Mary, Mother of God: An image of hope and strength for all mothers

Mary is the Mother of Hope

Mary, Mother of God, is much more than only Jesus' mother, she is an image of hope and a mother to us all.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Just days before Pope Francis was due to visit Fatima last year, for the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, he opened up about Mary and her connection to all mothers.

Speaking of her 'yes' to the angel at the Annunciation, he said, "Mary at that moment looks like one of the many mothers of our world, brave to the extreme when it comes to welcoming in her womb the story of a new human being who is growing."

At that moment, Mary looked into the unknown and accepted what God had in store for her. According to Pope Francis, this was a just the first of "a long list of obedience" Mary exhibited.

Pope Francis explained that Mary is mostly a silent figure in the Gospels, but always there and always listening.

"The Gospels are laconic and extremely subtle. They record with a simple verb the presence of the Mother: She 'was standing,' she was standing," he said, noting that "nothing is said of her reaction: if she weeps if she does not weep ... nothing; not even a brushstroke to describe her grief."

Mary remained an influential force at the worst imaginable moment for a mother to endure - her son's Passion.

"Mothers do not betray, and at that moment, at the foot of the cross, none of us can say whose was the cruelest passion; whether that of an innocent man who dies on the scaffold of the cross, or the agony of a mother who accompanies the last moments of her son's life."

"The suffering of mothers: We have all known strong women that braved the many sufferings of their children!"

Despite the debilitating grief Mary must have felt she only stood and listened; she was a vision of hope.

"That's why we all love her as a Mother...We are not orphans: we have a Mother in heaven, who is the Holy Mother of God," Pope Francis stated. "In moments of difficulty, Mary, the Mother Jesus has given to us all, can always support our steps, can always say to our heart: 'Get up! Look ahead, look at the horizon,' because she is a Mother of Hope."

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