Sometimes, in my quest for perfection, I get too caught up in the doing, and forget the being of perfection. Loving Jesus, I want everything I do to be the best for Him, which is all well and good, but, often, I can get swept up in the details, obsessing about the results (faultless execution is Everything!), and I can lose my focus, and my way, consequently.
Because I do take pride in doing something well, I can, often, take myself too seriously so that it becomes all about me, me having my own way, for I know best what’s right and what’s good and will not stand for sub-standard ways. I get easily frustrated at setbacks, over tired, and short of temper. This isn’t what perfection is all about, at least the perfection we are alluding to in biblical terms.
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect says Matthew 5:48. Here perfection is not so much as we tend to see it, but more about a maturity and wholesomeness in being, depending on how the text is translated into English.
Having played the role of good Christian for so long, it is ridiculously easy to slip into self-righteous and judgemental mode and wear my holier-than-thou attitude. To be as perfect as my Father begins first with an attitude or heart of perfection so that I can still be the good Christian without falling into the sin of pride. It asks for oceans of patience, constant humility and endless compassion, hallmarks of a mature Christian.
Of course I need only study Jesus, Mary and all the saints to try and get what this character of perfection is all about. Here is where the recently celebrated Memorial of the Queenship or Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary speaks to me. This feast falls on the octave of the Feast of the Assumption, and for some reason, this fairly new feast day in the liturgical calendar set by Pope Pius XII in 1954 really struck me this year.
Since I was a little girl, one of my favourite Marian hymns proclaims Mary as my queen and mother. I have always associated Mother Mary with motherhood, but never took much notice of her queenship until now.
Mary is Queen because she is Mother of our Lord Jesus, the King of kings. Pope Pius XII stated: Mary is Queen above every other creature on account of the elevation of her soul and the excellence of the gifts she received. She never ceases to bestow all the treasures of her love and care on humanity.
So she is this young woman, still a girl really, who said yes to God, and continued saying yes throughout her life, from the conception of her son, beyond his death, until she herself experienced death whereupon she “was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory and exalted by the Lord as Queen of the universe, that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son" (Lumen Gentium, 59).
Because of her simple yes, Jesus was born, our saviour was brought into this world. As a mother, she bore the responsibility of bringing him up well, knowing he would take on the role of the much prophesied Messiah and its requisite tragic ending. Even today, Mary points us to Jesus as our life, salvation and our hope. She seeks to bring us closer to her son every opportunity she gets. She is the Queen Mother who loves and serves without stopping for a cup of tea.
When I think queen, I think of someone who is kind, benevolent, gracious, hardworking, but dressed appropriately with hat and gloves on, quite regal and a little distant from the common people. Mary gives me a completely different picture for she was always with the common folk, and she still is. She is, by all accounts, a woman who lived modestly and virtuously. She was humble, gentle and she put the needs of others first.
No one or nothing was beyond her capacity to reach out to and transform in an often quiet but defining way. If we read the vocation stories of many priests and religious, it is she who brings them to her Son. She sows love where previously there was hatred. She illuminates our world marked by death. She breathes life into impossible situations, bringing her feminine touch where it is most needed. She sways hearts in the thousands, enabling them to fall in love with Jesus, her Son.
Mary is Queen because she loves God with all her heart, mind, soul and strength and she says yes to Him in all things, especially the extremely difficult. Mary simply loves - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and everyone else through them. Who better to be my model of perfection for she constantly leads me to Jesus, my Lord and Saviour?
Through Mary, I am reminded of my smallness and my rightful place in the universe, to be the little pencil God uses to write His magnificent story of salvific love. As Sister M said, I am called to be mid-wife to enable Christ to be born in others by first allowing Him to be born in me, and this is the lesson I learn from my Queen Mother Mary. If I want to ooze perfection through every pore, it’s very possible, I just have to respond to every situation as Mary did, with a straight yes to the Father.
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