Accepting the Gift

"Holiness is measured according to the 'great mystery' in which

the Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom."

John Paul II

MARY

Mary is our model for receiving, cultivating, and sharing Christ’s love with the world. From Mary we learn to receive Christ’s gift with the same disposition in which he offers it. Freely, totally, faithfully, and fruitfully.

Trusting in God’s goodness the faithful Virgin freely accepted the seed of the Word Incarnate, carried it for nine months, and gave birth to Love Himself. Her total surrender produced eternal fruit. At the Foot of the Cross, with the same perfect openness, Mary received the life-giving gift of the Bridegroom and gave birth to the Church. Our Mother’s fruitfulness remains constant as she continually brings to birth children for the mystical Body of her Son.

“In the Church every human being – male and female – is the 'Bride', in that he or she accepts the gift of the love of Christ the Redeemer, and seeks to respond to it with the gift of his or her own person.”

Accepting the Gift

"Holiness is measured according to the 'great mystery' in which

the Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom."

John Paul II

MARY

“In the Church every human being – male and female – is the 'Bride', in that he or she accepts the gift of the love of Christ the Redeemer, and seeks to respond to it with the gift of his or her own person.”

St. John Paul II