MARYS for May 27: The Abiding Presence of Mary

Pentecost in the Upper Room

Unknown Portuguese artist, 1540-50

Museu de Alberto Sampaio, Portugal

The upper room, called the Cenacle, is the birthplace of the Church. This room is the setting of the Last Supper and the First Eucharist, a place of service, sacrifice and betrayal, of farewell and forgiveness. The Acts of the Apostles records that the apostles gathered there after the Ascension and “devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” (Acts 1:14)

Mary’s presence is significant. She is the “woman” who was present at Cana, at the beginning of Jesus’ mission, and the one who prompted his first miracle, the first sign of the coming Kingdom.  She is present throughout Jesus’ ministry even to the foot of the cross. And now she is present as the community awaits a new sign and begins a new mission. How appropriate that artists often place at the center of the gathered disciples.

At the conclusion his pilgrimage to the Holy Land this weekend, Pope Francis gathered the bishops of the Holy Land together in that same upper room and reminded them of the significance of this room to the whole Christian family:

The Upper Room reminds us of sharing, fraternity, harmony and peace among ourselves. How much love and goodness has flowed from the Upper Room! How much charity has gone forth from here, like a river from its source, beginning as a stream and then expanding and becoming a great torrent.  All the saints drew from this source; and hence the great river of the Church’s holiness continues to flow: from the Heart of Christ, from the Eucharist and from the Holy Spirit.

Lastly, the Upper Room reminds us of the birth of the new family,the Church, our holy Mother the hierarchical Church established by the risen Jesus; a family that has a Mother, the Virgin Mary. Christian families belong to this great family, and in it they find the light and strength to press on and be renewed, amid the challenges and difficulties of life. All God’s children, of every people and language, are invited and called to be part of this great family, as brothers and sisters and sons and daughters of the one Father in heaven.

These horizons are opened up by the Upper Room, the horizons of the Risen Lord and his Church.

From here the Church goes forth, impelled by the life-giving breath of the Spirit. Gathered in prayer with the Mother of Jesus, the Church lives in constant expectation of a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Send forth your Spirit, Lord, and renew the face of the earth (cf. Ps 104:30)!

Read his whole homily here: http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2014/05/from-here-church-set-out-from-here-she.html