Queen Mary

Understanding why we nod our heads at holy names

09/12/2022

Lk 1:39-47 Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior."

The seminary I attended taught us how to celebrate Mass in a more traditional way. For example, they said priests should hold their hands in the “prayer position” instead of putting their hands in their pockets. We should sit with our hands on our knees, and stand erect at the altar, and move slowly and gracefully from altar to ambo, not race from place to place. We should utter the words of consecration thoughtfully and deliberately recognizing their supreme importance in the liturgy. And another thing they taught us at the Mount, but not taught in all seminaries, is to bow our heads at the holy names of Jesus and Mary.

Have you noticed how I do that and how other priests don’t? Well, that’s because I am holy and they are not. Just kidding. It is a pious practice that some priests do because we attended a more traditional seminary. It does not mean that we are right and everyone else is wrong. But some priests get pretty picky about the Mass. It’s like the old joke about what is the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist. The liturgy should not be a war zone but a place of worship.

Today is the memorial of the holy Name of Mary, and I would like to say a word about why we honor the name of Mary so much, like bowing our heads at her holy name. The basic reason is because the Catholic Church is organized more like a monarchy than a democracy. Recently Queen Elizabeth II of England passed away, and all Great Britain, and indeed the whole world, is in mourning.

Why? Because being the queen, she was the ostensible head of the country, even though the country is effectively run by the British prime minister and the parliament. As queen, though, Elizabeth II exercised certain powers and possessed profound prestige. She was treated very special in high society, indeed, she was by definition “high society,” since she was the highest ranking person in society.

That is a little bit how we look at Mary, as well as Jesus. They are the king and queen of the Kingdom of Heaven, which has its earthly manifestation in the Catholic Church. And just like a prime minister runs the day-to-day operations of England, so the pope, the Catholic Church’s prime minister, runs the day-to-day operations of the Church. Nonetheless, Jesus is the eternal King and Mary sits at his right hand as his Queen Mother.

Just like in the next few days we will see countless people pay tribute and honor the late Queen Elizabeth of England, so when I bow my head at Mass at the holy name of Mary, I pay tribute to the Queen of Heaven. And if this isn’t too disrespectful to say, maybe today Queen Elizabeth herself is nodding her head to the true Queen of heaven and earth as she stands in the kingdom of heaven.

Now, I also think the idea of monarchs and nodding our heads goes against the grain of the American spirit. What do I mean? This nation was born when we threw off the yoke of tyranny of monarchies like Great Britain. We believe in democracy, and equality, and everyone is treated fairly under the law. We want no high society here. And that may be why some seminaries did not teach future priests to bow their heads at the names of Jesus and Mary. As Lord Acton said, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In other words, kings and queens may not be the best way to run a country.

And I believe there are good arguments on both sides of the political aisle whether monarchy or democracy, or a blend of the two, are really the best and most effective forms of government. But whatever the political reality on earth may be, it does not change what we will encounter in heaven. Like Queen Elizabeth knows now better than we do, in heaven we will stand in an eternal kingdom, ruled with love and wisdom by a king and a queen. And when the holy names of Jesus and Mary are pronounced there, all heads will bow, and, in the case of Jesus, every knee shall bend (Phil 2:10).

Praised be Jesus Christ!