About halfway through the Mass, the congregation offers a prayer asking God to accept the sacrifice about to be offered at the altar. Often labelled the “Sucipiat” after its first Latin word, the prayer reads: “May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his Name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church.” Occasionally the celebrant might hear a slight variation from the prescribed wording of the supplication. Some participants might respond, “May the Lord receive this sacrifice from your hands for the praise and glory of God’s Name, for our good and for the good of all God’s holy Church.” The male pronoun “his” has been deliberately and audibly removed from the invocation, supposedly broadening God’s appeal to females in the congregation.
As the universal Church celebrates this Sunday the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, it is worth recalling that God very clearly and frequently reveals Himself in the Bible as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is also worth recalling that the Scriptures cannot be broken. God the first Person of the Blessed Trinity, of course, has no sexual orientation at all yet chose both in the Jewish Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures to reveal himself repeatedly as Father. God the second Person of the Blessed Trinity clearly came into this world as the male human being Jesus Christ who is from all eternity the Son of God. God the third Person of the Blessed Trinity happily avoids the controversy appearing only symbolically as a dove, a flash of fire, and gusty wind.
While Isaiah 66:13, Hosea 11:4, and Deuteronomy 32:11 do make references to God’s protective and caring nature similar to that of a mother, the overwhelming imagery in both Testaments as well as the abounding personal references that Jesus Christ makes toward the first Person of the Trinity designate him clearly as Father. At the profound moment of Jesus’ agony, the Son cries out to God as “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36). Jesus famously teaches his Church to pray, “Our Father…(Mt.6:9).” Jesus emphatically orders Mary Magdalene to inform the Apostles, “Go to my brothers and say to them, I am going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (Jn 20:17). There is clearly an important message for believers in Divine Revelation’s insistence on the First Divine Person as Father.
A father’s duty as provider, protector and sometimes punisher might sometimes be assumed by other family members. Certainly a spouseless mother or older siblings or, especially today, grandparents might have to shoulder the paternal role due to difficult circumstances. But exceptions do not alter God’s plan that “mom, dad and the kids” should constitute the family unit with “dad” as its head. Today’s fathers can learn from God’s paternal example the nature of authentic fatherhood.
Allowing God the First Person a merely generic role in salvation history rather than a specifically paternal task might also diminish the position another Scriptural character plays within God’s Providence. As a complement to God’s Fatherhood, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the supreme model of motherhood destined by God certainly to have a hand in the earthly life of Jesus Christ but also to exercise her maternal instincts throughout Church history.
A creature certainly like the rest of humanity, Mary had been granted unique gifts for her own benefit and for the good of all peoples. Mary’s Immaculate Conception, Virgin Birth and Assumption into heaven surely set her apart from the rest of mankind, clearly designating her to have a special part in the life of the Church. In the light of these extra-ordinary gifts, it is certainly God’s Will that Mary fulfill an exceptional maternal role in nurturing and supporting God’s many children throughout history. The Christian devotion to Mary is an acknowledgement that Mary can offer guidance, encouragement, and perseverance to the believing world especially in life’s challenging times as she herself exemplified these responses in her life as daughter, wife, mother and widow. Always the faithful child of God, Mary can deepen such fidelity in all believers who turn to her with confidence and conviction.
Jesus as Son of God and likewise son of Mary gives the believer a double example of obedience, loyalty and fidelity that should be characteristic of any good son. Jesus was totally loyal to the Father as his prayer at Gethsemane touchingly indicates. He was a good Divine Son. And Jesus was loyal to his mother as his quick response to her observation “They have no more wine” ably shows. Jesus was a good human son.
Fatherhood and Sonship within the Holy Trinity are not idle labels. They are God’s revelation of His own internal and eternal life. And they tell His mission toward believers most perfectly.
