Speaking at Notre Dame’s commencement ceremonies yesterday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan told graduates that Mary is “not just our patroness, but our model.” He explained:
She gave God’s son a human nature; she gave the Eternal Word—God the Son, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity—flesh . . . .Now, as you complete [your] years at this acclaimed university dedicated to her, you are asked the same pivotal question the Archangel Gabriel once posed to her: will you let God take flesh in you? Will you give God a human nature? Will He be reborn in you? . . .
Here at Notre Dame we do not strive to be like Harvard or Oxford, but like Bethlehem, Nazareth, Cana, Calvary, and the Upper Room at Pentecost . . . with Mary, as the “Word becomes flesh” in the one who called Himself “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
The full text of his address is available here (PDF).
You have a decision to make: double or nothing.
For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.
In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.
So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?
Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
