The Primacy of the Union with God According to Our Lady

Bro. Marc Will Lim, SDB

October 24, 2010

My dearest confreres, I'll be starting this sermonette of mine with a confession. For some weeks now I have thoughts of... leaving, I mean leaving the Salesian Congregation. There is something within from which I felt so imperfect, so inadequate and so incomplete. I was so anxious upon thinking what kind of a Salesian my person could give to the actual Mission I am about to embrace.

I fear that my existence will not give a clear sign but rather a distorted image.

I fear that I would be nothing but a thinking creature, who uses only his mind in dealing with others at the same time preaching his reflected thoughts and yet his actions present otherwise.

I fear that I could not be a Don Bosco.

I fear that I could not represent Christ.

And that was until I had my first spiritual direction with my present Spiritual Director.

Our conversation was an awakening for me to keep the faith and to strive more to be faithful.

His words came to me so strong, which eventually led me to rekindle and relive the very first reason why I am here.

My dearest conferrers, I know it is no different to anybody. My reason I believe is the same reason as yours. Perhaps, with varying degrees or unique expression but I can be certain we all share this same reason.

And what I'm speaking about is love - our love for Christ!

RETURNING TO THE ROOTS

When I was writing my philosophy of life I was surprised to start it with a verse of a song I read from one of the homilies of St. Josemaria Escriva which led me then to answer an invitation I took for granted after graduating from high school and I’m pertaining to my religious vocation. The lyrics of this song is in Spanish but translated in English it goes:

“My life is consists of loving,

and if with loving I’m familiar,

it is because I’ve sorrowed much;

for there’s no finer lover,

than one who’s suffered much.”

Now, I feel so little speaking you about this claiming this as a significant part of my philosophy of life and yet I myself know that I have been so clearly inconsistent with.

Allow me to share what I thought was my downfall. And it is none other than my very self.

Yes. It is because of me. I set Him aside. I took for granted of my Beloved.

All along I thought it is just enough to excel, to do things extraordinarily; to be the best in all the fields of my work; to be a good model for admiration because of my competency in sports, in music, in academics, in dealing with people, in accounting, in whatever things I do.

But now, I realized, I have set aside the fore most, most important reason of my BEING and it is none other than the Union with CHRIST, which is the primary reason for my very BEING.

The doings I enumerated earlier, before all else need to be founded in God lest they will remain empty.

Mary, our Model

Our Lady on her part is the best example of this Union. Her plan of life can be summarized in these words: “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Lk 1:46). It is so clear to her who should be the center of her life, to whom her heart should be completely attached. Her desire was simply to be a handmaid of the Lord and not the Lord. She never took pride on what she can offer, of what she was tasked to do. Yes, she hoped for the salvation from which she herself will take a role. But then, upon recognizing this she remained at the disposal of the God above her.

And it is primarily because she believed. Mary is indeed a woman of faith. “Blessed are you who believed”, was the greeting of her cousin, Elizabeth. (cf. Lk 1:45) upon listening to Mary’s Magnificat.

The Magnificat as Pope Benedict explains on his encyclical Deus Caritas Est presents the portrait of our Lady’s soul. According to him, it is entirely woven from threads of Holy Scripture, threads drawn from the Word of God. From this he concluded that Mary is completely at home with the Word of God. She speaks and thinks with the Word of God.

Yet, it finds it completeness on Our Lady’s deeds.

Precisely, because she loved and continuously loving us. In her sublime gestures in the many episodes in the Gospel, we saw her recessions and kept herself in to the background. She never outshone Christ. But she remains beneath the Cross and at the hour of Pentecost. Can she not be a very wonderful model to behold?