Woman of Strength, Mary Our Example

Mary’s Pilgrimage of Faith

By Father Peter Marsalek, SOLT

Contributor

St. John Paul II often referred to Mary’s discipleship of Jesus as a “pilgrimage of faith,” a phrase originally found in the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium. The expression beautifully captures the manner in which Mary lived and provides us with a vivid image to embrace in our own journey of discipleship.

A pilgrimage is a journey to a particular destination of religious significance. To successfully complete a pilgrimage, one needs directions and a path to follow. In the pilgrimage of faith, life is a journey on the path of Jesus Christ which leads us to safely arrive at our heavenly destination – communion with the Most Holy Trinity. As we proceed through life, there are bumps and twists in the road representing various challenges such as sickness, sin, upheaval, strife, suffering and death, which require us to persevere in faith, all the while keeping our eyes fixed on our final destination lest we deviate off course and lose our sense of purpose.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the perfect model of the pilgrimage of faith. Mary’s journey was the most remarkable and the most mysterious. Remarkable given the uniqueness of her mission to be the Mother of the Redeemer and her special preparation of being preserved from all stain of sin (Immaculate Conception); mysterious in that she traveled down an almost unimaginable, unknown path that required a heroic response of faith each step of the way.

Three key moments of Mary’s pilgrimage of faith that I would like to highlight here are the Annunciation (the beginning), the Crucifixion (the climax), and the Assumption (the end/arrival). At the Annunciation we see Mary’s total openness to God’s plan to become Incarnate; her willingness in faith to allow His plans to become totally her plans. In joyfully consenting to become the Mother of Jesus, Mary freely made a decision of faith and trust that consumed the entire course of her earthly life.

Mary’s journey inevitably led her to the cross, “the Blessed Virgin Mary advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, grieving exceedingly with her only begotten Son, uniting herself with a maternal heart with His sacrifice” (LG 58). Faced with the unimaginable suffering of her Son being crucified before her eyes, Mary remained there steadfast in faith, as a support to her Son, and in trust that God’s will would indeed be accomplished even through the mystery of the cross.

Finally, Mary’s pilgrimage of faith concluded at the Assumption, whereby she was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory at the end of her earthly life. While it remains an open question whether or not Mary died, St. John Paul II opined that on account of Mary’s close union with her Son she would have even desired to share in the experience of the drama of death, even though she was preserved from the stain of sin. Mary followed the path of Christ perfectly and arrived securely at the destination of heavenly glory.

In some ways, our pilgrimage of faith is incredibly unique. We are the only ones who live through the particular circumstances, challenges, joys and experiences of our own life. Furthermore, we are the only ones who can give an assent of faith to understand those same events in the light of Jesus Christ. In other ways, our pilgrimage of faith is common, in that Jesus Himself is the same path to follow and the destination is identical for all – communion with the Most Holy Trinity. Following the example of our Blessed Mother Mary, let us pray that we too live as authentic pilgrims of faith, always assenting in faith to accept and trust in God’s plans, to embrace the cross of Jesus Christ, and to successfully reach our heavenly homeland!