On the Feast of Our Lady of Rosary 7/10/2020

   

  I have two soft spots among all the teachings of the Catholic Church. The first would be Our Lady, Mother Mary and the second would be the religious sisters. 

    When I think about Mother Mary, my mind will be thinking of her gentleness, her meekness, her humbleness, total surrender to God's will and her powerful 'fiat', her 'yes' to the salvation of the world. She is my advocate when I feel that I am far away from God. She is my consoler when I cannot feel consolation from God, she is my helper when I am confused in my relationship with Jesus. 

    In Bishop Barron's video about Mary that I watched today, Bishop Barron emphasised that she is not a sentimental figure in the bible but a perfect disciple to Our Lord. She is always haste in responding to the will of God. I quote "She (Mary) moves through the history of salvation with this kind of courage and simplicity, She is the new Israel that follows the Divine Word."

 "Mary's whole being is ordered to the glorification of God, her ego wants nothing for herself. It wants only to be an occasion for giving honour to God. As we have seen, God needs nothing, whatever glory Mary gives to Him returns to herself. So, she is magnified in the very act of magnifying Him." - Bishop Barron.

    She is, most important of all (for me personally), so beautiful. 

    Her maternal love flows with her every actions and word. All she ever wanted is to please God, please her Son.

    Many would say that Catholics are too Mary-obsessed that we give too much glory to Mary. But if we look into the Gospel (Luke 1:39) when Elizabeth praised Mary, Mary in her word prayed the prayer of the "Magnificat". The simple praises lines by Elizabeth has been transformed by Mary into a 100 fold higher praise not for herself but to God. Mary, due to her Immaculate Conception, does not want any glory for herself but she freely chooses God's way to gives the greatest possible glory to God. God in return give her back the glory, which is why she is always illumined with love and gentleness. In another word, there is no such thing as giving too much glory to Mary because when we praise her, she will praise God a 100 fold higher glory.

    Venerable Fulton Sheen said that Mary is like the moon reflecting the light of a greater source which is God himself. 

    Due to my pilgrimage to Lourdes, France two years ago, the experience that I had was supernatural, I was at peace and stillness. The peace that I never experience before and the peace that I always longed for. I am convinced that that was the evidence that it was grace from Jesus through Mary. After that, I could not ever doubt the power of Mary, the power of her maternal love, her powerful role in the salvation story. 

    Yes, Mary is not God but she is definitely very very special in God's eyes and God chooses her to do His will, He willed that we the children of His will gained graces through Jesus and through Mary. Yes, God chooses to act through the obedience of a human being. He is mysteries and He will always be a beautiful and magnificent mystery. As Jesus is the new Adam, Mary is the new Eve, through her obedience, reverse the disobedience of the first Eve. 

    Let me end this reflection with one of my favourite bible verses, Luke 1:38 " I am the handmaid of the Lord, Let it be done unto me according to your word." 

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. We consecrate our lives to you.

God bless, pray for me.

Regards,

Jessica 

@ Christ The King, Plymouth.