Paying It Forward?, preached on October 31, 2026

Christ our Lord is the wisdom of God, the one through whom all things are made, he who rightly orders all creation.

And Our Lady is the indispensable seat of wisdom.

She is the portal of the spirit into flesh.

She is the portal of divine entry into the human condition.

and she is the locus of where the Incarnate Word may be found.

St. Ambrose said, Mary is the temple of God, the Holy Spirit dwelling in her womb, sanctified her flesh so that from her flesh the Savior might be born without corruption of sin.

So she did something that needed to be done in salvation history that only she could do.

So, reciprocity in our part, paying back in like kind and quality, responds to Our Lady's fiat.

That's not possible.

And regarding Our Lord's statement in the Gospel, yes, blessed are they rather who hear the Word of God and keep it.

And St. Augustine said, this does not diminish Our Lady's motherhood.

It glorifies it by defining her primary greatness as the perfect believer.

So we can't give flesh to our Lord the way Our Lady did.

We can't give a perfectly innocent, immediate fiat as Our Lady did.

We can't replicate what Our Lady is as the seat of wisdom.

But through her intercession and through her good example, we can strive with God's grace to be those who hear the word of God and keep it.

We can clear out the idols in our lives, to make room for the Word made flesh.

And we can, in our own small way, in our worship, in our prayer, in our apostolate, echo Our Lady's Magnificat.

So we too have a role to play in imitation of Our Lady, a role to play in the economy of salvation.