Exploring the depth of our prayers
Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me — Mark 9:37
Our Blessed Mother Mary received her child, Jesus. And she is the one who helps us to know Him and join our will with His.
The way I originally read Hail Holy Queen is that we ask Mary to do this after our death, after our “exile.” But …
Our mother Mary is most amazing because of her purity of heart. The image I have is that, for her, saying “yes” to God was not really a hard decision at all.
Because her heart was focused on her Lord.
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” — Luke 1:38
Today is a powerfully Catholic celebration: The Crowning of Our Queen.
Being raised Protestant, this kind of thing struck me as extremely weird. Also, as an American, we have mixed feelings about using titles of royalty. A king or queen is fine … but not here.
But this concept is more Biblically based than I thought, even though a specific event is never mentioned. Continue reading “The Coronation of Mary”
Today we have the wonderful celebration of the Assumption of our Blessed Virgin Mary.
It’s not directly in the Bible, of course, although there amazing images in the book of Revelation which indicates that Mary is present in Heaven, is powerful, and using that power on our behalf.
Battling the Prince of Darkness.
Today is the solemnity of the nativity of St John the Baptist. Which gets me thinking about the journey that our Holy Mother had during her pregnancy.
Can you possibly imagine the trail of wondrous miracles she experienced during those nine months? From the Annunciation, to the visitation of Elizabeth, and so on.
Luke 2:19 But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.
Our readings today reinforce the message that we’re all in this together.
It’s a particularly counter-cultural thought, because our country does its best to celebrate individual accomplishment, independence, and self-sufficiency. Which is all good, I suppose, but the fact is that God created us as society, not just a billion random beings on a planet.
I was talking with a guy recently who is writing a book about becoming an elder. Continue reading “Us”
There’s no question that our Blessed Mother is holy.
Actually, I was a bit puzzled about this when I converted to Catholicism. I guess I’d assumed that the word “holy” was the same as “divine.” Godly. Not of this world, but of heaven.
What I’ve learned is that holiness is something that each of us – every person – is called to be. And can achieve.
I’ve been doing an interesting little experiment lately.
I try changing the prayers from talking about us/we/our to instead talk about I/me/my. It’s just an experiment, to help me see how it feels.
There’s a fascinating result: It feels like I’m taking more ownership and accountability for my relationship with God, Jesus, and Mary.
We rely on God’s love and mercy every moment of every day. And boy, do we need it!
But mercy isn’t exclusive to God, as we find in a couple of our prayers.
We name Mary as mother of mercy, which can mean two things. First, she’s the mother of Jesus, and Jesus embodies mercy in action. And second, we honor Mary’s role in heaven as a pathway to receiving mercy from God and the Son.
Growing up, I learned the version of the Lord’s Prayer that you see to the right. When I joined the Catholic Church in 1985, I first learned the Hail Mary and many other prayers based on the traditional language.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
I guess I just assumed that this was my “church language”, kind of like dressing up for Mass.
It seemed respectful and appropriate. Formal.