O Virgin
Mary, grant that the recitation of thy Rosary may be for me each day, in the
midst of my manifold duties, a bond of unity in my actions, a tribute of filial
piety, a sweet refreshment, an encouragement to walk joyfully along the path of
duty. Grant, above all, O Virgin Mary, that the study of thy twenty mysteries
may form in my soul, little by little, a luminous atmosphere, pure,
strengthening, and fragrant, which may penetrate my understanding, my will, my
heart, my memory, my imagination, my whole being. So shall I acquire the habit
of praying while I work, without the aid of formal prayers, by interior acts of
admiration and of supplication, or by aspirations of love. I ask this of thee,
O Queen of the Holy Rosary, through Saint Dominic, thy son of predilection, the
renowned preacher of thy mysteries, and the faithful imitator of thy virtues.
Amen
Reflection
Happy Birthday, Mary!
The Birth of Mary is a simple fact of her life. Turning
our thoughts to it, we are able to recall the Immaculate Conception, Mary
conceived without sin.
For the past few days, knowing that this feast day was coming
up, I’ve been trying to picture Mary as a little girl about my granddaughter Lily’s
age.
For instance, Lily has been showing a pretty strong (contrary) will of her
own lately; testing the boundaries of her Mommy’s and Mar Mar’s patience. I wonder if Mary ever tried the patience of
St. Joachim and St. Anne. I doubt
it. My sense of humor being what it is,
I just this second thought of the ditty, “Mary, Mary, quite contrary!" While I’m sure it was not written with Mother
Mary in mind, I still think it was funny that I thought of it. I digress.
God's plan for Mary is on our minds today. But, at her
birth, this was all in the shadows. For many people the meaning of the Blessed
Virgin Mary is still in the shadows.
I was listening to “The Best of Mother Angelica Live”
this morning on the radio, and a (then) 6-year-old child called in to ask her, “How
come God chose Mary to be the Mother of God?” Mother Angelica explained it
quite well (better than I could have, that’s for sure!) and the kid apparently
was satisfied, because there was no follow-up.
What she explained was that God did not “choose” Mary; rather, He
created her for the sole purpose of bearing Jesus and He loved her so much He
even gave her the free will to say “no”!
Of course, since she was “full of grace”, and quite well instructed in
Scripture, she knew in her heart that her “yes” would be the greatest way to
thank Him for His wonderful gift of life to her, and for His gift of salvation to all of mankind, and so—in her love for Him—she
assented to become the bride of the Holy Spirit.
We have to reflect on what is God's work, her vocation,
and the consequence of her "fiat." Then, led by faith the Blessed
Virgin Mary is a glory and splendor of God at work.
The Church's prayer on her birthday, "The birth of
the Virgin Mary's Son was the dawn of our salvation," leads us to Jesus,
the fruit of the womb of the Holy Mother.
Micah speaks of this dawn of salvation and the instrument
of God's will by prophesying, "Until the time when she who is to give
birth has borne." This fulfills the place of Bethlehem in salvation
history. It is a sign that restoration of the Kingdom will occur and the
Shepherd will care for the flock. "He shall be their peace."
On this birthday feast of Our Blessed Mother, may the
peace of her Son, Jesus Christ be with you all.
No comments:
Post a Comment