There’s something about Mary ...

Sydney
15 December 2002

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There’s something about Mary ...

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There’s something about Mary ...

By Therese J Borchard

Every year during Advent, I’m reminded of a pilgrimage I made to Lourdes, France, when I was 19.

I didn’t have any great expectations, as I was in France at the time and was simply tagging along with two friends who had their hearts set on visiting the place. I was much more excited about planning my future adventure to Lisieux, the hometown of my patron saint.

However, as our train stopped at the platformright outside the shrine at Lourdes, I could not deny that something mystical surrounded us. A scent of mystery hung in the air.

It was dusk as we climbed the long walkway to the majestic basilica with its steeples piercing the clouds, drawing back the last shards of sunlight like magnets.

The River Gave, circling the church, led our footsteps to the magnificent grotto.

When I saw the rows of crutches hanging over the grotto like useless matchsticks and the countless votive candles burning inside the cave, I understood why my mother, grandmother and several friends had special devotion to Mary.

I had been like doubting Thomas in the Gospel of John, who needed to touch Jesus and place a hand in his side before believing that the Son of God had indeed risen from the dead and appeared to the others.

I knew at that moment there was something about Mary.

Not only does Mary hear our prayers and intercede for us, she teaches us about God.

Who could be more qualified?

She carried the Light of the World within her womb; she nursed the boy who later would change water into wine; she instructed the greatest teacher in the ways of faith; she reared the Son of Man, who rose from the dead and is risen today.

Who could know him better?

I can write and speak and explain how God becomes man in the person of Jesus Christ until I have no more words to use, but it makes no sense to me without mention of his mother.

The fact that Jesus was born of a woman, just like you and me, makes incarnation possible and makes Christianity real.

Is it any wonder that the richest cathedrals in the world some of the most famous paintings, the most beautiful music, the most precious literature have been erected, painted, composed and written in devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus? She brings hope. She embodies love.

The most lasting lesson from my pilgrimage was this: Mary never goes away.

She transcends time, speaks all languages and knows all cultures. She continues to appear to the most vulnerable among us, in the most fragile, war-stricken places of earth to speak her message of enduring peace.

She is a mother, our mother, who cares for and nurtures her children in the ways of faith.

And she is persistent. How else could she have reached me?

Therese Borchard is a young adult writer for the US bishops’ Catholic News Service. She writes on topics of particular interest to young people. Her Reflection, though, is of interest to all at this holy time of year. It is good to reflect on Mary, as well as on her holy child, during this season of Advent.