THE PRIEST, HIS IDENTITY AND MISSION
Theological Reflections
on the recent Instruction of
The Congregation for the Clergy
Introduction
For several
decades, there has been a deepening in the awareness of the identity and mission of the Priest, which has increasingly
become an issue that concerns not just a particular ministry among many
ministries, but also of concern for the
identity of the Church itself, in its essence of "communion and
mission”, in its relationship to Christ, in the mystery of the Trinity, and in
its relationship to humanity and to the world.
The ways of
thinking which arise within today’s democratic societies are often
«automatically transferred into the mentality and the praxis within the Church
itself, in the various socio-political cultural currents of our time», to
suppress «any differences in the roles between the members of the Mystical Body
of Christ which is the Church, effectively negating its definite doctrine
regarding the distinction between the priesthood of the faithful and the
ministerial priesthood», as well as forms of participation in the Church that
«tend to confuse the distinction between the duties of ministerial Priests with
the duties of the lay faithful». Today, in particular, as affirmed in the
recent Instruction of the Congregation for the Clergy The Priest: the pastor and the leader of the parish community, presented
by Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos: «in a society marked by cultural, religious
and ethnic pluralism, and partially characterised by relativism, irenicism and
syncretism, it seems that some
Christians have adopted the attitude and the type of Christianity deprived of
real reference to Christ and to the Church, and as such, they tend to reduce
the pastoral project to an exclusively anthropological social issue, within a
generic reference to pacifism, universalism and a loose reference to «values».
As such, we
can find «a culture largely secularised, that tends to approve of a Priest
within its own way of thinking, stripping away the fundamental mystical-sacramental
dimension, is significantly responsible for the phenomenon that gives birth to
this stripping away which can bring isolation, and a sort of depressive
fatalism or a dispersive activism. «Nonetheless, the vast majority of Priests
in the whole Church, by the solicitude of their bishops, have successfully
dealt with the difficult challenges of this historical juncture and have been
able to live out their identity fully and joyfully, with a generous pastoral
commitment».
Also, today
in particular, there are those situations that arise in which the Instruction
openly alludes to, as a result of the problems that arise due to the great
scarcity of Priests (n. 23) and those bring forth the scenario, «how it happens in those places, that
the Bishop, having taken all things into consideration with prudence, entrusts
in a canonically consistent way, in a collaboration ad tempus, the exercise of the pastoral care of the parish to one
of some people who are not marked with the priestly character». Now, in these
cases, there must be a recognition and a preservation of the organic structure
by which Christ chose to order the Church, between the essential elements of
diversity and complementarity in the gifts and functions of ordained ministers
and those of the lay faithful. Also if there are objectively extraordinary
situations that justify such collaboration, it is not entirely possible to
legitimately surpass the confines of the specificity between the ministry of Priests
and the ministry of the laity. In accordance with this requirement, says John
Paul II, is the reservation of the expressions that indicate the sense of
«leadership» - how these “pastors”, “chaplains”, “directors”, “coordinators” or
their equivalents – are exclusively priestly in character. In this field, most
evident today, the inter-dicasterial Exhortation Ecclesiae de mysterio, officially approved by the Holy Father on
the 15th of August 1997, is the sure path to follow.
1. The
Priest: a point that lies between the mystery of Christ and of the Church
Of importance
is the personhood and the mission of the Priest, who today constantly becomes
more clearly delineated as a «focal point» of the relationship between the
mystery of Christ and the Church, and is charged with bringing together these
two essential aspects. The Instruction to which I am referring, speaks of a
proposition to Priests, being «a three dimensional identity: pneumatological, Christological
and ecclesiological» that must be kept in view, and is constituted in such a way
that «the primary theological architecture of the mystery of the Priest»,
called to be ministers of salvation, and desires to clarify, in a growing way,
the meaning of the concrete pastoral ministry in the parish. It is clear that the priority is the Christological reference,
affirmed in many church documents starting from Optatam Totius, up to the final document of the Synod of Bishops of
1971 and the post-synodal Exhortation Pastores
dabo Vobis. The «Christological reference» for the presbyteral mystery drives the relationship of the mystery of the
Trinity, of fundamental importance for ecclesiological development.
The fundamental importance of this foundation emerges in Pastores dabo Vobis (1992), also in the
Directory (1994), in the Instruction Ecclesiae
de mysterio (1997), and in the final Instruction The Priest: the pastor and the leader of the parish community
(2002). It repeats the «theological principle of the ordained minister» in
consistency with «configuration to Christ», as the ordained Priest is able to
act in the person of Christ the Head,
for «a specifically ontological link that enjoins the Priest to Christ the High
Priest and the Good Shepherd». From this link the Priest becomes, in the Church and for the Church, a living and transparent image, a «sacramental
representation of Christ the Head and Shepherd» (PDV, 15).
Also the
recent Instruction on the Priest continues along the same line, affirming the
principle that «the sacrament of Ordination, that configures one to Christ the
Priest, in a way that he is able to act in the Person of Christ the Head with sacred
power, for the offering of Sacrifice and
for the remission of sins», conferred sacramentally at baptism, and that
they received, afterwards, through the gift of the ministerial priesthood, «a
new and specific mission: that of embodying in the hearts of the people of God
the threefold office – prophet, priest and king – of the same Christ who is
Head and Shepherd of the Church».
The Directory, following Pastores dabo Vobis, also clearly
affirms the Trinitarian foundation of priestly consecration: «under the
consecration received with the sacrament of Ordination, the Priest is placed in
a particular and specific relationship with the Father, with the Son and with
the Holy Spirit». In fact «our identity ultimately has its source in the love
of the Father. At the command of the Son, both High Priest and Good Shepherd,
we are united sacramentally with His priestly ministry for the action of the
Holy Spirit. The life and the ministry of the Priest are the continuation of
the life and the action of the same Christ. That is the reason for our dignity,
the foundation of our joy, the certainty of our life». The Instruction on the
Priest follows the same line, starting from a Christological-Trinitarian
foundation, which is source of this unique and irreplaceable ministry in the Church (nn. 7-8).
But, in
consistency with Presbyterorum Ordinis 2
and Lumen Gentium 28 of the Second
Vatican Council, recent documents have developed the Christological-Trinitarian
prospect of Lumen Gentium 28, in the
light of Presbyterorum Ordinis 2,
following the gospel of Christ consecrated
and sent into the world from the Father (Jn 10:36), «that has allowed for
all to participate in the mystical Body in union with the Spirit with which he
was anointed: in essence, in fact, all the faithful form a holy and royal
priesthood» and so that all the faithful have been united in one unique body,
but within which not all the members have the same function (Rm 12,4), the
apostles were the first to be instituted as ministers, as He himself had been
sent by the Father, and then «their successors were made to participate in
their consecration and mission, that is the Bishops, whose ministerial function
was also handed to a lesser degree to Priests...».
In the
research of the foundation of the New Testament of the
Christological-Trinitarian basis of the sacrament of Ordination, from an
ecclesiological point of view, we find then of particular importance the «missionary-pastoral model» derived from
the figure of Christ sent from the
Father, consecrated by the action of the Holy Spirit in Him, to announce
the good news to the poor (Lk 4:18). This is the starting point of the theology
of the ordained priesthood and is joined, itself
from a Christological foundation, to be missionary,
and by which the fundamental goal is «consecration and sanctification». The
fundamental gospel of Christ brings us closer to the mystery of the essence and
the mission of the Priest, and so then, to Jesus’ comprehension of being sent
by the Father, and so in His time He sent the apostles (Jn 13:20; 17:18; 20:21).
A «Christology of mission», therefore, that
deepens the Trinitarian foundation in the relationship between Christ and the
Father and the mission of the Spirit from the Father and from the Son: it is
this perspective that gives a more immediate understanding of the mystery of
the identity of the Priest with the mystery of the Church. «The mission
constitutes the nature of the ministry and locates itself as being a vicar of
Jesus: it is always Christ who, present in the ministry, continues in him the
mission. In the light of the mission and in being a vicar of Christ they can review
their ordination, the character and the sacramentality in the end so that they
surpass the choice between ontology and functionality».
For this, the
recently given pontifical documents have a particular resonance with the
biblical figure of Jesus «the Good Shepherd», and they integrate the priority
of the mission to proclaim the Gospel
with the celebration of the sacraments, in particular the Eucharist and with the service
of charity. As we have already seen in Presbyterorum
Ordinis 2, it retakes the affirmation that the ministry of Priests «begins with the proclamation of the Gospel»,
but «derives its own power from the
efficacy of the Sacrifice of Christ» and within the understanding that «in
any given place, one can offer that one universal sacrifice which is offered by
the Saints, as done by the High Priest, the same of which has also been offered
for us in the Passion, to make us become the Body of that almighty Head».
2. From
the Christological mystery to the Ecclesiological Mystery
The
«Christological-Trinitarian» foundation of the identity of the Priest, essentially,
like Christ «a missionary of the Father», develops his mission before the
Church, not as an appendix, but as a structural element of the same entity, as
it says in Pastores dabo Vobis, «Head,
Shepherd, Spouse of the Church» and how it is presented once again in the
Instruction is the actual identity of the Priest: «The being and the action of
the Priest – his consecrated personhood and his ministry –are inseparable
theological realities and have the service of the development of the mission of
the Church as their end»: eternal salvation of all men. In the mystery of the
Church – revealed in the Mystical Body of Christ and the People of God that
walk throughout history, established as the universal sacrament of salvation,
one finds and one discovers the profound reason of priestly ministry. For this,
in fact, «the ecclesial community has the absolute need of the ministerial
priesthood in order to have Christ the Head and Shepherd present in his very
being». One may well say, then, that «without the presence of Christ,
represented in the Priest, sacramentally leading the community, there could not
be an ecclesial community in its fullness».
Regarding the
missionary dynamic, being Shepherd, Head and Spouse, these come together in
this dimension so that from a single imprint in every minister in the Church comes
an expression of that dimension of
service that stems from the pastoral mode itself, being spousal, of being
missionary and possessing the power of Christ the Servant, as it is expressed
in the Gospels Mk 10:45; Lk 22:26-27. When Paul affirms that «you are diverse
in “service”, but one in the Lord» (1 Co 12:5), he expresses that Christ is
made Servant (Phm 2:7) and has come “to serve” (Mk 10:45). The principal
functions pertaining to the exercising of the priestly ministry in the way of
service of Christ are summed up in the proclamation of the evangelisers of the
Word, in the work of liturgical action, especially in presiding over the
Eucharist, in the pastoral leadership of the community, and in the coordination
of the charisms of all the baptised for their exercise of charity.
3. The Priest
in the Church and before the Church
In the
context of the Christological-Trinitarian perspective, the post-synodal
exhortation Pastores dabo Vobis
(1992), following from the Directory
(1994: nn. 1-11) and from recent Instructions, there is the tendency to more
clearly define the relationship of the sacramental configuration of the Priest
with «Christ Who is Sent, Servant, Head, Shepherd and Spouse of the Church»,
repeating the assertion of the synod, in which it is said that «the Priest is
raised non only in the Church, but
also before the Church» (Pastores dabo Vobis, 16; 22). From this
we can delineate two essential aspects of the Priestly-Ecclesial relationship:
a. On
one side, in fact, it is affirmed that «the
relationship of communion» in which the ordained Priest finds himself in the Church, and is «the man of communion» that must make him
an «image» of Christ «in the midst of the flock» which he is given. The Instruction
describes this work of leadership and service for all, exercising the same
pastoral function as Christ (ibid). This fundamental first aspect is seen in
the pneumatological perspective with
particular regard for the «mission of the
Spirit» that is already operating in the Christ event, sent from the
Father, to give His «paschal event», to the Church, the fruit of His redemptive
work (LG 4 and 12), sustained in charisms and ministries for communal
edification, itself through the sacrament
of ordination (1 Co 12:28), especially in the celebration of the eucharist
and in the pastoral life (Ac 20:28). For this animated action of communion, in the
Spirit, the Priest exercises not only the ministry of representing Christ, but also representing
the Church, and is also founded on Christ the Head, in His relationship
with the Body. As such the ordained Priest, exercises
his ministry with the strength of the Spirit, given from the Father for the
Risen Christ, who is the principal
animator of the life of the ecclesial community. It remains «essential»,
then, for the ordained Priest to be
included within the Church. This exercise of ministry requires, for its
success, to be formed, as stated by the Instruction (n. 9), following Pastores dabo Vobis, from that «characteristic
spirituality» that defines the «spirituality
of communion», a theme to which has been returned to often recently,
recalling the teaching of the pontificate of John Paul II. Under the Ecclesial Representation the Priest does
not tend to a sanctity that is merely personal: he must live in the manner whereby
he exhibits the sense of the ecclesial
and thus sanctifies in his pastoral duties so that he promotes the sense of the
ecclesial in the faithful.
He must then
accomplish in this work ecclesial consciousness and responsibility, as
described in the Instruction, in relationship with the intention to continue to
«do what the Church does», not intending to do
so only from a juridic sense for the validity of his ministerial acts, but,
more so, having a constant regard for the faith «that illuminates the spiritual
life of the sacred minister, inviting
him to reacquaint his personal instrumentality to the service of Christ and in
the Church». (p. 12, n. 13). This lies at the level of spiritual formation,
«the constant growth of his will, in the consciousness that his ministerial
acts are instrumental to the operation of Christ in the Church, His body». We
do not find, for the major part, only one attitude of obedience and
ecclesiastical obedience, assimilated on the level of spiritual formation: we
find more: the Instruction expressly states that this spirituality of communion
«requires a level of closeness to the Lord Jesus, one of friendship and of
personal encounter, of «shared» ministerial mission, of love and service to the
Person in the «person» of the Church, His Body, His Spouse». (n.13).
This
love within the Church, this «pastoral charity, stemming overall from the
Eucharistic sacrifice», constitutes «the centre and the source of all the life
of the Priest, so that the priestly spirit strives to reflect what is offered
on the altar» (ibid 12, cf. Presbyterorum
Ordinis n. 14). This sentiment translates «in a constant and sincere
attitude to listen
with the Church» (Directory, n.
56) which signifies to work always in connection to and in communion with the
Pope, the Bishops, and brother Priests, the consecrated faithful, and the lay
faithful (ibid).
b. Then
there is a second fundamental relationship of Priests in relation to the
Church, developed from recent ecclesial documents, that represent the synodal
affirmations: the relationship of the Priest «before or in front of the
Church». Pastores dabo Vobis in two
places (16 and 22) recalls this aspect. This underlining is to repeat with
insistence, not to have a mere structural value, but a value which is profoundly theological: it is repeated,
in fact, in the structure of the Church, in the value of the ordained priesthood as «a sign of the
absolute priority of grace, freely given, that the Church comes to give from
the Risen Christ. For this view of the ministerial priesthood, the Church
operates in the consciousness, in faith, that it is not alone, but is in the
presence of the grace of Christ in the Holy Spirit. The apostles and their
successors, who hold an authority which comes to them from Christ the Head and
Shepherd, are placed – in their ministry – in
front of the Church seen as a visible extension and a sacramental sign of
Christ in the same way He is placed in front of the Church and the world, the
permanent ever new source of salvation, “He who is saviour of His Body” (Ep 5:23)»
(ibid n.16).
So in this
twofold relation, the Priest essentially
appears in reference to the church, in the sense that if he does not exist
in this defined mode, he is «outside the Church» (ibid, 16), he must never be
defined in such a way as to be «after the ecclesial community», «as if it could
be conceived as though it is already established without the priesthood» (ibid).
In reality the Church can be seen to have three dimensions: «mystery», because
it possesses sacramental signs in its very being (especially the Eucharist) of
the presence of Christ Risen, «communion», the place of unity within the
harmony of diverse vocations, charisms and services, and «mission», how «the
community announces and bears witness to the Gospel» it cannot fully realise the same without the service of the priesthood
that intimately and sacramentally participates in the union and the mission
of Christ for the same Church and for the world.
This
essential and multiplied reference to the Church is defined in relationship not only to the universal
Church, but also in relationship to the local
Church. In Pastores Dabo Vobis
this emphasis is found instead on the level of spiritual formation of the Priest
for which his «being in a particular Church» constitutes a qualifying element
for the living of a Christian spirituality (n. 31). From «the ecclesiological
point of view» today one tends to affirm that if the identity of the Priest had
become essentially defined in relationship to only a “personal dignity”, an
aspect which will in any case be revealed, it could remain defined in its
completeness, in a local manner; but if, following on from the Council
and successive research, the priesthood is to be defined as essentially
“ministerial”, because it intrinsically refers to ministry itself of the being of Christ, sent by the Father to
serve, then the reference to a local
Church, with its bishop and presbyterate, appears essentially and it is from this theological
depth of the local Church that it gains value when it is opened up to the
universal Church.
So one cannot define the identity of the Priest
as first ordained and then inserted into
the local Church and within its presbyterate, but rather, ordained into the local Church and within its presbyterate. There is the
need, then, to have absolute clarity that if
the concrete level of the membership of the local Church constitutes a
necessary mediation, then the ministry must always be aware that the universal Church «is an ontological
reality and is temporally before any single particular Church». For which
«the sum of particular Churches do not constitute the universal Church».
Particular Churches, recognising the Instruction (n.17), in and a part of the
universal Church, must always be open to the reality of being a true communion
of persons, of charisms, of spiritual traditions, without geographical,
intellectual or psychological borders (LG 23). «The Priest must have absolute clarity
that there is only the Church! Universality, or truth, catholicity, must fill
the particularity of self» (ibid, 17).
4. The Marian
dimension of the identity and the mission of the Priest
One of the
particular aspects revealed within recent Instructions on «the identity and
mission of the Priest» is the «Marian dimension». Not that Marian references
are missing in the preceding documents that have been released over the past
years and that have followed an age-old and continuous ecclesiastical tradition
that promotes «Marian devotion» as an essential point when referring to
priestly formation, concretely expressed also in the beautiful prayers which end these documents. One must then attempt
to reclaim the corresponding devotions and their theological contents, also these,
in being a «Marian Priest» always reclaim great insights, that demonstrate how the Marian dimension brings with it an
understanding of not only how it is an important affective spiritual component
of the presbyteral conscience, but, how it is a constitutive element «in the being itself and in the action» of the
Priest from which the devotional elements stem in a spontaneous way. This Marian emphasis of the Instruction is
most relevant, itself considering the problem of the identity of the priesthood,
that, as was seen before, is delineated today within the frame of a certain tension between Christology and ecclesiology.
Now, it is within this Marian perspective
itself that this tension can find both light and equilibrium. In fact, as
was observed by Paul VI: «The understanding of the true catholic doctrine on
Mary will always be a key to understanding the mystery of Christ and of the
Church». It constitutes, also, an indispensable key for the exact comprehension
of the identity and the mission of the Priest.
The
discussion could be of assistance in providing a broad insight, but I must
here, to be concise, limit myself to consider only some of the aspects that
review the constituitive Mariological
elements in being a Priest and of his actions,
of more immediacy, recalling the Document in question. The Instruction of the
Congregation of the Clergy on the identity and mission of the Priest offers, in
reality, a precise contribution based
upon two points regarding the relationship of salvific communication
between the Priest and Mary in reference to the mystery of the Church and his
relationship with Her, in the cooperation in the mystery of the redemption of
Christ. They speak, in fact, of the ministry of the Priest who possesses the
capacity to «announce the Gospel with authority, where sacramental pardon is
victorious over the evil of sin» (n. 8) acting «in the person of Christ the Head...» (ibid), affirming that «in
Mary, Mother of the Eternal and High Priest, the Priest becomes conscious of
being with Her, «an instrument of salvific communication between God and men»,
also put differently: «as the Holy Virgin mediates the Incarnation, the Priest
mediates the power of Orders».
Then, «the
relation of the Priest with Mary», the Instruction continues, «is not only a
need of protection and of help; it is primarily of the consciousness of an
objective fact: “the closeness of the Madonna” whose “active presence, together
with which, the Church wants to live the mystery of Christ”». Developing this
important reference, it can be seen to deepen the relationship which, even with
due distinction, intimately unites
the work of salvific communication in the Church, with the maternal role of
Mary from which the power of Orders of the Priest is derived from. In fact, «there
exists an «essential relationship... between the Mother of Jesus and the ministry
of the priesthood of the Son», which derives from that which is within the
divine motherhood of Mary and the priesthood of Christ».
The first important aspect of communion, in
the Marian-priestly relationship, is that which is founded upon the “Motherhood
of Mary” before the Head and the mystical Body, for which, in the Incarnation,
Mary the Mother of the High Priest becomes also the Mother of all the Body of
Christ, the Church, and the Mother of all “priestly ministers”, a spiritual
motherhood which proclaims Christ Crucified (Jn 19:25-27). Mary’s participation
in the action of the communication of grace, the gift of the Spirit, is
accomplished, then, according to the characteristic
of the «maternal mediation» itself, that can describe mediation «in
Christ», or better yet, «participation in the unique mediation of the Redeemer»
(LG 62). This expression, as has been said in the recent document of FAMI: is
«in higher conformance with the sensus
fidelium, and less subject to dispute». In the strength of the Incarnation,
and of its presence in the redemption event of the cross and the event of the
gift of the Spirit at Pentecost, the action of the «life-giving motherhood of
Mary» is exercised in the Church, against that Spirit of grace, for which, the sacramental action of the ordained
minister, working as the «representation of the Person of Christ, Head and
Shepherd», can more intimately penetrate the heart, increase the communion of grace with Christ and with the members
of His Body. The Church cannot properly be called a
life-giving Mother, mediating from its maternal heart, if it is not in Mary.
If
in fact the Church «is the sign and instrument of intimate union with God, it
is a motive of its maternity: because the life-giving Spirit, “generates” sons
and daughters of the human family with a new life in Christ. Because, just as Mary is at the service of the mystery of the
Incarnation, so too the Church
remains at the service of the mystery of the adoption as sons by grace». In
this work, then, that the Church undertakes before its priestly ministers, is
one where «Mary is not only a model and figure of the Church, but much more».
In fact, it is one «with the love of the
Mother and the cooperation with the regeneration and formation» of the sons
and daughters of Mother Church. The motherhood of the Church is actually, not
only according to the model and the figure of the Mother of God, but also of Her
“cooperation”. The Church draws an
enormous amount from this cooperation, that is from the maternal mediation,
that is characteristic of Mary... ».
One
can say, overall that «in the economy of grace, actually under the action of
the Holy Spirit, there is a single correspondence between the moment of the
incarnation of the Word and that of the birth of the Church. The person who unites
these two moments is Mary: Mary of
Nazareth and Mary in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. In both cases, Her
presence is discreet but essential, indicating the way of “birth from the
Spirit”. Like that, with She who is present in the mystery of Christ as Mother,
one becomes – for the will of the Son and for the action of the Holy Spirit –
present in the mystery of the Church. Also in the Church there continues to be
a maternal presence, as is indicated
in the words pronounced on the Cross: “Woman, this is your son”; “this is your
Mother”».
But
there is another aspect in the Marian-priestly relationship that is also realised, in a particular way, as the Instruction
says, in the «presence and participation» of Mary in the action of the ordained
Priest: it is that in the
liturgical-sacramental life of the Church. The Document to which I refer
(n. 13), emphasises quite rightly, the culminating moment of this ecclesial
life which is the celebration of the
Eucharist, affirming, recalling the words of John Paul II, that «when we
celebrate the Holy Mass, in the Mother of the Son of God is in our midst, who
offers us the mystery of the offer of redemption: in this way She becomes the
mediatrix of grace that springs from the Church for all the faithful from this
offering». In fact: «Mary was associated in a unique way with the priestly
sacrifice of Christ, sharing His will of salvation for the world mediated on
the Cross. She was the first and most perfect spiritual participant in this
offering of Priest and Victim. As
such, she can receive and give to all who participate on the ministerial level
in the priesthood of Her Son, the grace
to respond all the more to the needs of the spiritual offering that the
priesthood requires: in a particular way, the grace of faith, of hope and of
perseverance in trials, recognising what stimulates a greater participation in
the generous offer of redemption».
Following
this track, one can say that in the sending forth (parédoken) of the Spirit from the time Jesus died on the Cross (Jn
19:30) the hour of consummation of His
redemptive work is anticipated and announced, which awaits the coming of
the Resurrection and Pentecost, and that consummation is fulfilled in the
offering of the “Mother Mary-Church”, united as a spouse to Christ, in His
redemptive action. It is not, in fact, a consummation of the priestly action of
Jesus, that follows, in history, in a “Sacramental Church”, without the active
participation of “Mother Mary”, and in Her, of the Mother Church and within the
priestly people (1 P 2:9-10). The
active participation, personally, of Mary in the event of the cross of Christ,
personalises and anticipates the existence of the offering of the ministerial
priesthood, but it is exercised in communion with it (LG 10-11), in a unique
act of oblation, in the unique priestly offering of Jesus, lifted high, in the
Spirit, for the praise and glory of the Father.
And so then, just as the
otherness of the ordained minister before the Church keeps the consciousness
alive so that we, by the gift of grace, the new creation, are not the origin of
ourselves, so the maternal mediation of Mary reminds us that we are always,
also in the reception of grace, «given to
ourselves to be responsible persons», because the grace Christ offers us is made the grace that allows and drives us
to respond. In Mary are united, together, both aspects of the mission of
the spousal motherhood of the Church.
Therefore, «Mary, the first of the disciples and the Mother of the Lord, “remains”
at the foot of the cross. She (...) is at the same time the icon of the Trinitarian Love and the
first fruits of the new humanity dressed in the wedding garment of charity. In Her are joined the ’yes’ of the love of
God and the ‘yes’ of humanity redeemed in Christ».
Marcello
Bordoni