Mary the Authentic
disciple of Christ
There are five world famous
awards which are given to individual or people in recognition for the excellence within a chosen field:
1.
Academy Award also known as the Oscars
which is awarded for the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.
2.
Nobel Prize which is an international
award given by Scandinavian committees recognizing cultural and scientific
advances.
3.
The Medal of Honour which is the highest
military award given by the United States government and is given by the
President.
4.
The Victoria Cross is given for valor during
battle and is awarded to members of the commonwealth armies.
5.
The FIFA World Cup is awarded to the winner of
the World Cup soccer final, a soccer tournament held every four years for the
competing nation’s senior men’s teams.
In the life of Mary, the
recognition of the excellence and authenticity of the whole being does not comes from the word but form God himself through
the words of Angel Gabriel: “Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you.” Now,
a question can arise, ‘Why God considered Mary as an authentic person”? First,
let us see ‘who is an authentic person? Jesus himself gave us a way to be
authentic persons, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone
will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn
13:34-35). Further, St. John says, “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their
brothers or sisters are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister
whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen (1 Jn.4:20). So,
an authentic person is one who manifests the “Love of God” in loving concern for
oneself and for the other. In short, authentic person is a loving person. Let
us see how Mary, the authentic disciple of Christ, translated the love of God
into love of self and the other.
Manifestation of Mary’s
Authenticity:
In the Bible we have a couple
of instances which tell us how Mary takes the extra mile in reaching out to
people in concern and love:
a)
After the Annunciation of the Angel, she sets out at once to
the hill country to serve her cousin for three months (Lk. 1:39,56).
b)
In the wedding feast at Cana, she tells Jesus, “They have no
wine” (Jn. 2:3).
In Mary we the character of
the Good Samaritan who reaches out to people even before others ask for help.
We also find the same attitude in St. John Bosco and Mother Teresa whose spirituality
is based on the love of God manifested in concern for the self and the other. I
believe these are the people who will here the consoling words of Jesus on the
‘Last Judgement Day’: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least
of these who are members of my family you did it to me” (Mat 25: 40).
Courage to accept the
ups and downs of Life:
The annunciation of the
angel Gabriel to the journey of the Calvary, Mary accepts humbly the joys and
sorrows of life. She stands today as a shinning example for us to accept with
courage the happy moments and little hardship in faith and love in our
day-to-day life.
Conclusion:
Jesus gave his mother for
you and me. If our Mother is an authentic disciple of Christ, we are invited to
grow up as her sons. St. Luke in one line shows how Jesus grows up in the
Nazareth family: “Jesus was obedient to them…and increased in wisdom
(Intellectual Quotient), and in stature (Physical Quotient), and in divine
(Spiritual Quotient) and human favor (Emotional Quotient).” St. John Bosco, the
master of youth spirituality and great devotee of Mother Mary, imbibed this
holistic paradigm of growth and infused into Valdocco experience. In article 40
Don Bosco uses four metaphors which meet the four dimensions of holistic growth
namely, Home for physical growth, School for Intellectual Quotient, Church for
Spiritual Quotient and Playground for Emotional Quotient. Thanks to the great
Saint, we have the same opportunity to grow in every Salesian home. As we are
young and still studying, let us grow in all the four dimensions of life and I
am sure Mother Mary will be happy and graciously help us in our effort to
growth in authenticity, for authenticity is love.
 |
| Love one another as I have love you |
Last but not the least, I
would like to conclude with the of Jesus, Don Bosco and Mother Teresa urging us
to embark into the eternal journey of love:
a)
Jesus: Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mat.
5:48).
 |
| "I Thirst" |
b)
Don Bosco: “Studia di farte amare” (learn to make yourself
loved).
c)
Mother Teresa: “Love
until it hurts.”
One has to take a
U-Turn in relating with God, which means God becomes the centre of my life. Some
good resolutions like: I have to pray regularly, I have to meditate, I have to
say many prayers, and I have to read Holy Scriptures etc. I I I I I and only I
sentences. And when one fails to carry them out one becomes more miserable than
before. The U-Turn attitude of spiritual life helps us to see that God loves us
first and all that we do is to respond to that love. We find in the scripture
where we find God taking the first step in reaching out to us with love: Jn. 15
Journeying
towards self-authenticity needs courage and daily effort. For instance, a
person has to strive towards truthfulness in his or her daily affair. Besides,
he or she possesses the courage to accept and admit the mistakes or limitation
with openness to improve. So, to be authentic means the courage to be true-self
and be transparent which require continuous effort.