February dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, day 4: Mary makes Christ live maternally in us

"The Church knows and teaches with St. Paul that only one is our mediator:" There is only one God and only one is also the mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who for all has given himself as a ransom "(1 Tim 2, 5 6). The maternal function of Mary towards men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but shows its effectiveness: it is mediation in Christ.

The Church knows and teaches that "every healthy influence of the Blessed Virgin towards men, is born from the good pleasure of God and flows from the superabundance of Christ's merits, is based on his mediation, absolutely depends on it and draws all effectiveness: not it minimally prevents the immediate contact of believers with Christ, indeed, it facilitates it.

This salutary influence is sustained by the Holy Spirit who, as the Virgin Mary foreshadowed by initiating divine motherhood in her, so continually sustains her concern for her brothers. Indeed, Mary's mediation is closely linked to her motherhood, it has a specifically maternal character, which distinguishes it from that of other creatures who, in various ways, always subordinate, participate in the one mediation of Christ ”(RM, 38).

Mary is a mother who intercedes for us because she loves us and wants nothing more than our eternal salvation, our true joy, the one that no one can ever take away from us. Having lived Jesus in fullness, Mary can help us to make him live in us, she is "the mold" in which the Holy Spirit wants to reproduce Jesus in our hearts.

There is a big difference between making a statue in relief with hammer and chisel blows and making one by throwing it into a mold. To do it in the first way, the sculptors work a lot and it takes a lot of time. To model in the second way, however, little work and very little time are required. St. Augustine calls the Madonna "Forma Dei": the mold of God, suitable for forming and modeling divinized men. Whoever throws himself into this mold of God is quickly formed and modeled in Jesus and Jesus in him. In a short time and with little expense he will become a deified man because he was thrown into the mold in which a God was formed ”(Treatise VD 219).

this is what we too want to do: throw ourselves into Mary so that the image of Jesus may be reproduced in us. Then the Father, looking at us, will tell us: "Here is my beloved son in whom I find my consolation and my joy!".

Commitment: In our words, as our heart dictates, we ask the Holy Spirit to make us know and love the Virgin Mary more and more so that we can throw ourselves into her with the trust and confidence of children.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.