My dear friends,
People of other faiths often wonder why Catholics pray to Mary and the saints. Why not go straight to Jesus, or God himself? Why rely on intermediaries?
The theological explanation is sometimes difficult to understand. We do not pray to Mary or the saints. We pray through them, so that they may intercede with God on our behalf.
Similarly, we end most of our liturgical prayers "through Christ, Our Lord", because he is the ultimate intercessor, the one whose death atoned for the original sin of Adam and Eve, thereby bringing us redemption and reconciliation with God.
Those are vague concepts, however, unless we experience them in our own lives. That's what happened to me recently, when I was privileged to witness a living lesson on the theology of intercession. It was provided by the mothers who went on a hunger strike outside the Krome Detention Center in order to plead for the release of their sons.
In a sense, the Church interceded on their behalf, breaking an impasse that had lasted for months. Local INS officials had refused to heed the mothers' pleas. The mothers persisted in doing bodily harm to themselves by refusing to eat.
As Archbishop of Miami, I issued a public plea for INS to resolve the situation, pointing out that, despite its protestations, the agency indeed had the power to review their sons' cases and release those who posed no threat to the community. When that plea went unheeded, I wrote directly to Attorney General Janet Reno, informing her that the impasse could result in the death of the hunger strikers.
A few days later, the impasse ended. Commissioner Doris Meissner, the highest official of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, agreed to meet with the mothers, who then ended their fast.
In arranging this meeting, the Church used its intercessory power to save lives and plead for justice. For it is unjust to keep people in jail indefinitely, be they immigrants or not. American-born criminals are routinely released once they serve their sentences. Why should immigrants whose countries won't take them back be forced to spend their lives in jail, if they have paid for their crimes? But the Church's intercessory power pales when compared to that of mothers. That's what I witnessed during those private meetings between the hunger strikers and Ms. Meissner. (One of the hunger strikers was too ill to attend, but she sent other family members instead.)
I must say I have never witnessed anything more moving than that meeting. One by one, very respectfully, each of these women, and others, pleaded for their sons: admitting that they had made mistakes, but pointing out that they had paid their debt to society; and promising that they would be coming back into a supportive family situation.
Just listening to their heartfelt pleas, I had difficulty controlling my emotions. It occurred to me afterwards that this was an absolutely vivid example of what intercession means — and obviously those mothers knew it far better than I.
Their actions paralleled those of Christ, interceding on behalf of all of us who have no reason whatsoever to be in the Lord's presence at all, because of the sin of Adam and Eve. How powerful must be his intercession before his Father!
And what about the intercession of Mary on behalf of all the church? No wonder Mary is so popular, and devotion to her so universal. Innately, human beings recognize the endless love of mothers for their children, and how that love empowers them to intercede on their behalf.
Again, our minds may not understand the theology of intercession, but our hearts certainly grasp it. So it was a very beautiful, very moving lesson to witness, especially during this month of May, when we honor Mary, our mother in heaven.
May the prayers of these mothers, and of all the suffering mothers and children on earth, be answered through the powerful intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, and of her son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
