Sometimes the psalms are neglected in the daily Mass readings, but they, like the other readings and the gospels, offer guidance. Often, the psalms express best our daily lives and reflect our challenges and our victories with rich imagery that we can then carry with us to help us throughout our day. As we heard or read or if you are just reading now:

“The LORD is my strength and my shield. In him my heart trusts, and I find help; then my heart exults, and with my song I give him thanks” (Psalm 28:7).

The image presented today that God is our “strength and shield” is a good one to begin this day and the week with. No matter what may come our way, God is with us to shield and protect us. Many times, it is the mental attacks of the enemy that seek to derail us in subtle and persistent ways, and we just need to continue to stand on our rock, Jesus, who keeps us from growing weary. He not only shields us from the enemy but also gives us the strength to endure.

As we begin our day, let us trust in and open our hearts and minds to our loving God and Father. He is our shield, yes, but we are not perfect. Some of those negative thoughts sneak through, and we may even slip and start to believe them. As soon as we recognize them though, we just need to immediately turn to him, breathe, receive, rest, and abide in his love again and again. Sometimes even just a minute or two of this practice, turned to as much as needed, properly orders us back to the Father and his love.

The centurion in today’s gospel did not feel worthy enough to have Jesus enter his home, yet he asked him through his emissary to heal his servant from afar. Jesus did not admonish him but commended him for his act of faith in the power of his healing word. None of us are worthy, that is not a lie. We all fall short of the glory of God because we are not God, we are human. The lie is that in our unworthiness we are not loved by God. That is false through and through. God loves us, period. We just need to be willing to recognize our limitations and like the centurion to reach out to Jesus as he did.

We do so when we pray to or ask each other to pray to Jesus for us. As long as we trust in Jesus, continue to turn to him, and reach out to others when we are in need and/or notice we need to turn back when we have turned away, all will be well.

Rest in the truth that the Lord is your strength and your shield. Let these simple words settle into your mind and heart and abide with them, trust in him, give him thanks, and maybe even break into song, throughout this day!!!

Photo: Chapel at St. Joseph and Mary Retreat Center, Mundelein, Illinois

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, September 18, 2023

Marietta woke up one morning in 1973 to find that her daughter was not in the tent she had hugged and set her down to sleep in the night before and that the side of the tent was ripped open. The horror of any mother or parent followed. Her worst fears did not dissipate nor was Susie found over the next few days or months. During that time Marietta went through a whole range of emotions including the thought of wanting to rip out the eyes of the person who had taken her daughter.

Something interesting transpired though as some more time passed. Marietta no longer wanted to experience the anger and the rage she understandably felt toward the person who had abducted her daughter. She realized that her faith did not teach her to react in this way.

Maybe Marietta heard today’s Gospel at Mass also when Jesus answered Peter’s question about how many times he was to forgive with: “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). Marietta asked Jesus to help her to forgive the person who had taken her daughter and that her Susie could come home safe. And she continued to forgive the man every day thereafter, and thus more than even seventy-seven times.

A year to the day later, she received a phone call. And the moment she heard the man on the other end of the phone, she knew it was him. As he began to talk, a peace fell over Marietta that she recognized as the Holy Spirit. The man got her number off the missing person signs that were spread around the area and had called her to taunt her for a few minutes and hang up. But he was surprised and put off balance by Marietta’s calm demeanor. Marietta still had the tap on her phone and kept him on for about an hour.

Because Marietta kept her composure, the FBI was able to eventually track the man down. Unfortunately, he had killed Susie and other young girls. Marietta still wanted to meet him. They did and talked. She grew closer to him, came to understand how troubled he was from the abuse he received in his childhood. She came to care for him like her own son. She appealed to the prosecutor not to seek the death penalty, and again this led to the man letting the prosecutor know where the bodies of the girls were in his jurisdiction. Since the prosecutor in another jurisdiction was not willing to consider taking the death penalty off the table, the man did not share where other girls he had killed could be found in the other district. The man eventually committed suicide in his jail cell before the case could go to trial.

Marietta made a choice. She felt she was not honoring her daughter’s death by staying in a place of fear, rage, and revenge. Her husband had the same decision to make but could or would not. He was a strong and athletic man who fell into a downward slide fueled by his grief. His unwillingness to forgive ate him up inside and lead to his early death.

What surprised me most about this story was not Marietta’s willingness and ability to forgive but the violent reactions directed toward her. Many people could not imagine her acting that way and many said she was a terrible mother in forgiving this man.

As a society, we do not do forgiveness very well. Marietta followed Jesus’ teaching. To forgive, in her case, was especially hard, but she did what we need to do, turned to Jesus and asked him to forgive through her until she could. Years later, she shared that she still needs his help to forgive and not slip back. Marietta has become an advocate that travels throughout the world advocating against the death penalty and sharing her story of healing from her willingness to forgive.

When we refuse to forgive, we not only oppose the will of God, but we also allow the one who has harmed us to continue to do so. This man not only took Marietta’s daughter but her husband as well because he was unwilling to forgive. Forgiveness does not mean we forget, condone what was done, or stay in harm’s way. It means we get to a safe place if needed, but then let go of seeking any revenge, wishing ill on the person, or seeking harm in return. Otherwise, we allow the harm to continue and to perpetuate it.

Forgiveness is the highest form of love. Again, to follow Jesus, in loving our enemies and those who harm us by being willing to forgive, is to will their good, to instead of perpetuating the pattern of evil, stop it by choosing not to feed it.

Forgiveness is the antidote to the poison inflicted upon us and the salve that will help to bring us healing. It is also the key to our salvation. If we are unwilling to forgive, we cut ourselves off from the love of God as Jesus taught us in the Our Father: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” The two go together. One does not work without the other. God bestows his forgiveness and mercy on all and we are called to do the same.

May we take some time today to examine where we have been able to forgive and where we still need help. When the enemy adds any fuel to the fire with his lies, renounce him with the authority you wield as God’s beloved daughter or son, ask Jesus for his help and to forgive through you until you are able to forgive for yourself. God only asks for our willingness and openness.

With the smallest opening the Holy Spirit can work miracles.

What Jesus can also help to reveal for us is our unwillingness to be forgiving of ourselves. As I discovered this summer, our unforgiveness toward ourselves can be buried deep under the cover of lies that make what we believe we have done worse than it is and afraid to bring it into the light. God loves us more than any sin we have committed, any sin, and never tires of forgiving us, let us not tire of asking! And if ever you have a thought that he would not forgive you for something, know right away that it is a lie and get to the nearest priest to ask him to hear your confession!

Reconciliation is a great gift and a healing sacrament that too many of us forget to utilize. I just went yesterday and felt so much joy and consolation afterward. It is another good practice to add to your spiritual toolbox and to pull out once a month or as needed! I am pretty sure that I have gone to confession more in the last year than I have in my whole life!

Marietta Jaeger-Lane shows us that even in the most horrific of experiences we can seek the assistance of Jesus to help us to forgive. In doing so, we collaborate with God to bring his love and light into a wounded and dark world.

Photo: Another evening walk earlier this week, St. Vincent De Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, September 17, 2023

Death, suffering, and sin, Oh my!

If you are still reading… The topics of the past three days have not been the most pleasant and often as Catholics, we have been accused of being too preoccupied with these three. It is not that we are morbid, masochistic, or feel we are doomed. Quite the opposite!

If we fully understand our faith and put it into practice, we are seeking to be free not only from sin and suffering but even death! As St. Paul shares in today’s first reading:

“This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost” (I Timothy 1:15).

Jesus came to free us from our sin, alleviate our suffering, and he conquered death that we may experience eternal life with God. The problem comes when we resist or reject his invitation. We may choose to hold onto our sinful practices possibly because of attachment, fear, comfort, unwillingness to grow, and/or listening to the lies of the enemy.

Jesus won’t force us. He is gentle as he lights the way. We just need to be willing to choose him and let go of our false selves, our sinful natures, and walk with him. Each step we take with and each yes we say to Jesus’ invitation, no matter how small, our old self will begin to fall away, and the love of God will rise within us.

As we are willing to stand up against the lies of the enemy, be aware of, and renounce our sins, surrender more to the will of Jesus instead of our own, our new selves will align with the first born of the new creation, Jesus the Christ, who came to free us from our sin, alleviate our suffering, and lead us into and beyond death into eternal life with him and his Father to experience the love of the Holy Spirit for all eternity.

Photo: Afternoon walk at St. Vincent De Paul Regional Seminary. Jesus and Mary will lead us through any storm within and without!

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, September 16, 2023

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home (John 19:26-27).

The pain that Mary experienced while she witnessed her Son dying an agonizing and slow death is unimaginable. Then as the soldier pierced not only Jesus’ side, but his heart, her heart was pierced as Simeon prophesied when Joseph and Mary dedicated Jesus at the Temple when Jesus was an infant.

During my retreat I imagined myself in this scene and attempting to comfort Mary in her pain, especially at the moment of his death. As I reached my arm around her, she leaned into me, rested her head on my shoulder, and then began to sob. I imagined her saying, “It’s too much pain. It’s too much suffering” and she cried all the more. All I could do was hold her as she sobbed.

Jesus then said to me, “I am dead, but you can comfort our mother. Be a monstrance.” Meaning, be present, allow his love to rise up from within me and share it with Mary. I then heard Jesus say to me and to then tell Mary that he felt no more pain and he was no longer suffering. I told Mary that and said that I loved her. She smiled at me, and as I wiped some of her tears she said, “I love you too my son. I’ll be alright. We knew this was coming and what is coming next. But the brutality is just too much. Let us breath, rest, receive, and abide in the love of Jesus, my Son and your brother, together.”

We then prayed the Our Father together and this pattern of prayer she taught me.

This imagined encounter with Mary reminded me of a real life encounter I experienced when I was on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota around 1990. Charmaine Wisecarver, if I remember her name correctly, shared about the loss of her son who had died in a car accident. Her sobs I can still hear, her pain was so deep. I hadn’t ever been with anyone experiencing such pain before. And yet a few days later, I heard joyous laughter. It was Charmaine. The two extremes hit me.

To be fully alive, we need to experience the pain and suffering in our own lives. There are many ways we attempt to avoid or go around doing so, but that not only prolongs but can increase our suffering. When we do, we can also experience a deeper fullness of the joy in life. Jesus and Mary had no filter of sin, they received the full brunt and experienced the weight of the pain of the cross. They have both led, accompanied, and suffered with me as I have entered more deeply into and through my own sufferings, and have begun to experience greater healing and peace.

That is the gift of our faith, that when we experience times of suffering, we do not have to suffer alone. We remembered yesterday the Triumph of the Cross, the love with which Jesus loved us by dying for us. Today, we remember that at the moment his heart was pierced, Mary “died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his” (St. Bernard).

Today’s feast day is called our Lady of Sorrows. It was originally called, Our Lady of Compassion. Compassion comes from two Latin roots which mean to suffer with. In John’s Gospel from today, we see Jesus give his mother to his beloved disciple and his beloved disciple to Mary. They are given to each other to support one another in their grief, their suffering, to be – compassionate.

Traditionally, the beloved disciple is John, but this disciple being unnamed can also stand for each of us. Jesus gives Mary to us to be our mother. Jesus gives Mary to you to be your mother, and he gives you to his mother to be her son or daughter. Mary has been with us during every challenge and trial, joy and celebration. If you are experiencing any suffering in your lives now, invite Mary to comfort you. Imagine yourself with her as she wraps her mantle around you and holds you close, so you can enter into the pain and experience the suffering to let it go and not only experience the peace that surpasses all understanding, but freedom and joy!

Photo: Close up of William Adolphe Bouguereau’s The Pieta, 1876

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, September 15, 2023

In 324 AD, St. Helena, was sent by her son, Emperor Constantine, to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to find the place where Jesus died, the Holy Sepulcher, and the cross upon which he was crucified. Tradition has it that the three crosses were buried and hidden after Jesus and the two thieves were taken off their crosses. There are different stories about how she found the crosses, but it is believed she did find them in 326.

To find out which of the three crosses was the one Jesus was crucified upon, people in need of healing, including possibly, someone who had just died were brought to touch the three crosses. Only in touching one cross each time, were they healed, and so Helena believed that was the cross of Jesus. Helena had the cross brought back to her son.

The feast day that we celebrate today is the Exultation of the Holy Cross and it is in remembrance of when the Holy Cross was rescued from the Persians in the seventh century.

The cross and crucifixion was an instrument of state sanctioned terrorism to keep people in line. The Romans were ready, willing, and able to make an example of anyone who stood up against them. The brutal practice of crucifixion was one such practice to strike terror into the hearts of anyone else who might have the idea of opposing them.

And yet, we as Catholics, hang this instrument of torture with the dead body of Jesus in our churches, in our homes, and many around their necks. What was a sign of terror has become for us a sign of victory!

“Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness;and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).

The crucifix is our sacramental sign of hope. Death, is one of the tools used by tyrants and dictators to keep people in line because they know instinctually we want to preserve our lives, and so fear death. Yet death does not have the final say. Jesus, who though quite capable of saving himself, chose not to. He willingly gave his life for all of us. What is even more amazing is he specifically gave his life for you and me. Jesus died personally for us, conquered death, rose again and ascended into heaven so that we might find fulfillment and joy in this life, not so that we could merely survive, but so we can thrive free of anxiety and fear in this life and continue into eternal life in the next.

As we grow in our faith and relationship with Jesus, we come face to face with our fears when we are ready and willing to do so, even death. For me, watching JoAnn’s death is the closest thing I have experienced to watching a crucifixion and greatest fear – losing someone I love. She lost so much weight and by her final weeks was so emaciated. Like Mary and John watching Jesus suffering and dying on the cross, there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Yet, there was a peace in knowing that this was not the end of JoAnn’s life. Jesus had the final say, not death. He led her home to the eternal embrace of our loving God and Father. This peace that surpassed all my understanding was a grace that God granted me so that I could be there for JoAnn as well as Jack and Christy, every step of the way. I could fall apart later and mourn, grieve, and heal over these past four years. The crucifix has been a help for me because it has been a reminder of how much Jesus offers us a love so amazing, so uniquely and personally that he would die for JoAnn, for me, and for you.

The crucifix is a reminder that we need not fear death nor anything else because Jesus has our back. Continue to trust in Jesus and know, no matter what arises going forward, and when times of doubt, anxiety, or fear attempts to creep in, you can look upon your crucifix, even hold it in your hand (you have one?) and know Jesus is with you, loves you so much he has given his life for you and that there is nothing, nothing, nothing you and he by your side cannot accomplish.

Photo: Crucifix in the main chapel at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, September 14, 2023

The first reading from today offers an interesting perspective. Paul is not presenting that we receive Jesus’ teaching, philosophy, or theology. He is saying that the Church in Colossea has “received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7).

They have received Jesus, and are to walk in him, be rooted in him and built upon him. This is what distinguishes Christianity from other faith traditions. We are called to enter into a relationship with a person, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God who became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity! This man who we are invited to place our trust in is Jesus!

As Catholics, we encounter Jesus intimately in the sacraments. When we were baptized, our old self died with him, we were born again in him and are now a part of his Body. We were empowered by the Holy Spirit at Confirmation and are nourished each time we receive his Body and Blood in the Eucharist.  Reconciliation restores our connection when it has been wounded or broken when Jesus forgives us from our sins through the concrete words of absolution offered to us by a priest.

Jesus is also present to us in our everyday activities. The key is to open our hearts and minds and invite him into all aspects of our lives and we will become more aware of his walking with us. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we spend time with him in prayer and worship, invite him into our challenges and struggles, our celebrations, as well as our mundane activities, the more rooted in him we will become.

St. Paul is inviting us to build our relationship with Jesus and as we do so, he will become so much more present to us, like breathing itself. Making the time to reflect and thank him, “abounding in thanksgiving” when he provides his help and support, his guidance, and his strength also builds our awareness of how much he is present in our lives.

May our loving God and Father enfold you with his loving embrace so that you know he has you in his care and will protect you. May the Holy Spirit fall afresh upon you and fill your mind, your heart, and your soul, with his peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding. May his presence gently dissolve any weight, stress, and/or strain that your bodies and minds have been experiencing. And may you receive Jesus’ outstretched hand, that he may lead you this day. Continue to lean on him as you need to, and he will renew your strength.

Trust in Jesus, his Father, and the Holy Spirit!

Photo: St. Mark Catholic Church, Venice Beach, CA.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, September 12, 2023

“Only in God be at rest, my soul, for from him comes my hope. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed.”

This is where God invites us to be: at rest and experiencing his peace, even with so many diversions and distractions that tempt us to feel otherwise. He doesn’t pull us kicking and screaming but instead leads us gently as we are willing. Each of us have experienced glimpses of the foundation of his love that is to be our rock, our firm foundation, and our stronghold against any attack. The question becomes are we aware of his presence and his accompanying us?

When we do find ourselves not experiencing God’s rest, it is not a call for shame on our parts either, just a reminder that we need to take some breaths, call to mind a word or phrase like, “Jesus, I Trust in you.” Or adding today’s words to our daily rhythm of prayer: “Jesus, you are my rest, my salvation, my stronghold.”

Stopping to breathe and rest also allows us to identify what may be causing us to feel anxious, disturbed, or unsettled in the first place, where before it unsettled us more unconsciously. Identifying the cause, helps us to resist the temptation to react and instead slowly settle into and renounce what is most likely the dart of a lie.

Saying an Our Father, breathing and resting are important first steps for any practice of prayer, whether going to Mass, the Rosary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, reading, meditating, and contemplating the Bible, and even making decisions can be prayerful!

As we consciously slow down, we will begin to let go and feel the peace of God inviting us to go still deeper, to listen and to receive his own word uniquely offered for each of us, and then to abide in his love and rest there. Here is the wonderful part, it is possible to continue to experience his peace and rest in our daily activities.

It is from this foundation of abiding in God’s love that he is inviting us to dwell in today especially as we remember those who died on 9/11. As we pray for those who lost their lives and their families, we can take comfort in the fact that death does not have the final answer, Jesus does, he who conquered death and the grave. May we all open our minds and hearts and rest in his peace, assured that God is our rock foundation no matter what we face today!

Photo: View of Lake Michigan while on retreat this summer. Spending time in God’s creation can help us to experience God’s peace!

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, September 11, 2023

One of the keys to understanding the law of God, the Bible, prayer, worship, and our lives and relationships is shared by Paul in his letter to the Romans when he says: “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). John echoes this in his first letter: “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 14:16).

God’s laws, spiritual disciplines, and practices are like training wheels to help us navigate our fallen world, to help us navigate our own fallen natures, and how best to interact with the fallen natures of others. Each, when practiced regularly, leads us to the ultimate goal of our lives which is to receive the love of God, so we may better love ourselves, and each other. Our spiritual practices help to open ourselves up to the love God wants so much to share with us.

When we breathe, rest, receive, and abide in God’s love, we are making a conscious choice to do so, and God can then abide with us which is where he wants to be! It is from this deep and intimate communion that our lives are meant to be lived. We come to this place of resting and abiding with God when we follow the counsel from today’s psalm: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

God is ready, able, and willing to not only guide us, but he is already doing so! We choose to harden not our hearts by putting into practice God’s invitations to attend and be more attentive at Mass, pray the Rosary more attentively, receive God’s guidance through these reflections, pray with the Bible, and just as importantly, following God’s lead for you to channel our emotions and resist the temptations that arise. Sharing our frustrations with God is also valid prayer, as long as we continue to also trust him and resist the temptations of the enemy to stop praying and continue to open your heart and mind to God’s direction even when the weight of our challenges and trials get heavy.

As we resist the temptation to harden and instead soften our hearts to God’s guidance, he can then do so much in our lives and we begin to experience his love, his peace, and special graces. In opening our minds and hearts to him, we will then be moved to share his love with others.

One way of doing so is being aware of the needs of those close to us and offering to pray together as Jesus recommended in today’s gospel from Matthew 18:19-20: “Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

This is not a magic incantation, the waving of a magic wand, or a three-point plan of success. Our praying goes back to the beginning of what we are called to do in this life which is to be loved and to love. We are to walk with, support, encourage, and empower one another and we do this best when, through our prayers, we invite God to be the center of our lives. In this way, the often most damaging lie of the enemy is toothless, that we are alone in our struggles.

I unfortunately don’t know or have the answer to the how, the time or the hour that God will answer our prayers. All I know is that what is even more important is that God loves each and every one of us, is taking care of, empowering, loving, and helping us to rise above all the lies. We need to continue be faithful in our practices of prayer, harden not our hearts, trust in Jesus and Mary, in each other, continue to pray for one another, and know that God will bring about a greater good!!!

Photo: Praying the Liturgy of the Hours and receiving the love of Jesus last Wednesday in the Rosary Garden, St. Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, September 10, 2023

“Jesus, I Trust in You.” “Be not afraid.” And: “God himself is my help.” Or “God is present as my helper.” Which comes from today’s responsorial psalm (54:6), are more than just words written on a page. They are promises by God for us to receive, breathe in, rest, and abide with him so we may better experience and be transformed by his love and conformed to his will. 

By meditating and contemplating on these words they also become a shield against the darts of the enemy. Whenever the lies of the enemy are hurled at us, we are not to dialogue with them, they are darts! but instead renounce and repel these half-truths, thoughts of desolation, and flights of fancy as we anchor ourselves in the love of God embodied by these words. 

Like the Pharisees in today’s gospel who always seem to be on the prowl looking for a way to trip up Jesus, so the devil is always on the prowl seeking someone to devour. 

That is why we need to resist the enemy and be diligent, alert, watchful, and at prayer. For as soon as the smallest dart of negativity is hurled, we need to choose: to receive and dialogue with it, let it influence us such that we come to believe it, and so fall into desolation, or to immediately renounce it as Jesus does, trust in him, be not afraid of the lies, and ask God for his help.

When we choose Jesus each time, God’s love rises up within us and radiates out from us to dissolve the power of the enemy’s attacks. When we have the humility to ask for God’s help in recognizing our weakness to make this choice, he becomes our strength. 

May we continue to pray for one another that we may remain consistent in receiving, reciting, resting, and abiding in these words that they may become as nourishment consumed to strengthen our spiritual immunity! Thus fortified and strengthened with this breakfast of saints, may your day and weekend be blessed with joy to overflowing!!!

Photo: Rosary walk last evening. Good time to meditate and contemplate God’s word. Good for the body and the soul!

Link to the Mass readings for Saturday, September 9, 2023

“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

It is upon verses like these that we can place our hope and trust in the love that God has for us, especially when we are going through challenging times.

It is hard to see the good that God is bringing about while we are enduring them, but he has done so in your life before, he will do so with any present challenges, and will do so again in the future. God loves you and wants the best for you. It is in times like these that our relationship grows and deepens in our intimacy with him as long as we continue to place our hope and trust in God.

Today we celebrate the nativity of Mary, who is a model “for those who love God.” Mary was born as a part of God’s plan to bear the Christ, the Son of the living God. She received the news of this at such an early age, most biblical scholars thinking that she was 13-15 years of age. And even though she did not fully understand what Gabriel was asking of her, she said yes. What she did understand was the challenge that was before her, the gossip, the looks, even the possibility of being stoned to death for conceiving a child out of wedlock.

Yet Mary placed her trust in the one who she dedicated her life to from an early age when tradition teaches that her parents, Joaquin and Anna, brought her to live and serve in the Temple, possibly as a consecrated virgin, until she was about twelve.

Mary even faced these challenges with joy! For after receiving the word from Gabriel and conceiving Jesus in her womb through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, she went in haste to share the news with Elizabeth. Not only did God, through Mary’s faith, trust, and hope in him, bring about a greater good, he redeemed all of humanity and creation in collaboration with Mary!

The Holy Spirit accompanies us as he did and does with Mary. We need to continue to place our trust in him for the issues, temptations, trials, and tribulations we are experiencing, knowing that they are only being allowed by God to bring about a greater good. As any impatience or anxiety attempts to creep in today, breathe deeply and slowly, saying, “Jesus, I trust in you.” Rest and abide in these as well as the words expressing the truth that God is bringing about a greater good for you.

Call on Mary to help you too. She is an incredible and loving Mother who has comforted me in my worst trials and continues to love and guide me now. Continue to trust in Jesus her Son who will take any hit that comes at you. Walk on in the confidence that even in your weakness, our loving God and Father is your strength.

Happy birthday, Mary, and pray for us!

Photo: Holy hour on the grounds of St. Joseph and Mary retreat center, Mundelein, Illinois.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, September 8, 2023