

God gives all of his children special tasks and spiritual gifts so that we can play our part in the great work of salvation and lead others to Christ. But no-one has a more important role to play than the Virgin Mary.
Mary is unique in that she conceived, carried, and nurtured Jesus- but as her son was dying on the cross, he revealed she had another great task to accomplish.
He turned to his mother and said: “Woman, behold your son”, indicating the disciple he loved, John. And he turned to John and said: “Behold, your mother” (John 19: 26-27).
Catholics believe that this bestowal of Mary to John and John to Mary was deeply symbolic.
It wasn’t just that the Lord wanted Mary and John to look out for each other, it was something much deeper than that. He was giving Mary the task of helping to nurture his children. So, the disciple John represented all men and women who would one day become Christian disciples.
Mary was to be the Mother of the Church; the spiritual mother of all who put their faith in Christ.
The church teaches that , at the pivotal moment of baptism, we become part of God’s family by adoption, and Mary adopts us as her spiritual children too.
Scott Hahn, the well-known Catholic theologian, explains it like this:
“God’s covenant family is perfect, lacking nothing. The church looks to God as Father, Jesus as Brother, and Heaven as home. What’s missing then?
“In truth, nothing. Every family needs a mother; only Christ could choose his own, and he chose providentially for his entire covenant family. Now everything he has, he shares with us. His divine life is ours; his home is our home; his Father is our Father, his brothers are our brothers, and his mother is our mother too. For a family is incomplete without a loving mother”. (Hail, Holy Queen : The Mother of God in the Word of God, p.27).
The teaching of St. Paul supports this interpretation. St. Paul spoke metaphorically about the church as the mystical body of Christ. Jesus is the Head of the body, while individual Christians form various parts of that body. And so Catholic theologians argue, if we are all members of the Mystical Body of Christ, how can Mary be the Mother of the Head, and not the Mother of the rest of Christ’s body?
St Pope John Paul II said that Mary’s love for God came to full maturity at the cross, where she shared in the redemptive love of Jesus. It was there she received a new burning love for souls and her motherhood underwent a deeper spiritual transformation.
Fr. Michael Gaitley states that the new motherhood of Mary’s isn’t an abstract concept, it is particular and personal for every Christian. Just as God knows us all individually, so Mary has a personal knowledge of all of her children.
“Mary is your Mother and she’s my mother… she doesn’t lose us in the crowd”, he explains.
In his book 33 Days to Morning Glory, Father Gaitley explains the role of Mary as our mother in much detail, drawing on the work of St. Louis de Montfort, St Maximilian Kolbe, St. Mother Teresa, and Pope John Paul II.
These great saints all agreed that if we, as Christians, trust Mary with our hearts, and so “take the Mother of Christ into our homes, like St. John did, we are following the will of Jesus. In return, the Mother of God will give us her immaculate heart and bring us closer to Jesus through her powerful prayers and motherly love.
My own experience of Mary, Mother of the Church, bears out all that has been said about Our Lady’s powerful intercession for her children. You can read my story here.