Mary | Spiritual Conference | 13th September 2021

On the eve of the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we had a spiritual conference given by Bp. Agnelo Gracias who led us on a virtual pilgrimage to the heart of Mary. He gave us a few points for reflection.

First, Mary as a model of Receptivity: Christian life begins with God coming down for us. The incarnation is the grace of God that comes down from heaven for us, and Mary on behalf of the entire human race received “the Word of God” into her heart.

Second, Mary as the model of Response to God: it is God who takes the first step in reaching out to us, and waits for our response. Mary is the greatest model for all human beings who responds to God’s initiative through total abandonment.

Third, Mary as the model of Reaching out to others: Our ‘yes’ to God is not to God high up in heaven; rather our ‘yes’ is a yes to God in our sisters and brothers on earth. We need to love our neighbours because without loving them we cannot love God. We see this in the wedding at Cana where Mary took active participation in ensuring everything went well.

Mary is not only the mother of Jesus, she is the mother of the whole human race. Mary is a model for each one of us to follow the will of God. She completely surrendered herself in order to give us the saviour of the world, our Lord and master Jesus Christ. Therefore, like Mary, our Mother, we need to empty ourselves in order to allow God into our hearts.

Dn. George Paul

4th Year Theology