MOTHER AND MODEL

The Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major
Lk 11:27-28

We celebrate today the anniversary of the dedication of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the “Mother of all Marian Churches”. This basilica is considered as the oldest church in West dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This basilica in Rome was dedicated by Pope Sixtus III to Mary, the Mother of God. It stands as a living and fitting tribute to the divine motherhood of the Blessed Virgin, a dogma defined by the Council of Ephesus in the year 431.

Though the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore may be thousands of miles from our own local church, we have three reasons in celebrating its dedication today.

First, when we celebrate the dedication of any local church, most especially of major churches, other than our own, we proclaim that there is essentially only one Church of Christ. Local churches may be many and separated from one another by physical distance, yet together they form only one Body of Christ, united by the bond of fraternal communion.

Second, in celebrating the dedication of a church, we give witness to our understanding that the Church is the People of God, more than a mere place of worship. The true Church of God is build on living stones – the baptized – who are capable of celebrating, remembering, and giving thanks.

Third, that the church, whose dedication is commemorated, is consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, such as the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, gives special meaning to our celebration. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. She is indeed God’s mother, for Jesus is truly God and man. Because a church is God’s house, Mary, in whose womb God became flesh and first dwelt among us, is a church personified. Moreover, faithful and obedient to God’s will, Mary is the blueprint not only of creation (as St. Augustine once wrote) but also of the Church. Indeed, she is not only a church personified but also the icon of the Church already present in heaven. As individuals and as the Church, we see God’s plan for us each time we see the Blessed Virgin Mary, for in her, as in no other human being except Jesus who is both human and divine, God’s will has fully and faithfully been accomplished. Mary, the Mother of God, is both our mother and model.

There is only one Church. We are the Church. Among us, the Church, is Mary, our mother and model, the first among equals.