Master and model of faith

Introduction

The maternal reality of Mary, which intertwines with the mystery of Christ, sustains us as children, propels and develops our condition as disciples of Christ, maturing us to live the filial and fraternal life that the Lord desires for us, in growth with the divine creativity of the Spirit.She teaches us to receive the Word (Annunciation), to bear it (Nativity), to present it to the world (Epiphany), to keep it within ourselves (Life in Nazareth), to believe in it (Presence at Cana), to share it (Visiting others), to be faithful to it in the hour of trial (At the crosses), and to testify to it in the communion of faith (Pentecost).

Mary, teacher and model of the Christian

This maternal reality of Mary in the Church is manifested through an effective and educational accompaniment that always leads us back to Christ as the source and norm of the ethical and discipleship life of the Christian. This helps us make our adherence to God more conscious and revitalized, drawing us toward charity and full holiness. She invites us to become places of welcome for the trinitarian dew, the only one capable of making the desert we have become bloom. By following and imitating Mary, the love of God above all things becomes a gift and a commitment, faith becomes an experience of new life given, and the following of the Word is transformed into a transformative path and generous service.Maria, essentially, continues to present herself as the perfect model in her identification with Christ, his exact mold. Therefore, we cannot live our spirituality deeply, sincerely, and truly without faith. The problem of faith is the main challenge in every spiritual life, and the first role that the Mother of Jesus plays with us is to make us believe like her, trust in God like her, surrender to God like her, grow gradually in faith like her, and face even the “night of faith” as she did.The Virgin teaches us to respond to the Word that continues to speak to men, asking to be heard and followed, desiring to penetrate the heart and the depth of consciousness, like a good seed that, falling on fertile soil, makes grace and salvation flourish. In a moment of great uncertainty that has led and continues to lead many to adopt nihilism and distance themselves from metaphysical certainties, the example of Mary and her experience of God manifest as a constant to be reaffirmed, not only for Christians but also for contemporary women and men who, despite general disorientation and universal scarcity of values, are called to give qualitative meaning to their existences.

The modern man and the challenge of faith

The modern man is often overwhelmed by earthly realities, treating them as if they were ultimate and definitive realities, forgetting that they are merely penultimate and temporary. He sacralizes history and the world, losing the eschatological perspective that would give eternal meaning and significance to human life. Mary calls people back to God’s perspective, to look upward, not to be led astray by illusory contingencies that empty life of meaning and exacerbate their fragility when opening themselves to the Mystery.For even the women and men of postmodernity, the Virgin offers a serene vision and a comforting word: the victory of hope over anguish, the triumph of fullness over the abyss of nothingness. Her path as a Christian woman concludes in glory, and in her, elevated to the fullness of her being, is manifested the complete realization of the creature renewed by grace, blessed because she truly believed and because she received, in its entirety, the redemption promised and accomplished by Christ for all men. “In Mary, the eschatological future has already been realized. Mary is the bridge that connects the future to the present. Mary anticipates in her present the reality of our future. The example of Mary leads the Christian and his imitator with the persuasive force and hope of an ideal that has already become a reality.”

Mary and the Challenge of Faith

Mary presents herself to men, immersed in a world wrapped in darkness, sin, rationalism, and relativism, as a paradigm of behavior, a prototype of openness to the ideals and values of the Transcendent God, an example of authentic service to Christ, the new Adam, and through him, to humanity of all times. In looking at her journey, we understand that living our faith is always a call and a challenge: a call from God and a challenge in the “today” of existence.Faith, as in the life experience of Mary, must be lived as a response in one’s personal “today,” which also becomes God’s “today,” who gives Himself, penetrates, and operates in the concrete history of each person, transforming it into a history of salvation. We will then understand that, from the perspective of our existence, we are called to realize the project that God has written in our personal being, a project of total humanization that finds its perfection in the total divinization of man, accomplished in the encounter with Christ through the continuous assistance of the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

By observing and imitating Mary, we are not overwhelmed by fear or suspicion of being shaped by God’s work. Allowing ourselves to be molded like Mary means, above all, committing ourselves generously to the mission and proclamation, and achieving the full realization of ourselves. In fact, thanks to her complete and unparalleled success, Mary’s response to God’s project for her shows all human freedoms in progress the fundamental contents of their personal journey of maturation, different from hers in many aspects but identical in substance.As stated by Pope Paul VI: “Mary is the perfect model for us, the holiest. If we approach her with faith and tenderness, we almost see the rays of her beauty and holiness reflected in us. Beside her, we will know how to be pure, good, human, meek, patient: an entire powerful evangelical lesson of Christian life is presented before us, if our purpose is to honor the Virgin.”Para aprofundar seus estudos, explore Mariologia, Teologia Mariana, Aparições Marianas e a Pós-Graduação em Mariologia.To deepen your reflection on Mary as a teacher and model of Christian faith, consult Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical Redemptoris Mater.