Knowing God Through Mary

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

There’s a magnificent promise in the book of Isaiah where it says, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:6, 9).

This is a promise of knowledge of God that will accomplish a transformation of human hearts, a healing from evil and violence.

With all our being, we should desire this knowledge of God, a knowledge he wants to reveal to us. Not a God who is the product of our psychological projections, but the true living God.

The book of Job says, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you” (Job 42:5).

We can all see God. We can discover his true face. Not necessarily by visions and ecstasies, but in a more humble and sure way: knowledge in faith.

Scripture says no one can see God. We will see him face to face only in another life. Yet here below we can have a true experience of God and know him.

In chapter 31 of the book of Jeremiah, we find another magnificent text on this subject. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:33–34).

This passage announces a knowledge of God by all which will be intimately linked to the revelation of his mercy.

The most profound knowledge of God we can have in this life comes through the experience of divine mercy, divine pardon.

This Scripture promise is especially for us in our times. God himself gives us that assurance: all will know me, from the least of them to the greatest. I would even say especially the least.

The Gospel of Luke tells of Jesus rejoicing in the joy of the Holy Spirit: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Luke 10:21–22).

It is through the Son that the revelation of the Father takes place. God wants to show his face to mankind.

We have misrepresented God so much, heaped so much blame on him. This is the drama of atheism: throwing God into the trash, accusing him of being an enemy of mankind, an obstacle to freedom and flourishing, a God who crushes.

Today more than ever, God wants to reveal himself to our hearts in a simple way, gently, in the mystery of faith, but still in a very profound way, such that each one of us can have an authentic knowledge of his true face. God wants to reveal himself more than ever to us small, poor beings.

One of the secret but favorite paths of this revelation is the mystery of Our Lady.

It’s beautiful to see how Our Lady is present today in the life of the world, gathering the hearts of men towards God, especially by schooling us in prayer.

If we confide in her, if we let ourselves be led by her, she will lead us to a true knowledge of God by drawing us into the depths of prayer. Here is where God reveals himself, showing his face as Father.

One writer recently spoke to some people about the experience of certain visionaries, to whom Our Lady regularly appears in order to form them in person. The response of some was, “They’re lucky.” And no doubt they are. But possibly Our Lady does this secretly for all who ask and offer.

If we put everything totally in her hands, she will form us and will convey true knowledge of God to us.

A poem on Our Lady by Thérèse of Lisieux, called Why I Love You, O Mary, contains a beautiful affirmation. It says the treasures of a mother belong to her child. To us Mary gives a share in that which is most precious: her faith.

In a beautiful passage in the book called The Secret of Mary by Montfort, he said God is present everywhere and can be found everywhere, but in Mary he makes himself present to the small and the poor in a special way. Nowhere do we creatures find God nearer to us and more adapted to our weakness than in Our Lady, since it was for that end that he came and dwelt in her. Everywhere else he is the bread of the strong, the bread of the angels; but in Mary he is the bread of children.

In Mary, God makes himself nourishment for the little ones. In her we find God in his grandeur and majesty, his power, his wisdom that completely surpasses ours; yet at the same time an accessible God, not crushing us, not destroying us, but giving himself to be our life.

On May 13th, the year 2000, a very significant day, during the beatification of the child visionaries of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta, Pope John Paul gave a beautiful homily in which he commented on the passage of Luke’s Gospel that we quoted earlier, saying that what God hid from the sages and wise men, he revealed to the littlest ones like these children.

The Holy Father evoked the experience of theirs during one of the apparitions of Our Lady. According to the divine plan, a woman clothed with the sun came down from heaven to this earth to visit the privileged children of the Father. She speaks to them with a mother’s voice and heart. She asks them to offer themselves as victims of reparation, saying that she was ready to lead them safely to God. And behold, they see a light shining from her hands, which penetrates them inwardly, so that they feel immersed in God, just as—they explain—a person sees himself in a mirror.

Little Francisco, recalling this experience later, said, “We were burning in that light, which is God, and we were not consumed. What is God like? It’s impossible to say. In fact, we will never be able to tell people.”

They were plunged into the fire of divine love. This is a fire that illuminates, not destroys, a fire that warms us, full of ardor and life.

The Holy Father made a comparison with the experience of Moses in the burning bush. In the book of Exodus, we’re told Moses had the same experience when he saw God in the burning bush. He heard God say that he was concerned about the slavery of his people and had decided to deliver them through him. And the Lord said, “I will be with you” (Exod. 3:12). Those who welcome his presence become the dwelling place—a burning bush, said Pope John Paul, of the Most High.

It’s moving to see how those young children of Fatima, while still ignorant of so much, had in the end experienced something similar to the experience of so important a figure in the story of salvation as Moses. Through Mary, they entered into a very profound experience of the living God.

We shouldn’t be jealous. We are without a doubt not living sensitively through the same things. Yet in the domain of faith, all, least and greatest, can attain the same realities and know God, thus becoming burning bushes of the Almighty, and sharing God’s compassion that desires to liberate his people.

In relation to God’s will, Our Lady has but one reaction: to love it. She proclaims herself the handmaid of the Lord. She accepts his plans without any reservation whatsoever.

In the world of antiquity, in which slavery, the lot of the servant, was a common condition, this expression of Our Lady can be seen in all its force and depth. The slave, you could say, did not have a will of their own, nor could they have any desire independent of their master’s. Our Lady agrees with the greatest joy and with all her heart to have no other wish than that of her master and Lord. She gives herself to him unreservedly, without condition.

We also, in imitation of Our Lady, do not want to have any other will or any other plans other than those of God. And we want this in the things that are obviously of transcendent importance for us, that is, in our vocation to holiness; and also in what immediately relates to it, and in the ordinary little things of every day: the mundane details of our work, our family life, and our social relations.

One of the mysteries that we meditate on frequently in the joyful mysteries is that of the Visitation. We could consider one specific aspect of service of others that’s part of our vocation in the order of charity. The visit of Our Lady to her cousin Elizabeth presents one outstanding manifestation of the order of charity.

We must try to love all people because they are all, or can be, children of God. We must love in the first place those that are closest to us, those with whom we have special ties, such as members of our families. And this charity has to be shown in deeds, not only by affection or fondness.

We could think for a moment of our dealings with our family members, of the numberless opportunities that come our way of exercising quite normally and naturally our love and spiritual service. We could try to live every day of our life with that same spirit of service that Our Lady had during her time of expectant waiting.

Supported by the humble self-giving of Our Lady, we could ask her like good children to help us, so that when Our Lord comes, our hearts may with complete generosity be ready to receive his commands, his counsels, and his suggestions.

St. Josemaría says, “Let us ask the Blessed Virgin to make us contemplatives, to teach us to recognize the constant calls from God when he knocks at the door of our heart. Let us ask her now: Mother, you brought Jesus into the world who reveals to us the love of our Father God. Help us to recognize him in the midst of the cares of each day. Stir up our minds and our wills so that we may be ready to listen to the voice of God, to the calls of grace.”

For each one of us, our vocation is the central theme of our lives. It’s the axis around which everything else turns. Everything, or almost everything, depends on our knowing and carrying out what God asks of us. To follow and to love one’s own vocation is the most important and joyously fulfilling thing in our life.

But in spite of its being the key that opens the door to happiness, there are many who do not want to know what their vocation is. They prefer to do what pleases them, to do their own will instead of God’s will, to remain in a state of culpable ignorance instead of seeking in all sincerity the road that will lead them to happiness and enable them to reach heaven in safety, as well as to bring this same joy to many others.

Our Lord calls every one of us by our name, by our own name, today as much as ever. He needs us, it seems. Furthermore, he calls all of us to a holy vocation, a vocation to follow him in a new life whose secret he alone possesses. We’re told in St. Matthew, “If any man would come after me” (Matt. 16:24).

Through baptism, we have all received a vocation to seek God in the fullness of love. For the ordinary life of man among his fellows is not something dull and uninteresting. It’s there in their ordinary lives that God wants the vast majority of his children to achieve sanctity.

It’s important to keep reminding ourselves that Jesus did not address himself to a privileged set of people. He came to reveal to us the universal love of God. God loves all men, and he wants all men to love him—everyone, whatever his personal situation, his social position, his work.

Ordinary life is something of great value. All the ways of the earth can be an opportunity to meet Christ, who calls us to identify ourselves with him and carry out this divine mission right where he finds us.

In Christ Is Passing By, St. Josemaría says, “God calls us through what happens in the ordinary course of our day, through the sorrows and joys of the people we live with, through the human interests of all our colleagues and the things that go to make up our family life. He also calls us through the great problems, conflicts, and challenges of each period of history, the portentous events that attract the interest and idealism of a large part of mankind.”

The call of Our Lord urges us to a greater self-giving, because, among other reasons, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, and that harvest may perish daily because there’s no one to gather them in.

Our Lady says, “Be it done unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). And we can contemplate her radiant with joy. As we raise up our minds and hearts in prayer, we can inquire of ourselves: Am I seeking God in my work, in my study, in my family, out in the street, in everything? Am I daring in doing apostolate? Does Our Lord want more of me?

God uses signs to communicate his purposes, his presence, his righteousness, his favor to his people, and his assurance that he is speaking to them and that he will keep his promises. We’re also told in the Psalms that God performed mighty signs to demonstrate his mighty saving deeds when he delivered his people from bondage in Egypt.

When God offered King Ahaz a sign, the king refused. And God nonetheless gave Israel a sign to assure his people that he would indeed give them a savior who would rule with peace and righteousness. The greatest sign God has given us is his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who took on flesh for our sake and for our salvation.

We see the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy and the unfolding of God’s plan of redemption in the events leading up to the Incarnation, the birth of the Messiah. The new era of salvation begins with the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary. This child to be born is conceived by the gracious action of the Holy Spirit upon Our Lady, who finds favor with God.

Where Eve was the mother of all humanity, doomed to sin, now Mary becomes the mother of the new Adam who will father a new humanity by his grace, says St. Paul. This child to be conceived in her womb is the fulfillment of all God’s promises. He will be great and the Son of the Most High and king, and his name shall be called Jesus, which means “the Lord saves.” And in St. Matthew, we’re told he will save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21).

The promise of an everlasting kingdom to the house of David in the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled in the king to be born in Mary’s womb. How does Our Lady respond to the word of God delivered by the angel Gabriel? She knows she’s hearing something beyond human capability. It would surely take a miracle which surpasses all that God has done previously.

Her question, “How shall this be, since I have no husband?” (Luke 1:34), is not prompted by doubt or skepticism, but by wonderment. She is the true bearer of the word, and she immediately responds with faith and trust. Mary’s prompt response of yes to the divine message is a model of faith for all believers.

Mary believed God’s promises even when they seemed impossible. She was full of grace because she trusted that what God said was true and would be fulfilled. She was willing and eager to do God’s will, even if it seemed difficult and costly.

Mary is the Mother of God, because God became incarnate when he took on flesh in her womb. When we pray the Nicene Creed, we state our confession of faith in this great mystery: “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.”

God gives us grace, and he expects us to respond with the same willingness, obedience, and heartfelt trust as Our Lady did. When God commands, he also gives the help, the strength, and the means to respond. We can either yield to his grace or resist and go our own way.

We can ask Our Lady to help us to imitate her example in everything. She is the model of all the virtues. Help us in particular, Mary, in knowing more about God in and through knowing more about you.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

EW