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For the Month of Mary, Archbishop John is calling on us to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary and be a man or woman of the Eucharist

Each May, the Catholic Church dedicates the month to Mary to honour and celebrate Our Lady’s role in guiding us toward her Son, the Lord Jesus.

This May, Archbishop John is calling on us to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary’s relationship with the Eucharist. Drawing on the words of Pope St John Paul II, who said Our Lady is a “woman of the Eucharist in her whole life”, Archbishop John said we too are called to “imitate Our Lady in her relationship with this precious sacrament”.

Pointing to Scripture, Archbishop John provided several examples of how we can look to Mary and be “men and women of the Eucharist in our whole lives too”. In the Annunciation, in the Gospel of Luke, Archbishop John said Mary’s “simple, yet beautiful words: ‘let it be to me according to your word’, were not only decisive for us then, but remain so today”.

In her response, which was utterly obedient to the Father’s will, Mary is showing us that we cannot, the Archbishop said, “passively sit by or just expect a relationship with God. We need to be active too. We are called to continually give our yes, our very own fiat to the Lord”.

Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, Archbishop John said, “we too have free will, we too have a choice” and that is why we must “offer ourselves to the Lord and profess our belief that the Lord Jesus is really and truly present in the Eucharist”. Mary, he said, is “highlighting the path to salvation, the path to a deep, close and personal relationship with God”.

Archbishop John said:

“Because Mary said yes, we too have the chance through the Church, to receive the body of Christ in the Eucharist. This is exactly why Mary is a model to us, why we are called to imitate her, especially in her relationship to the mystery of the Eucharist.

The Archbishop of Southwark also drew on the Wedding Feast of Cana. In saying “do whatever he tells you”, Mary is showing us “how to follow the Lord” – he said – adding this is achieved by “trusting in” Jesus and “offering ourselves to him”.

Mary’s Magnificat, Archbishop John said:

“sums up precisely what it means to be a Eucharistic disciple. We need to turn ourselves to the Lord Jesus, turn our souls to him, and glorify him.

We need to let our souls, and our hearts, rejoice that he is our God and he is our Saviour.”

To help us build our lives as men and women of the Eucharist, Archbishop John encouraged spending time before the Blessed Sacrament and praying the rosary. “The beauty of the rosary, the beauty of Mary” Archbishop John said, “is that through it and through her, we are always pointed directly to the Lord Jesus”.

Concluding his message, Archbishop John said let this Month of Mary be “a time you truly become a Eucharistic disciple and be like Mary, in being a woman or a man of the Eucharist”.

You can watch the video on our YouTube channel or read the message in full below.

Archbishop John on Mary and the Eucharist

Dear friends, the Catholic Church dedicates the month of May to Mary. Each year, we honour and celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary and the profound role that she plays in guiding us towards her Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

This May, I want to talk to you about Mary and her relationship with the Eucharist. Our Lady is the mother of the Word Incarnate, the Lord Jesus and the Mother of the Church.

Mary is wholly united to her Son, just as she is wholly united to the Church. It is this inseparable union with the Lord Jesus and His Church, which is why Mary guides us towards the Eucharist. Mary has, Pope Saint John Paul II said, a profound relationship with the Eucharist.

She became, he said, the first tabernacle in history when the Lord Jesus in her womb, who remained invisible to the human gaze, allowed himself to be adored by Elizabeth. Mary, Pope Saint John Paul II said, is a woman of the Eucharist in her whole life. Like Mary, we are also called to be men and women of the Eucharist in our whole lives too.

As we look to Mary as a model of faith, we are called to imitate Our Lady in her relationship with this precious sacrament.

First, let's start with the Annunciation. Mary's fiat, her yes to the Lord. In the Gospel of Luke, where Mary provides for us a model of how we must not only live our lives and respond to the Lord, but how we should approach the Eucharist too.

The Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said to her that she will conceive by the Holy Spirit, the Son of God.

In this very moment the fate of the world's salvation hung in the balance.

Her response to the Lord was decisive for each of us. By her complete and utter obedience to the Father’s will. She played a critical role in his Son’s work of our redemption.

The simple yet beautiful words uttered by Mary that day, ‘let it be to me, according to your word’, were not only decisive for us then, but remain so today.

In these words, in her obedience and commitment to God, Mary is showing us that we all have our own role to play in salvation.

Mary is showing us that we cannot passively sit by or just expect a relationship with God. We need to be active too. We are called to continually give our yes, our very own fiat to the Lord.

When the Angel appeared before her, it was not predetermined by God that Mary would say yes.

She was not forced or compelled to become the Mother of God.

She had free will. She had a choice. And she chose to trust the will of God and to put her faith in him. She offered herself so that the Word of God could become flesh.

Because Mary said yes, we too have the chance through the Church, to receive the body of Christ in the Eucharist. This is exactly why Mary is a model to us, why we are called to imitate her, specially in her relationship to the mystery of the Eucharist.

Because we too have free will. We too have a choice. And that means we also need to offer ourselves to the Lord so that we can receive him and be with him in the Eucharist.

The Lord Jesus is really and truly present in the Eucharist. He is calling you to himself through Holy Communion, but also in Eucharistic adoration. He is asking you to take a leap of faith, just like Mary did, and trust in God, his Father.

This is why each of us is called to profess our belief that the Lord Jesus is really and truly present in the Eucharist. Both when we receive Holy Communion, but also as we spend time before the Eucharistic Lord in adoration.

Mary is showing us the path to salvation. The path to a deep, close and personal relationship with God. The Blessed Virgin Mary is showing us that it is by answering the Lord's call and giving him our belief, our faith, and our love that we can be made worthy of his promises.

Pope John Paul II said, that at the Wedding Feast of Cana, Mary is saying to us that if Jesus is able to change water into wine, he can also turn bread and wine into his Body and Blood.

But we have to believe him. We have to, in our Blessed Lady's words, ‘do whatever he tells you’. And what is the Lord Jesus told us? At the Institution of the Eucharist, the Lord Jesus said very clearly, ‘this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’. The Lord Jesus said very clearly that ‘this is my blood which will be poured out for you and for many’.

At Cana, Mary is showing us that we need to trust in the Lord Jesus and do as he commands. That means we need to seek him in the Eucharist, where he is really and truly present. And how do we know he is really and truly present? Because the Lord Jesus told us that this is his Body and this is his Blood. Once again, Mary is showing us how to follow the Lord by trusting in him. By offering ourselves to him.

We can look to Scripture again, this time in Mary's Magnificat, that beautiful song of praise. In the opening line, Mary acclaims, ‘my soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour’. This clear and beautiful line sums up precisely what it means to be a Eucharistic disciple.

We need to turn ourselves to the Lord Jesus, turn our souls to him, and glorify him. We need to let our souls and our hearts rejoice that he is God and he is our Saviour.

And what happens to us if we approach the Lord Jesus truly present in the Eucharist, at Holy Communion or in Eucharistic adoration, with the mindset of enabling our souls to glorify the Lord and rejoice in him? What happens?

We too will see the Almighty do great things for us.

So, like Mary, as you approach Holy Communion or spend time in Eucharistic adoration, offer yourself to the Lord. Profess your belief in him, in his words, and watch what marvels he will do for you.

Be a Eucharistic disciple. Be a woman or a man of the Eucharist.

Pray the Rosary during adoration. One way you can help build your life as a Eucharistic man or woman is to come before the Blessed Sacrament, either in Eucharistic adoration, or by visiting a tabernacle at your church where the Lord is present, and pray the Rosary.

The beauty of the Rosary, the beauty of Mary, is that through it and through her, we are always pointed directly to the Lord Jesus.

So praying the Rosary before the Lord in the Eucharist, you can look at him and reflect on him and his words more clearly.

For example, when praying the joyful mysteries, we can look again at the Annunciation, the moment when the Word became flesh. So, as we sit before the Lord truly present in the Eucharist, we can imitate Mary by giving our own yes to the Lord. We can say to him, we truly believe you are here, and we can offer ourselves to him and allow ourselves to be transformed by his presence.

Or while praying the Luminous Mysteries, we can reflect on the Institution of the Holy Eucharist and say to the Lord, we truly believe his words, that this is his Body and it is his Blood.

In doing so, we can, like Mary, take the Lord at his word and show we are men and women of the Eucharist.

Dear friends, in the Acts of the Apostles, we hear how Mary, along with the apostles, devoted themselves to prayer.

Let this May, the month of Mary, be the time when we unite ourselves to the Lord Jesus in prayer by spending time in Eucharistic adoration.

Let it be a moment where you and I become people who bare our soul to the Lord, that he might work, marvels through us and in us.

Let it be a time when we are truly Eucharistic disciples.

And like Mary in being a woman or a man of the Eucharist.

May God bless you and keep you.