Mary: The First Missionary Disciple
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
During the month of May, we pay special reverence to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and the first Missionary Disciple of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Mary shows us by her words and example how we should love and serve others, our sisters and brothers in Christ.
Mary’sresponse when confronted with any difficulty, great or small, was to trust in God’s Providence. In spite of her fundamental orientation to contemplative prayer (“treasuring these things in her heart”), Mary is never indifferent or uncaring. In fact, frequently, her response is to act without hesitation, trusting that the Holy Spirit will be responsible for ensuring that the outcome will conform to God’s will.
Mary’s contribution to evangelization and the Church’s missionary outreach can be illustrated in a story from my days of service to my Redemptorist community. One of my most important responsibilities as a religious superior was to visit my brother Redemptorists in countries located throughout various parts of the world. On one such visit, I traveled to Zahle, a small city in a very fertile valley in eastern Lebanon., Christian families had once farmed there, but the terrible bloodshed of a civil war in the 1980s led them to retreat behind the walls of Zahle, leaving the fields to their Muslim neighbors.
My community had a presence there—Christ the Redeemer Center for Reconciliation, the first Christian center outside the safety of the city. When I arrived, my brothers asked if I would meet with an Imam, the religious leader of the local Muslim community. Someone had been machine-gunning a Cross that stood outside the center, leading my brothers and the members of the local Christian community to fear for their safety.
I agreed to meet with the Imam to see if he would intervene on behalf of the center, and a meeting was arranged. The local Imam was a solemn young cleric who spoke Arabic. I talked with him in my schoolboy French and a translator present helped us have a conversation.
The Imam’s first words were the credal formula of the Islamic faith: “There is no God but God, and Muhammed is his Prophet.” I replied with the customary response: “Peace be upon him.” The Imam then said, “But I will speak with you because of Miriam (the Virgin Mary).”
Continue reading Cardinal Joseph Tobin’s latest newsletter.
