Sitting in a really beautiful campsite at the moment: it was 30c in the caravan this afternoon, there is nowhere more beautiful than Ireland in a great summer. I lost my smartphone as I left home and for one reason or another could not get on the forum and am so glad to be here now. For the last few weeks I have done little but think and pray about and too Our Blessed Lady. She is the gold mine that has no bottom, riches that are never exhausted. If I thought I knew a little about her I now know I am not at the start of the start. I was thinking in the first place of her holiness. Of the fact she never said a single no to God. She never even hesitated she just went and did it. No matter how hard it seemingly impossible. That is huge, huge , huge holiness. That might have put me off her a little. To be so far beyond us all. So unattainable. But she is so very, very humble, so very simple. She carries this huge mountain of holiness so lightly that it is Impossible not to feel close to her. The Second thing I was thinking about her was her sorrows. The Cross was cut into her heart in letters of gold. The Cross should be carved on our hearts too, in large letters, never far from our thoughts.
I think for Mary, she really was like a Hand maid constantly staring at the hand of her master. In constant prayer. For the last few years I have been trying to make all my thoughts, thoughts of God. But Mary did this all her entire life. She was always totally Gods , mind heart and body. Stumbling along behind her I know she did this perfectly. Not one of her heart beats, not one breath , not one thought was not God's. How astonishing and delightful.
No matter how deeply you regard Mary, if you were to take a thousand life times you only skim the surface.
She certainly is very deep to contemplate. Never ending I feel as if her holiness is almost unobtainable, divine, sublime. But also simple and just so pure.
St Paul said of Jesus, 'Like us in all things but sin.' The same could be said of Mary. But to be sinless is extraordinary.
I was listening to a priest speaking about the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem and he said it was 300 miles. But I checked and it is really only ninety miles. He also spoke about them travelling in snow and ice but snow is really very rare in the Holy Land. Also travelling was something Jews were well used to as they were up and down all the time to the Temple in Jerusalem, so they were well able for it. Scientists tell us the climate was very different back then, more like the Land of milk and honey of the Bible, quite lush, beautiful and welcoming. There is a truly description of the journey for Teresa Neuman and also from other mystics. I kind of think of Mary perched in a lovely large basket on the back of a donkey. St Joseph as he looked when I met him was young and very beautiful himself and very well able to take care of Mary. Someone to totally rely on. I think the big, big plus for them both was their trust and reliance on God. Their trust and Faith was not like ours, which at best is only partial. Theirs was total. This makes all the difference. Theirs was the Faith that works miracles.
Faith like an innocent child. Dependent on God as a newborn is to their parents. That is why Mary appears so much to children, they are not contaminated. That is why Jesus came as an innocent babe, he had to trust them. So, Faith and trust. Divine Office recently discusses how beautiful Israel was when God brought the Jews to the promised land. And time after time they turned from God and worshipped idols. God then would punish the Jews with years of invaders and war. When they suffered the most they would turn back to God and he would forgive them and bless them. Then he sent his son Jesus to further instruct them and some Jews accepted Jesus and most rejected him. But the great part is that the gentiles were converted. I see so many parallels in the world to the land of milk and honey. Ireland suffered terribly and during its worst suffering was so devout. It is a beautiful, serene, majestic country. Just like the US, a haven for those seeking freedom. If you have ever been to Zion it feels like a garden of Eden. Peaceful with running streams in the middle of majestic mountains. At our worst struggling the US was a devout Christian country. Since it became wealthy it started a decline. When the trade center was bombed people were praying again in Union. So, what do we learn from this? Stay simple, live close to the earth, enjoy God’s beauty not artificial entertainment, trust in God’s providence, have the faith of Mary and Joseph, and the eyes and heart of a child, Jesus.
this brought back the recent trip we had to the Holy Land. We got to visit Nazareth and Bethlehem. They are near by but while many parts of Israel are like “milk and honey” , it is also a very rugged , hilly and rocky place. I recall learning there from the priest that was our spiritual guide that meaning of Nazareth comes from root word Nezar meaning “ new branch So it means as the new branch of David’s House l It’s the new branch coming out of the tree of Jesse. Christ is the new vine And he cane from a place named long before as the new branch. Amazing! We don’t know much of childhood of Jesus and Holy Family in Nazareth, but do know: He was rejected here He read the scroll if Isaiah in synagogue here. Nathaniel said nothing good came from here when he first met Christ. I remember as we came in Nazareth, as often happened to me on this Pilgrimage , the Holy Spirit moved me unexpectedly deeply and with great emotion. I wrote a few notes that I share here from a journal I kept… coming into Nazareth and thinking about young Jesus living his life in obedience to his mother and father And the quiet family life St Joseph working to take care of them both A man teaching God a trade , a man (the one created) teaching his son to be a carpenter I wonder what they talked to each other about ? They stopped many times to pray Did Mary lead her son in praying the psalms. ? His own rejected him here. Am I any better? How do I reject Him? Prayer that you, Lord, will convert me and open my eyes to ways I reject you. Help us to also here at this site to give us spirit of the Holy Family Prayer That our children’s families will be as holy as they can.
46 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. 51 He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54 He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy: 55 As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever. Our Lady's beauty lies in her humility. She magnifies the Lord and rejoices in God her savior. He is mighty; his name is holy. His mercy is always available to those who fear and exalt Him. He, in turn, exalts the truly humble who seek to glorify only Him, and satisfies their hunger with the Bread of Life! Mary was, is, and always will magnify the Lord most in her perfect lowliness!
I am sorry I never got to see Nazareth, that would have been something. I would say the Mystery were Jesus was last in the Temple teaches us a thing or two about Jesus and the Hidden Life. When He is found Mary says to Him, 'Did you not know we were looking for you?' Mary does not say this as a reproach, she is simply asking this as an honest question for she is confused. This tells us that Mary was growing in knowledge and Wisdom about the child Jesus. It wasn't all obvious. That Jesus seems to have been a perfectly normal little boy and this kinda threw Mary. But at this point Jesus is telling Mary its time to rein in the horses so to speak and start to see Him for who and what He really is.
Yes she is so honest about things. This reminds me of some of the Saints who before their deaths clearly knew that they would be declared Saints by the Church after their deaths. It reminds me that humility faces the truth, good or bad and does not hide from it. I think sometimes we think of humility as running ourselves into the ground, but that is not what humility is all about. Humility is about seeing things for what they are.
In Apocalypse 12, our lady is clothed with the sun (which represents God). This biblical language is perfect (because of her divine origin); she is not overshadowing the sun by being in front of him, but she is clothed with his glorious light because she was the bearer of God (verb incarnated). I think that this single passage is already a Marian theology manual that visually teaches the relationship between Our Lady and the Holy Trinity.
I heard a very Holy priest saying recently that there are two ways of asking things from God . In the first we we ask for something from God, say for healing for a friend or relative . We ask God but at the back of our minds we think to ourselves, 'This isn't really going to happen, there will be no miracles, but I have to go through the motions'. The second way to pray is to turn to God in Faith and believe will all our hearts for what we want believing He will listen and act. Then so it will be. Faith will move mountains. But we cannot force Faith. All we can do is pray, 'Lord I believe, increase the little Faith I have'. Lord, move them mountains!! Mother Angelica was a good example of a mountain mover. A very good example.
I think of Our Lady as the Moon, as a matter of fact I think God created the moon in her honour. As the moon reflects the sun, so too does Mary with God. https://missiomagazine.com/mary-to-the-moon/
I love the story of the mother with her child in Church and the child asks what the stained glass windows are? The mother replies, 'Those are the saints!' TO which the child replies, 'Ah the saints are people who let the light shine in!' I wish I could travel and see Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to see the stained glass, apparently it is amazing. I am hoping to get to Lourdes in the autumn or winter; the dream of a lifetime. Ah Lourdes!!
