Both have aspects of sacrifice and suffering, but they can both be paths to solidarity with other human beings and steps consciously taken toward a share in Christ s redemption. Many today, because they have separated Mary from Christ, even as they have separated the various disciplines of theology, have missed the point that a theology of suffering is indispensable to the tasks of evangelizing. In conclusion, I believe that the aspiration which has guided countless generations of believers To Jesus through Mary can be paraphrased today as To love through life . Mary in her life, teaching and maternal identity for all children of the Incarnate Word is the pilgrim of life whose pilgrimage we must share if we are to discover the God of Ultimate and Unending Love. Consider for a moment the searing Pauline description of love.
Love is patient, love is kind.
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. It is the glory of her life that each mystery, each episode, each gift leads to Eternal Love. As members of the Church who are evangelized by the reality of Mary and who are entrusted with the task of evangelizing others in fidelity to her witness, we can pray collectively To Jesus through Mary. In looking at the perverse and unending moral challenges facing our culture today, we can only respond, to love through life.