Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church
Blessing of the New Tabernacle
May 29, 2023
Chapel of the Sisters of the Poor of Jesus Christ
In the Upper Room with Mary and the Disciples
It is a special joy to offer Holy Mass in your chapel this morning, and to bless and inaugurate the new tabernacle fashioned for this sacred space, this dwelling place of the Lord that is also the heart of your dwelling place.
This we do on the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church: Mary who was present with the Apostles in the Upper Room at Pentecost. As the Holy Spirit came down on them like tongues of fire, the Church’s mission of evangelization came to life, and from the Upper Room spread to the ends of the earth.
Our reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes how the Apostles returned to the Upper Room after the Ascension. Together with some women disciples and the Mother of Jesus they devoted themselves to prayer, as they watched, waited, and prayed for the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As they did prayed, they sensed keenly the living Presence of Christ who had ascended into heaven and now was pleading for them before God’s Throne
Mary, who in the power of the Holy Spirit became the Mother of the Savior, now became the Mother of the Church, the Body of Christ. As she prays with the disciples, she teaches them how to be open to the Holy Spirit. Indeed, her complete openness, her receptivity to the Holy Spirit, establishes the pattern, the model for the Church’s prayer – “The Lord has done great things for me, and holy is his name!”
The Convent Chapel as Upper Room
This small chapel, dear sisters, is your “Upper Room”. Here is where you watch, wait, and pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Here is where you encounter Christ in the Sacrifice of the Mass. Here is where you will adore the Eucharistic Lord whose is made present in our midst by the power of the Holy Spirit. And through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, your mission to the poor of Jesus Christ comes to birth anew each morning, as you go forth from this chapel to minister to the poor and homeless of Baltimore.
In this too, you are following the pattern set by Mary. At the Annunciation, Mary learned that her cousin Elizabeth was also with child, and Mary, pregnant with Jesus, hastened to the hill country to visit her. St. John Paul II said that Mary thereby became “the first tabernacle” – So, as you encounter Christ in the Eucharist and receive his Body and Blood, and as you adore Christ reserved in this new tabernacle, you become, as you already are, living, breathing, walking tabernacles who carry Christ outward from this chapel to the poor, to “Christ in his distressing disguises” as St. Teresa of Calcutta often said.
Mary at the Foot of the Cross
But Mary not only carried Christ to the doorstep of her cousin Elizabeth, she also became the first and best disciple of her Son, Jesus Christ. She was like a forecast of the Kingdom of the Beatitudes, because she lived the Beatitudes long before Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount.
Her discipleship led her, as it leads all of us, to the foot of the Cross, where she, more than any other, shared in her Son’s redemptive sacrifice. The sword of sorrow foretold by Simeon at the Presentation did indeed pierce Mary’s sinless heart as she stood beneath the Cross. There she absorbed the substance, the essence of the Eucharist we celebrate: the utterly merciful and generous love of the Savior who, in his obedience to the Father’s will, took upon himself the sins of the world, and poured out his life, symbolized by blood and water, for the world’s redemption – for each of us and all of us.
In that poignant hour, Jesus entrusted her to the beloved Apostle John as his mother, and by extension, as our spiritual mother, the Mother of the Church. It is, after all, Mary who leads us to Jesus and as our loving mother encourages us to carry our cross, to ‘fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ’, to share deeply in the redemptive sacrifice of her Son – for as our loving Mother she knows that this is the path to life.
The Value of Quiet Prayer and Contemplation
In this chapel, you will encounter Christ reserved in the Blessed Sacrament. As handsome as this new tabernacle is, your gaze will not remain on its exterior beauty but will penetrate to the mystery it contains: Christ in our midst, our hope of glory!
Before this tabernacle, you will adore the Lord reserved in the Blessed Sacrament. You will contemplate his Presence as you listen to his words. Here, his heart will speak to your hearts. Here you will find spiritual rest and refreshment. Here you will find the wisdom, courage, and strength needed for mission. Here you will consecrate yourselves anew day by day. As you pray before the Blessed Sacrament, Christ will gaze at you in love and you will gaze at him, “all lost in [the] wonder” of spousal love. Ask the Blessed Virgin Mary each day for the grace of a receptive heart!
Through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, may Christ live in you, speak in you, act in you, shine forth in you for the glory of God and the salvation of many souls in Baltimore and beyond. And may God bless you and keep you always in his love!