Mary is the Mold of GOd

ONE

This is Day 2 of our Pentecost Novena

Jesus was taken up into heaven forty days after the Resurrection on Ascension Thursday. The Apostles were commanded to wait in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high. Acts 1:14 tells us they gathered around Mary in the Upper Room for nine days of prayer to prepare for Pentecost, the birth of the Church.

Why did they gather around Mary? Because the Church, which is the body of Christ is born in a similar way to Jesus, the head of the Church – that is, by the Holy Spirit and Mary.

That is why Mary is celebrated as the Mother of the Church on the day after Pentecost.  

The Holy Spirit and Mary formed Jesus in her womb. Likewise, the Holy Spirit and Mary form Jesus in you.

Therefore, the more we turn to Mary, the more we give or consecrate ourselves to Mary, the more we live in relationship with Mary, the more easily and effectively the Holy Spirit may form Jesus in us.

Why is this?

TWO

Why do we need Mary when we have Jesus?

To answer that, we must begin with the Trinity. God the Father is the origin of the Trinity. He is the giver. He has only one gift, that of His divine life and he gives it all. The Son receives divinity from the Father and gives Himself in return. The Son is both a receiver and a giver of divinity. The Holy Spirit receives divinity from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is pure receptivity. Now this is significant so don’t miss it - in the Trinity, the Son gives himself, and the Holy Spirit receives the Son.

And Jesus wants to give his life to us. The problem is that we have a hard time receiving. This is precisely why Jesus sends the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Because the Holy Spirit does on earth what he does in the Trinity – the Spirit receives the Son. The Holy Spirit helps us receive the Son, helps us receive Jesus. And the Holy Spirit receives Jesus through Mary.

Remember – The Holy Spirit and Mary formed Jesus in her womb; and the Holy Spirit and Mary form Jesus in you.

Make no mistake – we need Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. But we also need the Holy Spirit to give us the capacity to receive Jesus. And the Holy Spirit works through Mary. That is why we need Mary!

THREE

Jesus wants to give his life to us.

The Holy Spirit receives Jesus in and with and through Mary.  In fact, Mary was designed by the Holy Spirit to receive the Son, to receive Jesus. And in this way Mary is the great mold of God.

Now the goal of life is to receive Jesus and become like him. You can try to achieve this one of two ways: by your own effort; or by inviting Mary into your soul that she may receive Jesus in you and form Jesus in you.

St. Louis De Montfort gives us a striking image. He says there are two ways to make a likeness of a person. You can take a block of marble and hammer and chisel away; or you can make a perfect mold and pour liquid material into to make an exact replica. Listen to what he writes in the Secret of Mary: “Mary is…the living mold of God. In her alone the God-man was formed in his human nature…In her alone, by the grace of Jesus Christ, we are made god-like as far as human nature is capable. A sculptor can make a statue in one of two ways: By using his skill, strength, experience and good tools to produce a statue out of hard, shapeless matter; The second way is by making cast of it in a mold. The first way is long and involved and open to all sorts of accidents. It only needs a faulty stroke of the chisel or hammer to ruin the whole work. The second is quick, easy, straightforward, almost effortless and inexpensive, but the mold must be perfect and true to life and the material must… offer no resistance.  Mary is the great Mold of God, fashioned by the Holy Spirit…to fashion through grace men who are like God…Everyone who casts himself into it and allows himself to be molded will acquire every feature of Jesus Christ, with little pain or effort, as befits our weak human condition. SM 16-17

FOUR

According to the great saints like Louis De Montfort, Maximilian Kolbe and John Paul II, if we want to reach transforming union with Jesus then we should do two things:

First - Consecrate yourself to Mary; and Second, learn to live in a profound personal relationship with her moment to moment, day after day.

The first step is to consecrate oneself to Mary.

To save the world the Son of God poured himself into the womb of Mary and then lived in complete dependence on Mary his mother.

We should follow the plan established by the Son of God.  Give yourself unconditionally and 100% to Mary. Pour yourself into the Mary, the Mold of God.

Maybe you have already consecrated yourself to her. But we always tend to fall back into pride and self-reliance.

So recommit – renew your consecration today and everyday and learn to live in humility – learn to live like Jesus – learn to live as a little child totally dependent upon Mary your mother.

FIVE

The second step to become like Jesus is to actually live the consecration, to live in complete dependence on Mary as a little child depending on its mother, moment to moment day after day.

This, according to Montfort, is the Secret of Mary.     

a.  Cultivate an awareness of her presence at all times

b.  Every time you see a picture, a medal, a statue of Mary, let it remind you she is with you.

c.   Then talk with her. Ask her what to do. Wait for her inspirations and follow them the best you can.

d.  You are a little child learning to walk in her presence.  

e.  Ask Mary to replace your thoughts with her thoughts, your feelings with her feelings, your choices with her choices.

Think of yourself like the baby Jesus and think of your soul like a home. Invite Mary into the home of your soul and train you to be more like Jesus.

To live in complete dependence on Mary, is complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit carries out his mission through her.