WHAT IS YOUR  

PICTURE OF MARY

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this feast of the Birthday of Mary is, “What Is Your Picture of Mary?

Thousands and thousands and thousands of artists have pictured Mary.

We find her picture or statue in every Catholic Church as well as many, many Catholic homes and museums.

How many times have we been watching a movie – and on the wall is a picture of Mary.

What image of Mary hangs on the wall of your mind?

What is your favorite picture of Mary?

THE POPE AND A CARDINAL

I noticed in a letter to the editor in the latest issue of The Tablet, a British Catholic Weekly Magazine – the following letter.

“What a telling contrast between two photographs in your current issue (August 23).  The first, on page 9, shows Pope Francis, smiling tenderly, his hand on the shoulder of an elderly Korean woman in a wheelchair. She clasps his other hand in hers, smiling up at him. The second, on page 24, shows Cardinal Filoni allowing his hand to be kissed by an Iraqi refugee. The one a Prince of the Church; the other a pastor of his flock. The one, unwittingly, demonstrating what we need to get away from; the other, the direction we should be taking.” Signed Alastair Llewellyn-Smith

As you have heard, a picture tells or can tell a thousand words.

As you know photographs can tell us a lot about the photographer as well as the person who puts the picture in the paper or in front of us.

Sometimes when we see a picture of ourselves, we go, “Oooooo! Rip  that picture up.”

And sometimes we see a picture of ourselves – and we say, “Not bad.”

How do you picture yourself?  How do you want to be pictured?  Do you picture any picture you have of yourself as a death card picture?

If you like a pope or a president or a public figure, you like favorable pictures of him or her – and vice versa.

I’m sure someone can find a picture of someone kissing the Pope Francis’ ring or hand and they could contrast that picture with a doctor in Africa – with mask on – caring for Ebola victims – and say, “Hey Catholic Pope, wake up and serve the people – instead of them kissing up to you.”

So pictures can say so much in so many ways.

MARY

Back to Mary. Today we celebrate her birthday.

In January of 2000 I got to Nazareth. That day we got to see some old, old, old homes that go way back into Israeli History. I would picture Mary being born in a poor one room house – with screaming going on – when she was born – “It’s a girl.”

I wonder if anyone did what so many people do at the birth of a new born baby: “I wonder what will become of this child.”

For girls – not that much.

For poor boys – not that much.

But God had other plans.

I picture Mary as Our Mother of Perpetual Help – especially because of her presence as the underneath support of Jesus and the Early Church. In the O.L.P.H. picture, I like that Mary is holding Jesus. The word “holding” – as in holding up another, or holding up a group, or a family.

I like Pope Francis favorite image of Mary. In 1986 – as a visitor from Argentina to Augsburg, Germany – he spotted an oil painting on a wood panel. It was an image of Mary untying knots. The painting was done by Johnann George Schmidtner.

The backstory of the painting is a common experience: being tied up in knots.

The  painting was commissioned by the nephew of a Bavarian aristocrat named Wolfgang Langenmantel. His marriage to his wife Sophia was about to split apart. It had become tied in knots. Well, they went to a Jesuit priest named Father Jacob Rem. Father Jacob prayed to Mary over their wedding ribbon that its knots become untangled. It did.

CONCLUSION

We’ve all untied knots in string, rosary beads, what have you.

Paul Vallely write what I consider the best biography of “Pope Francis – “Untying the Knots” – and that he had to do in Argentina and now as pope in Rome. Amen.