Friends in Christ,[i] today is a Saturday of our Lady, and this dear Blessed Virgin can easily come to mind as we read the gospel today. 3 times Our Lord says, ‘Don’t worry.’ ‘“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life.’ Later he says, ‘So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ And then again: ‘Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
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People often worry because they are afraid that God won’t arrange things to be the way they want them to be; they worry that something difficult, painful, or unwanted might come. But we know that we must put ourself in the hands of God, and accept his will whether it be easy or difficult.
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But it can also help us to realize that we have a Mother above, who is very solicitous for us, Mary wants to help us, just like a good mother does. I was speaking to a mother recently, asking her about her adult children. She told me about them. I said, ‘did you not also say you had a son in California?’ ‘Yes, she said. He is the one that causes all my worries.
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Our Mother Mary is not filled with worries, but with a real concern and a readiness to help us. Now you may say, ‘perhaps Mary does not see, or does not feel for our necessities? Oh, she does. St. Antoninus says, there is not one among all the saints who can ever feel for us in our troubles, both bodily and spiritual, like this woman, the most Blessed Virgin, so much so, he says, that when she sees our suffering heart, she cannot do otherwise than instantly fly to relieve it with her compassion.
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The Emperor Titus so much wanted to show assistance and mercy to those who came to him, that when a day passed without being able to grant a favor, he used to say, ‘I have lost a day, for I have spent it without benefiting anyone.’ But Mary is greater than a pagan emperor; her heart would be all sorrow, if a day should pass when she cannot obtain some favor for us to help us. Bernadine de Bustis therefore says, whenever we go to Her, we always find her hands full of mercy and generosity.
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