Following Mary to Jesus

I love our Mother Mary. She is such a beautiful example for us to follow to grow in faith and love of Jesus. In fact, her every action shows us how to have faith, how to follow her Son and how to love Him more and more.

When the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and told her she would be the Mother of God, even though she didn't quite understand, she said to him, “Be it done to me according to thy word”. In other words, if that is what God is asking, I will do it. That is exactly what we should all be doing. She encourages us to do just that at the wedding in Cana when she says to the stewards, “Do whatever He tells you”. She isn't just talking to the stewards, she is talking to all of us. Imagine life if we all did what Jesus asked of us.

She followed Jesus, even to the cross. That was a cross for her as well. Imagine being there and watching your child suffer and being unable to do anything about it. The pain she must have suffered seeing Him give up His life for people who will mock Him, sin against Him and even deny His existence.

She carried Him in her womb for 9 months and when she gave birth to Him, she and Joseph soon had to flee because Herod wanted Him dead. They protected Him by fleeing to Egypt. We are called to protect Jesus as well; from our own sins and the sins and blasphemies of others. To protect Him from those who, even today, would like to see Him dead. We are called to do whatever we can to keep Him alive.

Mary carried Him in her womb for 9 months and then gave birth to Him, bringing Him into the world; not just for that generation, but for all generations to come until the end of time. She had the unique ability to give Him to everyone who desires Him. We have the ability and duty to keep Him alive generation after generation. To give Him to those in our lives, everyone we come in contact with and we can do it by following Mary's example. She carried Him within her body for 9 months, we carry Him in our bodies after receiving Holy Communion for about 15 minutes (every time we receive, so the more we receive Him in Holy Communion, the more we carry Him within us).

Mary didn't give birth and remain unchanged, she lived His teachings. She followed Him. Even today she is an example to us — showing us how to share her Son with others. When we receive Holy Communion, we should be transformed. We should be living more and more Christlike. We should be sharing the gospel with our lives, in what we do and say. Our actions will speak louder than our words. Are you living the gospel? Are you keeping Jesus alive for this generation?

Are you following Mary's example of carrying Jesus to the generations?

Today, live the way Mary teaches and tell God that you will allow His will to be done within you and that you will do whatever He tells you.

Holding the Baby Jesus

I have been praying the rosary and meditating on holding the baby Jesus. I do this as I pray the Nativity, but this is spending 5 decades on the same meditation and so I have been trying to keep myself open as the baby Jesus rests close to my heart.

At first, I just relished holding Him close and loving Him. This new little life completely dependent on others for everything, just like all babies are, except this is God. Our Lord, who humbled Himself so He could be dependent upon us, to experience life as we do.

He also needs to be taken care of, cherished, nourished and protected. Protected from what? How am I called to protect this child and who do I think I am that I can protect Him?

Then I remember my sins and that He died on the cross to save me. I need to protect Him from my sins — I need to protect Him from me! This hurts, because I am not sinless. The only way I can keep from sinning is to turn to Him in all things and even then He must come to my rescue in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Oh thank you Jesus for that most beautiful sacrament. I shudder to think where I'd be without it.

The blasphemies, the non-believers and even worse, those who have turned their backs on Him. I cannot protect Him from these things. I can't protect Him from the pain and agony we cause one another either, knowing that what we do unto the least of our brethren, we do unto Him. For that, all I can offer is prayer, fasting and penance to atone. This is the best protection I can offer and truthfully, I have to rely on Him to help me do these things.

Another image came to me as well as I held the beautiful Christ child close to my heart. I need Him more than He needs me, even at His most vulnerable. I need Him to protect and love me and guide me in all things. So in turn, as I continued to hold this babe close to my heart, I rested my head against His most Sacred Heart as He held me close. Peace.

He holds us close to His heart, just as we should hold Him close to our hearts. Our hearts should beat as one. Everything He asks of us, we can rely upon Him to help us with. We are not alone and we should not leave Him alone. As we hold Him close to our hearts and care for Him (through prayer, fasting, penance, evangelization, etc.), He holds us ever closer to His heart and cares for us in all things.

As Christmas nears, anticipate holding this beautiful Babe, this overly generous Savior. Hold Him close to your heart and do not let go. Plan to spend every moment with Him here on earth so you can be with Him eternally in the next life.

May the peace and love of Christ be with you now and forever.

Love and Mercy

God is love. But did you know that Mercy is Love's second name? It is incomprehensible how much God loves us and it is because of that love that we experience not just His mercy, but live it. It's not what we deserve, but what He freely chooses to give us.

When Adam and Eve sinned they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, thus receiving God's justice. But He didn't wipe out humanity, no, in His mercy, he allowed redemption....for all who want to receive it. We must rely solely on His love and mercy to obtain heaven.

There is no greater love than when Jesus suffered and died for us on the cross. The crucifix is not only a great sign of His love for us, but of His mercy. You cannot have one without the other. Making the sign of the cross is a reminder of what Jesus did for us and why He did it. “We adore Thee O' Christ and we praise Thee, for by Your cross and resurrection, You have set us free.“

We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, but that means also extending mercy toward them. No grudges, no hatred, no judgmentalism.....just love and mercy. Let go. God has forgiven you and granted you mercy, now go and do the same for your neighbor. So they cut you off driving down the road, ask God to bless them — maybe they are trying to get to the hospital to see a dying parent. Was the cashier rude to you? Let it go.....maybe someone called in sick and they have to stay late.

We expect others to understand us and for God to forgive us our sins, well then do the same for others. If you are going to err, err on the side of love and mercy.

Mercy is not just for others, it is also for ourselves. In fact, sometimes we need to grant ourselves mercy, more than we do to others. We confess our sins to God, we have received forgiveness....God's mercy, but then we continue to beat ourselves up. We dwell on it and refuse to forgive ourselves, to allow God's mercy to work within us. No good comes of this because we stop growing if all we do is dwell on the past.

Let go. Rest in the love and mercy of God.

Our Heavenly Father is just and He is merciful. We deserve His justice, but because of His love for us, He offers us mercy instead. The greatest offense to God is to refuse His mercy. In refusing His mercy, you are in fact demanding His justice. His justice damns us, but His mercy saves us.

Here is a prayer:

“Mercy is who God is. Mercy is Love's second name. God is more interested in our future than in our past, more interested in the kind of person that we can yet become than in the person we used to be. God indeed takes our sins seriously, but not as the last word. God sees our sins for what they are, but at the same time knows that there is more to us than those sins. God will help us grow patiently toward the person He wants us to be. He's willing to do this saving work with us, if we let Him enter into our lives. Amen”