Mary, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit
So, one of my favorite things to do is work with the youth and young adults. And often when I share my vocation story with them, the question I get over and over again from different people is: “How do I know I am living the life of a Christian?” “How do I hear the voice of God?” “How do I know what God wants me to do?”
And if I were a betting man, I’d say that many of us have these very same questions.
Today we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit on to the Church. But there is another thing we are celebrating today, in fact we’re celebrating all of this month of May. And that is Mary, Our Mother and the Mother of God. And so, I want to draw out the relationship between the Holy Spirit… and Mary, the Mother of God… because I believe that they are essential to answering those questions that we have. Both Mary and the Holy Spirit are necessary for us to discover what God is calling us to do, and to discover how we are to live as disciples of Christ.
In the first reading from Acts, we hear “they were all in one place together” when the Holy Spirit descends upon them. But who was all gathered? A few verses before in Acts, we read:
“When they entered the city [Jerusalem] they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus…” (Acts 1:13-14a)
You see, at Pentecost, Mary was present in the upper room. In fact, it was probably Mary who was leading the disciples in prayer. She was the one who was probably preparing the disciples to receive the Holy Spirit. Because, while the apostles did not know who the Holy Spirit was, Mary knew him intimately. Why? Because she had already received the Holy Spirit. This happened from the very first moment of her conception where she was filled with grace and the Holy Spirit. Through this grace and the Holy Spirit she was kept Immaculate from all sin. And then again at the Annunciation! When Mary was just a teenager, and the angel Gabriel appeared to her, and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her and through the cooperation of Mary, the Son of God was made man in her womb!
In the spirit of humility and openness of Mary and her “Yes”, Christ was formed in her womb through the Holy Spirit. This is why St. Francis and other saints often refer to Mary as “the Spouse of the Holy Spirit”. It was the union of both Mary and the Holy Spirit that Christ was formed in the womb. And now this is the point I want to tell you… that both Mary and the Holy Spirit is at work forming Christ in you and me. Just as the Holy Spirit and Mary formed Christ in Mary’s womb, the Holy Spirit and Mary is forming Christ in our souls.
This is why on the Cross before Jesus died, he gave us his mother. We hear in the Gospel of John, that on the cross, “When Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.” The Evangelist John never mentions who this beloved disciple is, and it’s precisely because John wants us… to put ourselves… into the shoes of the beloved disciple. Jesus is saying to us, “Behold your mother!”
Often times people ask me, “Why do we have devotion to Mary?” Simply put, because Jesus made Mary our mother. That’s it. Before Jesus died on the Cross he gave us his mother. And then before he ascended to the Father, he promised to also give us his Holy Spirit. And through the help of Mary and the Holy Spirit we are transformed into the true disciples of Christ, true children of God, sons and daughters of God. Who are to go out and be Christ in the world we live in.
So how do we do this? How do we begin this process of being transformed into Christ? We first need to invite the Holy Spirit and Mary into our everyday lives. We do this through making time for prayer and devotion. But the problem is… as you and I know, that we are too busy. We are busy working, providing, studying, taking our children to school, to competition, to practice. We simply don’t have time to pray… or maybe better put, we simply don’t make time to pray…
You know it’s said that in football and in other sports, that “champions are built in the weight rooms,” that the work that is done there, in the weight rooms and in the offseason, bears fruit on the field and in the courts. And if an athlete doesn’t make time for the weight room, he will falter on the field, he won’t be in shape to perform well and probably he’ll even injure himself.
Well I say, that in life, SAINTS are built on their knees in prayer. The time and work we spend in the upper room, in prayer like the first apostles, will bear fruit in our lives, in our families and in our world.
In the fitness center of our spiritual life, the Holy Spirit and Mary are our personal trainers. They’re the ones that help us to grow stronger in virtue, they spot us and help us when we are weak, they help us learn how not to injure ourselves, how not to fall into sin and they give us strength and the life to go out into the world as true children of God and to win the crown of unfading glory in Heaven as Saints.
So, how do we do this? How to do we begin to pray? St. Teresa of Avila says that prayer is simply “an intimate sharing between friends; it’s taking time frequently to be alone with Him whom we know loves us.” We need to simply spend time with Jesus. And one of the best way to do this is in contact with the words and deeds of Jesus in the Gospels. St. Jerome who translated the entire Bible into Latin is known for saying that, “Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ.” If we do not take time to learn about Jesus in the Gospels, what he said and what he did, we will only have a shallow relationship with him.
Cardinal DiNardo in one of his talks recommended to Young Catholic Professionals, who are busy doctors, lawyers, business men and women, that each person spend at least 2 minutes with the Gospels everyday. Just two minutes: whether it is in the morning or in the evening right before bed but two minutes. And then after two minutes, spend a few minutes afterwards in silent prayer, in conversation with Jesus.
That’s about 5 minutes every day of intimate time with Jesus, the friend whom we know loves us… that’s about the average length of a YouTube video!
So first put down your phone, close your laptop, turn off the music, find a quiet space. Then call upon Mary, our Mother to help you open your heart to the Word of God and invite the Holy Spirit to guide you in your prayer. Then open the Gospels and read a small section, about 5-10 verses, for about 2 minutes. Perhaps read and reread it as many times as you need to. Then after reading the Gospel for about two minutes take a few more minutes in silent prayer. Sit and let the Word of God speak to your heart. Listen and allow your heart to be formed by the Holy Spirit.
And I want to add a final step: and that is make a daily resolution. Now this is not like a new year’s resolution that never gets accomplished… but rather something simple, concrete and achievable within twenty four hours. After having read the scriptures, ask yourself “what specific thing does God want me to do today with this Word?” The Word that you have just prayed upon.
So if you feel like God is wanting you to be more thankful, perhaps your resolution is simply to say “Thank you God” three times that day. Or if he wants you to practice patience, don’t just say I’m going to be more patient today. But think concretely of a person or a situation that day that may require you to be patient with. So your resolution would be something specific like, today when Bob or Jill comes by and says something that I know will stir something up in me I’ll pray for them instead…
So just 5 minutes everyday of quality time with Jesus with the help of Mary and the Holy Spirit… and then a small daily resolution. So how do you know what God wants you to do in your life? Spend time each day in the upper room of your heart with Mary and the Holy Spirit.
