THURSDAY, TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Memorial of The Queenship of the Bl. Virgin Mary
Ez 36: 23-28 Ps 51: 12-15, 18-19 Mt 22: 1-14
QUEEN MOTHER MARY
Pope Pius XII instituted the memorial of the Queenship of the Mary in 1954. Mary’s queenship proclaims her intimate relationship with her son Jesus the King of the Universe. As the king and queen are united in ruling a kingdom, so too, Jesus and Mary are intimately united with each other in fulfilling the divine plan of salvation. Christ is the King and Mary is the Queen. A queen participates completely in the life of a king, so also Mary shares in the life and mission of the Lord.
The imagery of the wedding banquet in the parable explains various aspects of God’s Kingdom. The king prepares a banquet for his son. The servants were sent to call those who were invited to share the banquet, but the invitees refused to come. The king tried again by sending some more servants, but they rejected the king’s invitation. The invitees got themselves engaged in their own business and trade. Some of the servants were ill-treated. In the end, the king invited all those available and the wedding hall was full. But, the one who did not have the wedding clothes was sent out.
Unlike the invitees who rejected the invitation in the parable, Mary accepted the invitation of God to play her role in the history of salvation. Mary’s fiat at the annunciation was her expression of willingness to participate in the Kingdom of God. Her visit to Elizabeth and singing the Magnificat was her joyous participation in the rule of God’s Kingdom. Her availability and faithful participation in the mystery of the cross at the foot of the cross was her total surrender to the reign of God in her life. Mary, who participated in the resurrection of Jesus at the Assumption, was gloriously rewarded for her total self sacrifice for the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, she is crowned as the queen of heaven and earth inviting each one of us to participate in the Kingdom of her son Jesus.
Response: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses.
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