THE WOMAN NAMED MARY

by Rev. Louis P. Rogge, O.Carm.

The New Testament is fundamentally the inspired record of how the

early Christian community came to understand more and more fully the
person of Jesus and the Good News he came to proclaim. It describes
how-according to Jesus' own promise-the Holy Spirit gave the first
disciples of the Lord a growing awareness of the significance of all
that Jesus had said and done.
Jesus had promised that, upon his own return to the Father, he
would send the Spirit who would be with his disciples until the end of
time. The Spirit, Jesus said, would continue to remind his followers
of Jesus' words and deeds. It was not that the Holy Spirit would add
to what Jesus himself had revealed, but that he would guide the
followers of Jesus to an ever deepening understanding both of that
revelation and of its application to the changing circumstances be-
lievers would encounter down through the ages. The New Testament
itself contains examples of this process. Thus, for example, although
many of the Jerusalem community described in the early chapters of
Acts had been present at Jesus' ascension and had themselves heard
his final command "to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea

Louis P. Rogge, (Ph.D. cand., Union Theological Seminary, New York), is a Roman
Catholic priest currently serving as Scholar in Residence at Loyola University, Chicago,
Illinois. He has been associated with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal since 1969. He
has served as a regional coordinator for the Renewal from 1977-80, and was recently
elected to serve again in this capacity. Father Rogge has written widely on theological
and ecumenical topics. He has been an active participant in the Society for Pentecostal
Studies.

- 19-
and Samaria, yes, even to the ends of the Earth" (Act 1:8), it was only
after persecution broke out that, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
they began to spread the Gospel even as far as Samaria (Act 8:1-5); and
it was only after a pair of visions and a sovereign act of God (Act 10) that, ,
again under the influence of the Holy Spirit, they were convinced that
when Jesus said "to the ends of the earth" he really did mean to include
"all the nations" in his church (Lk. 10:1-11:18; cf. Mt. 28:19).
Nineteen centuries later we are still experiencing the vital guidance
of the Holy Spirit. We are, I believe, under the guidance of the Spirit
of Jesus, continuing to plumb the infinite mysteries revealed by Jesus;
we are continuing to learn the significance of that revelation for our own
time and place. If we have not been completely blind, if we have opened
our ears however slightly, by God's grace we do understand more about
these mysteries than did our fathers, and we can fully expect that the
next generation will have an even deeper grasp of their significance.
Ten years ago which of us dreamed that the Society for Pentecostal
Studies would have welcomed a paper by Roman Catholics? Yet Jesus
prayed that his disciples might be one. Ten years ago how many of us
would have been willing to pray with one another? Yet Jesus told us to
love one another. I am convinced that it is only under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit that such things really are beginning to come about.
As late as this past July I did not believe we would be together today.
When I wrote to Dr. Stanley Horton at the Assemblies of God Graduate
School, I told my chairman at Loyola University of Chicago that it was a
vain effort: Classical Pentecostals were simply not open to hear about
Mary. Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, probably; Baptists,
possibly; Pentecostals, hardly. Today I stand before you convicted; I ask
your pardon, your forgiveness. After more than ten years in the charis-
matic movement, after more than ten years of experience of Pente-
costal fellowship, I still have much to learn.
It would be impossible to explore all the New Testament reveals
about Mary in the brief time allotted.1 I would like to begin with the

lThe author is indebted for materials in this section especially to Eamon R. Carroll,
O.Carm., Understanding the Mother of Jesus (Wilmington,DE: Michael Glazeir, Inc.,
1979); and to as yet unpublished papers delivered at the National Marian Charismatic
Conference held at the University of Dayton, July 13-15, 1979,especially those of Eamon
R. Carroll, O.Carm., "Mary and the Spirit in the Prayer of the Eucharist," Frederick Jelly,
O.P., "Mary and the Gifts and Charisms of the Holy Spirit," and Rene Laurentin, "Mary,
Model of the Charismatic, as seen in Acts 1-2, Luke 1-2, and John" (Tapes of these talks
are available from the Marian Library of the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio 45469).

- 20-
final New Testament mention of the Mary of history. It is a summary of
the first Christian community's understanding of Mary's position in the
Church. In Acts 1 we read that all those who had witnessed the
Ascension of the Lord, in obedience to his command, were awaiting
the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Vv. 13-14 inform us who they were:
"... they went to the upstairs room where they were staying: Peter and
John and James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and
Matthew, James son of Alphaeus; Simon, the Zealot party member, and
Judas son of James. Together they devoted themselves to constant
prayer. There were some women in their company, and Mary the mother
of Jesus, and his brothers."
There is no question, then, that Mary is part of the Apostolic com-
munity. The roll itself is interesting: first come the Eleven, each listed
by name, with Peter, as always in first place. Second comes 'some
women'-doubtless those who had been active during Jesus' public
life; Mary; 'his brothers,' i.e., members of Jesus' family. Mary, as far
as we know, is the only one to belong to both groups of the second
division: the women and the family. Moreover she is the only one of
either group to be listed by name, and she is given her rightful title: "the
Mother of Jesus" lest there be any mistake.
Luke describes the Apostolic community not only as a group of men
and women who came together in one place (1:14; 2:1), but also as
"devoted to communal life (2:42); sharing all things (2:44), including
meals (2:46); in brief, as Luke himself sums it up, a community "of one
heart and one mind" (4:32).
Under the leadership of the Eleven, Mary the Mother of Jesus
prayed and waited along with the other members of the community.
"When the day of Pentecost came," Luke continues, "Tongues as of fire
appeared, which parted and came to rest on each of them. All were filled
with the Holy Spirit. They began to express themselves in foreign
tongues and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them" (Ac.
2:1-4). Mary was one of them.
Mary therefore, according to Acts 2, was baptized in the Holy Spirit
on the day of Pentecost; like the Apostles, the women, and the relatives
of Jesus, Mary too was "filled with the Holy Spirit," spoke in tongues
of praise and thanksgiving, and proclaimed the Good News boldly. Mary
is not the focal point nor the leader of this first charismatic community;
but she is a part of what charismatic communities today would call the
'core group'.
It has long been recognized by Christian scholars that both the third
Gospel and Acts are the work of St. Luke. Many parallels have been
pointed out between the Gospel according to Luke and the books of

- 21-
Acts. Thus, for example the infancy narrative of Luke 1-2 is recognized
as analagous to what may be called the infancy narrative of the Christian
Church. In each case there is an outpouring of the Spirit on the poor: in
the Annunciation Mary, overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit,
describes herself as "servant of the Lord" (Lk. 1:38); Elizabeth too is
"filled with the Holy Spirit" (Lk. 1:41); and the pious Simeon is "in-
spired by the Spirit" (Lk. 2:27). As the early community proclaimed the
wonderful deeds of the Lord, so Mary magnifies the Lord in the
beautiful words of the Magnificat; Elizabeth 'cries out in a loud voice';
and Zachariah, also 'filled with the Holy Spirit' blesses the Lord (Lk.
1 :42, 67-68). Thus, in both Luke and Acts, Mary is not set apart as a sort
of prodigy but rather she is shown to be one of the community, one of the
anawim, the lowly poor of the Lord; not apart from all the others, but
among the others. Mary, rather than some sort of super-human prodigy,
is portrayed as the Daughter of Sion, prototype of the new people of
God, the model of the New Creation that is called to live according to the
New Covenant to be sealed in the blood of her Son. Indeed Mary is a
model of openness to the Holy Spirit, and of the exercise of the gifts so
characteristic of the presence of the Spirit. Mary is a model Pente-
costal.
Much more could be said of the Lucan portrait of Mary, and I am
sure that many here are far more able than I, far better informed. But
let us shift our attention to the Gospel according to John.
Mary appears at the beginning and at the end of Jesus' public life;
at Cana (Jn. 2) and at Calvary (Jn. 19). Both events are described by
John as theophanies with clear references to the theophany of Sinai (Ex.
19). At Cana, and on Calvary, there are communalities: Cana is the sign,
Calvary the fulfillment. It was on 'the third day' (Jn. 2: 1) that the events
at Cana took place, just as it was "On the morning of the third
day ... Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God" (Ex. 19:16).
In each case there is an affirmation of God's covenant with man: at the
foot of the mountain the People of God promise: "Everything the Lord
has said we will do" (Ex. 19:8); while at Cana is recorded l?Tary's soli-
tary command: "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn. 2:6). Mary is indeed the
Daughter of Sion.
At Calvary, Jesus' hour has arrived; his Death-Resurrection is the
moment of his glory, the hour when he is lifted up to draw all men to
himself, the hour that had not yet arrived at Cana. At Cana Jesus
changes water into wine, certainly symbolic of that 'new wine' so often
mentioned in the Scriptures as a sign of the Messianic age and the
coming of the Spirit; at Calvary Jesus tastes the 'common wine,' so
symbolic of the Old Law, and then he said: " `Now it is finished.' Then

-22-
he bowed his head, and delivered over the spirit" (Jn. 19:30). At Cana
the wine symbolic of the New Age of the Spirit is described as rich and
abundant; at Calvary the symbol is richly and abundantly fulfilled with
the reality of the Spirit, the rich wine of the nuptials between Christ
and his Church, as Fr. Carroll describes it. At both Cana and Calvary
Jesus addresses Mary as "woman," a term frequently used in the Old
Testament to indicate God's People Israel, and now applied by John as
a symbol of the New Israel to Mary. Just as at Cana Mary ministers to
the needs of the wedding party by requesting Jesus to work the sign
that "revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him" (Jn. 2:11),
so the "woman" who is present on Calvary as Jesus is "lifted up"-his
time of glory-is given a ministry to the Church, the Body of Christ,
being born from her Son's open side: "Woman, there is your son"
(Jn. 19:26).
John, like Luke, sees Mary as an integral part of the community that
is the Body of Christ. She ministered to the Child born to her by the
power of the Spirit, and she is called by her Son to continue her maternal
ministry to His body.
Time does not permit more than a catalogue of some other Biblical
references to Mary: thus, for example, the many points of similarity
between Cana and Pentecost, already recognized by St. Gaudentius
of Brescia in the late fourth or early fifth century; and Matthew's use of
a geneology to describe the Incarnation as the New Creation, thus
relating Mary to the woman of Genesis 3:15, whose offspring is to crush
the head of the serpent-it was common for the Fathers to refer to Mary
as the New Eve.
'
Then there is the Lukan account of the enthusiastic woman who
cried out "Blest is the womb that bore you ..." to which Jesus replied
"Rather blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it" (Lk.
11:27-28). Far from a rebuke to his Mother, Jesus points out that Mary
is to be praised not so much for her physical motherhood as for her
openness to the Spirit, her trust in the word of God, as Elizabeth had
previously proclaimed under the inspiration of the same Spirit (Lk.
1:45). Similar is the account, found in all three synoptic Gospels, of the
true kinsman; in Luke (8:19-21) this is the conclusion of Jesus' parable
of the Sower (8:4-15) and the parable of the Lamp (8:16-18). Who more
than Mary could Jesus describe as hearing the word of God in a spirit of
openness, retaining it, and bearing fruit through perseverance; His
mother is first among those who "hear the word of God and act upon it"
(cf. Lk. 1:38).
The New Testament then teaches us that Mary is the Mother of
Jesus, who was born of the Holy Spirit with the full cooperation of Mary.

- 23-
Mary certainly continued to minister to Jesus throughout his infancy
and childhood, his adolescence and young manhood, during all those
years Jesus also ministered to Mary? Is it not all but certain that Jesus,
the most perfect of sons, helped his mother grow into an ever more
perfect relationship with God?
The Scriptures also teach us that Mary was present at Pentecost,
and that she was baptized in the Spirit. May we not believe, indeed is
it not indicated, that she who had been overshadowed by the Holy Spirit
some thirty years earlier, helped the other disciples gathered around
her in the Upper Room to open themselves more fully to the breath of
that same Spirit being poured out on the new-born Body of her Son?
Perhaps it was then too that these early disciples more fully understood
the meaning of Jesus' words: "Behold your mother" (Jn. 19:27).
The Gospels point out that Mary is an integral part of that early
Pentecostal and charismatic community. She is depicted as uttering
inspired praise, as prophesying, as speaking in tongues. She heard the
word of God, pondered it in her heart and acted upon it; but her ministry
is to be Mother of Jesus, a gift unmerited and freely given by God, by the
power of the Holy Spirit, for the building up of the Body of Christ. Her
ministry is therefore unique, unrepeatable: she is Mother of Jesus and
mystically she is Mother of His Body the Church. The Mary of the
Scriptures is Spirit-led, Christ-centered, and charismatic.
Mary, the Woman of Faith, teaches us to live in "confident assur-
ance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do
not see" (Heb. 11:1). St. Augustine reminds us that for Mary it was "a
greater thing to have been Christ's disciple than to have been his
mother," a nobler thing to have kept God's truth in her mind than to
have carried His Body in her womb.1 Her relationship with Jesus,
the relationship of mother to child, is unique, for her child is also her
Lord and her Savior. As the Irish theologian Richard Loehrlein
expressed it:

1 St.Augustine, Sermo 25, 7-8: PL 46:937-938; cited from the English translation in
The Liturgyof theHours (NewYork: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1975), IV:1572-1573.

- 24-
 More than any other mother, Mary was destined to live in her son;
her whole future was in him, not by the flesh but by the spirit,
since all creation finds its consecration in him.1

That relationship has not changed: the Risen Lord, he who is Head
of his Body the Church, is forever the Son of God and the Son of Mary.

*********

It is an indisputable-if little known-fact that many leaders of the

Protestant Reformation held positions on Mary that are considered
unacceptable by their present-day followers. The renowned Protestant
church historian, Dr. Ross Mackenzie, has pointed out:
Whatever may be true in Protestant churches today, none of the
Reformers or their immediate successors questioned the biblical
foundation of the two phrases of the ancient creeds, that Christ
was 'conceived by the Holy Spirit, bom of the Virgin Mary.'
Calvin, like Luther and Zwingli, taught the perpetual virginity
of Mary. The early Reformers even applied, though with some
reticence, the title Theotokos to Mary, because... 'she bore him
who is also God.' Lutherans and Calvinists were in agreement
that Mary's prophecy-'all generations will call me blessed'-
was constantly being fulfilled in the Church. Calvin called on his
followers to venerate and praise her as the teacher who instructs
them in her Sons' commands. Even as late as 1655...the
Waldensians in their Confession stated that the most holy Virgin
and the glorified saints are 'blessed and worthy both of praise
and imitation,' the Virgin herself being designed 'blessed among
women.'2

1 RichardLoehrlein, S.M., "The Holy Spirit and Mary," New Creatiort 1:2 (Summer,
1973), 12.

2Ross Mackenzie,"Mary As an Ecumenical Problem." Paper givenon April 29,19?6,

to the Ecumencial Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Washington, D.C. (London:
ESBVM, 1976), p. 2. ,

25
 Luther's positionl on Mary vacilated during the course of his life.
Well grounded in Christology, he always retained his belief in Mary as
Theotokos, God-bearer or Mother of God-a term that in its original
context referred directly to Christ and consequently to Mary. Nor did he
ever depart from his defense of Mary's perpetual virginity. Moreover,
even at the end of his life he did not forbid prayer to and veneration of
Mary, although with a somewhat different understanding than that of
Rome.
Calvin too appears to have accepted the definition of Ephesus re-
garding the Theotokos, and with regard to perpetual virginity he went
so far as to consider "plainly ... ignorant"2 those who claimed biblical
evidence to demonstrate that Mary had other children than Jesus.
Thus present-day reformed piety, which all but forbids a public
mention of the Theotokos, does not depend on these great reformers
themselves. Since Mary's name was no longer to be invoked, it was only
to be expected that even her place in the New Testament was to be given
scant attention. This dilution of the sola scriptura battle-cry of the
Reformation was due, no doubt, to a fear of falling into Romanism.
Subsequently, with the rise of rationalism and the consequent attempts
to eliminate the supernatural from the world of man, it was but a logical
development to eliminate both the foundation of the Theotokos doc-
trine-the duality of Jesus' nature-and the doctrine of the Virgin birth.
Logical, if Reason alone is supreme, it certainly was; scriptural and
Christian, is certainly was not.
With the passage of time, moreover, devotion to Mary and even
Mary herself had come to be seen by the Reformation churches as the
very symbol of Romanism, the symbol of all they intended to reject.
Thus, along with what they understood-often with good reason-as
abuses within the Church of Rome, they rejected Mary as well.
Curiously, for all their emphasis on Scripture, they remained studiously
. unaware of Mary's significance in the History of Salvation. There can be
no question but that abuses did exist and that they needed correction;
however, the correction of abuse is proper use, not elimination, lest one
'throw out the baby with the bath.'

1 Muchof the informationin this section is based on Thomas A. O'Meara, O.P., Maryin
Protestant and Catholic Theology(New York: Sheed and Ward, 1966). See also the re-
markable work by John de Satge, Down to Earth: The New Protestant Visionof the Virgin
Mary (Wilmington,NC: Consortium Books, 1976).

2Commentary on the Harmony, cited in O'Meara, op. ciG, p. 130.

26
 Karl Barth has stated that "Marian dogma is ... the critical, central
dogma of the Roman Catholic Church."l This is simply untrue. Never-
theless, from an ecumenical viewpoint the Roman position on Mary is a
crucial issue that must be addressed and understood if dialogue is to
bear fruit. Many non-Catholics consider Mary "the visible symbol of
Catholic idolatry; the Roman abandonment of Scripture, of history, of
Christ."2
Fruitful dialogue among Christians must be based on Scripture.
Mary's place in theology, and in piety, is a focal point of ecumenical
dialogue precisely because it is symptomatic of fundamental differences
among Christians in the understanding of inspiration: the basic
Protestant position is that the Bible alone is revelatory; the Catholic
position is that the Bible, more than merely an isolated text, is a living
document whose riches are to be mined within the context of the living
Body of Christ. However-and let it be said at once-many Roman
scholars have departed from this authentically Catholic position; such
have taken a stance hardly distinguishable from that of liberal Protes-
tantism. Pentecostals, I believe, find themselves somewhere in be-
tween : they tend to accept the Protestant position that the Bible alone
is revelatory; but at the same time, along with most Evangelicals and
orthodox Roman Catholics, they agree that the Bible is the living Word
of God. Thus the exegesis of Pentecostal scholars is more likely to be in
agreement with the authentic and official position of Rome than with
that of the majority of liberal Protestant scholarship.
'
*********

Not the least of the 'surprises of the Holy Spirit' experienced by the
People of God during the last several years has been a quickening of
interest among Christians of the Reformed traditions, and now even
among Pentecostals, in Mary.3
Shortly after the first stirrings of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
Movement in the winter of 1966-67, a group of British scholars and

lchurch Dogmatics 1 :2,p. 143, cited in O'Meara, op. cuit,p. 23.

2Walter Burghardt, S.J., "Mary and Reunion," Catholic Mind 60 (June, 1962), 15,
cited in O'Meara, op. ciG, p. 23.

3 Somematerial in this section is included in a paper delivered at the National Marian

Charismatic Conference held at the University of Dayton, July 13-15, 1979, "Mary's
Ministry for Unity" (Tapes of this talk are available from the Marian Library of the
University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio 45469).

- 27-
churchmen from various catholic, orthodox and reformed traditions
founded the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary
to advance the study at various levels of the place of the Blessed
Virgin Mary in the Church under Christ, and of related theo-
logical questions; and in the light of such study to promote
ecumenical devotion.1
A branch of the society has been functioning in the Washington, D.C.,
area since 1976.2 Here in North America a series of public dialogues
with non-Catholic and even non-Christian theologians has been con-
ducted on our Lady's place in Revelation and in the Church.
Catholic charismatics have been aware of the differences between
their own traditional beliefs about the Mother of God and those of their
fellow Christians of the Reformation. It has been a source of no little
pain and confusion and at times even of divisiveness.
Most of the early Catholic Pentecostals lacked an adequate under-
standing of the place of the Holy Spirit in the plan of salvation. It was
largely from other Christians, especially from the classical Pentecostal
denominations and from charismatic Protestants, that they learned to
discern the movement of the Spirit in their lives: the importance of
being fed daily on the Word of God, the experience of being able to raise
up their minds and hearts to God in spontaneous prayer. the giftedness
of being called personally to witness to the Lordship of Jesus, the
courage to allow themselves-ordinary Christians-to be used as instru-
ments of God's grace, etc. So meaningful were these novel (to most) and
experiential insights, so personally significant, that many of those early
Catholic charismatics let slip from their consciousness the equally
Scriptural content of their own Catholic tradition, e.g., the importance
of the sacraments, the function of the hierarchy, the communion of
saints, and the unique ministry of Mary in the plan of Salvation.
Mary's role in man's redemption is not the invention of pious tradi-
tion, nor is it a superstitious accommodation to pagan mythology. No
individual, no church assigned her a part to play in the birth of Jesus; it
was God himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit, who chose her as
the channel, the intermediary, through whom the Word was made Flesh.
In the divine plan she is by no means superfluous, by no means an

lThe Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Constitution, paragraph 2.

2The address of the American branch of the ESBVM is Box 4557, Washington.D.C.,
20017.

- 28-
. extra' Christians are free to accept or to reject. She is
'optional
'standard equipment,' and the proclamation of Good News without
Mary is no longer the full Gospel of Jesus Christ.
According to the Pauline epistles, God has chosen us in Christ (Eph.
1:30-10), and all who believe in Jesus are united in him (Gal. 3:16-19. Is
it possible, therefore, to doubt that Mary the Mother of Jesus continues
to care for and to minister to the members of her Son's Body? If indeed
her mother's heart was pierced with a sword as Jesus was put to death
by those who rejected him (Lk. 2:35), how much more must that heart be
torn today as she sees the Body of her Son rent asunder by those who
profess to follow him?
The authentic Roman position on Mary, as found in the closing
chapter of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, explicitly states
devotion to Mary should in no way detract from the biblical teaching
that Jesus alone is Lord, Jesus alone is Savior, Jesus alone is Mediator
between God and man.

The maternal duty of Mary toward men in no way obscures or

diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its
power. For all the saving influences of the Blessed Virgin on men
originate, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine
pleasure (i.e., from grace). They flow forth from the super-
abundance of the merits of Christ, rest on His mediation, depend
entirely on it, and draw all their power from it. In no way do they
impede the immediate union of the faithful with Christ. Rather,
they foster this union (No. 60).

Catholic doctrine insists that Mary's unique calling to be Mother of the

Lord and her function among the members of his Body "neither take
away from nor add anything to the dignity and efficacy of Christ the one
Mediator" (No. 62). Although due to her singular relationship to Jesus
Mary deserves an altogether special veneration on the part of Chris-
tians, the Council underlines that such veneration "differs essentially .
from the cult of adoration which is offered to the Incarnate Word, as well
as to the Father and Holy Spirit" (No. 66). This special devotion to Mary
must be fundamentally and essentially Christ-centered: "While honor-
ing Christ's Mother, these devotions cause her son to be rightly known,
loved, and glorified, and all His commands observed" (No. 67).
Catholic charismatics correctly feel a deep and abiding sense of
gratitude toward Pentecostals and other charismatic Christians: they
have shared, lovingly and enthusiastically, their peculiar experience of
the Gospel message. But how can Catholic charismatics better show

- 29-
 their gratitude, their Christ-centered love for their brothers and sisters '
in the Lord, then by sharing with them the revealed truths preserved in
their own Catholic tradition? Indeed the law of fraternal love requires
them to do so.
The euphroia of Christian brotherhood, so often experienced in
gatherings of Pentecostal and charismatic Christians, does not excuse
the Christian from continually seeking in love an ever deepening under-
standing of the truth of Revelation. Love and truth go hand in hand: a
love that fails to enlighten is at best misguided; a truth that is not shared
leads to a misrepresentation and distortion.
To minimalize any aspect of the Gospel to our brothers and sisters in
the Lord-even out of a fear of offending them-is not love but selfish-
ness. True Christianity is not based on the principle of the 'lowest
common denominator,' as though the wholeness of the Body of Christ
could be achieved if only Christians would forget about their differ-
ences. Christianity is not merely a human society established on some
sort of sociological principle of "give and take": compromise may be an
effective means for peace among nations, but there is no place for it in
dealing with the fullness of Revelation that is Christ Jesus. The true
ecumenical Christian seeks to proclaim the truth in love (Eph. 4:15):
, the complete Gospel as he perceives it, and the love that risks all-even
rejection-for the benefit of the brothers. Christian Revelation is a whole:
it is vital, life-giving, and it builds up the Body of Christ. Compromise
with regard to Revelation is divisive and it further wounds the Body of
Christ.
Catholic charismatics are not attempting to force other Christians
to the Catholic point of view. It is understanding, mutual understand-
ing, that is the immediate goal. Just as many sincere Roman Catholics,
due to a variety of factors, are still today unwilling or unable to accept
the authenticity of charismatic spirituality, so many sincere non-
Catholics, are unable to put aside the training of centuries that makes
them think of devotion to Mary as Maryolatry. If both are truly open to
the Spirit, he will increase their understanding. Both must sow the seed .
and leave the fruitfulness up to the Spirit.
Christians are growing impatient at the continuing scandal of the
divided Body of Christ. This is good. Yet such an attitude can easily give
place to a misconception; as the great Roman Archbishop Michael
Ramsey stated:
Far and wide we have come to realize what the ecumenical task
really is. It doesn't mean asking, 'How may we unite our Churches s
as they are now?' It means asking, 'How may our Churches be-

- 30-
 come more Christ like, more obedient to C;hrist's purpose for
them?'l

It is not Christians alone, however dedicated to the Lord they may be,
but the Holy Spirit working through them who is the source of unity
in the Body of Christ. And the Spirit of God works through the members
of the Body to build up the Body.
Can anyone imagine a member of the Body more intimately united
with Jesus than Mary his mother? Can any member of the Body be more
vitally concerned with its wholeness than she who gave him birth? As
Bishop Alan Clark recently wrote: to be sure
Mary is not the center of Christian living and dying but she is
found at the center and leads us to the center. It is the Holy Spirit -
who transforms us into the Body of Christ, but she is integral
to that Body.2
Cardinal Suenens once asked the Roman Catholic theologian Karl
Rahner why so many Christians today, even so many Catholics, remain
aloof with regard to our Lady. Rahner replied, more in reference to
liberal Protestantism than to Pentecostal Christianity:
I think so many Christians of today have made Christianity into
an ideology, a Weltanschauung, a vision of the mind, an abstrac-
tion. Abstractions don't need a mother.3

Christianity is not an abstraction, but a vital reality, the Body of

Christ. Just as, according to God's plan, Jesus needed the ministry of
his Mother as he grew to maturity and was filled with wisdom (cf. Lk.
2:40), so the Body of Christ needs that same ministry of the Mother
of the Lord, so that its members "may one day attain full knowledge
of his will through perfect wisdom and spiritual insight" (Col. 1:9), and
"become one in faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, and form that
perfect man is Christ come to full stature" (Eph. 4:13).

1 Cited in Cardinal Leon Joseph Suenens, Essays on Renewal (Ann Arbor, MI:
Servant Books, 1977), p. 130; cf. also the same author's Ecumenism and Charismatic
Renewal: Theologicaland Pastoral Orientations (Malines Document 2, Ann Arbor; MI:
Servant Books, 1978).

2Alan Clark, "The Holy Spirit and Mary," an address delivered on June 12, 1976, to
the ESBVM, Wells Cathedral (London: ESBVM, 1976), p. 4.

3Suenens, Essays on Renewal, p. 127.

- 31-
 In March, 1976, Karol Wojtyla, soon to become Pope John Paul II,
preached the Lenten retreat to Pope Paul VI and the papal household.
Toward the end of the final conference he spoke these words:

Our times are marked by a great expectation. All who believe

in Christ and worship the true God are seeking ways of unity,
and their cry is: "Christ sets us free and unites us." The Church,
the People of God, senses ever more profoundly that she is being
called to this unity. The Church, the People of God, is at the same
time the Mystical Body of Christ. St. Paul likened the Church to
the human body in order to describe more clearly its life and its
unity. The human body is given its life and its unity by the
mother. Nlary, by the working of the Holy Spirit, gave unity to the
human body of Christ. And that is why our hope today turns in a
special way towards her, in these times of ours when the Mystical
Body of Christ is being more fully reconstituted in unity.1

lkarol Wojytla [sic] (Pope John Paul In, Sign of Contradiction (New York: The
Seabury Press, 1979), p. 206.

- 32-