Mary, Mother of God

January 1 is the Feast of Mary, Mother of God. Tonight at the Vigil Mass, Father reminded us that Mary's response to God was always positive and prayerful. When told by the Angel Gabriel that she would become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary said, "Let it be done to me as you have said". When she requested her Divine Son to provide wine for the wedding at Cana, she then instructed the servants to "Do just as He tells you".

It is not always easy to do just as the Lord tells us to do. For the Blessed Virgin Mary, it meant watching her only and beloved Son die a painful and bloody death on the Cross. That she knew this was the end from the beginning could only have made it more painful to anticipate and then endure.

The lesson of Mary to me, from the time I was able to "see" her with the eyes of faith, has been this: We must always do what the Lord wants us to do. Sometimes, that will be unbelievably painful, both for Him and for us. Because, you see, He loves us and He feels our pain as His own. And just as He was finally able to wrap His loving arms around His beloved mother and carry her home to be with him always, He will in the end come for us too.

Until then, we must strive to "Do just as He tells" us.