J.M.J.
Happy Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God!
Everybody desires a better year. Many wish for beauty and health. And that’s understandable, because who doesn’t want to look beautiful or feel fit? Somebody has just told me, “I’m glad that my girlfriend’s face is beautiful, cute, and pretty!” Well, who doesn’t want to be with someone lovely, or to be one of those good-looking couples together? Many others wish for money, to do things or buy stuffs they’ve always liked.
While a lot of people wish to have a better life physically or materially, a lot of us forget to wish for a better life spiritually, or as Catholic. Each time we plan on how to achieve our wishes or goals, there’s a key ingredient to having a truly better life that we usually forget – and that is, to improve on our Catholic spirituality.
And if I may say it to you straight, you can only have good Catholic spirituality, if there is Mary, the Mother of God, in your life. No matter how religious and pious you are, but if you do not love Mama Mary, do not listen to her, do not mind her, do not want her (like those non-Catholics who despise her), your life will never be better. It might be financially or materially better, but in the eyes of God our Father in Heaven, it’s no better life at all, because without the Blessed Mother, souls are in very poor state.
That does not sound logical… only in the secular view. As Catholics, we must desire not just to have a better life; we must aspire to live in God, through His Mother. I’d like to share here a personal matter that gives light to this:
I’m a solid devotee of Mary. My life, I place under the care of Our Blessed Mother. However, there was this one situation, which I failed to fully talk with Mama Mary in prayer. Last year, I was on my way to achieving a dream of mine. I had the courage, the strength, the commitment, the skills, and the charisma to attain it. I had it all under my control… or so I thought.
Although I intently prayed about it to God, I got too confident with myself and did not raise it up to our Holy Mother as well for her intercession. I felt ‘sure’ as I prayed to God, not seeing the need to share as much about it with Mama Mary, since there were other life concerns that I was praying for to her.
Things suddenly took a bad turn and went downhill; an injustice done to me. I reflected thoroughly on what I had missed. As far as my checklist, I was a religious, firmly strong Catholic and I wasn’t hurting anybody. Then, by the grace of God, I realized that I was being too self-assured, thinking, “I got this!” I missed to take this particular matter deeply in prayer addressed to the Mother of God.
Mind you, even back then I had a prayer life. But I overlooked asking Mama Mary for her guidance. Not hearing her voice in my heart for something that I was ‘confident’ of had an awful consequence. As Mary is the Mother of God, she is also our spiritual Mother; we need her maternal help in every single matter of our lives. It’s a valuable teaching of our Faith that many Catholics know but tend to forget or disregard.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, hear this humble advice that I’m offering. Since I started my devotion to Our Lady years ago, I have been a witness to what the Mother of God does when she is present in one’s life; that is, when one has an earnest devotion to her. And when I missed to listen to what she was telling me about something important in my life, God’s grace picked me up and showed me how everything about us must be under her protection.
Even though it seemed that I failed and missed that dream, I realized that she was actually present all along in those moments of my journey, telling me otherwise. I just could not hear her voice. She was already trying to protect me even before I fell, but I was not able to properly discern her message, because I did not converse to her deeply in my heart through prayer.
We need the presence of Mary in our lives every single day, in every single moment, and in every single matter. She is our Mother; we are her children. We must be childlike in our Catholic faith, as Jesus taught us, with complete trust in God; not childish, but childlike. It is Jesus Himself who wants us to have an ardent devotion and genuine love for His Mother. Yes, we pray to God, and He is our Father. But as His sinful children, we also need the love, care, guidance and counsel of our Mother. Like how families crash without the loving presence of both the father and the mother, our lives will not stand strong without the divine presence of both God and His Mother. Many of us here are greatly blessed with a loving mother, just like my family. But although our biological mother is present, Mary’s presence as our Mother is incomparably greater than the love, care, guidance and counsel of all the wonderful earthly mothers combined.
I made a brief list of some points, which contrast what it is not to have and to have the Blessed Virgin by our side.
Without Mary as our Mother:
- We fail to discern whether a person or a situation is under the influence or sent by the evil side; that is, if they are not of God.
- Our decisions are not guided, as there is no heavenly direction from the most powerful mother- the Mother of God.
- Even we already have a particular grace or blessing in life, we tend to lose it, one way or another, sooner or later.
- We lose track in our path to holiness. Initially, we might be on the right track. But along the road, we turn to the wrong side or make the wrong step, not knowing it yet or at all. Then we find out later on, when things get out of hand.
- Most of all, we fail to have a much deeper knowledge of and relationship with Jesus, for Mary is the surest way to know and love Jesus, for she is His Mother.
With Mary as our Mother in our lives:
- We have a timely discernment about a person or a situation, to know if he is in the side of God or something comes from His goodness. Thus, we are spared from the troubles and sufferings that this ungodly person or situation would bring. More than this, the right person or situation is sent to us through Mary’s intercession.
- Our decisions are founded on wisdom, “Mama Mary knows best!” You will know that what you have decided satisfies God’s will and follows all His Commandments.
- Though everything is in God’s hands, Mama Mary helps us, within our human capabilities, to preserve a particular grace or blessing. She prevents us from losing our graces and blessings to non-sense things or senseless acts.
- Most of all, we will have a true devotion to Jesus, through Mary, for she is the surest way to Him and, being the Mother of God and our spiritual Mother, our most direct intercessor before His Throne.
I can mention as many means to show our love and devotion to Mama Mary as there are. But with this being my first post for this year, I want to focus on the most basic, which is praying to her. I suggest to you to pray the Holy Rosary, like I strive to do everyday, with all my heart. Remember and bless her name throughout our day, for her Most Holy Name is a prayer in itself. Just like us having a close relationship with our mother on earth, all the more we can tell everything to her about our lives, and share with her our whole selves, for she is our Mother who wraps us in the mantle of her protection when we place ourselves entirely under her care, and walk in the holy path of her Son Jesus.
When you do what I suggest above, as your sincere sister in Christ, and a lowly handmaid of God, I tell you that she will preserve you and protect you and your soul from every form of evil, from your enemies who mean malice and revenge against you, and from the enemies of the Church. As the Mother of God Himself who is Love and the Light, her love for you is perfect, and she will defend you against any evil or harm that befall you. For she assures us,
“In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
As for me, after my realizations, I made a promise to Our Lady, a vow, to share everything in my life with her in prayer, even for the things that I thought are already “going very well.” I surrendered to her that situation that had happened to me. Then, since the last half part of last year, I have been receiving beautiful and tremendous graces from God, necessary for my temporal life at the moment, and fruitful gifts that make me have a better life now.
Let us remember that since the earlier times of the Church, the first day of every year is dedicated for Mary, the Mother of God. It is not for nothing that her solemn day falls on January 1 of the Gregorian calendar. This just shows how much important she is to our human lives as Catholics; that as Catholic, how blessed and gracious it is that I start with Mama Mary my new beginning.
For the historical background of this Solemnity, read my older Post.
Happy New Year 2018 in the Year of the Lord!
Saint Joseph, pray for us!
Mama Mary, pray for us!
Amen.
She graduated cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas, the country's Pontifical and Catholic university, with an AB in Legal Management and minor units in Theology.
As an unmarried woman, prayer holds a central place in her daily life, with a focus on the Rosary and the Divine Office. Embodying her faith, she emphasizes the growth of her inner spiritual life, guided by the wisdom of Carmelite spirituality.
God manifested to her in a unique and radical manner, which made her know Who He truly is and led her to total surrender of her life to Him.
She has studied the Bible with her family, developing a particular fondness for the Old Testament.
Her adorable and intelligent toy poodle is a delightful companion in her daily life, bringing warmth and joy to her home.
Her hobbies include reading about everything, learning Japanese and German, listening to music and playing the flute.
In her leisure time, she enjoys gaming on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo 3DS, iOS and OS, and collecting things related to PlayStation and Nintendo.
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Thank you for this post Mary Kris. I am also a Marian devotee. I have no mire earthly mother & i’ve asked Mama Mary in prayer to be my Mother. I come to her in my needs but sometimes i forget so that at times i don’t feel that i receive what i asked for, but yes, when i come to her for guidance, things go well. I hope my prayer life will also improve because now i have seen what praying to her always even in littlest thing can do. By the way, i was also named after her..my 1st name is Maria too.