God likes puns. And geeky astronomy analogies.

In church the other day, Padre used a great analogy.  I'm sure it's been used before, but I like it a lot.  He said that Mary is like the moon.  She sure does shine bright, but her light is just a beautiful reflection of the light of God.

I'm going to expand on this for a moment.  God is the source of light; He is the bright star at the center of the solar system that provides heat and light to everyone in the system.  Without Him, the solar system wouldn't exist.  He provides meaning and order and stability as well as light and beauty.  The moon and the earth and the other planets and celestial bodies are beautiful indeed, when the sun is shining on them.  When it's not, we can't see them; their beauty is diminished because we can't see them.

Gravity is also an aspect of this analogy.  If God is the sun, He requires that the whole solar system (i.e. everyone) revolve around Him.  This may seem selfish at first glance, but then let's look closer:  What benefit does the sun get by having all those planets around it?  It would shine just as bright without them.  They do not augment its glory in any way.  But what would the planets (and moons, and asteroids) do without the Sun?  They would be wandering exoplanets, floating freely in space but with no direction, no purpose, no light, no constant relationship with other celestial bodies.  They are at the whim of the universe, ready to be influenced by any old thing they pass with gravity.  Although that seems poetic, it also seems a bit empty to me.  But when a celestial body revolves around the sun, its beauty can be appreciated; it receives light and warmth, and (if it is in the habitable zone), even possibilities for life.  When they allow the light of the Sun to warm them, they are infinitely more beautiful—dazzling, in fact.  By pulling the whole solar system around it, the sun gives all good things to the planets (and moons and asteroids).

(The analogy breaks down when we get far enough away from our solar system to hit the neighboring ones, because unlike the sun, God is all-powerful and He actually actively created everything in existence, and there are no other gods that can compete with Him.  He is the ONLY provider of light; without His love, we are really just lonely bodies in the dark.)

When we let Him shine on us and reflect that light to others, we can even bring light into dark places—like the moon at night!  We should all learn to be like Mary, who gives all glory to God and lets His light reflect off her.  By doing this, she becomes more beautiful and also brings God's light and joy to others.

Now, this doesn't work in Spanish, but in English, there's a great pun:  Mary is the moon, and she reflects the light of the Son!