Mary at the Party

Mary, for thirty years a recovering alcoholic, and afflicted with cancer, "kept on keeping on" with faith, hope, love, and unquenchable cheer, until she crossed life's final finish line.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." So said Paul in his letter to his young friend, Timothy. In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul also referred to a race. He wrote, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14) The Christian life, Saint Paul was saying, is like a race, and no race is easy. And like any race, the Christian life has a goal, and it has a prize. It strikes me that these images apply in a special way to Mary.

What is the goal of the race the Christian runs? The goal is…