“ The beginning of a better world”

( A Marian Reflection )

Pope John Paul II, now St John Paul uses a beautiful phrase for our Blessed Mother, “the beginning of a better world.”

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and God saw that it was ‘good’. He created man and woman and he found it ‘very good.’ The first chapter of the first book of the Bible is so positive about creation and it reflects the optimism of the ancient world, particularly of the Jewish nation, about the world and man.

God did not stop with the ‘good’ and the ‘very good’, the better and the best would follow.

Unfortunately the ‘good’ and the ‘very good’ creation did not allow  God to continue with his plan. Even before he learned to stitch clothes for himself Adam wanted to be like God! The craze for power, the disobedience, the rebellion, of our first parents, resulted in a ‘naked’, dark, and sinful world. God would not allow his good creation to be destroyed and he promised one day he would restore his good creation and even make it still better.

Days, years, and centuries passed. God was not in a hurry. He may delay but he will not forget his promise. God cannot be blamed for the delay, he wanted man’s collaboration in making the world a better place. It took centuries before he could find one who would fully cooperate with him.

“Hail, full of grace” the angel announced to Mary. It was the first time, one of the human race, has been addressed as, ‘full of grace.’ Mary’s Immaculate Conception and her ‘Yes’ to God was, “the beginning of a better world.”  

The Fathers of the Church call Mary, ’the dawn of a new day.’ Between the night and the day, there is a period called ‘the dawn’. The ‘naked’, dark, sinful night is over. The day is at hand. Mary stands in between night and day. She is ‘the dawn’, the ‘better’ creation. She will initiate the day. Soon the Sun will rise.  The Best is yet to come!

At the time of the Baptism of Jesus, a voice was heard, “This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased.“ The creation that was ‘good’, and became ‘ better’ with the ‘Yes’ of Mary, has now become ’well pleased’ with the baptism and the inauguration of the public life of Jesus.

While the three synoptic gospels, tell us about the baptism and the voice from heaven, St. John’s Gospel does not speak about the details of the baptism of Jesus nor about the Father’s voice. Instead, St. John gives the miracle of Cana, to initiate the public life of Jesus. Instead of the Father’s voice, ‘Listen to him’, St John gives the mother’s voice, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ The message of the Father and of the mother are the same. Just as Jesus listened and obeyed the Father’s voice, he now listens and obeys the mother’s voice.

At the Annunciation, Mary said ‘Yes’ and the result was the Incarnation. At Cana Mary renewed her ‘Yes’ and the result was, in the words of the steward, ‘the best wine’. “You have kept the best wine until the end. “, complained the steward.

 God kept the best until the end. There is always a climax to every story. So is the story of the Creation and Redemption. The Creation that was ‘good’ at the beginning, became ‘ better’ at Mary’s ‘Yes’, is now  ‘the Best’ with the inauguration of the public life of Jesus. The ‘best wine’ is symbolic of the ‘best world’ that God had in mind, which Jesus inaugurates at Cana.  Cana will lead to Calvary. Mary will be there once again to renew her ‘ Yes’ and initiate 'a new heaven and a new earth.’

Insist on the Best! The Best is Christ! But the way to the Best is, the ‘good’ and the ‘better’. Creation and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, are the first chapters of a  great story – the Story of Jesus. 

-        Fr TV George sdb