Mary

Jan212016

The Will of the Father

Jesus’ parents find him, on the third day, that is, at the Biblical moment…when great dramas unravel themselves.  Mary tells him something he does not seem to understand: “Son, why have you treated us like this?  Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety!” (LK 2:48)

What is obviously puzzling to him is partly the anguish of this couple so profoundly united to God, as if God himself were distressed; it is also, partly, this expression of Mary’s that sounds very strange to Jesus’ ears: “Your father is searching for you…!  “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:49) says Jesus as he opposes his Father to this man of who Mary is speaking.

What follows speaks for itself: Joseph and Mary do not understand what he is saying and Jesus begins a descent in their footsteps.  His feet will obey Mary.  Soon, in the humble workshop, his hands will obey Joseph:  “whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise” (Jn 5:19).  Jesus considers Joseph as his father.  His feet and hands have designated him. 

Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem, to the most beautiful place in the world, to the temple of God; they’re he had enjoyed immediate respect in spite of his early you.  He descends to a scorned place, Nazareth.  And that, through Mary.  –Andrew Doze “Joseph Shadow of the Father”

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Jan152016

Regarding Mary fair

I adore You, O my Divine Jesus, dwelling and living in the Most Blessed Virgin.
I adore the greatness and the perfections with which  Her soul is adorned.
I adore Your reign in Her and the absolute power which animates her whole being.
I adore Your life, which fills and animates Her heart and all Her faculties.
I adore the abundance of the gifts, the fullness of the virtues, and the fruitfulness of the graces you place in Her for the whole Church.
Divine Jesus, reign in and through Her on us forever.
Divine Lord, Your power is worthy to be adored, Your yoke and reign are always sweet, but it is never sweeter than under this throne of love.
How willingly we come to the feet of this holy tabernacle to render You our duties, and pray that You will destroy in us what is opposed to Your reign and life!
Divine Jesus, vivify our hearts; don’t accept in us any other life than Yours; destroy and annihilate all that is contrary to it..  Act in us like You do in Mary; that You alone live there and let all that is mortal be absorbed in Your life.
Grant that the virtues of Your spirit be in us as in Her, and  by Her same virtue all that comes from the corruption of the flesh be destroyed and annihilated in us.
What an admirable communion of the spirit, life and virtues of Jesus in Your soul, O my divine Mother! To me You are but one with Jesus, so much is He living in You, and You  consumed in Him.
Adorable model of the communion of all Christians, would to God that Your divine remembrance would fill our soul with its holy abundance, and with the fullness of His life with which  He vivifies You, O divine Mistress!
Divine Jesus, live in us through Your Mother, and give us the fullness of your gifts and holy graces, so as to be one with You and with Your dearest Mother.

Monsieur Jean Jacques Olier

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Jan132016

The deeper and hidden Saint Joseph

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…we acquire a conviction: Mary would want her husband to be better known. She told St Teresa how her devotion to Joseph was a source of joy for her. She expresses herself in the same way to Monsieur Olier: ‘The Most Blessed Virgin gave me this great saint as a patron Saint, assuring me that he was the protector of hidden souls and adding these words about him:’I have nothing dearer to me in heaven and on earth next to my son….Joseph is a saint God has wished to keep hidden during his life and of whom he has reserved the inner preoccupations for himself alone, without sharing them with the external cares of the Church, a saint that God has manifested in the bottom of hearts and for whom he himself has inspired veneration in souls.’ – – Andrew Doze ‘Saint Joseph Shadow of the Father’

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Jan122016

Joseph and Mary

… Mary and Joseph, a pair without equal, sacred lilies of incomparable beauty between whom the Beloved has gone down to his garden and pastures all His lovers! Alas, if I have any hope that this written word of love might enlighten and set the children of light ablaze, where can I better find myself than among your lilies (Joseph and Mary). Lilies among which the Sun of Justice, ‘a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror’ has refreshed himself so superbly that he experienced the delights of ineffable love for us.’ It is there that God came among humans, it is there that He comes in reality, it is there that He wishes to meet us, there that He can love us (between Joseph and Mary).

I find nothing sweeter to my imagination than to see little Jesus in the arms of the great Saint Joseph, calling him Daddy thousands of times in childlike words and with an absolutely filial and loving heart. — St Francis De Sales

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Dec302015

Two doors: Joseph and Mary

All is said here: this world of God, the antithesis of hell, is Joseph’s world.  It has two doors: the first, the entrance door, the one on the street, is entrusted to Joseph.  It allows one to leave a complicated, confused, hostile and dangerous world behind.  The other is the mysterious door, Mary’s door, the ancient devotion called the “Gate of Heaven,” through which Jesus enters into the world, in a very special way.  Everything happens as if the Lord were presenting himself between these two doors (Joseph and Mary) in the same way that the eternal Father presents himself, according to St Irenaeus, between “his two hands which are the Son and the Spirit.”  The Son imitates the Father; he also has two hands: Joseph by whom he pulls us away from the ambiguous world, this Babylon where people think they all speak the same language while no one understands his brother and Mary, by whom the Son inaugurates the new world, that of Pentecost, where each one speaks his own language, where each one is respected in his own uniqueness, yet everyone understands everyone else!  We must go through the first door so that the Spirit of the Father who comes through the second door might reveal the Son to us (cf Luke 10:22).  “No one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:11).  Andrew Doze “Joseph: Shadow of the Father”

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Dec272015

Holy Family

This morning proved odd in circumstance, a contradiction in happenstance. I drove three miles first thing in the morning in order to purchase coffee and donuts for St Paul Shrine.  Storing my groceries in the back of my vehicle, I locked my keys inside. First time this has happened.  I did not bring my phone as my intention was a quick trip for caffeine.  A steady rain negated the idea of walking three miles to retrieve my extra key. My Nissan Rogue is too nice to consider a forced entry.  I walked to a donut shop a quarter-mile away, praying a Rosary, oddly calm with the dramatic swing of events. The donut shop provided a phone and the number of a taxi company. Arrangements were made as I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a muffin.  The cab driver, a Muslim, listened to my plight, kindly counseling me to trust in God, to see the good within my misfortune. Arriving home, I discovered Ramona starting her vehicle, Luke tagging along, excited to see me. I told the cab driver, I would no longer need his service. He asked for eight dollars. I gave him twenty. By the time, I was driving my vehicle it was too late for mass. I drove home, showering, drinking more coffee, before heading out to my vigil.   Arriving at my vigil, I was informed my patient passed away late into the last evening. His nurse came and spoke to me. I asked if his daughter was with him. The nurse assured me she was. I responded then there was nothing to fear. It dawned on me I had a lot of donuts and nothing to do with them. I asked the nurse if her and the rest of the staff at the  nursing home would like the donuts. She smiled warmly, assuring me they would be appreciated. Driving home, I discovered on masstimes.org a noon mass at St Clares, a Parrish I am keenly focused upon as a home. Attending mass, Joseph and Mary statues struck with relevancy, something I never witnessed before. The sight pleased, opening a deepening meditation, splendidly introducing a mass honoring the Holy Family.  The church of St Clare in Lyndhurst positioned life-sized Joseph and Mary statues standing together upon the Sanctuary. In an alcove to the right of the Tabernacle, Joseph and Mary stood as one. There was not a Joseph statue to the left, and a Mary statue to the right. Mary and Joseph stood together.  I have been fixated upon St Joseph in prayer and thought. In silence, observing, opening myself to the Holy Spirit my heart proved tender, my eyes misty. Devoid of despair, sitting alone in a church filled with families, I implored, asking God to provide wisdom and understanding, acknowledging a profound longing.  I am convinced the consummation of my contemplative life occurs a part of a Holy union, a marriage within the Church or reclusion and marriage to the Church.  My single status is not a calling, rather brokenness prevailing, an incompleteness existing, a remnant of my isolated alcoholic waywardness subsisting.  Further anonymity, spiritual advancement, simply refining, maturity exist within vows, marriage or the cloistered life.

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Dec212015

Hospice experiences elevate

The Hospice elevates my relationship with Jesus and Mary, the Holy Spirit exercising influence, the Father always abiding within love.  Celebrating Christmas early with my family, I parted from a pleasant gathering to receive a call from the Hospice, calling for my service in Westlake, at the Ames Family Hospice Home.  I was told an elderly gentleman, a cancer patient, was transferred to the facility after a suicide attempt.  I was not sure what God was calling forth.  My scheduler instructed me there would be plenty of medical personal to assist me if I felt overwhelmed by the patient’s needs.  Matters proved so easy I feel ridiculous for doubting whether I was capable of handling a suicidal patient.  The patient did have a startling surprise waiting for me.  God never ceases to amaze during my Hospice experiences.  It turns out the ninety-six year old patient grew up in the same town as me.  We shared Temperance, Michigan as our hometown.  Once he discovered the fact, he took the extreme coincidence in stride, accepting the matter as natural as can be, informing the nurses when they came to check on him that we had a lot to talk about since we were both from Temperance.  I sat stunned, marveling at the wonders of God.  He was talking about streets, buildings, some names that I knew intimately.  For him, it was nothing at all.  I saw no signs of depression or suicide as he was so elated to have someone to sit with him.  He told me war stories detailing encounters with the Japanese, rambling and wandering all over the place, yet thoroughly entertaining.  The man just wanted someone to talk to and he was a talker.  The way he would smile, deeply enamored when looking at me as if we had been friends all our lives, warmed my soul comfortably.  There was even a delightful moment late into the visit.  Deep into the night, everything quiet in the expansively and refined Hospice facility, the patient sleeping sound—I fell asleep myself.  I woke to the patient stroking my thigh, assuring me that everything was going to be alright.  I could only chuckle.  Of course, his reprieve from sleep led to more talking, stories and more names of people he knew from Temperance, this time mostly covering his crow hunting days as a boy in the woods west of Summerfield Road.

Speaking with the scheduler once I returned home, filling out timesheets he informed me regarding my Serbian patient.  I posted details about meeting her son and grandson.  Arriving at 11:30 PM Friday night immediately after work, I discovered the patient with her son and grandson lovingly on both sides of her bed.  Our short conversation delved deeply into their mother, her grandson subtly expressing a deep lack of faith.  The encounter was striking in spiritual relevancy.  I learned the woman passed away before midnight, less than a half hour after the conversation.  She waited upon her son and grandson.

Driving to my family Christmas gathering, I listened to a lecture by Archbishop Fulton Sheen on the marvels of Mary.  It was a particularly favorite lecture of Father David Mary.  It must always be kept in mind the immense intellectual and scholarly proficiencies of Archbishop Sheen.  He was profoundly so much more than a media embracing priest.  I felt it important to post this video.  He presents some extremely powerful insight into the power and majesty of the relationship between Jesus and Mary.

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