Mary in the Life of Religious (8)

Conclusion

The mystery of religious life, seen in the light of the mystery of Mary's life, acquires a new theological splendor. Looking at how Mary consecrated herself, followed Jesus, lived a life of poverty, chastity and obedience and integrated contemplation and action, we can say that she truly gives a unique and beautiful dimension to religious life.  Mary's consecration was special, because God consecrated her by the highest of the charisms of election ever given to a person; and for her part, Mary, by her response of total gift of herself, was consecrated utterly to God.  Her discipleship was also uncommon, for she was one of the few who faithfully followed Jesus from the beginning of his public ministry up to his death on the cross.  Poverty, chastity, and obedience were also manifested in a special way in the life of Mary - the humble servant of the Lord; she was always obedient, always available, always open to God's plan.  And finally, by her unique way of treasuring the word of God in her heart and by her distinct manner of going out to meet the needs of others, she has rightly balanced and integrated the two poles of the Christian life - contemplation and action.

Mary has always been proposed to the faithful by the Church as an example to be imitated, not precisely in the type of life she led, and much less for the socio-cultural background in which she lived and which today scarcely exists anywhere.  Rather, she is held up as an example to the faithful for the way in which by her own particular life, she fully and responsibly accepted the will of God, because she heard the word of God and did it, and because charity and the spirit of service were the driving forces of her actions.

She is a model to the Church because she was the first and the most perfect of Christ's disciples. She is particularly  a model to the religious because of her total consecration to God, her radical discipleship, the exemplary way she lived poverty, chastity and obedience, and the excellent manner she had harmonized the existential need for contemplation and action.

Even today, in contemporary times, Mary adds a beautiful dimension to the reality of religious life. The spirit by which she sang the Magnificat is a fitting example for religious to imitate. Since religious nowadays are getting more and more invovled in the struggles for justice, even causing them their lives, they can look at Mary in how she sings joyfully, praising God for the justice that will reign in the world by his mighty power.  Through Mary's Magnificat, they can be one with her in her option for justice and for the poor. It is by imitating her spirit that they can be led to act specifically in ways that would show their utter solidarity with the poor and the oppressed.

So it is especially in Mary, the Mother of God and Mother of the Church, that religious life comes to understand itself most deeply and finds its sign of certain hope. She is the Mother of religious in being Mother of Him who was consecrated and sent, and in her "fiat" and Magnificat, religious life finds the totality of its surrender to and the thrill of its joy in the consecratory action of God.  Even if Christ is the model for religious life, Mary is nevertheless a model - and a most beautiful one such that would lead all religious to do everything for the glory of the Trinity.

Suggestions and Recommendations

The topic I worked and researched upon needs a lot of original ideas - that have to be thought over carefully over a long period of time - since there are only a few sources and materials that are available for study. This is probably due to the subject itself. Since the central element of religious life is the Christological element, most of the books that can be found on religious life deal with this dimension. Very, very few books deal with the Mariological dimension. If ever they do deal with such dimension, they only devote a chapter to it and they only usually give a very broad and brief treatment of the subject.

Furthermore, I could not find sources that relate the Mariological dimension to the context of religious life today. I had to infer from the ideas of several books to come up with my own grasp of what Mary really means to religious today. Therefore, for those who may want to undertake this particular study, I suggest that they take a lot of time - that they focus most of their attention and make thorough research on this - since it does need a lot of careful thought and reflection. However, I assure those who will work on this, that their vision of Mary and religious life will not only be widened but also deepened.