Mary and Me
October is the month of the Rosary. For that reason, it is also the month of Mary. The mysteries of the rosary depict moments and memories in the paschal mystery of Jesus and, thus, also of his first and best disciple, Mary.
What does Mary mean to me?
For me, Mary is first and foremost Mother. It’s so easy for me, in recalling the tender, selfless and unconditional love of my own mother, to see Mary in that way too. How many times did Mom sacrifice her own needs, wants, and desires to meet those of my sisters and me! I know that Mary must have done the same for his child, Jesus. I believe –I know—that she does the same now for me and for all who follow her Son.
From the cross, Jesus entrusts his mother to us and us to his mother. From that moment on, every Christian has a second mother. For that reason, each of us is doubly blessed! Just as we honor and cherish our birth mothers, we honor and cherish our second mother as well. Mothers do anything and sacrifice everything to further the happiness and well-being of their children. Our Mother Mary does no less for us, her children.
For me, Mary is also “Our Lady of Good Counsel.” At the wedding celebration in Cana, Mary counseled the stewards to do whatever Jesus asked them to do. By following her counsel, the bridal couple was spared a major embarrassment of running out of wine. Mary’s counsel and advice to us is the same as to those wedding stewards: “do whatever Jesus” asks of us. That counsel is the best roadmap to genuine Christian discipleship and to our call to live Jesus.
I am intrigued that this “first sign” of Jesus’ public life took place at a happy and very ordinary event of a wedding and that it was brought about by the prompting of his Mother’s touching concern for others. That “first sign” tells me that Jesus, as the human face of God, intends to be an intimate part of our everyday lives and to be as responsive as any child would be to his mother’s requests and prayers on our behalf.
Cana tells me everything I need to know about the kind of loving God we have in Jesus, as well as the power of his mother’s beautiful love for you and me.
Rev. Lewis S. Fiorelli, OSFS
Provincial, Wilmington-Philadelphia Province
