John was able to soar to such heights of contemplation of the Word with God, the Word who is God, because the mother of God lived with him. This extraordinary life together, this communion with the soul that kept and meditated upon all those things in her heart (cf Lk 2:19) opened his eyes. He saw the Church, its future, its struggles and its triumph because the model of the Church was there before him.
The Virgin is the model of the Church, and every priest who is called to build the Church will never have a better understanding of how to carry out his task than in Mary’s presence.
If priests live in communion with Mary, she the mother of unity will reveal to them how charity is to be ordered in hearts and among hearts, and how the body of Christ is to be built according to the supreme eternal dialogue of love which is the Most Holy Trinity...
It is with her, the mother of the Church, mother of unity that priests and religious will become today authentic “men of dialogue”. It is with her that they will become builders of unity “so that all may be one” (Jn 17:21)
Chiara Lubich
Il sacerdote oggi, il religioso oggi
Gen’s 12 (1982/6) p. 6