Mary is My Mother

Why We Need Mary to be Mother

To the world Mary is a figure, to non catholics, Mary was a one time actor in salvation history. To the church she is the feminine comforter and beauty that we need so dearly. If we can entrust our hearts to Mary we can receive that motherly love.

Home is a place where mom anchors the family with food love and emotional support. Jesus has given Mary the authority to be mom. We all need to allow her to bandage our hearts and caress us when we have experienced the pain of sin and suffering. Mary adds sugar to bitter moments. Like a window shares the sunlight, Mary shares God’s love and convinces our heart that the light of God is good. The warmth we feel from her is an extension of God’s love.

Mary has the power to convince us to trust our pain and suffering to Jesus. Jesus can then heal us from the inside out. We learn to trust God because Mary shows us that we can trust him with our brokenness and wounds.

We are weak so we need Mary

It’s not that we Catholics don’t believe that Jesus can heal us on His own, It’s that often we do not give him the authority to. The point is this, sin blinds us and tricks us into thinking we cannot trust God because we feel unworthy of his love. Like Adam and Eve our natural tendency is to hide and run away from God when we feel the shame of sin.

We all have many moments when we need a soft mother, to remind us that God is not scary and that he truly wants to heal our pain. Sometimes we just need a spiritual hug from our mother in order to remember that God is indeed trustworthy. For those of us who are weak at heart, we need Mary. For those of us who don’t have perfect trust in God, we need Mary to remind us of his Love and Goodness. She is our advocate and she is the Handmaid of the Lord.

Praying the Rosary Keeps Mother Close

God knows that we are so weak and often forget him and his mother. I think that is one of the reasons Mary told little Bernadette to pray the rosary everyday. God knows we need a routine that reminds us to reflect on his sorrows. God knows we need to keep our Mother close; so that when we forget to trust or we are in a state of deep anguish, the rosary brings us back to Mary. She comforts us and gives us an extension of God’s Love. Reminding us that we can trust God with our hearts.

Adding Mary into the rhythm through the rosary is the best lifeline to Jesus in our messy lives.

Jesus’ Perpetual Rose

I was in the delivery room with my husband Michael. I was in labor and waiting to deliver our sweet little girl who had Trisomy 13. Our doctor didn’t expect her to make it through the stress of birth. I nodded at my husband to bless the room with Epiphany holy water. Mike blessed the room and we began praying a rosary together. My lips touched my crucifix and suddenly Mary vividly appeared in my mind.

The Window

Mary said, “I will take Perpetua to Heaven today and deliver her into the arms of Jesus.”

I said, Mike do you feel Mary? She’s in the room with us right now. Amazingly, he confirmed me and said he felt Her presence and God’s presence very strongly.

Mary was holding a rosary and asked me “Please state your intentions now, and I will bring them Jesus.” I repeated the message to Michael and both of us began listing our intentions.

I tried to hold onto her image as long as I could. Soon the feeling of her warmth dissipated but then I suddenly received a clear message. “Perpetua will be Jesus’ Perperpetual Rose.” Seconds later it hit me that Perpetua’s middle name was Rose. I was in awe.

I asked Mike ” Did you really feel Mary’s presence or was that just my labor brain”?

He said, “No, I felt her so strongly I thought the nurse that came in was actually Mary for a few seconds.”

God Sincerely Cares

The whole experience was otherworldly, and we both felt so comforted by her message .I was no longer afraid that my little girl would soon pass. I allowed myself to let go. Mary reminded me that God is trustworthy and that He loves Perpetua immensely. Jesus saw us in our pain and He sent his Mother to reassure us and promise us that Perpetua would be okay.

The thought of God’s generosity of heart still brings me to tears and clothes me in joy.

Mary’s reassuring message carried us through that day and has carried us through every day since. She was the window that brought warmth and goodness into our lives. She reminded us of God’s light and love.

Mary is my Mother

Mary is not just a one time player in salvation history, she’s not just a historical figure. She is God’s Mother and Mary is my Mother. She is my Mother because Jesus gave her to me and all of us. Mary is our Mother because God knows we are broken and knows we need the love of a mother to bring us to Him.

Pray the rosary daily and allow her into the daily rhythm of your life. We need her so that when we sin and experience tragedy, we can experience her motherly love, and begin to trust ourselves to Jesus.