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Commentary of the Gospell for the 22th of August of 2024
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Mary, Queen. It’s a way of speaking. In the Kingdom of Heaven, in the Kingdom of God, there are no kings or queens, no courtiers or aristocrats. In the Kingdom of God, there’s a big table where we all sit and share as equals. In the Kingdom of God, we are all brothers and sisters. All sons and daughters of the same Father. The whole «Kingdom» thing is just a way of speaking, but it doesn’t mean that we Christians believe in a God who is a king and prince, a God who judges and rules with an iron scepter, who imposes rules and laws and punishes those who disobey. Rather, we Christians believe in a God who is Father, Abba, close and loving to His sons and daughters, a God who puts affection above any other consideration. We believe in a God who cares for each one of us. This is an integral, fundamental, and indispensable part of our faith.
So, how can we speak of Mary as «Queen»? At first glance, it’s as if in the heavenly court, Mary, the mother of Jesus, were the queen consort, the second in protocol in all the acts of that court. But there’s nothing like that.
We only have to go to today’s Gospel, the Annunciation, and listen to Mary’s words when she responds to the angel at the end: «‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.'» We hear those words and understand that Mary had perfectly understood the message of the Kingdom: that we have not come to be served but to serve. The Kingdom of God is a different kind of Kingdom, nothing like the ones on this earth—perhaps we could even think about getting rid of that word since it sometimes makes us think of absolute lords, lords of the gallows and the knife, lords who lived at the expense of their subjects who were never children but servants and slaves.
Mary places herself in the Kingdom of God as the one who becomes the servant of all. She understands that this is the only way to build fraternity, to build and unite the family of the sons and daughters of God. From service, from simplicity, from humility.»