The G.O.A.T.
Fr. John Riccardo
July 14, 2021
The Babe or Hammerin’ Hank? Tiger or Jack? Martina or Serena? LeBron, Michael or Wilt? Montana or Brady? Sports fans love to get into debates about “the greatest of all time.” Sports offers us, at least at its best, incredible entertainment and a wonderful diversion. But at the end of the day, it’s just a game, and though there is nothing wrong with honoring men and women for their athletic achievements, there is in fact only one G.O.A.T.
This week, as we continue our perusal of our recent publication The Christian Cosmic Narrative: The Deep History of the World, our attention focuses on the single greatest human person who has and will ever live: Mary. And it’s not even close. If it’s appropriate to honor athletes, or statesmen and women, or medical professionals, or other people who have made a positive impact on society—and it is appropriate to do so—then it is exceptionally appropriate, just even, to honor Mary. As St. Anselm put it, “Without God’s Son, nothing could exist. Without Mary’s Son, nothing could be redeemed.” If Mary had not said “Yes!” to God’s invitation through the Archangel Gabriel to be the mother of the Redeemer, our entire race would have no hope. But she did! And so we honor her like no other; she is truly the G.O.A.T.
“In the first century of our era, when the great Augustus Caesar—Octavian—was ruling the Roman Empire, momentous but hidden events were taking place away from the eyes of the mighty and the great. All the civilized world knew the fame of Augustus… All knew of his establishment of the ‘Pax Romana,’ maintained by the invincible Roman army and celebrated with incomparable majesty by the poet Virgil. Then as now, the eyes of all the world were on the important people: the brokers of power, the well-born and well-connected, the wealthy, the talented, and the fashionable. Then as now, all the world thought that it was people such as these who were molding the course of history. Then as now, they were wrong.
“In a small village of Galilee called Nazareth in the northern part of Palestine, a devout Jewish couple in humble circumstances were raising a daughter, Miriam, named after the famous prophetess, the sister of Moses. Miriam, or Mary as we call her, was in her early to mid- teens, at the age when young Jewish girls prepared to marry. She was betrothed—which in Jewish society meant that a marriage had been officially contracted—to a worthy man of the town, a carpenter named Joseph. Mary was living in her parents’ home, preparing to embark on full adult life. Outwardly, there was nothing to attract attention in this family circle. A poor and pious girl… in a small town in an out-of-the-way corner of an unimportant land: not the sort of thing to gain the eyes of the great world. But inwardly, an extraordinary drama was unfolding. The most decisive event in human history was about to be enacted.
“Unknown to all, even to herself, Mary had been chosen, set aside by God for a unique role in his plan to bring humanity to its true fulfillment. As preparation for that role, Mary had been secretly protected from the wound of sin carried by all the children of Adam and Eve. She alone, among the whole of the race, had come from the hand of God as if she were a new Eve, descended from her first mother in all things human, but untainted by the corruption of the Fall … All had been preparing through long generations for the culmination of God’s plan. Now the plan was to be put into action, and the angels of heaven watched with wonder as the archangel Gabriel was sent from God’s presence to announce its inauguration.
“The Annunciation” by Henry Ossawa Tanner
“Gabriel came to Mary and greeted her, not as one speaking to a common girl but as one addressing a Queen. ‘Hail, O Favored One, graced by the Lord!’ (cf. Luke 1:28). In many Scriptural accounts of humans seeing an angel, it is noted that their first reaction is one of fear at the presence of such a mighty and unearthly being. Here we see a different response. Mary, who was never alienated from heaven’s ways by sin, seems not to have been overly frightened by the simple appearance of a heavenly creature. But we are told that she was troubled by the greeting he gave her and wondered what it might mean…
“The angel reassured her and explained the meaning of the greeting. ‘Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end’ (Luke 1:31–33).
“When Mary heard these words, much became clear to her. Along with the whole of Israel, she had been waiting with great longing for the promised Messiah, the Davidic ruler whose reign would never end. Along with every devout Jewish girl, she would have considered it an unbelievably high honor, the dream of a lifetime, to be chosen as mother of the Messiah. Now the angel was declaring to her just that: he had addressed her as Queen because she was to be Queen Mother, which in Israelite tradition was to bear great authority; and she was to bring forth the Promised One, the hope of Israel, the long-awaited Messiah-king. The heart of this faithful daughter of Israel leaped with anticipation at the thought…
“But there was an obvious problem confronting her: she was not living with her betrothed husband, Joseph, so there was no means of conceiving a child. She voiced the concern, and this too the angel explained. The birth was to have an entirely miraculous origin: the Holy Spirit himself would cause the child to be conceived within her by God’s power.
“At this, all of Mary’s concern and reserve left her … With all of her being she reached out to embrace the destiny God had chosen for her: ‘O let it be done to me just as you say!’ (cf. Luke 1:38).
“So, the great event that had been foretold in the holy writings began. As the Book of Wisdom had prophesied, ‘For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into the midst of the land that was doomed’ (Ws. 18:14–15). The invasion of earth by all the powers of heaven, the celestial attack upon the dark forces that had held the human race enslaved, the fulfillment of a thousands-year- old promise to undo the ancient curse, was inaugurated by the power of God and the willing cooperation of one of his creatures. The most momentous act since the creation of the world took place in the secret silence of a young girl’s heart and womb.
“In his love and pity for a fallen race, and in his determination not to allow Satan to defeat his plans, God had arranged for a re-enactment of the drama that had taken place in the Garden of Eden. The virgin Eve, when spoken to by a fallen angel, had in pride greedily received that angel’s communication. The virgin Mary, when addressed as Queen by a heavenly angel, grew troubled and drew back in humility until she had been given confirmation of God’s good purpose. The virgin Eve had disobeyed the plans of God in self-exaltation; the virgin Mary embraced the plans of God in selfless obedience. The virgin Eve had shown lack of faith in God’s intentions and unbelief in his promise to bring her to fulfillment; the virgin Mary expressed profound faith in God’s care and entrusted herself and her future into his hands. So, Mary, Eve’s daughter, undid the sin of her mother and opened up a different path for her children. Now the human race would have two mothers and two paths laid out before them and it would be left to each to decide which of these two mothers—Mary, the humble and trusting, or Eve, the proud and faithless—they would choose to follow.”