You became not only the Mother of the Redeemer, but the Mother of the redeemed as well. We come to you today as your loving children. Watch over us and take care of us. As you held the child Jesus in your loving arms, so take us in your arms. Be a Mother ready at every moment to help us. For God who is mighty has done great things for you, and His mercy is from age to age on those who love Him. Our greatest fear is that in time of temptation, we may fail to call out to you, and become lost children. Intercede for us, dear Mother, in obtaining pardon for our sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace always to call upon you, Mother of Perpetual Help.
Amen.
Meditation
Mom and I were looking through some of her CDs and other things stored in an ottoman in her living room. One of the items I found was a notebook that had belonged to my brother Tom. All of his papers have long since been removed, but I found about 10 pages of a journal that Mom had started about her life’s story. She has told some of it on her own blog, but there is some new stuff that the family might find interesting, so I have volunteered to “type it up” (does anyone “type” anymore? I’m dating myself!), then get it out to the family. One of the tidbits that she wrote caught my eye—primarily since it was written in the margin—was one she told me about before, but I had forgotten: “At my Baptism, I was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and until I was two years old, I wore only blue and white!”
I thought that would be a good topic for a blog entry on its own. Then, when playing with Lily tonight, she was putting my shoes on her feet and I would grab at them and remove them, saying, “THOSE ARE MY SHOES!” and she and I would laugh and do it all over again. When we put her to bed, I started reading the bible passages for tomorrow and when I read Acts 13:25 (see also Mark 1:7) it made me ponder;
Is anyone worthy to unfasten the sandals of Christ?
This question brought to mind a story I heard somewhere about the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She is pictured holding the baby Jesus in her arms. One of His tiny feet is bare, while the other has a dangling sandal that has been unfastened but not quite removed from His little foot. If anyone is worthy to unfasten the sandals of the feet of the Son of God, it is Mary, his mother.
She was specially prepared by God, through her immaculate conception, to be sinless, and therefore worthy to bear God's Son. Although she was without sin, at the same time, Mary was completely human. So, like any human mother, she cared for her little baby.
Just think! Mary put on and took off Jesus' little sandals. She probably unfastened them every day. God had prepared her to be worthy of that little task, and so many others. She did all the things a mother does for her baby. Except this baby was God—The Son of God, as well as her own human son.
Meditating on Jesus' tiny sandal pictured with Our Lady of Perpetual Help may be an appropriate digression from Paul’s discourse in Acts that I read tonight, since this is the month of May, traditionally devoted to honoring and understanding Mary. And understanding Mary is well worth doing. Because when Mary's role is clear, Christ's role is clear also. Mary always points us to her Son.
Mother of Perpetual Help, you have been blessed and favored by God.
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