BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER

By Lori Carmody

With news coming out in the Catholic world from Buenos Aires, Argentina announcing that the Marian apparition (Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolas) has been officially approved by Bishop Hector Cardelli of San Nicolas (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/a-marian-apparition-has-been-approved-in-argentina---and-its-a-big-deal-31979/) it got me thinking about Mary.  When I was a little girl I remember during the summertime wanting to get done with dinner in record time so I could go back outside to play with my friends.  However, my mom would keep my dad, sister, and me around the kitchen table after we were done eating so we could all say the Rosary.  My mother had a special connection with Mary and she wanted us to develop a similar bond.  You never saw two young girls recite prayers so quickly as those evenings when 50 Hail Marys, 5 Our Fathers and 5 Glory Be’s were the hinge-pins between dinner and play!

In talking with friends who attend places of worship other than Catholic, I hear that Mary seldom comes up for them. That is not true for Catholics.  In our tradition, Mary is mentioned and celebrated throughout the year.  She holds a place of high honor.   

In my own life, I would describe Mary much as I would explain my relationship with my own mother.  I went to my mom when I was happy, sad, confused, alone, excited to share news…in other words basically any time I needed someone to confide in and to have my back.  Often I would ask my mom to pray for my family, friends, and co-workers.  I never left a conversation with her without feeling reassured that she had taken whatever was on my mind and heart to God.  In December of 2000, my mom passed away.  I continued to talk to her at times such as these but the consolation I felt wasn’t there like it used to be.  It was then that I began my search for Mary, blessed mother of Jesus.  She was who my mother had turned to for comfort and strength most of her adult life.  Perhaps the same would be true for me.

In the 16 years that I have invited God to reveal Mary to me, I have been surprised by the number of times and ways that blessings have shown up.  No, I have not seen apparitions and am wary of those who proclaim that they have.  However, I, like with my own mother, feel as though I never leave a conversation with Mary without feeling she has taken whatever is on my mind and heart to God.  

 Also, I have read the story of St. Bernadette at Lourdes, France (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1757) and have had relatives who have made pilgrimages to the grotto.  One of my cousins feels for certain that she received a small but definite healing from the water at Lourdes and I trust that this is so.  Catholic teaching does not require members to believe one way or another on either apparitions or miracles yet stories from people of deep faith are convincing to me. 

In everyday life, we often feel as though no one can fully understand what we are struggling with.  Yet, meditating on the life of Mary and her life in Christ has shown me how this feeling is limiting grace.   When those we love are being bullied, Mary understands how it feels to watch in horror.  Her son was unfairly judged and ridiculed.  When we question some of our church leaders and occasionally have trouble feeling at peace with some of decisions they are making, Mary must have been in our shoes as her leaders were meeting to discuss what to do with her son.  When someone in our family dies and we are in a daze wondering how this could have happened and how our life can go on, imagine how Mary must have felt.  When we pray and beg and ask God for something and it seems as though the answer is “no”, Mary too received such an answer when her beloved son asked for “the cup to pass” from him and it did not. 

Mary is in heaven.  We can be assured that not only does she hear our prayers but she takes every one of them to God on our behalf.  

I am not qualified to answer whether the Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolas apparition is authentic or not.  The ground I can safely stand on is that Mary has been a holy path leading me to a wider, more expansive experience of God.  Her message to me has consistently been one of prayer, peace, forgiveness and devotion to God.  My discernment with Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolas is the same as in my own journey of faith.  If it leads me deeper into the loving arms of God and service to those around me, most assuredly it is a message I need to pay attention to.

Note:  I would be remiss if I wrote a blog about Mary, mentioning my dear mother, and didn't add to it my mom's favorite prayer of intercession.  In loving memory of Agnes Zirkle and the example of faith she was not only to our family but to countless others:

THE MEMORARE

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary that never was it known that anyone who fled to Thy protection, implored Thy help, and sought Thy intercession was left unaided.  Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto Thee, O Virgin of virgins, My Mother!  To Thee I come; before Thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.  Oh Mother of the Word Incarnate!  Despise not my petitions, but, in Thy mercy, hear and answer me.  Amen.

Thank you for reading this week.  

Lori