It’s a fact that the examples parents offer their children in the home are essential in teaching them how to be good human beings. The same can be said for our spiritual life.
In today’s second reading, Paul reminds us that through God’s grace we became brothers and sisters in Christ, making us children of God. This happened at our baptism when God infused his divine DNA into our souls. Our spiritual life consists in the growth of this divine DNA, until each of us becomes a true follower of Christ.
Today’s celebration reminds us that if we have become the Lord’s brothers and sisters, we’ve also become spiritual children of Mary. And just as we learn from our earthly mothers how to be good human beings, so we learn from Mary how to become good Christians.
For example, in today’s Gospel she teaches us one of the most important virtues of all: wisdom. Luke tells us how Mary responded to the things God was doing in and through her. He writes: “Marykept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” Just as Mary’s womb was open to receiving God’s living Word, so her heart was constantly open to receiving his ongoing words and messages as he continued to speak to her through the events in her life. The capacity to reflect on God’s action in our lives is both a sign and a source of wisdom, and we can never be mature followers of Christ unless we develop it.
Images of Active Silence
Our lives are very noisy, distracted and full of self-centered worries and preoccupations. If we were to take a picture of our soul, it would probably look like a cluttered garage, with all kinds of desires, regrets, hopes and ideas strewn about like dirty clothes, broken toys, and unread magazines.
But Mary’s soul was different. Although she had an active life, she always kept her soul neat and ordered. That’s why she was able to hear the many gentle messages that God gave her. Her heart was like the smooth surface of a deep pond: clear and quiet. And when a rock was thrown into it, she was able absorbed this disturbance through deep reflection. Soon the momentary disturbance and ripples smoothed out, and she was back to clarity and light.
Her heart was like the inside of a cello: well-shaped by her faith and love, uncluttered, and therefore always ready to receive the notes that God wanted to play. This was Mary’s interior life, the secret to her wisdom—“Mary kept all these things, and reflected on them in her heart.”
Mary’s Favorite Tool
Our spiritual Mother knows how hard it is for us to keep the clutter out of our hearts—we get distracted by life’s hustle and bustle. She knows we need help learning how to reflect on God’s action in our lives. That’s why she’s given us a tool for developing our interior life that has a 100% success rate. And everyone who’s used this tool has come closer to God and grown in wisdom, courage and joy.
This tool was given by Mary in a vision to St Dominic in the thirteenth century. Since then it’s been used successfully by all her faithful children. All of us know about it, but not enough of us use it. It’s called the Rosary. The Rosary is the key that lets us into Mary’s heart, where we can sit with her, as if we were having a cup of tea together in her parlor.
With the Rosary, we can sit and talk things over, letting the light of Christ shine on the dark, cold corners of our mind and heart and letting his grace heal and strengthen all that is wounded and weak in our lives and in the world.
We have a tradition of making New Year’s Resolutions. Why not make the resolution to spend this year learning from our spiritual mother how to let God put order, peace and wisdom into our lives, by “keeping all these things and reflecting on them in our hearts” through the holy Rosary? If we take even that small step closer to Christ, he will certainly take a giant leap closer to us through the intercession of Mary, his Mother and ours. Have a Happy New Year!