Today’s question is about prayer. Unfortunately, however, you may need to be over 30 in order to answer it. My question is this: How many of you can recite the prayer “Hail, Holy Queen?” Ok. Let’s do it! “Hail Holy Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, o clement, o loving, o sweet Virgin Mary.” And if you’re really into old-time prayer, you might add: “Pray for us, o holy Mother of God. That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.”
“…the promises of Christ…” and just what did he promise us? Many things. And one of them was the promise he made in today’s Gospel reading: “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” He made this promise right after he told his disciples: “…I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to be with you always, the spirit of truth …”
And just what is an “advocate?” Some scholars tell us it’s the English equivalent for the Greek word: paraclete. And they go on to say that “paraclete” or “advocate” was the term used in a Roman court of law for the man who defended his client. In other words, Jesus told his disciples he was going to send them a lawyer who would be with them always, a lawyer who would be known as “the spirit of truth.”
I don’t know about you, but I, myself, find it difficult to think our triune God could be known as Father, Son and “Holy Lawyer.” So, maybe it’s appropriate to take a closer look at that advocate, that “paraclete,” Jesus promised would be sent by God the Father to those who loved him and kept his commandments.
And what better time to do this than on the day when we celebrate mothers, who they are; and what they’ve done for us. Because it’s with a consideration of mothers that we may be able to come to a better appreciation for just what might be meant by the advocate who would be sent to us. I believe it’s not far fetched to think of an advocate in terms of mothers, of those women who dedicate their lives to their children.
For after all, in that prayer we recited a few minutes ago, we referred to the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “… most gracious advocate …” So, let’s take a closer look at some characteristics of human mothers who are earthly models of the holy spirit. Or looking at it from the other direction, we might reflect for a moment on other titles we use for the Holy Spirit and how these qualities relate to mothers.1
Sixth Sunday of Easter; May 3, 1999, and Mothers’ Day, 1999
Acts 6:1-7; 1 pet 2:4-9; Jn 14: 1-12
- The remainder of this homily included the major thoughts expressed in a previous homily when the Sixth Sunday of Easter occurred on Mothers’ Day, i.e. in 1996. The terms are: consoler, healer, councilor, protector, reconciler, confronter (per Emma Bombeck), lover, revealer of God, and washer of grime. In deference to my son (see footnote for 1996), the statement about dads using wet wipes instead of spit-and-polish was omitted.