On the Memorial of the Queenship of Mary: An Advocate in Heaven

Today’s Memorial is a good jumping off point for something that I would like to explore more deeply. The thought came to me during my morning commute to the school where I teach, which is in a neighboring city. I have about 45 minutes going outside of Austin, and thankfully I don't have to worry too much with the traffic, which mostly comes from the opposite direction. It gives me time, as I drive into the morning sunrise, to reflect on the spiritual significance of life.

However, the last few mornings I have dreaded the drive due to a flare up of sciatica, which makes sitting for more than five minutes significantly unpleasant until my senses numb. When I got in the car yesterday morning I was thinking, "Today I’ll have to depend on my advocate in heaven." I had strong sense of peace as a continued my drive. It was an opportunity for me “to offer it up” I thought. Driving and teaching school on Vicodin isn’t wise or realistic. So there I went, sitting on my pillow, breathing deeply, praying and driving at the same time. I remembered my wife’s first labor 12 years ago and soon I forgot all about my pinched nerve. It was just justice coming my way I figured.

Although I wasn’t thinking about today’s Memorial specifically, I felt inclined to give time and thought to the idea that we have an advocate in heaven. One of the things that I had to come to terms with, as a convert from Protestantism, was Mary’s role as Advocate—a title we bestow on her in our faith and from grateful hearts. It is a title that flows from the sheer gratitude of knowing that she bore our savior out of her freedom to choose. She freely chose to say yes to the Holy Spirit.  She too bore the pain of childbirth, and the pain of Good Friday.

An aspect of Mary’s advocacy, especially as we see her exalted in heaven, is that her advocacy flows forth from heaven; that is, it is the direct result of the most basic relationship, the advocacy of Jesus Christ who intercedes for humanity continually before the Father. The advocacy of our Lord is the foundation for all hope. It is a certainty that we may turn to at all times.

For the next couple posts I’ll be taking a closer look at the Epistle to the Hebrews, and portions of Romans, even though they're not coming up in our readings. There is something special that the Lord wants to say to us now in regard to what it means to have faith, to believe that God loves and cares for us enough to make seemingly impossible things happen at any moment. I believe it will be helpful to explore the foundation of the meaning of advocacy in Christ. Really, an easy case unfolds for holding the belief that Mary is our Advocate and Queen. It has to do with Christ’s humanity, which he receives from his mother.  The Queenship of Mary is the logical outcome of her being the Theotokos, the Mother of God.

I suppose the reason that I’m interested in the advocacy question itself is that there are times when we need an advocate more than others. It seems to be, maybe more often than not, that God tells us to depend on his love given through others. Could he be speaking to us now through particular situations? Maybe it's time to share those situations with others. At the risk of stating a truism, there are certain aspects of living life as a human being that involve having real needs. What I'm saying is there are times that we just can't figure it out alone.

Sometimes our need flows from personal pain or from the suffering or needs of those close to us. At other times it seems less clear, but is every bit as real. Living often seems to cry out to us all by itself. It's an emptiness that longs for God alone. A close friend, now gone to his reward, once told me, “Whether it’s lumbago or a terminal illness, you’re presented with the opportunity to look straight in the face of your greatest fears, and your greatest hopes, but you have to learn to see them.” Through manifold opportunities, which most often will perplex and confuse us, life is certain to give us the opportunity to find our advocate.

Comments

[Gabrielle]

DD, I do believe we need advocates, and I think many of us have a core group of saints to whom we turn time and time again. The Blessed Virgin, as well, is our powerful and gentle advocate. Mary, in her role of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, I truly believe is my own.

[Honora]

Deacon Dan is awfully good to us. How'd God know to blossom him here in so very many ways?

Gabrielle, about a core group of saints, I cannot help but include my grandmother in mine..perhaps others ought to include theirs, if for other reasons. It has so consistently proved true, that whenever a friend has a sweet devotion to Mary, they had a saintly grandmother..

[Gabrielle]

A saintly grandmother - you are right again, Ms Honora. When I was a teenager, after both my maternal grandparents had passed away, my aunt asked everyone to take home whatever they'd like from the house. I was one of the last to go through, but what I was hoping for was still there: her icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, which I cherish to this day.

[Honora]

An icon.. you have spoken of St. Rafqa.. your grandmother was a Maronite?

Well, everyone else was given first call on both of my grandmothers' treasures.. one of my grandmothers (the extraordinarily wealthy one) had only one grandchild, but my father, already ostracized by her second husband, was on a huge bender and missed out on contesting the will. He and my mom went in and took just 3 things: 2 pineapple beds, and the Infant of Prague statue.

From my beautiful and once very poor Fr. Canadian Mere Mere, however, with whom we all lived many years due to tragedies and due to my father.. I was able to take two items she loved. Her "Dominique" (Singing Nun) album, which I, too, loved, and a small costume jewelry cameo brooch. Later, I received from the granddaughter two other items she was going to heave out: An enormous sculptured wall crucifix, and a statue of St. Ann de Beaupre holding little Mary (both in horrendous condition) -- and yes, eventually, her Rosary beads which glow in the dark, which spooked my cousin too much. :-) We, her two holy little Bernadettes, lol, used to pray our morning prayers beside her rocker in the kitchen each morn. Oh, how she suffered. Oh, how she appealed to Mary..

[Gabrielle]

Honora, no, not a Maronite, and t'was yourself who told me about St. Rafqa, you silly goose. I'm going to e-mail you, okay? Too many coincidences for here...