Mary’s Intercession

Catholics deeply value Mary’s intercession in our spiritual life and in matters connected with our eternal salvation.  Perhaps this is one matter easily misunderstood by non-Catholics, why this recourse to Mary, the Mother of God.  Her being the mother of Jesus Christ who is of divine nature, is reason enough.  Before Jesus died He gave her to us as our mother (see Jn. 19:26-27).

We can be convinced by the evidence of her help and intercession.  If the fact of her intercession is a meaningless matter how come, from a recent Vatican report of Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the present statistical number of Catholics worldwide is one billion and 181 million out of a world population of 6 billion and 698 million inhabitants?  We thank God for such number, in spite of attacks from non-Catholics or other religions, plus many pressing modern-day problems, the bride of Christ goes on humbly radiant and triumphant because that was the promise of Jesus to Peter, the first Pope.  “Simon, son of Jonah, you are a happy man!  Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.  So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.  And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven” (Mt. 16:18-20).

Certainly whatever the situation of the Catholic Church today, we have to follow the spirit of the Founder who never looked down on others but always with love, humility, respect, and compassion.  Jesus gave importance to humility as when He often said: “Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt. 23:12).  Whatever the number of Catholics today, we should not boast for it but only say as St. Paul once said: “I am the least of the apostles…but by God’s grace that is what I am, and the grace that he gave me has not been fruitless” (1 Cor. 15:10).