Franciscan Penance Library

HUMAN EXPERIENCE:

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Remember entering a motor vehicle early morning when it has been parked out under rain or cold weather in the night. What are you able to see through the windshield/screen and closed side windows??? Personally, I see hazy things that look misty. Everything appears foggy and obscure. I do not see anything clearly. But when I switch on the defroster, eventually the condensation is cleared. The mist goes away. I am able to see well the real things outside the vehicle.

 

Sometimes, I have a hazy and obscure mind. There are times when I have to make urgent and important decisions. When I consider the alternatives, I am not able to clearly see which is better. Many points arise in my mind for and against each alternative. It becomes a dilemma for me. I get confused with a foggy mind. There seems to be a mist in my intellect.  I am not able to choose or act. When I remember, I kneel down and recite, “Hail Mary, full of grace, …….” After sometime, I begin to see clearly the choice I ought to make. My intellect is “defrosted”, so to speak, by the, “Hail Mary ….” “Hail Mary, full of grace, …..” is my intellectual defroster!!! The Heavenly Mother cares about me and you. She intercedes for us. She is worthy of our devotion.

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WORD OF GOD :

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The event that comes to mind is the wedding at Cana in Galilee. The bridegroom did not only have little wine, but he also had a wine of a poor quality!!! John, the evangelist, (2:1-10) narrates how the Mother, without being requested, took initiative to inform her Son about the lack of wine for the celebration. The Mother cared. She knew her Son was capable of giving better and abundant wine. She informed him. Her Son obeyed. The Mother still cares these days. She still informs her Son about our needs. Her Son does what the Mother tells him on our behalf!!!

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The other event for our consideration is the crucifixion of Jesus, when the Mother was standing at the foot of the cross of her Son. John (19:25-27) reports how the Mother is affirmed as the Mother of the disciples of Jesus. From the mouth of the Son himself, his followers become sons and daughters of the Mother. This was the last will and testament of our Lord Jesus Christ!!! We, as followers, are lucky to have such a caring Mother!!!

 

THINKING/REFLECTING ALOUD:

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Pope, Saint John Paul II, has a good analysis of our devotion to our Heavenly Mother.[1] He wrote, “It can be said that by asking the beloved disciple to treat Mary as his mother, Jesus founded Marian devotion.”[2] Christ gave his Mother to humanity through the Apostle John. In the new spiritual motherhood, Mary embraces each and everyone in the Church and through the Church.

 

Indeed, “Jesus asked his beloved disciple to be devoted to his mother, to have the same love, care and respect for Mary as he himself had. That is the original meaning of the word “devotion”. ...... Devotion involves thinking about, being attentive to, caring for, spending time with.”[3]

 

The Church is a mystical body of Christ. He is the head, we are the body (Colossians 1:18). The mother of Christ is also the mother of this mystical body. “A true mother both “natures” and “nurtures” her children. Spiritually, then, Mary not only gave birth to the body of Christ,  but also continually intercedes in obtaining graces for her spiritual children, leading them to her son and to eternal salvation. .... .... .... During medieval times, the (Blessed) Virgin (Mary) was also referred to as the “neck” of the Mystical Body of Christ, for it is Mary that connects the Head and the Body in the mystical order of grace.”[4]

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OUR DAILY LIFE:

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Mother Mary cares for us. She deserves our affection and commitment. This means entrusting ourselves in love and confidence to Mary. Mary will lead us to Christ. Christ will lead us to the Father, in the Holy Spirit. Our loyalty and attachment to our Mother in the spirit shall be enriched in our private life by reciting our rosary; by praying the three Hail Marys at waking up in the morning and at retiring in the night; by consecrating/entrusting ourselves to Mary, by reading good books about Mary, by praying novenas, by making pilgrimages to places of apparitions and Marian shrines and reading the scriptures and meditating on them.

 

Let us pray together:

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Lord Jesus Christ, give us your grace to be more faithfully dedicated to the Mother you left to us. May we always be affectionately hers in a sincere and deep devotion to her!!! May she intercede for us to grow in love and unity with you, who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.  Amen.

 

Given by:

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Fr. Augustine Mugarura

 

[1]J ohn Paul II, Redemptoris Mater : On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life of the Pilgrim Church, 25 March 1987, accessed on 7th October 2017;  http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031987_redemptoris-mater.html

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[2] Ibid.

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[3] Jim McManus, All Generations Will Call Me Blessed: Mary at the Millennium (New York: The Crossroad Publ. Co., 1999), 91.

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[4] Mark Miravalle, Introduction to Mary: The Heart of Marian Doctrine and Devotion, Foreword by Edouard Cardinal Gagnon, New Revised Edition (Goleta, CA: Queenship Publ. Co., 2006), 88.