Marian devotion most relevant today

NOW that we are in the merry month of May, it’s good that

we remind ourselves of the great importance Mary, the Mother of God

and our Mother too, occupies in our life. Let’s hope that we can not

only develop a devotion to her but also keep that devotion vibrant

always. It can only help us, especially in today’s more complicated

world.

            Mary is not only the Mother of Christ, and therefore can

be rightly called as the Mother God. She is truly our Mother also

since Christ gave her to be our Mother through St. John just before he

died on the cross. St. John took her home and she took care of him and

the rest of the apostles who were in fear just after Christ’s death.

            She truly also cares for us now as our Mother. And she

does it the way she took care of Christ. She it was who understood

Christ the best. She is the best teacher we can have in knowing,

understanding and loving Christ. Her constant observation and

pondering in her heart of what she saw in Christ is the perfect way we

ought to follow in relating ourselves to Christ.

            She is actually present in all aspects of our life, since

as a mother who is already in heaven, she involves herself completely

in our life, be it in the spiritual, moral or material aspects. She is

never indifferent to our conditions, our varying situations and

predicaments. She loves us with a human and supernatural heart, always

oozing with human affection as well as divine love.

            She is always around, especially during our difficulties.

She is not scandalized by our sins and dirt, but as a mother she is

eager to clean us up. With all the privileges given to her by God, she

can always do all these things.

            If need be, she will make extraordinary interventions in

our life as when she makes special apparitions if only to convey an

urgent message to us. And with her, things will always turn out well,

since God cannot refuse her appeals on our behalf, as shown in that

first miracle of Christ during the wedding at Cana.

            We have to learn to deal with her, developing a deep, most

childlike devotion to her. We can ask ourselves: how many times have

we gone to her today? How often do we express our devotion to her

during the day, from morning to night? How do we fulfil the many

Marian acts of piety? Do we try to make a new loving effort every day

to converse with her?

            Do we make a sincere effort to say the Rosary well,

without rushing, trying to contemplate each mystery well? Do we say

that beautiful prayer, the Angelus, attentively? Do we greet her when

we enter or leave our room or when we discover his images along the

streets of the city?

            We have to realize that Mary is the only way, the

shortest, safest and surest way to Christ. If our spiritual life is

not as vibrant as it should be, it is almost sure that we are not

dealing with her properly.

St. Joseph the worker

WITH this feast of St. Joseph the worker on May 1, we are

reminded of the great value that our work represents in our life and

in our need for salvation. We have to revisit the basic character of

our work that we often take for granted as we allow it to be overtaken

by other considerations that, while important, only hold secondary

importance.

  

            The first thing to remember is that our work, whatever it

is, as long as it is honest, is an integral part of our nature. It is

not a mere obligation or an unavoidable necessity. It somehow defines

us.

  

            And more than that, it is what enables us to correspond

and cooperate with the God’s continuing providence over all of us. In

a sense, our work is sacred, since it cannot help but be a

participation in God’s continuing sacred work over all his creation.

            For us to see the sacredness of our work, we need to be

driven first of all and always by faith and an abiding piety. There is

a great need to bring our faith and piety down to the middle of the

world. There is a great need to develop and live an authentic

Christian spirituality of secularity and not confine them in churches

or some sacred places alone.

  

            We should therefore love our work, doing it as best as we

can. And this can mean that we carry it out very conscientiously,

“squeezing” each hour for all it is worth. And we should work in such

a way that we would always be short of time for finishing what we

would like to do?

  

            It can also mean that we look very carefully after the

details in finishing well our daily work. We should lovingly exert the

necessary effort for it and embrace the sacrifices involved—that is,

the setbacks, the difficulties, the tiredness and fatigue.

  

            These are normal occurrences in our daily work that we

should not anymore be surprised about. We just have to be prepared for

them, since they are occasions to grow in our love for God and others.

In short, in our holiness.

             One big challenge we now face with respect to our work is

the issue of how the new technologies should be used. These things

definitely offer us a lot of good, but they too can occasion a lot of

disorder in us, since they can be a big, almost irresistible

temptation to be simply on our own, that is, separated from God and

from others.

  

            Our new technologies should, in fact, nourish our piety

and our relation with others. That´s why, the tremendous practical

advantages offered to us now by our growing technology should always

be related to God. We just cannot get stuck at the level of

fascination because of the novelty it offers, the convenience and

practicality it gives.

             At the very least, we can thank God for them. These new

things should bring us closer to God and to one another, instead of

distancing us from Him and putting us in self-absorption.

             From here, let´s try to discern what God´s purpose is for

these new powerful things. They are supposed to boost our love for God

and for others.

God always takes the initiative

THIS truth of our faith should console us. In our relation

with God, on which depends also our relation with others, it is God

who makes the first move before we do our part.

             Ours is only to correspond to his tremendous love that

knows no bounds, a love that is full of mercy—mercy being the summary

of all his wisdom and power insofar as we are concerned.

             We should do away with our ignorance or any doubt with

respect to this truth, and try our best to live by it as fully as

possible. That way, we relieve ourselves with unnecessary burden and

focus more on what we are supposed to do, that is, to love and to

serve God and everyone else.

  

            St. John in his first letter described this point very

well. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear,

because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been

perfected in love. We love because He (God) first loved us.” (4,18-19)

  

            This truth was lived to the full by Christ himself. With

his passion, death and resurrection, he has offered us forgiveness of

our sins even before we can ask for forgiveness.

             And in his post-resurrection appearances to his disciples,

he would always greet them with peace. He likes to reassure them,

avoiding as much as possible to startle them. In that story about the

two men on their way to Emmaus, he did not immediately make himself

known but blended with them in a friendly conversation.

             This is how God treats each one of us. He does it with

full tenderness and compassion. We have no reason to be afraid or to

be anxious. In fact, in those instances when Christ would appear to

his disciples in an extraordinary way, as when he was seen walking on

the water, he would reassure them by saying, “Do not be afraid. It is

I.”

  

            With all this divine goodness, we on our part should be

quick to recognize God in all the circumstances and situations of our

life. Let us make certain adjustments in the way we see, perceive and

understand things to accommodate this wonderful truth of our faith.

  

            Let’s give ample space in our consciousness to this truth

of our faith. We should try to feel God’s constant presence, nay, his

abiding love and mercy for us. And this can mean taking care of our

spiritual faculties, that is, our intellect and will, cuing or

prompting them to this wonderful reality.

  

            Yes, it is important that we make many acts of faith

during the day, and make use of any human devices that can help and

reinforce this awareness of God’s constant presence and love for us.

             We can, for example, associate certain things or actions

or events with some acts of piety. Like, every time we open and close

a door, climb up or down the stairs, see a blue or white car, etc.,

etc., we can make some act of faith, hope and charity.

             We need to learn these skills if only to avoid failing to

correspond to God’s tremendous love for us everyday. We have to learn

to find Christ in the little things which comprise most of our day, if

not of our whole life.

  

            We need to be more aware of this reality about ourselves,

since we often do not realize it, dominated as we are with the merely

material and sensible realities and with what is the here-and-now and

what is immediately felt. We many times fail to go beyond this level.

  

            God is in everything. He is behind all events in our life.

We need to be constantly aware of this truth in order to have peace

and joy whatever the circumstances, and poised to do good only and

always.