So that the world may know: Mary and the love that the world can recognize

That the world may know that you sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.
John 17:23

“That the world may know that you sent me and have loved them as you have loved me” (John 17:23) presents one of the purposes of Jesus’ prayer for unity: that “the world may know”, that the unity of the disciples is to be the sign that leads the world to recognize Christ and the love of the Father. Mariology finds in this verse its most apologetic and missionary dimension: Mary, as a figure of Church unity and the perfection of divine love received and lived, is the most eloquent “sign” through which the world can “know” that God loved humanity with the same love He had for His Son.

I. “That the world may know”: The Apologetic Dimension of Unity

John 17:21, 23 repeats twice the purpose of unity Jesus asks for: “that the world may believe” (v.21) and “that the world may know” (v.23). The difference between “believe” and “know” in John is significant: the initial “belief” indicated by v.21 is the first opening to revelation. “Knowing” in v.23 refers to a deeper relationship, an experience of love that implies personal knowledge. This logic has an immediate practical consequence: Christian division is the greatest obstacle to mission. The world observing divided Christians, accusing each other, competing for members and resources, does not see the “sign” of John 17 but rather its opposite.

This logic directly impacts ecumenical Mariology, which seeks Mary as a figure of unity transcending historical divisions. Ecumenically-oriented communities in Taizé, Sant’Egidio, prayer and service movements bringing Christians from various traditions together are signs of “the world knowing” as John 17:23 requests. When the world sees Christians united around Mary, regardless of dogmatic differences, it can begin to “know” that the God who unites them is the God of love revealed by His Son.

The great mission of the 21st century, the “new evangelization” proclaimed by Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI, has this apologetic aspect at its core. Simply “announcing” the Gospel is not enough; it must be “shown” through Christian unity and love. Mary, as a figure of perfect unity and love, is the heart of this living apologetics: she who “gathered” the Apostles in the Cenacle before Pentecost continues to “gather” Christians around herself so that the world may “know”.

## II. «Dilexisti eos sicut et me»: Mary and the Equal Love of the Father

The second movement of *ut cognoscat mundus* shines in John 17,23: «that you have loved them as I have loved them» (*dilexisti eos sicut me dilexisti*). This assertion is one of the most audacious throughout the Gospel: the Father loves the disciples with the same love He has for the Eternal Son. Not a lesser love, not a derived or analogical love, but the «same love» (*kathos*). This equivalence is possible because the disciples are «in» Christ: the Father’s love reaches them through the Son, and to the extent they are «in» the Son, they receive the Father’s love in its full Trinitarian abundance.

The Mariological implication is direct: if the Father loves the disciples «as He loves the Son», and if Mary is the most completely «in» Christ of all the redeemed humanity, then Mary is the most fully loved by the Father, the creature who has received the Father’s love most fully – a love that Jesus, in John 17,23, compares to the very love the Father has for His Son. This assertion is not excessive devotion, but a logical consequence of dogmatic Mariology: she who was «full of grace» (*kecharitomene*) received the Father’s love most fully – the grace that communicates love.

The spiritual tradition expressed this «predilection» of the Father for Mary with images of great beauty: St. John Eudes, in the 17th century, developed devotion to Mary’s Heart as the «most beloved Heart by the Father» after Christ’s Heart. St. Louis Marie de Montfort contemplated Mary as the «masterpiece» of God, the creature in whom the Father’s creative love is expressed most perfectly. This is not deification of Mary, but recognition that when the Father’s love acts without obstacle, it produces the most perfect work possible: and that work is Mary.

Christian eschatology, the hope that «we too» will be loved by the Father «as the Son» in fullness, finds in Mary its most visible anticipation. She who is already loved by the Father with this full love, who already lives in this communion of Trinitarian love, is the symbol of Christian hope: not an abstract promise, but a concretized reality in a human creature we know and love. Contemplation of Mary is not distraction from eschatological hope; it is its most concrete visualization.

## III. Mary as Icon of God’s Maternal Love

The logic of *ut cognoscat mundus* also demands a concrete face of divine love. Is 49,15: «Can a mother forget her baby, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if she did, I would never forget you.» The prophet uses the image of maternal love as a metaphor, incomplete but eloquent, of God’s love: a love that does not forget, that does not abandon, that persists even when it seems unlikely. This maternal love of God has in Mary its most perfect expression in creation.

# Christian Feminist Theology and the Maternal Dimension of God

In its most balanced expressions, Christian feminist theology develops the “maternal” aspect of God from texts such as Isaiah 49:15; 66:13; and Hosea 11:1-4. Mary, as the human mother of Jesus, visually embodies this maternal dimension of God’s love: she who never abandons, who stands firm at the Cross while all others flee, who receives sinners without judgment, is the most accessible and moving icon of God’s maternal love.

The Marian title “Mater Misericordiae,” Mother of Mercy, finds its foundation in this logic: Mary not only “receives” God’s mercy, she “embodies” it in a form most relatable to human fragility. Sinners who approach Mary do not “prefer” the mercy of the Mother to the severity of the Son; instead, they find in the Mother the most accessible face of the same mercy that the Son came to bring. Mary is the icon of the Father’s mercy precisely because she, who “loved as the Father loves,” makes God’s mercy more tangible for the human heart.

The artistic representations of Mary, from Duccio’s Madona to Orthodox icons of the Theotokos, always blend the dignity of the Mother of God with the tenderness of a human mother. This combination is not accidental but theologically significant: Mary, who is both the highest of creatures and the closest to humans, is the perfect visual symbol of God, who is simultaneously infinitely great and infinitely near. Seeing Mary’s face is seeing the face of love promised in John 17:23—the Father’s love for His children “as He loved His Son.”

## IV. “That They May Know You Through Love”: Mary and the Transfusion of Love

The climax of “ut cognoscat mundus” (that the world may know) is found in John 17:26: “that they may know that I have loved them as you have loved me.” The conclusion of the priestly prayer is a request that the intra-trinitarian love, the Father’s love for the Son, “dwell” in the disciples. This habitation of divine love within the disciples represents the ultimate fulfillment of all Mariology: the final goal of sanctification, unity, and mission is for the love with which the Father loved the Son to dwell in His adopted children.

Mary, in tradition, is the icon of this “transfusion of divine love” to humanity. She who received the Father’s love most fully among all humans serves as a model for the receptivity that every Christian is called to embrace: opening our hearts to the Father’s love, allowing Him to dwell within us, becoming transparent to His presence so that others may know God through us, “as He loved His Son.”

# Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

The devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, centered in the Marian spirituality of the 20th century by Fatima, is the devotional expression of this “transfusion of love.” The “Immaculate Heart” is not a sentimental image but a theological affirmation: Mary’s heart was the first human heart completely inhabited by the Father’s love, without obstacle or resistance, free from the hardening effect of sin. This heart serves as the model and means through which the Father’s love reaches other hearts.

The final words of Jesus’ priestly prayer, “I in them” (John 17:23), signify the Son dwelling in his disciples, as the Father dwells in the Son. This dwelling, the ultimate promise of the Fourth Gospel, finds its fullest and most visible realization in Mary. She, who was the “tabernacle” of the Son during His Incarnation, is now the “tabernacle” of the Trinitarian love that the world can “know” through her. Marian theology is not a deviation from the path to the Father but one of its direct ways: seeing Mary is seeing the love that the Father has for His children.

**References:**

– Pope John Paul II, *Redemptoris Mater*, nos. 45-47 (1987).
– Pope John Paul II, *Ut Unum Sint*, nos. 97-99 (1995).
– St. John Eudes, *Le Cœur Admirable* (1681).
– St. Louis de Montfort, *True Devotion to Mary*, nos. 14-21.
– H. U. von Balthasar, *Mary for Today* (1987).