Mother May I...

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

First Reading: Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 45
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20-27
Gospel: Luke 1:39-56

Greetings to each of you on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary! As you all know, Mary has a very special in our faith, and she should hold a very special place in our hearts. As hard as it is to admit, I was very against praying to Mary (and the Saints) and the rosary before I came into the church. In fact this attitude even continued for a while after I felt called into the Catholic faith. This is a very hard thing for anyone learning about the faith to understand. To anyone just learning, it appears that we are worshipping Mary and the Saints. I know that I felt this way, and even when I learned that it wasn't worshiping, that it was just asking for their intercessions, this did still not make sense to me. I think that a lot of times in my life I try to be as efficient as I can be, this probably spilled over to my prayer life at this time. I kept thinking, why would you pray to someone like Mary when you can just prayer directly to God? Why not just eliminate the middle man (or woman)? This was a question that I could never seem to get answered. I am sure that while I was one this quest to prove that we should just pray to God alone, He was up in heaven just looking down and smiling thinking "soon Jimmie, you will understand."

It wasn't until I started to let God work in me; that I finally began to understand Mary's role. I began to look at her role in the beginning. Which we see in the gospel of Luke today. After saying my first rosary, I began to understand the words that Elizabeth spoke when she said "And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" I started to understand that God had a plan from Mary from the very beginning (and in the end). We see in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians today that "For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life," So as Jesus is the new Adam, so Mary is the new Eve, our mother.

When I finally let God open my eyes and my heart, I realized that it wasn't Mary that I had an issue with, there was something else that I was letting block me from turning to our blessed mother. Once I realized what was blocking me from our blessed mother, I simply offered it up to God and asked for healing from this past hurt. Ever since then I have been able to turn to our Mother and rely on her intercessions.

Mary brings us closer to her Son Jesus. If you are having issues with this like I did, whatever the reason, I just ask that you think about doing two things. One is ask God to help you understand Mary and her role. The second is to find information about her. I will guarantee that you will be shocked at the information that you find. If you need some resources please feel free to email me, I will help you find some.

Blessed Mother, may we always turn to you with our intentions. Help bring us closer to your son Jesus, help us know how we might know Him and love Him more.

Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are though amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, to the son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be a world without end. Amen.