'Hierarchy's Mary is vastly differs from ours'

Hierarchy's Mary is vastly differs from ours (NCR) by Joan Chittister

Thanks for this, Johnthefireman. Certainly, Sr. Joan's Mary is the one most familiar to me (and the one who helps me raise my children). My mother's generation had an enormous devotion to Mary, her presence in our family was very real - my mother had eight unruly (to say the least) children and even if she couldn't watch us 24/7 the Blessed Mother sure could - and did!

One of my favorite places to visit when I am in DC, is the Basilica of the National Shrine where there are (I think) 70 shrines to the various incarnations of Mary, the universal mother.

http://www.nationalshrine.com/site/c.osJRKVPBJnH/b.4719297/k.BF65/Home.htm

New Seeds of Contemplation quotation is garbled in NCR's report of Sartain's homily.

You must be a lot of fun at parties, MMcM. ; )

It seems to me that both images of Mary are true and need to be held together: (1) the quiet woman who gave herself wholly over to the will of God (this reminds me so very strongly of the beautiful book-length poem A Woman Wrapped in Silence) AND (2) the assertive, forceful advocate for that same will of God.

The whole LCWR mess seems to be paradigmatic of the failure to listen to and acknowledge the both/and: although there were some real problem areas identified by the CDF's report a year-and-a-half ago, it failed to understand the second half of Mary's model of holiness, as keenly described by Sr. Joan. On the other hand, the LCWR's response has often been to ignore the first half of Mary's model of holiness, to think that it can do just fine by blatantly ignoring the will of God as expressed through the Church.

Obedience AND assertiveness; quiet submission AND forceful, prophetic witness: Mary's model of holiness combines both qualities.

>5 nathanielcampbell: It so often is both/and, not just in this instance but in fact in most cases. Humans seem to be very resistant to both/and, win/win situations, at seeing and respecting both sides of a story.