Learning Mission with Mary

During Jesus' public ministry, Mary appears at the very crucial and definitive moments of His mission: at the beginning, at the moment of the Galilean crisis and at the Sermon on the Bread of Life, in Jerusalem during the Passover. She understands and shares Jesus' concern for the people. At Cana she says, "Do whatever he tells you". In Galilee she heard the words Jesus addressed to the apostles regarding the hungry crowd, "Give them yourselves something to eat". At the foot of the Cross, she was faithfully there; "Woman, here is your son".

Mary's presence in the cenacle at Pentecost (Acts 1: 14, 2:1-47) and at the beginning of the Church's world mission was a reassuring one, speaking of unity and faithfulness. The presence of Mary kept the apostles together in the memory of Jesus and in the expectation of the Holy Spirit. In the icons of Pentecost, May appears at the centre of a community united in the memory of Jesus ~ the Eucharist ready to carry out His mission.

So, the bond between the Mission and the Rosary flows from the journey of the faith of Mary and of the Church, and it instils a strong missionary motivation to the prayer of the Rosary. Contemplating with Mary the mysteries of Jesus life and mission, the whole Church learns to be missionary with Mary: to remain united in the memory of Jesus and faithful to His mission, up to the ends of the world, until the end of time.

Let your prayer be the compass and your fidelity the fuel, for to walk with Mary is to journey straight to the heart of Christ's mission.