1st Sunday of Lent
Friends in Christ.
One day a while back, I was looking on-line for a priest alb – that’s the white vestment we wear under the chasuble – so I checked out some at an on-line store for priests; later that week, I was looking up the weather online, and in the advertisements to the right, there was an alb ! I was quite surprised. Speaking to someone about this, they tell me that the advertisers collect information on what you are looking at, to keep track of what interests you, so that they can tempt you with just the right product.
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Well, thinking about this, this is exactly what the devil does with us. He collects, over the years, a record of our past actions and interests; and so he knows which temptations might work on us. He has different types of temptations for different people.
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In the devil’s army, there are three groups of demons who fight on the front lines.[i] One group is composed of specialists, who tempt us with sensual desires; another group tempts us to greed; and the others are specialists in pride. These are the three leading attacks of the demons, all the others follow after these.
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Today in the Gospel, we see the temptations that Jesus underwent in the desert. Why did Jesus undergo this? He wanted to show us that we can also be victorious over the devil’s temptations.
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Christ is fasting in the desert, and so the devil tempts him: ‘turn these stones into bread,’ then you can eat all you want! He could easily do it if he wanted to. And he is soooo hungry from fasting – but instead, he shoos away the devil by saying, ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’
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So that was a sensual temptation; sensual temptations are those of the body: we wish to eat too much, gluttony; we are tempted to sexual desire or impure thoughts; laziness, lying around, oversleeping; or to drink too much, get drunk. (By the way, it is a mortal sin to get drunk [ii])
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So, sensual temptations, of the body – this is one of the 3 main types of temptation. Our Lord shows us by his example, that we should immediately shoo away such things and tell the devil to get lost! As the saints tell us, in the area of sensual temptation, the victor, – the winner – is the one who runs away. If we have an impure thought for example, we must not ponder it at all, but immediately pray, and turn our mind to something else.
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Overeating, oversleeping, wasting our time – all of this leads to many other sins, including impure sins. Christ shows us that an important way to fight sensual sins is by fasting – by eating less, which we do during Lent.
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In the 2nd temptation of Christ, the devil shows Our Lord all the kingdoms of the world; the vast wealth of the world. ‘All this can be yours,’ he says.
It is true: if Christ had wished, he could have made himself a king with any riches he wanted: diamonds, rubies, luxury palaces, beautiful clothes – Here is the temptation of greed. We are tempted to fill our heart with created things, with material things, and this is an endless program.
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If you meet people who live in the 3rd world, in poverty, you will find they are often very happy. The suicide rate among young people is very high in the US and Europe – but very low in poor countries. The more we try to fill our heart with material things, the less happy we are, they leave us empty, because what we need, is God.
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Some people are obsessed with material things; those shoes that she wants – she can’t stop thinking about them – ‘I must have them!!’ This is to make them into a god. Then we have bowed down to Satan. But this is why it is good to give up something for Lent, it strengthens us.
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The 3rd temptation of Christ is pride. ‘Then the devil led him up high, to the parapet of the temple, and said, jump off of here and have the angels save you. It will impress everyone to see this amazing event.’ Pride tempts us to show off, to think we are better than others.
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Pride can be interior, as in those who act as victims and are always seeking pity or attention; or pride can be exterior, like those who are pompous or braggarts.
You know, I don’t understand people who put a bumper sticker ’26.2’ on their car, maybe you’ve seen them. It means they’ve run a marathon, which is 26.2 miles. So, what is all this bragging about? Nothing against marathoners, but I never see bumper stickers that say ‘I earned a PhD, or I bench-pressed 500 pounds.’ It all seems rather vain.
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Garrigou-Lagrange says, we must not praise ourselves; by so doing, we soil ourselves. People praise themselves, when they think they are not sufficiently praised by others, but this makes us look ridiculous, and we lose the merit of our good actions. The antidote to pride is humility. Humility today is one of the rarest, but most beautiful virtues.
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We see therefore that there are three chief groups of demons against us, and after them follow the whole army of the Enemy with their temptations. They have studied us, and they use their methods – but as Jesus demonstrates, with his strength, united to him, we can easily conquer the Enemy.
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We are beginning Lent; we do some self-denial, we go to confession; it is the time to battle our demons and go against our weaknesses and desires. But we should do it with confidence. St. Paul tells us that if we do it with the Lord, ‘God will speedily crush Satan under our feet.’
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May the Blessed Virgin help us this Lent, to obtain many victories over the Enemy for the glory and praise of God.
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[Entrusted to the prayers of Venerable Mother Duzdik]
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[i] Philokalia, p. 38
[ii] Thomas Aquinas says: ‘To take more meat or drink than is necessary belongs to the vice of gluttony, which is not always a mortal sin, but knowingly to take too much drink to the point of being drunk, is a mortal sin. Summa theological, Q. 150 a2. Also, scripture says that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. 1 Cor 6:10
Ash Wednesday
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it…. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done…. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.’
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Friends in Christ, Judgment day will lead to two results: those saved – and those thrown into the fire. There are only two ways for us: the road to heaven, or the road to hell. The road to heaven is described as narrow; this is a path that winds through the dark woods, sometimes steep hills along mountains, not always easy.
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Many people however, choose the wide and easy road. It is easy to walk along, with pleasant views, few hills, and places to rest. But this road does not lead to the mountain top. It is sloped downward.
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Jesus says, the road that leads to destruction is wide, and many go that way. Narrow is the road that leads to life, only a few find it.
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We are all here today because we wish to stay on, or else get onto, that narrow road, that leads to life, and that is what Lent is for; a time to reassess: what road are we on? How are we going? Where are we going to?
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In reality, there are two roads that lead to hell. One road is the road of presumption. This is the road in which we say, ‘Everything is fine in life, I do what I want, I follow the crowd. It’s normal to cheat in business or live with my boyfriend or hate my neighbor – hey, everybody does it, at least I haven’t murdered anyone, God will let me into heaven.’
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This is the road of presumption, presuming on God’s mercy, and such persons are many; they will have a shock at the end of their life. As Jesus said, ‘They will knock at the door and say, ‘Lord, Lord! I’m here.’ But he will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me you evildoers into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
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Many are on that road of presumption. They never pray, happily walking on the wide path, simply following the world, without noticing that the road is always going – downhill.
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The other road to hell, is the road of despair. There are people who say, ‘I know that how I am living is wrong. What I do is sinful; but I can’t seem to stop these sins, I feel that I will probably end in hell. What’s the use?’
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These people are giving up, and have not listened to the Son of God who has come down from heaven. They have not listened to him tell, about the man who wasted his life in many great sins, and who was starving. So he says, ‘I will at least go back to my father’s estate, and see if I can be one of his servants. But actually, the father had been praying for his return. As long as this son was sorry and wanted to try to change, his Father welcomed him with great joy, and even threw a party because he had returned.
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So, the person who is walking that road to hell, who is giving up, has not listened to the Son of God, who came into the world and who has died for your sins and mine.
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As we begin Lent, the Lord is calling us to return to the true path; the path that will lead us to life. As the Lord says to us in the 1st reading: ‘return to me with your whole heart, return to the LORD, your God.’
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Today is a day of fasting and abstinence. We eat no meat, we eat less than 2 meals. On Fridays we eat no meat as a little sacrifice. We will confess our sins this Lent. But all of Lent should have a spirit of self-denial; we give up something, some good deeds, pray more.
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This is what Jesus is asking for; he is asking us to return to the narrow but safe path. It takes discipline to stay on that path. But on the narrow way, let us notice as we walk: it is always going up. That means, that we are going in the right direction.
5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Friends in Christ, I was recently at a recollection for priests, and after lunch we watched a clip from a movie that had been out recently, called ‘God is not dead.’ What happens in it is, on the first day of a college class on philosophy, a professor, who is an atheist, tells all the students to write on a sheet of paper, ‘God is dead,’ and sign it. This means, he says, that God does not exist, it was only an idea that once was in people’s minds. If they sign it, he says, they will not have to cover that subject in class, which means students will get a higher grade.
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Student after student immediately begin signing the paper; every one of them, signing their name to ‘atheism’ in order to get an easier grade; except for one young man, Josh. The teacher asks him: why haven’t you signed it? With the class looking at him, he says, ‘Because I’m a Christian.’ The teacher tries to intimidate and embarrass him, but he won’t budge; so he is told that he will then have to get up in front of the class over the next weeks, and defend the idea that there is a God. ‘However, says the professor, You will fail.’
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Friends in Christ, this was only a movie, but nevertheless, in schools and in many places, there IS intimidation of we Christians; I have heard of this even in a local high school; unbelievers will often use their position of authority to push an agenda. I showed this part of the movie to our 8th grade, and it was agreed, that in that situation, all of us would have to do what Josh did, even if it would mean a poor grade in an important class.
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I don’t know how many students would sign on to atheism in order to get a grade, but it is true that today, a large number of young people are full of doubts about their faith.
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Alexis de Tocqueville said, that people who live in a democracy resist complex ideas; we are so busy, we are most interested in that ‘things work’- results; we have little time to think about big ideas, like the meaning of life, like theology, or who is God – Modern society is about what will get results.
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And so when we see various religions out there, and big moral questions of the day – many people do not want to wrestle with learning more about their faith, or think about hard questions; we resist thinking about why Christ is different from other religious leaders – we resist thinking deeply, because this will create tension in our lifestyle and our relations with others.
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With so many things going on, it is far easier to push God out and just keep on with our romantic relationship, our entertainment, our day-to-day activities. It’s kind of interesting: little kids will sometimes admit in confession: ‘Father, I spend too much time with technology.’ But this we adults do too! We are busy with so many things, today, now; and we want to feel comfortable and ‘at home’ in this world with our activities; but God complicates that.
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To admit God into our heart means that we have to re-think whether I am living according to His will; it would mean that we would have to sometimes be unpopular, or take a stand, like the student in the movie. If we considered ourself a Christian, we would stand out, and this would be uncomfortable; we would have to take time away from the things we enjoy – to pray; and finally, by pushing God from our mind, we avoid being reminded that our true home is in the next life, not this life; we wish to avoid facing the fact that this life will end, just as it has for every other person. ‘Well, we say, it’s just a lot easier to live without God.’
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Friends, we can play this mind-game that so many are playing; rationalizing, busying ourselves so much in order to keep those inconvenient ideas of God far away. But unfortunately, a voice continues to speak from inside. We try to push that voice out, but the voice keeps prodding us. That voice is Jesus. That voice still loves us, and is calling.
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It is no coincidence that among many young people there is a despair – a despair of finding real happiness. It is directly related to this distancing of ourselves from God.
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We see in the gospel today, these fishermen who were going about their lives – their work was their life.
Then they encounter this Man, who is speaking differently than others; there is something about him;
out of nowhere he says, ‘Go out and try for a catch of fish.’
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Now these guys had fished all night, with no luck at all;
and they were fishermen, they knew that the worst time to fish is during the daytime.
But they did go out. And what a catch they made! Nets were jammed, they were breaking, they needed help from other fishermen.
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Peter sees this. Only God could do this.
Only God could call those fish from all over the lake, to be in that place, for the net to fall on them; Peter senses God’s presence in Jesus, there before him.
What is his reaction?
He falls down on his knees, ‘Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.’
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Friends, our faith cannot come alive – we cannot encounter the Living God and see how he will change our life into joy – without humility and an admission of our sinfulness and our need for the Lord.
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This Wednesday we will begin the season of Lent. These weeks will be a time for us to seek that voice of God who even we ourselves have sometimes stifled. Lent is a time to say ‘no’ to the distractions and to ‘gods’ that have taken over our heart. But really, Lent is a time to find God.
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How do we find him? Like St. Peter; like so many sinners who met Christ: on our knees; we must have humility, we must admit that we are sinners. When we recognize our littleness, then our eyes will see God’s greatness and his goodness.
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May the Blessed Virgin guide us in these days ahead; Mary, pray for us, that this Lent, we will find the great treasure: the joy of following Jesus Christ.
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[Entrusted to the prayers of St. Alphonsus]
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. Agatha.
St. Agatha was a Christian young woman who lived in Palermo, Sicily; at age 15, a very pretty young lady, many sought her hand in marriage. The Roman Proconsul Quintianus desired Agatha for himself, but she rejected his advances. As a result she was charged with being a Christian and brought before his tribunal. .
She was ordered to deny her faith, but she would not. To make her change her mind, she was placed for one month in a brothel with other women who pressured Agatha to give up her chastity. After 30 days of this she was again interrogated by Quintianus; but she told him: ‘true liberty is to be a servant of Jesus Christ.’ He then had her stretched on the rack, her flesh torn with iron hooks and her skin burned with torches. Yet throughout these sufferings she maintained a heavenly cheerfulness.
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Quintianus became outraged; he then went so far as to have her breasts cut off. She rebuked him for his barbarism: “Godless tyrant, are you not ashamed to despoil a woman of that by which your own mother nursed you?” For this she was thrown into prison.
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That night, there appeared to her a venerable old man, the apostle Peter, who came and healed her. Thanking God she said: ‘I give you praise O Lord, because by your apostle you have restored my breasts”.
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Not impressed by the miraculous healings, the governor had her rolled over hot coals and sharp pieces of glass. As she was dying she said: O Lord, good Master, I give You thanks that You have given me patience to suffer, and have granted me victory. May I now dwell happily in Your never-ending glory.
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It is said that a young man in beautiful garments, along with a hundred youths in white, came and placed a plaque at her grave and then vanished from sight. It was the year 251 AD. The name of St. Agatha is still honored in Eucharistic Prayer I to this day. She is the patron saint of nurses, and of those with breast cancer.
Friends in Christ, we see in the gospel today that Jesus is training his first priests; he sends the apostles out to anoint the sick with oil. Later, in the Epistle of St. James, it says ‘if anyone is sick, call for the priests to anoint the person with oil.’ Here is the sacrament we call the anointing of the sick.
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What is the purpose of anointing of the sick? Many people have the mistaken opinion that the anointing is to cure the person of sickness. This sometimes does happen, but the sacrament is for a far more important thing than physical healing. Presuming the person is receptive, supernatural grace is imparted to the soul for the purpose of helping them to carry their suffering – to help them be like Christ. While I HAVE seen some amazing bodily healings, the most important is spiritual healing.
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People can become discouraged in their suffering; they can’t see the point of their pain, and they are perhaps bitter. Then comes the anointing of the sick. Many times, one will see either immediately or over the next days a different attitude. The person comes to realize that they are carrying a cross, like Jesus, or the martyrs. Sometimes, for the first time in their life, they realize they can offer their body and pain and discomfort for the salvation of their family and the world.
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The power of anointing of the sick often changes despair into hope. It’s a supernatural change in the soul. Sometimes a person’s most difficult time in old age can be, in God’s eyes, their finest hours; a new time of courage and hope. One man said that he kind of felt guilty that he only sought pleasure in life, but now that he has some pain and trouble, he finally has something he can really offer to God.
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If anointing of the sick is given near death, it drives away the fear of death and brings a peaceful acceptance of the will of God, of His plan. The heart can suddenly feel a joy in thinking of heaven. Healings of the body can happen only if this is better for the soul. But for many people, they are holier when they are sick – for some, it’s the first time in decades that they are no longer plagued with impure thoughts. So healing of the body could be undesirable in regard to their salvation.
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Finally, at the approach of death, anointing of the sick purifies the last traces of sin, and even forgiven sins if the person was not able to confess. So if a person is quite sick or frail, the priest should be called so they can be anointed, and we should avail of ourselves of this sacrament in any serious illness.
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If a person is dying, absolutely call the priest to hear their confession, anoint, and give the apostolic blessing, preferably before they lose consciousness.
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Ideally the last sacrament is the reception of Holy Communion, for the journey to the new world, but often this is not possible due to the illness.
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We also must beware of some protestants who are trying to imitate the Catholic Church, who come around in hospitals and so-call “anoint” people; this is not a sacrament. Instead, call a priest.
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Jesus gave the sacraments to us for a reason: so let’s make use of them.
Beloved in Jesus Christ,
Today we celebrate the Presentation of Our Lord, also called Candlemass. This is called Candlemass, because we bless candles today. Now the lighted candle represents Jesus, the Light of the world. When we hold the candle, as we walked in our procession, we should think of holding the Child Jesus.
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At the time of Christ, there was living in Jerusalem an old man whose name was Simeon. he had longed for years, to see the Messiah. The Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would not die without first seeing that LIGHT which was to come into the world, Jesus. As Mary and Joseph went into the Temple, Simeon felt within himself a strong impulse of the Holy Spirit: he left his house, and walked quickly towards the Temple, forgetting his old age. Arriving there, he recognizes the Virgin Mother that he had so often read about in Isaiah, and so he presses through the crowd to the Child that she is holding in her arms.
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Mary knows what to do: she places her child in the old man’s arms. He says: “Now O Lord, you may dismiss your servant in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation; a Light to enlighten the Gentiles, and give glory to thy people Israel.’
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You know, priests and religious pray the Liturgy of the Hours daily, and many lay people often pray these prayers every day. The last prayer of the day, before bed, is this one from Simeon: ‘Now Lord, you may dismiss your servant in peace.’ Simeon says this prayer at the end of his life, thankful that he has seen salvation come in Christ, the light of the world.
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My grandmother had in her home a lovely picture of the Child Jesus. We loved to look at it. When I think of grandma, I think of this image of Christ. Painted by Charles Chambers, this painting is called, ‘The Light of the World.’
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Well, Jesus is the Light of the World.
St. Anselm says, that the candle is an appropriate symbol of Christ: The wax represents the Flesh of the Savior, the wick which is within, is his Soul, and the flame, is his burning Divinity.
More than ever, the world needs this Light. When we see a candle, let us think of the burning love of Jesus and never let this light go out in our hearts.
Friends in Christ, in reading through the Old Testament, you will read there about the great Patriarch Jacob, and there were two important events that happened to him. One was, that a Jacob met what seemed to be a man who wrestled with him, but he said, ‘You have wrestled with God and man.’ It was a mysterious event, but many believe this was a foreshadowing of Christ.
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The other event that happened to Jacob, is that one night he had a dream of a stairway or a ladder that reached up to heaven; angels were ascending and descending this stairway. It was a connection between heaven and earth. That is where we get the idea of ‘Stairway to heaven.’ It is also called a ‘ladder,’ as in ‘Jacob’s Ladder.’
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But on this Saturday of Our Blessed Mother, I thought we could take for our meditation today, some thoughts from St. John Damascene[i] on these events. Speaking to Mary he says, ‘Mary, you are that ladder by which God comes down to us, assuming the weakness of our nature.’
‘If Jacob’s wrestling with a God-Man symbolizes Jesus, then he says, the Ladder symbolizes Mary, by means of which God comes down to earth.
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He writes: ‘Through her, the long warfare waged with the Creator has been ended. Grace and peace were granted to us, so that men and angels are united in the same choir, and we have become sons of God. Mary became Mediatrix of all blessings, and in her, God became man, and man became God.’
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There are many signs of Mary in the Old Testament; she is the Woman who will crush the head of the serpent; she is Jael and Judith who defeated the enemies of the People of God. John Damascene back in the year 750 believed that Jacob’s Ladder anticipates this Divine Mother by whom heaven will come down to earth, that is, Jesus.
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This Mother wishes always to bring Jesus down to us, we must only turn from our foolish sins, begin again, and put ourselves under her Motherly protection. St. John Damascene speaks for us when he says: ‘What is sweeter than the mother of my God? She has taken my mind captive; she has taken possession of my heart; she is on my mind day and night.
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[i] Mary and the Fathers of the Church, p. 405-8
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Although St. Thomas lived 800 years ago, his books are the most important of all theology. In his short life, he wrote over 60 different works, such as the great Summa Theologica.
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Historians now know something of how his writings were composed: A group of 3 or 4 secretaries (usually monks), would take down what he said in a kind of short-hand. Sometimes Thomas would write down his thoughts first, and then proceed to read this aloud, as the secretaries wrote. When one secretary tired, another took over. It seems however that later on, and in the case of his major works, he never wrote anything down beforehand, but that they came straight from his remarkable memory.
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There is related a story that shows how he operated: Thomas had been invited to a large dinner in honor of King Louis XI; they seated Thomas right next to the king; but during all of the festivities, Thomas’ mind was elsewhere; he was pondering a theology question, a challenge posed by a heretical group called the Manichees. Suddenly, during the gaiety of the dinner, he struck his hand on the table, saying: ‘Yes! that will settle it with the Manichees!’ He immediately called for his secretary to write it down – as if he were still back in the monastery.
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On another occasion, when he was trying to write his commentary on Isaiah, Thomas became puzzled for days over a certain text. One night, he stayed up late to pray extra, and his secretary overheard him speaking with other persons in his cell. Then Thomas called for his secretary: “Reginald, my son, bring a light and the commentary on Isaiah; I want you to write.’ As Reginald wrote, the ideas were so clear from Thomas, that it was as if he were reading from a book. He pressured St. Thomas to tell him, who were the voices in his room? Thomas finally replied that St. Peter and Paul had been sent to him, “and they told me what I desired to know.”
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Research seems to show that the entire Summa Theologica was composed mentally and dictated from memory. It is said that when St. Thomas dictated it was “as if a great torrent of truth were pouring into him from God, as his memory simply gave out its treasures. “When perplexed by a difficulty he would kneel and pray; and then his thought would be clear again.
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One of his secretaries, named Evan, told how Thomas would sometimes sit down to rest from the work of dictating; falling asleep, he would continue to dictate – in his sleep – and Evan would continue to write….
Friends in Christ, today we celebrate the Conversion of St. Paul.
In St. Paul, we find a man who was well-educated, having gone to the great school of Gamaliel. By the time he finished Pharisee school, he was part of the effort to stop Christians. Scripture says that he was ‘breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord.’ He would go house to house, dragging out Christians and shipping them off in chains to Jerusalem. It was St. Paul who oversaw the stoning of Stephen and he was very pleased about it.
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We think of such a man, who had such great stature and education, and yet, who had become an arch-enemy of Christ? But we should not be scandalized by this. There is an expression, ‘but for the grace of God, there go I.’ It means that each of us is also capable of doing great evil. And who knows, if we were in the circumstances of others, if God had not blessed us so much with grace, perhaps we would be just as bad.
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So what can we learn from St. Paul? One thing is, we can learn how our past sins – and we have them – we can see how our past sins can actually help us to love God more. When we think of our past sins, and then we think of how God has never given up on us, but has kept seeking and forgiving us – well – it makes us love him all the more.
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Seeing God’s mercy in our life, being full of gratitude, his allowing us to begin again and be forgiven – this makes us want to do anything for him. And this is what happened to St. Paul. Much was forgiven him, and so he poured himself out for Christ.
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One year I traveled the path of St. Paul with seminarians. From Antioch to Tarsus. Through Galatia, Pisidia, and Colossea; to Miletus, Troas, Philipi, Athens and Corinth and to Rome where Paul was martyred. This is rugged travel. We did it by car on good roads, St. Paul did it 2000 years ago! Traveling to bring the gospel up steep cliffs, through rain, cold, and dangers.
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St. Paul did this for Christ, because of gratitude. Because he had been forgiven so much. St. Paul says: 3 times I was whipped, once I was stoned, 3 times shipwrecked. Sleepless nights, hunger and thirst and constant anxiety for the Lord’s Church. Here is a man who had much to make up for, but because of God’s mercy, he went to the ends of the earth.
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Jesus once said, he who is forgiven much, loves much. We therefore should love Him with all our heart, because Lord knows, we have been forgiven much.
Friends in Christ, today is a Saturday of Our Lady, and so I thought today we could consider something that Adrienne von Speyr mentions in her book about Mary.
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During the past Christmas season, we reflected on that encounter between Mary and the angel Gabriel; Mary responded with an expression of humility: ‘I am the maidservant of the Lord, may it be done unto me according to Thy word.’ Adrienne Von Speyr says, Mary places herself at the service of God. She does not put any limitations on this service.
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Part of her obedience to the Lord will be in the daily matters of the household, her work in the home of Joseph, and all the dealings with relatives and neighbors. The Blessed Virgin makes no distinctions between her service owed to heaven and that of doing God’s will on earth; love of God and love of neighbor merge into ‘one love of God;’ really, she is now carrying heaven within herself: Jesus.
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In fancy homes where they have servants or maids, the owner of the house first shows her all the rooms and chests; the linens and the washing, the stove and so on. Once she is able to understand the home and her duties, in a sense, she knows her employer’s thoughts and wishes, and she wants to carry them out.
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Mary is this way, because she has come to know the thoughts and priorities of her Son, and so she gives of herself in his service. It is true, most maids or house servants only work a limited schedule with limited responsibilities; but Mary’s service to her Son is total and unlimited; she knows that she must be flexible as she serves her Son’s changing needs.
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For example, the desires of her Son Jesus change according to his age; in his Infancy, she tended to his little, physical needs. When Christ lived his public life, Mary served one way, at the Cross another, and in the early Church she tended to the Apostles and the concerns of her Lord’s early followers.
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But in these days, Mary’s service concerns her with the Living Body of Christ, with us; but this is not just in some general way, but in the particulars, with each individual disciple of Jesus.
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When we are little, we take for granted the service of our dear mothers, who mend our socks and wipe our face and make good food. Sometimes, when we are older, we are able to appreciate our mother, and we see how, in all those little acts of service – how she has won our heart.
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Mary is like that, serving us and concerning herself with the details of our life. And that is why we can never love and honor her enough.
