Mary, Star of the New Evangelization

As agents of the New Evangelization, there is no better witness and model for us than Our Lady, Mother of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Through her fiat she became the first person to mediate the Son of God to the world.  She precedes all evangelization because without her we would have no Jesus to witness to.  Jesus could have chosen to come to earth without using a woman, but He didn’t.  He chose Mary as the humble creature through whom He would come into the world; therefore, we honor her as the Star of the New Evangelization.  He chose Mary to precede Him in all things; therefore her importance in this mission is fundamental.  I found this excerpt from an article on Mary as Star of the New Evangelization and wanted to share it with you:

“In the arms of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Word-made-Flesh was presented to the world. She brought Jesus to the world and to our history . . . She, who was filled with His presence, went in haste to serve Her cousin Elizabeth, and just by the Blessed Mother’s greeting, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Who better than Mary can reveal Christ? Was it not in Her arms that the world – the shepherds (representing Israel) and the wise men (the Gentiles) – found Jesus? Is it not She who presents Christ to the world? Is it not She who, as teacher and singular witness, reveals to the newly born Church the mysteries of Christ? Yes, sitting at the school of the Heart of Mary is where we learn the deepest mysteries of Christ!

In order to evangelize it is necessary to first become a witness of the life of Christ: Singular witnesses of the Mysteries of Christ. “Having lived her condition as a disciple of the Lord perfectly, she calls Christians to progress on the path of a fervent life in accordance with the Gospel” (John Paul II, Letter to Cardinal Paul Tung, December 16, 1997).

To evangelize is to announce Christ, the Savior of mankind. It is here that we find the reason for the Church’s existence. It is Mary who has an irreplaceable role in the announcement of Christ. She is present in the three phases of the history of salvation: before Christ, during the life of Christ, and in the time of the Church. Her fiat brought the Messiah into the world. She was singularly associated to His redemptive mission and She is the Mother of the Church. Mary plays an active role in the passing from one phase to another, as well as in the encounter of the Church with each generation and historic moments.

It is necessary to understand the importance of the testimony of life which precedes the testimony of words. Only witnesses are credible; only those who testify with their lives are able to touch hearts and minds that are confused and disorientated. Paul VI told us: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (EN, 41). This is why the person of the Blessed Virgin Mary illuminates the mission of Evangelization. She is the evangelizer because She is a living Gospel, a true model whom the evangelizer is able to present to the person to whom he has proposed the saving message as the highest realization of the Christian message.

In order to come to know Christ more profoundly, as well as to be able to make Him known, the Church ought to look to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She has known Him perfectly since She bore Him in Her own womb, and also because She is the one who can better reveal Him to the world, as it was through Her that Christ the Savior came into the world. If we want to know Christ better, the Church, rather each one of us, ought to enter into the Heart of the Blessed Virgin and there find Jesus. There we can give Him to others with the same love, fidelity, zeal and veracity with which She has given Him to us.”

-Mother Adela, SCTJM, Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, “Our Lady of Guadalupe, Star of the New Evangelization”, 2006. http://www.piercedhearts.org/mother_adela/guadalupe_star_evangelization.htm

Who other than Mary knows Jesus better?  Who other than Mary can teach us about Christ and how to truly witness Him to others?  As we continue this Easter season, let us open our hearts to the Heart that knew Him first – that of the Queen of Heaven herself, Mary the Immaculata, refuge of sinners and Star of the New Evangelization. 

 

Mary, Star of the New Evangelization

Holy Mary, star of the new evangelization,
make us the light of the world.

We receive Christ in the Eucharist;
help us build the Kingdom in the world.

Teach us to do whatever He tells us.
May our study of His life lead us to love Him,
and our love for Him lead us to imitate Him.

If we are what we should be,
we will set the world ablaze and affect the culture.

We ask your intercession to make this so,
through Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer taken from Catholics for the Common Good website; www.ccgaction.org

Written by Catherine