps nothing to herself but as the humble handmaid of the Lord solely desires that the will of God may be done (cf. Lk 1: 38). More than ever, there is urgent need amongst us today to renew in hearts the biddings of Jesus: “Come to me” (Mt 11: 28, Jn 7: 37), “Follow me” (Lk 18: 22), “Love one another” (Jn 13: 34), “forgive those who offend you” (Mt 6: 14), etc. Authentic Christian living lies in doing the will of God as Mary did. Do whatever He tells you, Mary’s admonishes us. This implies first of all that we must listen to Him and then abandon ourselves to His influence. We must begin to dispose ourselves to the authority of the word of God, and allow it to subsume our own authority (cf. Gal 5: 16—17). Encounter with Christ does not automatically annihilate our human authority. But by continuous listening to Him and doing whatever He tells us to do, the authority of the Word refines and directs our natural inclinations.
Do whatever He tells you leads us to experience Christ even in concrete signs as in the water turned wine. Christ manifests Himself today in create signs in the Sacraments. I am the bread of life…for my flesh is real food and my blood real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person” (Jn 6: 35, 55—56). Christ has given us Himself in concrete forms in the sacraments, especially in the Holy Eucharist to aid us put his words in concrete actions—to do whatever He tells us. We need the sacraments to carry out this injunction, and in responding to Him accordingly, we become much more disposed to receive the sacraments.
Trained at the School of the Immaculate Mary, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, we are comforted, encourage and directed to encounter Our Lord Jesus, especially in the Breaking of Bread (Lk 24: 35). Deepened in the Sacraments, we become one heart and mind with Christ, such that what he says or commands or the authority of His word would no longer be an external force infringing us. Instead, it becomes a fire of love burning within us; impelling us from within (cf. Jer 20:9).
Written by
Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R(This reflection was originally published in Plentiful Redemption, a magazine produced by Redemptorist Students, Ibadan, Nigeria. April, 2009).
