Mary, mother of reconciliation

Maria, Mother of Reconciliation: Jn 19, 25-27, her universal spiritual motherhood and the *Redemptoris Mater* of John Paul II (1987)The final phase of this liturgical period draws the Christian community’s attention to Mary, recognized and invoked as the “Mother of Reconciliation.” While we harmoniously insert ourselves into the typical penitential character of Lent, we also highlight the very close relationship that exists between Christ, who with his “precious blood reconciled the world” with the Father, and Mary invoked as “reconciliator” and “refuge for sinners.”In Jn 19, 25-27, we read the perspective of “surrender”: all the disciples who invoke mercy are entrusted to Mary, and the disciples know they find in her the “Mother of Reconciliation.” Let us think of Paul’s invitation to “reconcile with God” (2 Cor 5, 17-21). A reconciliation that passes through the “cross, the sign of the alliance established between God and all flesh on earth.”If we now look at the Paschal prayers, we notice that from the moment peace was established between God and humanity in her virgin womb to “at the foot of the cross,” when the Father “constituted the Virgin Mary reconciling sinners,” everything is a succession of events in which the Virgin actively participates in the redemptive work of the Son. Thus, she is proclaimed “companion of God in the work of reconciliation.”It is from this recognition that the attitude of the faithful springs, conscious that they find in Mary, “compassionate with our misery,” “a heart full of mercy for sinners.”Sinners, “turning their gaze to her maternal charity,” “take refuge in her and implore” forgiveness. Contemplating her spiritual beauty, they combat the dark attraction of evil. Meditating on her words and examples, they are drawn to observe the commandments of the Son.In its simplicity, the constant path of reconciliation for the faithful of all times and places becomes a journey that culminates and is continually sustained by the Eucharist. It is through participation in the “sacrifice of expiation and praise,” and thus in the “communion with the body and blood of Christ,” that the faithful experience the “sacrament of reconciliation” alive.The exemplary nature of Mary emerges clearly from the whole: she who was the instrument of the beginning of the new age for our redemption, is the same who, in the time of the Church, welcomes and “reconciles” sinners, guiding them to the Eucharist where the gift of the Father’s mercy and the reward of eternal redemption are realized.The exemplary nature of the Virgin, which attracts by her “maternal charity,” her “spiritual beauty,” and her “words and examples,” presents the Church with the mission that, in all times, exercises the ministry entrusted to her with maternal charity for all who wish to make a renewed experience of God’s love, seeking to fulfill Christ’s Word, contemplating the Word and the example of the Virgin.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian theology, Marian apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.To deepen reflection on Mary’s mediating role in the reconciliation of humanity with God, consult the Encyclical Redemptoris Mater by Pope John Paul II.