John Paul II did so much to increase our love of Mary, and of her rosary, during his wonderful pontificate, especially by his giving to the Church the mysteries of light for our meditation on Thursdays. It is safe to say that my own Marian piety is based on his. We did pray the rosary at home, occasionally, when I grew up, but I was never devout in my praying of the rosary, until I contemplated more deeply the motto John Paul chose for his pontificate, Totus Tuus.
With the loss of his mother at a young age, it makes sense that John Paul would have perceived the mother of God to be a more than worthy surrogate. I, too, lost my mother to cancer during my second year of seminary. The hole in my heart that I have for my mom makes the words that Jesus spoke from the cross ever more poignant for me - Behold, your mother. Mary is the mother of all of us who set our hearts on eternal life. By entrusting our lives to Her through our praying of the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries, she accompanies us on our journey to heaven and guides us as only a mother can.
I believe what John Paul sought to teach us as well, however, through the choice of Totus Tuus, Maria, as his motto, was not only the opportunity we had to claim Mary as our mother, but also the utter necessity of consecrating our lives to Mary if we are to have any hope of receiving Christ as our Savior. John Paul reminded us that we do not turn to Mary only in the unfortunate circumstance of our failure to get closer to Christ her Son. No, John Paul saw entrusting ourselves to Mary as the surest way of receiving Her Son into our hearts in a most complete, transformative, redeeming way.
In pointing us to Mary, John Paul shows the necessity of the feminine genius of receptivity. Before we can follow Christ or imitate Him precisely, it is necessary for us first to receive Him. Calling Mary the first and best disciple of Jesus points to Her willingness to receive Him with humility and joy. Being full of grace, it was then possible for Her to follow Him perfectly as His disciple. The story of Martha in today's Gospel is the all too familiar and frustrating story of what happens to you and me when we try desperately to do everything we feel needs to be done and yet still try to find time to be with Jesus. Mary in the story, and Mary, the mother of God, show us the one necessary thing - it is to drink deeply of the gift of the Lord and of His grace; otherwise we have no real capacity for following Jesus, but only the ability to ask Him to follow us.
Mary, the mother of God, who accompanies us on our journey of life as we daily pray the rosary with Her, brings to those who entrust themselves to Her the humility to allow Jesus to be born in their hearts anew each day as surely as He was born in Her virginal womb. It is only when we make a perfect and simple act of consecration to Mary, that Jesus can come close enough to us to fill us with grace, and show us how to follow Him exactly. Mary, Queen of Vocations, free us from the need to have Jesus follow us, but give us the grace to allow Him to choose a vocation for us like the one you received from Him! +m
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