Hope your past month has been great. We spent almost an entire month without internet, so I have to say, this whole internet thing is lovely.
Have a great weekend, enjoy the beautiful weather we are finally having. I know Jerome and I are going to be spending as much of the weekend as we can outside.
God bless,
Olivia
Week One: Behold, Your Mother
Father Marc Cramer spoke last week on having a relationship with the Mother of Jesus. Through the sacraments, he explained, we enter into relationship with Jesus, and through this relationship, we also inherit a relationship with His Mother.
First of all, we know that Christ had a devotion to His mother. We know that He was obedient to her (Luke 2: 51) and at the wedding feast of Cana. We also know that He is without sin, and so would have been perfectly obedient to the Fourth Commandment.
Therefore, as Father Marc stated, by having a respect and devotion for Mary, we are being like Christ.
At the foot of the cross, Jesus gave His Mother to mankind as a second Mother when he told John, "Behold, your Mother." The significance behind this interaction is revealed in the next phrase: "Jesus, knowing that all was now finished..." (Jn 19:28) It seems as though Jesus has completed his sacrifice by entrusting His Mother to John.
There is significance to this spiritual motherhood of Mary.
Just as Mary brings the needs of the people to Jesus' attention at the wedding feast of Cana, and teaches the people to obey Him, so we can see that Mary, in her maternal love for us, brings our needs to her son. Through her example of obedience to God's Will at the Annunciation, we can learn to be obedient to God's Will in our own lives.
We all have different relationships with our mother's, and will relate to Jesus' Mother differently. However, we know that Jesus placed a great significance on giving His Mother to us, and should therefore see the importance in developing a relationship with Mary, whatever it may look like.
Just take time to sit with her, hold her hand through the Holy Rosary, ask her to help us contemplate Jesus through Her eyes. I know that my relationship with Mary is definitely something that I need to work on, to have her in my life in a real way I still have such a long way to go. But I know that through imitating Christ's love and devotion for His Mother, She will in turn deepen my relationship with Her Son.
Friars, Franciscan. "Why Devotion to Mary?" Www.ewtn.com. Web. 8 May 2015.
John Paul II, Pope. "TO THE DISCIPLE HE SAID, BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER." Www.ewtn.com. 30 Apr. 1997. Web. 8 May 2015.
I started the personal retreat "33 Days to Morning Glory" yesterday. I had missed so many days to start it and this time Our Lady was saying, "you are missing the point. I want to know you. I want you to know my son. Let me help you to be a saint." I am terrible for getting hung up on the details. I cringe when i j-walk. I'm a rule follower. I'm learning to grow. I feel so unworthy. I want to be a saint but i feel so completely corrupted and ruined. How can i be a saint? We are blessed with the most amazing examples of sainthood. We see the grace-filled, fruitful lives that they lived and that's exactly it: they lived it. They chose. It's hard to see my everyday life as that of a saint. I desire that faith. Louis De Montfort could see an army forming. I want to be that kind of soldier. Lord arm me. Mother Mary teach me. Guide me. Then take all that i am, everything i can and will be and claim it for the glory of your Son. Leave nothing for me.
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