"Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?" - Song of Songs 6:10
7. The Legionary and the Holy Trinity (pg. 43 – pg. 45) Today’s reading talks about relationship, the relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each relationship is unique, yet they all teach and change us in our work, commitment, and willingness to adapt in union with the Holy Trinity through the example of Virgin Mary.
To learn more about the relationship between Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity can help us with the ups and downs in our lives. It is easiest for us to understand the relationship between Mother and Son. The handbook emphasized that Our Lady’s motherhood is of a closeness, a permanency, and a quality infinitely surpassing the normal human relationship. I think the handbook has quite clearly explained how and why, so let me just try to use an example from our human relationship to help us learn
About the relationship between Our Lady and her Son Jesus Christ.
Here is my example.
My second daughter is very talented in music. She received her master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Vienna and is now a vocalist over there. However, it was a great challenge to teach her the other common courses while she was a child. I have to admit I didn’t have enough patience to teach her therefore my wife took majority of the burden. One day she spent two hours trying to teach our daughter basic multiplication, she took out apples, banana, candies, and many other things yet was not able to succeed. My wife was losing her patience and getting quite upset. But my daughter raised a question at the time, “mom, what about Mary?” to which my wife responded “What Mary? Do you mean the marriage that I married your daddy?” she said, “No, that Mary, Jesus’ mother.” My wife says “Oh, what about her?” and my daughter said “I just wonder if Mary taught Jesus, and if Jesus didn’t get it at the time, what did Mary do?”
So even my daughter at her early age, she could think of the relationship between Mother Mary and her son Jesus Christ. Let me ask this, how often do we think of our relationship with each other in the family? In this legionary family? Or our relationship with Mother Mary and with the Holy Trinity?
About the relationship between Mother Mary and the Holy Spirit, It strikes me when I read the handbook says “when she acts, it is also he who acts; and that if her intervention be not accepted, neither is his.” Wow, what a strike, how do we accept Our Lady? And how do we accept the Holy Spirit?
Talk about the relationship between Mary and the God Father.
Yes, we all know from the beginning, God the Father was willing to bring mankind redemption. This is a tremendous gift from Him. The Father chose an unexpected way to redeem us human beings through the cooperation of the Virgin Mary. We all know that the Virgin Mary was a human being and through her cooperation, God sent the redeemer to the world. If we have a close relationship with Mary, which we do, can’t this mean we are a part of God's redemptive work with Mary?
My dear brothers and sisters, Mary, the mother of God, leads us to this true relationship with the Holy Trinity.
As a mother, she turned the people of God to her with filial piety and trust. She is always ready to listen to us with her motherly love and effective assistance. Her strength lies in her faith to the Holy Trinity. She walks with us and prays with us so we can live as true children of God. If we can be aware of her acts and the acts of the Holy Spirit, we can deepen our faith and have the image of the compassionate Jesus Christ put on us. As a mother, Mother Mary participated in the efforts of Christian unity. The Holy Spirit is upon her, the mother of God, the mother of Jesus Christ. When she attracts us closer to her Son as a spiritual mother, she attracts us to unity. With this, we can get closer to the core of our faith - Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary as true God and true man.