(from Dr. Scott Hahn’s talk “The Treasure of Our Soul: The Apostles’ Creed”)
And I am convinced that in the Creed, we’ve got a choice to make. Because besides the Three Divine Persons, there are only two human persons mentioned. And who are they? “…born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate.” They’re the options. Right? A man and a woman. But in this case, not complementary, but contradictory.
Because, suffering under Pontius Pilate—we see such a typical, 21st century person—not just a politician. And he knows that Jesus is innocent. He knows that Jesus is something more than even His followers can see. But what does he do? He washes his hands. And then what does he declare? “What is truth?” (John 18:38a) A true relativist. A true cynic. And so, his name is enshrined in ignominy and shame. And yet, it’s a temptation for every one of us: to go along to get along.
But, He was “born of the Virgin Mary”. She is the one who will lead us to Him. He is the One Who gave her to us. Any man who will give his own mother to you is not about to withhold anything else. A Man Who comes to reveal His Divinity. And He declares, “I am going to My Father and your Father” (John 20:17b). And then He turns around and entrusts His beloved Mother to us, through the power of the Spirit. This is something that we will never quite exhaust.
But I want to say to you, that this is more than just true. It’s more than just beautiful. It’s also powerful. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the instrument of choice for God the Trinity to overcome all of the Pilates who cause the suffering. To save all the sons and daughters who are adopted by grace.
St. Louis de Montfort went so far as to say that Satan fears Mary more than God. Why? Because what is Satan’s besetting sin? It’s pride. And what attacks his pride more than anything else? It’s not being defeated by God. What creature could stand up to the Almighty? But to be defeated by a human, and not just a human, but by a woman?! This is not only God’s glory, but Satan’s shame. And this is why God loves to use her more than all of the powerful, all the intelligent, all of the popular. Because it takes out sin at its root, which is pride.
“What Lucifer lost by pride Mary won by humility. What Eve ruined and lost by disobedience Mary saved by obedience. By obeying the serpent, Eve ruined her children as well as herself and delivered them up to him. Mary, by her perfect fidelity to God, saved her children with herself and consecrated them to His Divine Majesty.” -Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort
