T H E B L E S S E D
V I R G I N M A R Y A N D
T H E H O L Y S P I R I T
By L I ~ O N - J O S E F S U E N E N S
I
N THIS opening paper I would like to make three points. The first is the ecumenical value of a discussion concerning the blessed Virgin M a r y and the Holy Spirit. The second deals with the relationship between the Holy Spirit and M a r y in the light of the mystery of the incarnation. Finally, I wish to discuss the relationship between the Holy Spirit and M a r y in the light of the mystery of Pentecost.E6ume/'/is/Tt
Something rather unexpected has happened in the last few years. Before the Council, there was disagreement between Catholics and their protestant brethren, because it was thought that the former exaggerated about our blessed Lady and her privileges, to the detriment of the unique mediatorship of Christ. After Vatican II things began to change on the catholic side. There was even some alteration of the external expression of devotion to M a r y - - not so much among ordinary people, as in theological circles. At the same time, strange to say, our protestant brethren seemed to have been rediscovering our Lady.
As you perhaps know, there was a serious discussion at the second Vatican Council on whether there should be a separate schema and document about M a r y or whether what we had. to say about her should appear in the document on the Church. On the invitation of Pope Paul VI, I myself proposed that the Council should concentrate on the subject of the Church, and that everything should be focused on this. Therefore I recommended that we should study the role and place of M a r y in the final chapter of the Constitution on the Church. It seemed logical to place her in that context and certainly no disrespect was intended. Some people, however, especi- ally journalists, made a big fuss about this. T h e y suggested that the bishops were divided for or against Mary, which was not at all the
case. T h e position we r e c o m m e n d e d was a c c e p t e d finally b y the vote of the Council.
H o w e v e r , after V a t i c a n II, the idea s e e m e d to arise that we o u g h t to tone d o w n what we were saying a b o u t M a r y . O n e d a y I asked K a r l R a h n e r , the g e r m a n theologian, how he e x p l a i n e d the fact that Catholics were a bit m o r e reticent a b o u t o u r blessed L a d y . His a n s w e r was that so olten t h e y m a d e C h r i s t i a n i t y a kind o f a b s t r a c t i o n b y t u r n i n g it into an ' i s m ' - - a
Weltanschaung.
O n the o t h e r h a n d I r e m e m b e r the saying of a f a m o u s p r e s i d e n t of the R e f o r m e d C h u r c h o f F r a n c e : ' M y b r e t h r e n , w h a t did y o u do with the p r o m i s e , with the p r o p h e c y of o u r blessed L a d y in the Gospel: " A l l g e n e r a t i o n s will call m e B l e s s e d " ? ' .It is a j o y to see that n o w we are c o m i n g t o g e t h e r m o r e a n d m o r e on this point. I really believe that if we insist on the d y n a m i c u n i t y b e t w e e n the H o l y Spirit a n d M a r y in the m y s t e r y o f the I n c a r n a t i o n , this can help a great deal in m a k i n g a bridge b e t w e e n P r o t e s t a n t s a n d Catholics. It should be u n d e r s t o o d , that w h e n I say ' C a t h o l i c ' , I always m e a n to include the o r t h o d o x a n d anglican traditions. In m y book
New Pentecost,
I w r o t e a few lines a b o u t this i d e a a n d I received a lot of reactions f r o m P r o t e s t a n t s who said that they a g r e e d that this could be a w a y of c o m i n g together. In the past, we c r e a t e d the i m p r e s s i o n that we p u t M a r y w h e r e they were e x p e c t i n g to find the H o l y spirit. T h e r e is a v e r y clear indication of this in a n article b y Elsie G i b s o n , e n t i t l e d . ' M a r y a n d the p r o t e s t a n t m i n d ' . She writes:It is possibly as difficult for Catholics to understand what Protestants believe about the Holy Spirit as it is for Protestants to understand what Catholics believe about Mary. When I first began reading catholic periodicals and books, I was puzzled and offended by caricatures of our views regarding the Holy Spirit more than by anything else. The catholic consensus seemed to be that we glorify human impulses and judgments, attributing them to the inspiration of the third person of the Trinity. This is a travesty of the protestant position. When I began to study catholic theology, in every place I expected to find an exposition of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, I found Mary. What Protestants universally attribute t0 the action of the Holy Spirit, was attributed to Mary.
O f course, this is not the case b u t it was certainly the i m p r e s s i o n given. S o , if we can n o w show the deep u n i t y b e t w e e n the H o l y Spirit a n d M a r y , I feel that this w o u l d be a step f o r w a r d in
M A R Y A N D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T 7
ecumenical discussion. Thus I think it is important that at the beginning of this Congress the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin should concentrate on that relationship.
The Incarnation
To speak of the Holy Spirit and M a r y in the light of the mystery of the incarnation is to be on the deepest level of Christianity. Jesus is not half h u m a n and half divine; he is fully h u m a n and fully divine. We cannot express the way such a mystery has been realized; we have to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us. We talk very easily about God the Father, yet it is said very explicitly in the scriptures that only the Holy Spirit can proclaim God as Father. We are not able to say 'Jesus' as it should be said in the depth of the mystery of Jesus without the Holy Spirit, for only the Holy Spirit can say 'Jesus'. Nobody can answer the question Jesus put to his disciples when he said, ' W h o do you say I am?', replying, 'You are the Son of the living God', without the Holy Spirit. Jesus said so very explicitly to Peter (Mt 16,17). This is perhaps the reason why there are so m a n y books about Jesus which see him only as a m a n in an historical, sociological setting.
Only the Spirit can say ' C h u r c h ' , for the very simple reason that the Church is a mystery: it is the mystical body of Christ. So we cannot even pronounce the word ' C h u r c h ' without the Holy Spirit. We need to remember this, because we use the word ' C h u r c h ' all the time in a sociological way. W h e n I say in the Creed, 'I believe in the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic C h u r c h ' , that is the Church of my faith, that is the Church of the Holy Spirit who reveals it to me - - although m y h u m a n eyes show me something quite different. I see the divided Church and I believe in the one united Church. I see a Church composed of people like you and me, not holy people, and I believe in the holy Church. I see that the Church is not universal. She does not exist in m a n y parts of the world, or only as a very tiny minority, but I believe in its universality. The Church is born one, the C h u r c h is born holy, the Church is born universal from the first. T h a t is the meaning of Pentecost: a dynamic universality. So when I have to speak the word ' C h u r c h ' , I should see it with the eyes of the Holy Spirit, who shows me the depth of its • unity, and the depth of its holiness. The Church is not holy because we are holy; the Church is already holy because, before we become holy, it is the holy mother Church which m a k e s us holy.
in the mystery of the Father, Jesus and the Church. That is why in
Vatican II the title of the final chapter of Lumen Gentium is ' M a r y , in
the mystery of Christ and of the Church'. If Christ is a mystery, if the Church is a mystery, M a r y is also a mystery, and so we cannot discover M a r y except in the light of the Holy Spirit. The first thing we read about M a r y is that Joseph, in his uncertainty, heard in his soul a voice saying: 'Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit' (Mt 1,20). That was said on a specific and special occasion, but I believe we have to enlarge it and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking and saying to each of us: 'Do not fear to open your heart to Mary. Do not fear to take M a r y into your heart and soul, and life and tradition, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit'. The link is very deep, and the Holy Spirit will show it to us.
W h e n I think about the Holy Spirit, I see the oriental vision of the Trinity. The Father comes through the Son in the Holy Spirit. I see him coming through the mystery of the incarnation: the Father through the Word of God sends the Spirit to Mary. I see the Holy Spirit as the final point. If I may say so (it is a vision), it is as if the Father, through Jesus his Son, was lending a hand to humanity. O n the other side, the purest h u m a n love which goes to meet the Spirit sent by the Father in the W o r d of God, is Mary. I find the meeting place of heaven and earth in Mary. She is the answer to God, Father, Son and Spirit, coming to her. She is the answer, not only by saying 'yes' in her personal name. She is the opening to that love; she is h u m a n love, the purest love possible. M a r y is an answer to the full receptivity of that love. H u m a n love meeting divine love.
However, it is not only M a r y who is there at that moment. She is the daughter of Sion, she is Israel, she is all our people. In her is the 'yes' of all the patriarchs and the prophets. She is, in her person, all Israel. Moreover, she is saying 'yes' not only in her own name, not only in the name of all the elected jewish people, but she is also saying that 'yes' in the name of humanity. She is 'yes' to that mystical marriage between God and Man.
Everything in that m o m e n t is the work of the Holy Spirit. The faith of M a r y is the gift of the Spirit. If she can say that "yes', it is because the Spirit in her is working in her will and her action (cf Phil 2,13). She is free, but in the depth of her freedom it is the Holy Spirit, permeating that freedom and giving her that capacity of freely saying that 'yes'. It is a receptivity and a positive action at the same time. W e should not be afraid to insist on the collaboration of
M A R Y A N D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T 9
M a r y because that collaboration is a gift of the Spirit. There is no danger that we make of her a deity. She is what she is by the gift of God. H e r freedom is a real freedom but inspired by the Spirit. As Zundel, the swiss theologian and poet wrote: 'God really gives what he gives. He still gives what he asks for. He gives twice what he receives. '
We should not see M a r y only in that historical setting from a very narrow, sociological viewpoint, but really see the life of M a r y in its full extension. To what did she say yes? She said 'yes' to the mystery of the Incarnation. But t h a t incarnation was a redeeming incar- nation. H e r 'yes' was a 'yes' to that mystery of incarnation and redemption, which are one.
This makes the difference between an ordinary mother and M a r y the mother of Jesus Christ. Let us take the mother of an important person, say the mother of Napoleon or the mother of Eisenhower. The mother of Eisenhower had nothing to do with the battles of her son; the m o t h e r - o f Napoleon had nothing to do with Waterloo. W h y do we not attribute to the mother the glorious or inglorious deeds of the sons? W h e n the mother of Napoleon gave birth to the little child Bonaparte, he was not born as an Emperor, he became Emperor. He was born as a child like everybody else, and then accidentally, casually, because of historical events, he became a famous general. But if I look at Mary, she started as the mother of the Redeemer. She did not bring to birth a son who later on became Redeemer. He came into the world as the Redeemer. So the 'yes' of M a r y embraces, from the beginning to the end, what her Son was coming to do.
There is an antiphon s u n g t h e week before Christmas: ' O wisdom from the beginning to the end directing everything with power and at the same time with tenderness'. The love of God starts from the beginning of our life and continues to the end; everything is conducted, everything is guided. In the life of M a r y there is continuity. She does not just bring a child into the world in the biological sense. Even if we remember that the mother is also important for the education of the child, it is not just that; that is only h u m a n . The Holy Spirit shows that it is much deeper than that. To become the mother of Jesus meant becoming the mother of the Redeemer. The name of Jesus means the Saviour. You can feel it from the very beginning when Simeon received her in the temple of Jerusalem, and said, 'You will have to suffer. This child is destined to be a sign which men reject and you too shall be pierced through
the h e a r t ' . T h e r e is one single m y s t e r y . So w h e n I see in the gospel that M a r y was t h e r e at the foot of the cross, that is the v e r y logic o f i n c a r n a t i o n . S u p p o s i n g that for some r e a s o n this was not m e n t i o n e d in the gospel, I w o u l d still know that M a r y p a r t i c i p a t e d at that m o m e n t because she was the m o t h e r of the R e d e e m e r . H o w could she be d i s c o n n e c t e d at the m o m e n t of R e d e m p t i o n ?
T h i s d i m e n s i o n of J e s u s as the son o f M a r y is a d i m e n s i o n for ever a n d ever. H e n e v e r loses it, a n d he is the most perfect son. H e said v e r y cleai'ly that we h a v e a d u t y to love o u r fathers a n d m o t h e r s , and y o u m a y be sure that the perfect love o f J e s u s was always t h e r e a n d he was faithful to his m o t h e r . J e s u s is the perfect son o f the F a t h e r a n d perfect son of his m o t h e r t h r o u g h o u t his life, e v e n if some aspects o f the text of the gospel can sometimes create a n impression of rejection.
I f we have to say, like St Paul, 'I a m not living, Christ is living in m e ' , he is living in m e as the son of this Father. But he m u s t also live as the son of his m o t h e r in one w a y or a n o t h e r . H o w you express it, how y o u find the theological words to describe all this is a n o t h e r m a t t e r . But we c a n n o t cease to be Christian, n o r cease to be sons o f M a r y . T h e only point is, at w h a t age are y o u a son? It is for y o u to choose. H o w e v e r , y o u m a y not say, 'I will not be a son of M a r y in m y spiritual life'. T h a t is impossible if Christ is living in you. You can be a son at different ages. R e m e m b e r the w o r d o f the L o r d , 'if y o u do not b e c o m e like a child, y o u will not e n t e r into the k i n g d o m of G o d ' . So we are all invited to be children, to b e c o m e like a child. W e also have to be a child by imitating J e s u s a n d c o n t i n u i n g his life. You can be a child of y o u r m o t h e r if y o u r m o t h e r is living with you. M y m o t h e r died w h e n she was 85 a n d I was 50. At that age you are a child towards y o u r m o t h e r , b u t with a v e r y i n d e p e n d e n t life. A child of one d a y old is m u c h m o r e d e p e n d e n t on his m o t h e r , a n d an u n b o r n child still living in the w o m b , seeing only t h r o u g h the eyes of the m o t h e r , walking a n d m o v i n g t h r o u g h the m o t h e r , e x p e r i e n c e s complete d e p e n d e n c e . J e s u s chose that w a y of b e i n g d e p e n d e n t .
In o r d e r to follow J e s u s in m y own life, I give a priority to b e i n g M a r y ' s child. Being a child is to be b o r n in her. T h i s is a grace, an invitation. E v e r y b o d y can translate i t i n his o w n way, b u t I repeat, do not be afraid to receive M a r y ; w h a t is b o r n in h e r is from the H o l y Spirit. I say to m y p r o t e s t a n t friends, do not be afraid if y o u see some e x a g g e r a t i o n s in catholic l i t e r a t u r e f r o m time to time. Y o u have to u n d e r s t a n d that this is a way of loving o u r L o r d by loving o u r m o t h e r w h o is his m o t h e r .
MARY AND THE HOLY SPIRIT 11 Pentecost
T h e r e is n o w a t h i r d step: to see the H o l y Spirit a n d M a r y in the light of the m y s t e r y o f Pentecost. As I said previously, i n c a r n a t i o n a n d r e d e m p t i o n are one in the eyes of the L o r d . N o w I w o u l d also say that the i n c a r n a t i o n a n d Pentecost are d e e p l y linked. It was a great j o y , w h e n I r e a d all the papers of the Society o f o u r Blessed L a d y , to find a talk given u n d e r the same title in 1976 b y Bishop Alan Clark. H e took as a starting point for his talk ' T h e H o l y Spirit a n d M a r y ' , a s t a t e m e n t of the F a t h e r of the C h u r c h , St A t h a n a s i u s , who said, ' T h e W o r d took flesh in o r d e r that we c o u l d receive the H o l y Spirit'• Since J e s u s was b o r n in o r d e r that we could receive the H o l y Spirit, i n c a r n a t i o n a n d Pentecost are v e r y d e e p l y linked• Bishop Alan C l a r k c o n t i n u e d :
• . . the second coming of God into the world, in the person of the
Holy Spirit, is the reason for the first coming in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. For God has come twice, not once. • . . This perspective will influence our consideration of Mary and her relationships which form the material of our various doctrinal affirmations concerning her person and her work within the salvific plan of God.
It is vital for us to see that G o d b e c a m e m a n only to m a k e m a n b e c o m e divine• W e always look at the m y s t e r y o f C h r i s t m a s f r o m the point of view o f G o d b e c o m i n g m a n . W e forget to stress that the final reason is that m a n should b e c o m e deified, u n i t e d with G o d , a n d o p e n to receive the fulness of G o d t h r o u g h a n d in the Spirit w h o is b r i n g i n g us back f r o m w h e n c e we came. T h e F a t h e r t h r o u g h the Son in the Spirit comes to us, so that the H o l y Spirit in us t h r o u g h J e s u s can go back to the Father•
It is v e r y n a t u r a l that t h e r e should be a link b e t w e e n the incarna- tion a n d the b i r t h o f J e s u s Christ, a n d the b i r t h of the C h u r c h of Pentecost. T h e r e too the n a m e o f M a r y is m e n t i o n e d . E v e n if there were no m e n t i o n in Acts that she was there in the u p p e r r o o m in J e r u s a l e m with the apostles, I w o u l d know that M a r y was linked w i t h that m y s t e r y o f P e n t e c o s t a n d the H o l y Spirit, since the m y s t e r y of the i n c a r n a t i o n is only fulfilled a n d e n d e d b y that m y s t e r i o u s coming• T h e H o l y Spirit is c o m i n g to actualize Christ; to m a k e h i m p r e s e n t for past, p r e s e n t a n d f u t u r e a n d all times; to m a k e h i m the c o n t e m p o r a r y of all generations; to initiate in us the mystical life o f J e s u s a n d his s a c r a m e n t a l life.
The Holy Spirit was sent to christianize the disciples in depth, and in that light we should look at the mystery of Pentecost, first birthday of the Church. There I see Mary, as the first Christian, as the first Church. She is the first to be christianized fully. She is fully receptive to this. She has already been overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. The annunciation and the incarnation and the progressive illumination of the Spirit came in h e r life. Now at Pentecost she has been overshadowed as the first representative of the Church in a very special way.
This is why I link her overshadowing with the charismatic renewal. When I stress the fact that M a r y was the first charismatic, the first to be fully christian, it is because I think there is a need: for the Christians of today to become more fully Christian, to be open to the new Pentecost. There is really only one way to bring the message of the Lord to the world, which is that we Christians should let Christ be Christ in us. This is the work of the Holy Spirit for he alone can make us Christians. We are christianized by baptism and confirmation, but we need to be Christians, baptized and confirmed again, not sacramentally, but with the full adherence of our being.
This is why I am very optimistic about the future. Quantitatively speaking, we are losing ground. But when you see the quality of Christians affected by the 'renewal' (and outside the renewal, because the Holy Spirit is not limited), when you see the work of the Spirit sanctifying people, you at once feel the attraction. We do not need m a n y saints to make Christ visible in the world of today. W h e n you meet saints, you see Jesus in them, so that you are looking only at the face of the Lord. It is not the saints who are wonderful, it is Jesus in them. Once the Christians of today let Christ be Christ in
them, evangelization will really make progress.
The same is true of the mystery of unity. O f course we have to discuss the problems. T h e y are not all solved. But the more each of us in his own tradition is christianized by the Lord now, the more quickly we shall be one in a visible way tomorrow. Jesus is born of the Holy Spirit and of Mary. M a y Jesus be born in each of us more and more deeply through the Holy Spirit and by our blessed mother.
