Journey in responding to God’s call without Mother Mary’s accompaniment leads to emptiness and vain. Of course, Mother Mary doesn’t take the place of the Holy Spirit, but she helps me, forms me, protects me, and guides me to follow Her Son’s footsteps. I could say that without Mother Mary I might not able to be so far as who am I now in this pilgrimage of this life. I believe that she always helps me a lot by her intercessions me her poor child in responding to God’s special call. She has an important role in my life.
While I was small, my parents and school teachers forced me to participate in Marian Devotions likes recitation of the Rosary in the small Christian Community. Just simply I attended without understanding what is it? Those practices in childhood simply I did without grasping the meaning them. The Marian Spirituality in myself started to grow in Novitiate, especially after having class or presentation about Mother Mary in the Claretian Congregation, particularly the topic of ‘The Immaculate Heart of Mary’, which Claretian adopts its Cordimarian Sonship.
Mother Mary’s heart is special for me to reflect about love for God and human beings. Mary who formed Jesus physically by the love and pure blood of her heart also forms me to become a missionary who may able to proclaim the Kingdom of God for the transformation of the world. That my personal devotion is always be done in a meaningful manner to be closer to her and as one of the means to grow in this vocation to love God and neighbour in and through the Claretian Congregation.
Mother Mary as the chosen one of God the Father to bear Jesus Christ in this world is an example for all of us the Christians in our pilgrimage as God’s people. She had many good qualities or values to be followed. For me personally, I emphasize it into faith/obedience, tenderness and loyalty. Though there are many good qualities other than these three, but these are the three main qualities which touch me personally in reflecting about Mother Mary.
a. Obedience
“I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done according to your will” (Luke 1:38)
In this annunciation statement, I understand her deep faith and it expressed in the attitudes of humility, listening, dialoguing, accepting and obeying to God’ s Divine plan. Her ‘yes’ to God through Angel Gabriel shows that she expressed her faith and self-surrender to God’s will. It is the starting point of her life as the Mother of Jesus Christ the Son and Redeemer of the world.
She accepted the will of God, even though she knew that she had to journey through many challenges because of the social custom existed at that time, that she would be condemned and stoned to death for she conceives before her marriage ties, but still she accepted it.
Mother Mary’s obedience helps me to see my Christian vocation to grow faith in God that is the key to my vocation. By obeying to God’s will, I am able to set my life by the grace of the Holy Spirit. As a Christian I am called to live out my vocation to bring the Kingdom of God: hope, peace, justice, Love, joy, harmony etc., for the transformation of the world into God’s love.
b. Tenderness
“They have no wine” (Jn2:4).
This action of Mary indicates that she always looks at everyone with mercy and compassion to those who are in need especially neglected and abandoned ones. Mary was not asked to help the master of that feast but she couldn’t bear or deny her maternal love, compassion and mercy towards others. She felt that the suffering of others also was her, too. She is connected with society.
Humility helps her to please God, so her tender love helps her to please or connect with society. Through her, I can come to her Son, Jesus Christ that her Son never let His mother’s hope goes in vain.
Mary’s response the ‘tender love’ to the need of the people at the wedding at Cana helps me to see my inner self that I am a social being who naturally need others and who is always related to the society. As a Christian, I am for everyone that the needs or feelings of others are mines, too. So, I need to be touched by heart to help, share hope, joy, love and also sorrows in solidarity with others in God’s grace.
c. Fidelity/loyalty
“Near the Cross of Jesus, stood His mother……” (John 19:25)
True love is showed through fidelity either in joy or sorrow situation, even though the person doesn’t understand the situation, but has hope that God’s love is sure. Mary at the foot of Jesus on the Cross shows she is the mother of all either in joy or sorrow. Even she at the moment of undergoing death spiritually/psychologically, but I believe that she had hope and faith to the mystery of the Love of God. That God would give/had prepared a wonderful mystery behind the suffering.
Mary’s fidelity to God helps me to see my life (faith to God) in any situation. Life is hard but GOD is good. God’s love is always be with us. The only thing is how I am able to be in His presence for the transformation of the world to God’s Will.
#In Corde Matris
Stu. Domi Lanang, CMF
