Stop me if you’ve heard this one.

It’s a busy day in heaven.  Peter’s having a hard time keeping tabs on all the newcomers, and he notices Jesus across the room, looking really confused.  So Peter walks over to Jesus and says, “My Lord, what’s wrong?”

“Peter – where are all these people coming from?”

“Oh, yeah.  That,” Peter says, sighing and scratching his head.  “I locked the gates like you asked, but your mom keeps opening the windows and letting people in!”

No worries.  I’ll be here all week.

Mary, Gate of Heaven

I know.  I’m not much of a comedian.  But I think that story’s a great opening to today’s reflection, its humor making Mary’s role in our path to salvation that much more accessible.

It can be difficult to understand just how Mary acts as a means to our redemption.  She is not God, nor did she die in reparation for our sins.  But here’s the thing. Eve’s decision in the Garden of Eden closed the door to heaven.       That’s why Christ himself came into the world; his death and resurrection renewed the promise of salvation.    Mary’s fiat, her total, complete willingness to act as the handmaid of the Lord, provided the means through which the gates would reopen.

There’s no better representation of this fact than this image, titled Mary and Eve and illustrated so beautifully by Sr. Grace of Monastery Candy. It’s all here: Mary’s reassuring gaze.   Eve’s hand pressed against a swollen belly.  The serpent wrapped around Eve’s legs and crushed under Mary’s heel.  It’s absolute perfection,  the embodiment of God’s plan for the human race. It is our redemption at the hands of his son, born of a woman whose surrender to God’s will brought forth the savior of mankind.

What is your fiat?  How does God want you to say yes, and enter the Gate which Mary holds open?  God’s plan is perfect, his will for us, divine.  Follow Mary’s example.  Say yes to the open door.

Family activities

• Learn the Hail Holy Queen
• Make a Gate of Heaven craft with Mary in the center
• Make a list of ways your family can say yes to God’s will

Family prayer

Mary, Gate of Heaven, your fiat opened the doors to our salvation.  Intercede for us, that we may imitate your yes in our daily lives.  Amen.

This post is part of the Write31 Days challenge.  To read the other posts in the series, click here.