Jesus was obedient to His mother, Mary: Day 230

Jesus was obedient to His mother

While other virgins follow the Lamb of God (see Rv 14:4), St. Alphonsus reminds us, the Lamb followed Mary.

So great is the authority that mothers possess over their sons that even if they are monarchs, and have absolute dominion over every person in their kingdom, yet never can mothers become the subjects of their sons.

It is true that Jesus now in heaven sits at the right hand of the Father. He has supreme dominion over all, and also over Mary. Nevertheless, it will always be true that for a time, when he was living in this world, Jesus was pleased to humble himself and to be subject to Mary, as we are told by St. Luke: “And he was obedient to them” (Lk 2:51). Even more, says St. Ambrose, Jesus Christ— having deigned to make Mary his mother—inasmuch as he was her Son, he was truly obliged to obey her.

For this reason, says Richard of Saint Lawrence, while of all other virgins we must say that they “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (Rv 14:4), of the Blessed Virgin Mary we can say that the Lamb followed her, having become subject to her as his earthly mother.

Mary, now in heaven, can no longer command her Son as she did when he was a boy on earth. Nevertheless, her prayers are always the prayers of a mother, and consequently most powerful to obtain whatever she asks. “Mary,” says St. Bonaventure, “has this great privilege, that with her Son she above all the saints is most powerful to obtain whatever she wills.”

Why is this true? Precisely because they are the prayers of a mother. Jesus is pleased in this way to honor his beloved mother, who honored him so much during her life, by immediately granting all that she asks or desires. —St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER . . .
When I recall how tenderly a loving son obeys his mother, I have some sense of the point St. Alphonsus is making: Mary no longer commands Jesus as a boy. But he has never lost his affection for her and his desire to fulfill her requests, which are all just and gracious. Does this recollection inspire me to bring my petitions to Mary?

CLOSING PRAYER
From a prayer of Blessed Guerric of Igny: Continue, Mary, to dispose with confidence of the riches of your Son; act as queen, mother, and spouse of the King; for to you belongs dominion and power over all creatures!

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