St Luke gives us a beautiful snapshot of the very first Catholic parish in the history of the Church.
He tells us in today's First Reading that after Jesus ascended into heaven, the Apostles and Jesus' other disciples went back to Jerusalem.
So there they are, Peter and the other Apostles, some of the women who had followed Jesus, and some of his relatives, gathered together in prayer, to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
It is a very interesting detail that of the whole crowd, St Luke only mentions twelve people by name.First, he lists the eleven Apostles (there used to be twelve, but Judas abandoned them and then committed suicide).
Then, he mentions "Mary, the mother of Jesus."
Jesus as God gave Mary a special role to play in Christ's life, now she begins to exercise her special role in the life of the Church.
Mary gave birth to Jesus, the head of the Church.Now it is time for the rest of the Church, the mystical body of Christ, to be born.And so she is once again present, giving guidance and comfort, and interceding for them in prayer.Jesus, the head of the Church, was in her womb for nine months before his birth on Christmas.
Now his followers, the body of the Church, gather with her for nine days in the Upper Room before the Holy Spirit comes upon them and sends them out into the world on Pentecost.
Mary, full of grace, is the mother of Jesus Christ, and so Mary, in the order of grace, is also the spiritual mother of every Christian.
When we were baptized, we became brothers and sisters of Christ, which means that Mary, his mother, becomes, in the order of grace, our mother too.Throughout the history of the Church, Mary has made her motherly care known in many ways.One of the most remarkable is the Miraculous Medal.
In France, in 1830, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a humble nun who was later canonized as St Catherine Labouré.
http://www.miraculousmedal.org/pages/giftShop.html].
In France, in 1830, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a humble nun who was later canonized as St Catherine Labouré.
Mary was standing on a globe,
with her hands outstretched towards the globe,
and from each hand there came streams of bright, vibrant light.
Then Mary told St Catherine to have a medal made bearing that image.
She said that Christians who wear the medal with devotion will receive many blessings.
Then Catherine found herself looking at another vision, which she understood was to be imprinted on the other side of the medal.She saw a large letter M, surrounded by twelve stars.
And above the M there was a cross.
At the base of the cross was a horizontal bar, and that bar was intertwined with the letter M.
St Catherine explained the vision to her confessor, asking the priest to get permission for the medals.Two years later, the medals were stamped, with full Church approval, and ever since, Christians all over the world have been wearing these medals, and a constant flow of favors and blessings have followed.[If you want to make medals available in the vestibule after Mass, you can purchase them online here : http://www.miraculousmedal.org/pages/giftShop.html].
The image of Mary on the globe with streams of light flowing from her hands shows how active she wants to be in our lives.
She wants to spread Christ's grace and blessings into every corner of the world.
The image of the M and the cross is a symbol of Mary's faithfulness to Christ - she was at the foot of the cross during his crucifixion.
That reminds us of her faithfulness to us; she is always near to us, especially during hardship and sorrow.
Jesus asked her to be our spiritual Mother, and she always obeys her Son.Mary's motherhood is real, but it is spiritual, not physical.
And because of that, we sometimes forget about it.
But when we do, it's easy for us to start acting like selfish orphans, instead of like noble children of such a noble Queen.
How can we better keep Mary in mind?One simple but effective way to keep Mary's grace-filled presence active in our lives is simply to put a Marian image up in a conspicuous place in our houses.It is a natural thing to display photos of our close relatives.
It reminds us of them, and of our connection to them.
Why would we do anything less with our spiritual Mother?
There are many beautiful images of the Blessed Virgin Mary.Every Catholic home should choose one that they particularly like, put it in a nice frame, and hang it in a conspicuous place.And then, on Marian feast days and other holy days, you can gather in front of it and pray together as a family.
We can even keep a little stand there with fresh flowers, as a way of keeping fresh our awareness of her constant prayer and solicitude.
And when we have painful difficulties or special victories, a prayer in front of the image will help us make sure that we never leave Mary's maternal protection, which Christ has so ardently desired to give to his Church.
Every Christian home is called to be a domestic church, an outpost of Christ's Kingdom.It would be a cold church that didn't have a picture or statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.It would be a heartless child who neglected his mother.Today, let's tell Christ our King that we no longer wish to be either cold or heartless - nothing, I am sure, would please him more.(epriest)