Four Other Meanings of the Moon, by Michael Pakaluk

When the eclipse of the sun coincided with the Annunciation on April 8, many Catholics rightly recalled that Mary is traditionally likened to the moon, an image well expressed by Fulton Sheen (The World’s First Love):

God, Who made the sun, also made the moon. The moon does not take away from the brilliance of the sun. The moon would be only a burnt-out cinder floating in the immensity of space were it not for the sun. All its light is reflected from the sun. The Blessed Mother reflects her Divine Son; without Him, she is nothing. With Him, she is the Mother of Men.

But did you know that the Catechism recognizes four other meanings of the moon, including one relevant to the Easter season?

The first is that the moon, together with the sun, represents the interdependence of all creatures: “God wills the interdependence of creatures. The sun and the moon, the cedar and the little flower, the eagle and the sparrow: the spectacle of their countless diversities and inequalities tells us that no creature is self-sufficient.” [340] ….