Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Her royal highness

Ezekiel 34:1-11; PS 23 THe Lord is my Shepherd there is nothing I shall want; Mt 20:1-16

Today we look upon Mary, the mother of God, an donor here as Queen of Heaven.

Of all the title fit for a queen in the earthly realm, her royal highness, is by far the most fitting.

Last wednesday we celebrated the Assumption of Mary body and soul in to heaven and this wednesday, we acknowledge arrayed in the glory of God bestowed upon her for role in salvation history.

Her Royal Highness indeed.

The Queen Mother now reigns with her Son.

Here is a tidbit from Pius IX, "More than all the angels and all the saints has God ineffable freely endowed Mary with the fullness of the heavenly gifts that abound in the divine treasury; and she, preserving herself ever immaculately clean from the slightest taint of sin, attained a fullness of innocence and holiness so great as to be unthinkable apart from God Himself, a fullness that no one other than God will ever possess."

Here is a bit from the Pius XII instituting the feast of the Queenship of Mary in 1954,  

"From early times Christians have believed, and not without reason, that she of whom was born the Son of the Most High received privileges of grace above all other beings created by God. He "will reign in the house of Jacob forever,"[5] "the Prince of Peace,"[6] the "King of Kings and Lord of Lords."[7] And when Christians reflected upon the intimate connection that obtains between a mother and a son, they readily acknowledged the supreme royal dignity of the Mother of God.

 Hence it is not surprising that the early writers of the Church called Mary "the Mother of the King" and "the Mother of the Lord," basing their stand on the words of St. Gabriel the archangel, who foretold that the Son of Mary would reign forever,[8] and on the words of Elizabeth who greeted her with reverence and called her "the Mother of my Lord."[9] Thereby they clearly signified that she derived a certain eminence and exalted station from the royal dignity of her Son....
Certainly, in the full and strict meaning of the term, only Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is King; but Mary, too, as Mother of the divine Christ, as His associate in the redemption, in his struggle with His enemies and His final victory over them, has a share, though in a limited and analogous way, in His royal dignity. For from her union with Christ she attains a radiant eminence transcending that of any other creature; from her union with Christ she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the Divine Redeemer's Kingdom; from her union with Christ finally is derived the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and His Father."
MAry stands ready to intercede of us as we honor her, giving her what is due. 
IF she is the mother of Christ the King, and we are children of God through Christ, then she stands as the Queen Mother of all creation for in Christ all things were made. 

The power afforded Mary is none other than that of service.  With her response to the Angel, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thou word" MAry sets the theme of her life as one of service to God and creation. 
Her power is Goodness because her power is service and here in lies her royal dignity.
Often times Mary is depicted with the Child JEsus in her arms.  She holds the one who bestows blessing and thus she becomes a blessing as well. 

May we follow Her royal highness's lead.








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