This weekend KJ preached on Mary and her importance. I have thought of Mary as a mother and greatly appreciated her; today I venerated her.
The wonderful thing is that I finally understand what the big deal is!
Mary gets it. She had a choice to be crucified, to be the forerunner, to create a path for us to also follow in and she chose it.
I am so grateful for her response. And, I finally understand why Catholics pray to her. Of all the saints, Mary chose to go through agony all the days of her life from the time the angel appeared to her. And, she obeyed! She obeyed although it was so difficult. We see inklings of her humanity in the Gospels-Jesus running away to the temple as a child, her sending her children to get Jesus while he is preaching, and finally, Jesus asking John to take care of his mother as a son.
However, unlike the other saints, or big names of the Bible, we do not see her fall into temptation (David, Abraham, Peter, Paul's past). In Mary we have the pure in heart. In Mary I have a role model. In Mary we have a human image of the Feminine Divine.
In some ways, I am grateful to Catholics for glorifying her; she is great. Part of me wants to pray to her for help; I mean if anyone would understand, wouldn't she?
My hope is that I will be able to emulate her path and her willingness with the help of God and her encouragement. Blessed mother of God.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
2 comments:
Well, I just typed a long comment and then lost it. Bummer. I'll try to repeat, but I'm not sure . . .
Thanks, Yendra! I had similar thoughts today, as well. I am particularly moved by Mary's response to the burden, something like: "May it be to me as you have spoken." And, "My soul does magnify the Lord." I long to respond to God and my calling, as trivial as it may seem in comparison, in the same way. The way this young mother carries the weight of her calling is beautifully inspired. It is common to the bittersweetness of all motherhood, and yet unique in powerful ways.
I wish you would share your thoughts more often. Beautiful.
Yeng, I really love this. Would love to hear more about your thoughts on the "Feminine Divine", etc. You are an excellent writer and I treasure getting to hear about what's going on in your soul.
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