Mother, May I?

After three years of journey with Mary through the chosen themes of the Couples for Christ community (Magnificat, Wedding at Cana, Behold & Ponder) one has to simply ask, "Why Mary?"

I must admit that before last year I never really acknowledged her that much. I began my journey back to the Church in 2012 and throughout that time God revealed one consistent thing: roses. My understanding of what He meant back then was completely different. If I was just entering the streams of the Water of Life, I bothered with nothing else but to simply wade in the shallow waters. It was easier to secure my safety by staying at a place that I could easily get myself out of, lest I drown.

But alas, the Lord's love for me is so immense that in order for me to fully realize that very truth, I had to swim further into the depths. He wasn't asking me to just swim, he was asking me to dive deeper and deeper. It hasn't been an easy journey and it still isn't an easy journey.

Which brings me back to Mary. There's just something about her. Her strength was in silence, her joy anchored in the sorrows of her crucified Son. All that she was- a stark contrast to what the world then and the world know accepts as truth. The blues of her cloak subtle but powerful against the monochromatic synchronicities of life as we know it.

Her Virtues:

• Ardent Charity: Love for God, her drive behind all decision making
• Profound humility: Never forgetting who she was before God
• Universal Mortification: Laying down her life and will 24/7
• Constant Mental Prayer: Aware of God's constant presence
• Blind Obedience: Following God without counting cost
• Divine Wisdom: Always asking the Holy Spirit to guide her 
• Surpassing Purity: Maintaining a clean heart and unstained from sin
• Angelic Sweetness: Radiating peace and joy from the heart
• Lively Faith: Seeking God's will and never settling for complacency
• Heroic Patience: Trusting God and never losing faith that His plans are greater

When we look at a disaster zone (flood, tornado, typhoons, etc.) We always seem to look at the surrounding areas. When we realize everything around it is just as destroyed, our hearts become heavy. But, if you look up at the sky it always gives off some sort of light- whether from the sun or the moon, there is always the promise of a new day. Like Mary, there is always the promise of a Saviour born- Jesus Christ, the Light of the World.

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What seemingly was just a reminder of my patron saint, St. Therese and the guidance of another saintly friend, St. Rita grew to be something more grand and elaborate. The Lord has revealed, is revealing and will hopefully continue to reveal roses to me so that I never forget to turn to His mother, Mary. It is a reminder to Behold & Ponder. A promise that carries with it a brighter tomorrow, a life eternal. Mary after all, is the Mystical Rose.

Queen of the Holy ROSE-ary.

I pray that I may slowly adapt her virtues, so that I can continue to be an effective evangelizer of Christ and in some way a lampstand that helps to share the Light to those in darkness.

One day, urged I think by the Holy Spirit, I went to church, and with my heart full of trust, I asked: "Why did you wish to remain on earth, on every point of the earth, in the most sweet Eucharist, and you have not found, you who are God, also a way to bring and to leave here Mary, the mother of all of us who journey?"

And from the tabernacle, in the silence he seemed to reply: "I have not left her because I want to see her again in you. Even if you are not immaculte, my love will virginize you, and you, all of you, will open your arms and hearts as mothers of humanity, which, as in times past, thirsts for God and for his mother."- Chiara Lubich (No thorn without a Rose)