Mary’s Yes Through Every Season
Written by: Sister Valerie Schneider, SND
September 8
O Mary, Mother of God and my mother, I honor you on your birthday. I rarely think of you as a baby rocked by your holy parents Ann and Joachim. I pray for all babies born today especially girls who will be blessed with a name like yours, Mary. I also pray for young girls in their early years of learning. May they grow in wisdom and grace as your Son Jesus did.
When the Angel Gabriel asked you to be the mother of the Messiah, your yes proved great faith and trust. But did you feel overwhelmed? And how did you ever have the courage to visit your cousin Elizabeth so many miles away? I pray for those who, like you, set aside their own concerns to help others in need. I have often imagined the first Christmas, but I rarely think of setting up a home and making a living in those “hidden years.” Did you overhear whispered gossip (“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son…Where did he get all this?”). You suffered the death of your husband and became a single parent.
Over the next years of your life, Mary, until you witnessed your Son’s death and resurrection and you were taken into heaven, you discerned God’s will through joys, pains and triumph. Let me imitate you, Mary, and say “yes” to God without exception.
Amen.
