Reflection on Mary Since the Pentecost Event in the Book of Acts

An image of Mary was featured on Time. Though not familiar with the article on Time, I have read some comments about it in the Internet. According to the Time webpage, the article on Mary speaks about how in our present times, Protestants and other evangelical communities are more inclined now to see Mary in a positive light - as one with greater significance from what they previously perceive her to be.

Devotion to Mary has a long tradition in the Catholic church. It began with the apostolic communities who knew Mary, and who were with her since before and after the event of Pentecost. If we examine the text of Acts 1:7-11, which describes the mystery of Christ's Ascension into heaven, the following verses 12-14 mention Mary as present with the apostles in prayer in the "upper room" (RSV). The biblical text explicitly says, "All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers."

Since Mary was part of the Pentecost community, according to St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, she is said to have "given birth" to the Church. Montfort, a French missionary priest from the 17th century, mentions in his spiritual writings that Mary gave birth to Jesus and the Church. As Jesus is the Head of the Church, then that Head ought to have also a Body, which is the Church. This is not only a gift of spiritual intuition by God to St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, but it is also a logical way of seeing a mystery in the spiritual order. If Mary only gave birth to the Head of the Church, and not the Body, Montfort said in his writings that this would be "monstrous". No one gives birth to a head without a body. St. Louis-Marie de Montfort also shared another spiritual intuition as regards Mary's role in the End Times, writing that as Christ was born through Mary in Christmas, He will also return in the End Times through Mary.

Returning to the reflection on the Pentecost, we do not anymore see any mention of the Mary in the Acts of the Apostles after Pentecost. It is through the writings of mystics and the Tradition of the Church that tells the story of Mary and the truth of her Assumption into Heaven. Since the apostles were with Mary in that Pentecost event, and there is no biblical text mentioning her passing away with both her body and soul were assumed into Heaven, the apostolic communities who knew her, began to ask intercessory prayers from her. They prayed in honor of her virtues and graces. This started the tradition of prayer on the Blessed Virgin Mary, and continues to this day through the missionaries of the Church who introduced devotion to her in the cultures of the world.

Catholics know that Mary is not God. She only has a unique, singular and special role in the Christian faith because she bore the Son of God. By this special role, she is placed above the saints and the angels. Many mariologists (theologians specializing on Marian devotion) say that it is proper to pray "with" Mary or "in the spirit" of Mary, rather than "to" Mary. In praying "with" Mary, Mary becomes part of the community of disciples that prays. This is also the teaching of the missionary communities which St. Louis-Marie de Montfort founded. They teach a devotion to Mary that prays "with" Mary or "in the spirit" of Mary. Recall that in Acts 1:14 the text states that Mary was "with" the apostles in prayer.

Modern theology names Mary, the Mother of God, as the perfect disciple. She is the perfect disciple because of her total trust and confidence to God's will. In Marian devotion, we are called to pray in the spirit of her perfect virtues: obedience, docility to the Holy Spirit, total trust and confidence in God, and deep faith.

Mary is one who leads us to Christ. She is with the Church, encouraging and helping all God's children since the Pentecost event. By the example of her total trust and confidence in God - her 'fiat' - Catholics are also called to place their total trust in God. Whenever Catholics pray the rosary or make a novena in honor of her, Mary shares the spirit of her virtues. In praying the rosary, prayer is done with and in the same spirit as Mary: a spirit of total trust and surrender to God's will, knowing that God wills only what is best for all His sons and daughters. Mary is both Mother of God, Theotokos, and Mother of the Church.

See also: St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), Author of The True Devotion to Mary, and The Secret of the Rosary

26th Sunday of the Year (A)

Edited for September 27, 2026: From Sunday reflections Year 2014 (A)

September 28, 2014
Ezekiel 18:25-28
Psalm 25
Philippians 2:1-11
Matthew 21:28-32

"Which of the two did what the father wanted?"

In this parable from Jesus, He tells the story of a father who has two sons. The father owned a vineyard and wanted his sons to work in it. The father ordered his two sons, one after the other, to work in their vineyard. The first son replied "yes", but did not go and do as his father told him. The second son was a direct opposite to his brother. He said "no", but regretted it and decided to go and work in the vineyard. After Jesus finished telling this parable, He turned to those who listened and asked them: "which of the two did what the father wanted?" And the people all replied, "the second son".

This parable, as in the previous Sunday's, can also make an analogy to the reign of God. The father who owns a vineyard with sons who can work in it, is like God who asks us to work in "His vineyard". If we examine our relationship with God, we can see many times when we said "Yes", but failed to obey Him like the first son. But, when we examine our relationship with God again from another perspective, there were also many times when we have said "No", but had a change of mind and heart and went and obeyed Him like the second son: we did as the Lord wanted; to do our part in building His Kingdom.

Examining the parable again more closely, we see the importance of action over one's word. Surely, the ideal is to be men and women of integrity, that is, we "do as we say", or "we walk our talk". Integrity is not cheap. It is the result of a discipline in work and life. But even when we say the wrong thing, or if at first we did not obey what ought to be done, there is always time to have a change of mind and heart. And the second son in the parable shows us that reality of our humanity.

So like the parable of the laborers in the vineyard last Sunday, God does not give up on any of us. He wants all to listen to Him, work in His Kingdom and be saved. He continues to move in ways that we do not recognize at first, but upon deeper prayer and reflection, we see His will and discover ourselves in relation to Him. We discover how we may have been like the "first group of laborers who complained on the wage they received" and the "first son who said 'Yes' but did not go to the vineyard". But we can also discover the many times we are like the "last group of laborers who received a day's wage for working only an hour" and the "second son who said 'No' at first but repented and went to work in his father's vineyard."

The example "par excellance" of this Sunday's gospel is Jesus our Lord. He is the "only Son" who said "Yes" to the Father and went and did His Father's will. We see in the Person of Jesus our Lord that integrity is really not cheap. It cost Him His life on the Cross to be the best example of a Son to a Father for all of us. That is why Jesus instituted the Eucharist so that we may receive His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity - the Bread from Heaven. For it is in the Eucharist that we are strengthened and encouraged to say "yes" and work for our Father's Kingdom as He did by His very example.

Scripture quotes for reflection:
"Good and upright is the Lord; thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, he teaches the humble his way." (Psalm 25)

Notes: The text of the gospel used in this Sunday's reflection is from "The Sunday Pocket Lectionary" which is based on the Confraternity Edition of the Holy Bible. The Confraternity Edition is based partly on the Vulgate, the translation of the Bible text to Latin by St. Jerome. According to a response to a prompt to an LLM, this translation presents the elder son as saying "yes", but not going. If your bible translation is the Douay-Rheims, the Knox Bible, the Challoner Revision, or any text of this parable from the older Catholic lectionaries and missals, then they also relied on the Vulgate text. As for the version of Mt 21:28-32 which has the older son say "no" at first, but then repented and said "yes" to work at his father's vineyard, these are seen in modern Bible translations which relied on the original Hebrew/Greek sources of the text. These variation of the text are seen in such modern Bible translations as the Good News Bible, the Revised Standard Version and the NRSV, the Jerusalem Bible, and the New American Bible.

25th Sunday of the Year (A)

(Edited for September 20, 2026) Sunday reflections: (From) Years 2014 (A), 2015 (B), and 2016 (C)

September 21, 2014
Liturgical readings
Isaiah 55:6-9
Psalm 145
Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a
Matthew 20:1-16

"You go to the vineyard too."

The passage in Matthew 20 is another parable taught by Jesus: the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. It shows how the Reign of God is like the owner of a vineyard, who hires laborers at different hours of a day. The owner went out to hire: early in the a.m., at 9:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, 3:00 p.m., and at 5:00 p.m. What is surprising about this vineyard-owner is that he continued to hire even up to the last hour of the day - at 5pm.

When work day ended, the owner of the vineyard commanded his steward to call everyone and pay each group of laborers - beginning with the last group who worked only one hour and then ending with the first group who worked early. Those who worked only 1 hour were paid a day's wage, but those who worked since the early a.m. also received a day's wage. The first group naturally complained. But the vineyard-owner explained to them, that they (the first group) had agreed to receive a day's wage. Could this vineyard-owner's business involve more than just the number of work hours? Was he emphasizing his business as more important than the laborers sense of justice?


In the parable of Jesus, that vineyard owner represented God and His ways of repaying those who respond to His call. The parable shows the nature of God's "business" as different from the human understanding of labor, hours worked, and wages. God's "business" in that parable revealed a justice that is not based on mere labor and hours worked. It is a "business" that emphasizes His judgment as the basis for His repaying the laborers. It challenges our modern economic systems to think also in terms of a God who is generous to laborers and whose judgment is based on His divine point of view. But how can we understand this "divine point of view"?

In our very secularized world of business, we can think of corporate values such as social responsibility and laws that defend the rights of all stakeholders in any enterprise. This is understood in the field of business law and ethics. But the parable in Matthew's gospel calls our attention not to what is unjust in the dealing of the vineyard-owner to the first group laborers, but to what the vineyard-owner values most: his generosity and how he exercises it with his money. Could Jesus be revealing to those who hear this parable a God whose omnipotence and omniscience in "His business" is not for us to question? Perhaps.

But this parable also suggests a God who gives importance to His judgment based on "ownership" and His generous character. It reveals a God who can surprise us with ways we do not understand because of our common but limited human knowledge and systems of dealing in the world.

The truth Jesus wants to reveal is also the truth many classic spiritual writers and theologians have always written about who our God is: Yes, He is as close to us as Jesus was to His apostles, but He still remains to be a mystery. His ways are beyond all worldly standards. It is only by the gift of faith and common reason that we learn who He is for us personally, and how He is generous to us at times when we need His generosity the most.

Scripture quote:
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts." (Isaiah 55)