First, the incarnation of Jesus. It would be too much to claim that Mary incarnated Jesus (as in made God a man), but the truth is that somehow the Son of God had to become human. He had to participate in human activities and therefore to show human beings how ‘man is to error’ did not necessary mean that sin was part of human nature as many people tend to think. Yes, he wanted to show man that it was possible to live a truly God fearing life and hence a truly fully human life. By accepting to be the mother of God, Mary was therefore preparing the environment through which Jesus would be easily accepted by other human beings, who probably would have found it difficult to live with the heavenly Son of God were he to drop from heaven directly. The task of carrying the child Jesus in her womb and the accompanying struggle to bring him up is what shows her determination, and hence her qualification as a source of reconciliation between God and the fallen race.
Secondly, the poor state of relationship between man and God. From the beginning we mentioned that Mary’s role could be compared to the duty of a person who has to introduce a mediator between two quarreling persons, when the two are not in talking terms. It is true that when human beings fell into sin they hid themselves from God, and in fact confessed of having been afraid of meeting God in that state (Gen 3:8-10). It would however be misleading to imagine that with the fall of human beings God was not in talking terms with them. The bible itself says that with the fall of the human beings God searched for them in the garden, talked with them (Gen 3:8) and actually provided (clothes) for them before they left the garden(Gen 3:21). The promise of a saviour who finally would defeat the serpent (Gen3:15) is also a sign that God was still the loving father he had been. So we cannot talk of God and man as being two parties not in talking terms. But we also know that when one of the parties is not ready for conversation and dialogue, reconciliation is not possible.
The events immediately after the fall of the human beings depict exactly that. Instead of accepting responsibility and asking for forgiveness man accuses the woman, who accuses the serpent instead. Eventually the episode becomes one of shifting blame (Gen 3:12, 13). The role of Mary was therefore one of softening the hardened heart of man. She did this first of all by accepting to take up the challenging task of being the mother of God, hence being obedience unlike Eve who was disobedient to God, and secondly by what we have just mentioned above, namely presenting Jesus in a human “material” acceptable to other human beings. This is the role of all reconcilers: they have to soften the stands of those who have taken hard line grounds. Mary is truly one of them, for through her the world was reconciled to its creator as St Paul says “For Christ died for us while we were still sinners… Indeed if we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, how much more once reconciled will we be saved by his life” (Rom 5: 7-10).
Third is patience of Mary. If one has to qualify to be a reconciler, then he or she must be very patient You can imagine what can happen when one tries to reconcile two parties but then he or she lacks patience. Such a person cannot handle the tempers of the fighting parties, and eventually he or she fails to neutralize the flaring temperatures. It is on this ground that patience, understanding, calmness are paramount in reconciliation process. In Mary’s life, all these were clearly evident. Mary is known for her quiet bearing of difficult situation. A number of times we hear that she bore everything in her heart (Lk. 2:50). She was ready to ponder things in her heart quietly even when she did not understand. This explains why she accepted to be the mother of Jesus in the first place, when she was sure that she was risking her life given the culture in which she was living. She believed that the one who had brought up the whole thing (God) knew better how to handle it. With that kind of trust she waited patiently as everything unfolded in the life of Jesus, beginning from his conception to the cross. With this kind of patience, who can doubt the patience of Mary as a reconciler.
Finally is the initiative of Mary in intervening on issue. A reconciler must be a person who takes initiatives. One who can not sit and watch as things go wrong. The best example one can get is the event of Cana. Seeing a wedding of a couple getting destroyed just because there was no wine was acceptable to Mary. Something had to be done- and rather quickly. Mary’s intervention averted the great shame that the couple would have suffered, and the unspeakable inconvenience that the lack of wine in such a feast would have caused. This definitely shows how sensitive our Lady is to the needs of her children. It is a manifestation of the motherly concern that Mary has for all those who through faith have been adopted as brothers and sisters of Christ her son. This tells us the amount of trust that we should have in the heavenly mother. Through her son she reconciled the world to the father, and today she continues to intercede for us Christians. For us Consolata Missionaries we are even more privileged for she is our mother. Let us turn to her and difficult situations will melt away.
