Mary didn't understand everything, but she trusted God

Saint Ambrose of Milan (d. 397) spoke from experience and shared something that most faithful can relate to, when he said that in the prayerful reading of the Word of God, mankind walks with God in Paradise. Reading the Holy Scriptures is equivalent to listening to God who speaks to the heart. It is a dialogue of love that makes our faith grow.

Mary found her happiness precisely in listening to the Word and using it in prayer, with the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets. Faith does not consist in thinking that God exists. The devil thinks so too. Faith springs from the soul in response to the revelation of God's love in the Holy Scriptures and in hearing it preached. Mary's greatness lies in her faith.

Mary is the model of faith, yet she did not understand everything. Saint Luke comments on Jesus’ words after Mary and Joseph found Him in the Temple of Jerusalem, that "He had to be in His Father's house" (cf. Lk 2:49), and says that neither Mary nor Joseph "understood this word." Faith illuminates the path of mankind, but it also has an obscure side, the "night of the soul" evoked by St John of the Cross.

Father Marie-Joseph Lagrange dedicated his life to the translation and commentary of the Bible, recognizing that "the Word of God can be obscure." Without this limitation in the knowledge of God, our faith would no longer be faith but clear vision.

Fr. Manuel Rivero O.P.

Saint Denis' Cathedral (Reunion Island), January 24, 2020