How Mary Can Help Us Think of Our Lord During a Busy Work Day
Work gets busy for me from the moment I start my day. One of the things that motivates me to spend a few minutes each morning on prayer, spiritual reading, a little study of our Catholic faith, maybe even meditation, is knowing that I probably won't have any time for this once the day begins.
But it's really not enough to just kind of get these "out of the way" and then go about your business. It's really better if - no matter how busy the day gets - you take a moment here and there to acknowledge God's presence. For many of us, this may be the toughest thing to do.
Now that it's May, the month of Mary, let's call on Our Blessed Mother to help us remember Our Lord during the work day. She'll be able to encourage, maybe even remind us. In fact, she's really the connection between us and God.
St Stanislaus Kostka had a wonderful little phrase he'd say throughout his day: "Mater Dei, mater mei." It means God's mother is my mother.
What a wonderful phrase. Even more, what a wonderful reality! The more you think about it, the more wonderful it seems.
That same mother who brought Our Lord into this world two thousand years ago became our own mother. She cares for us just as our individual mothers do (or did).
Our Lord Himself entrusted His mother to St John's care as He looked down from the Cross at the two of them on Good Friday. He said to St John: Behold your mother. The Church has always held that Mary is mother to us all - that in that moment, as He was dying, Our Lord made this clear once and forever.
Her Immaculate Heart - born without sin - beats as our own. She is not some spiritual being "up there" removed from our daily lives. As a loving mother, she can and will hear any and all prayers and petitions we make and help us grow strong and holy in the sight of God.
She knows that our purpose here is to "know, love and serve God" and her life is the perfect example of that. She knows that, above all, the true end of our lives is to get to Heaven.
Her main concern -as is true for any mother - is what's good for us. And what's good for us is to never lose sight of our purpose here on earth and our ultimate goal: Heaven.
That's why during our busy days, we can't afford to just put God off to the side. The more we keep God "at bay" during the day, the harder it will be to work for His greater glory, rather than or own.
So, good mother that she is, caring, understanding and loving mother that she is, Mary will be the perfect person to think about by calling to mind that simple phrase: Mater Dei, mater mea - The mother of God is my mother. And in the moment we say it, we will have brought the presence of God into our busy day - with Mary's help.
But it's really not enough to just kind of get these "out of the way" and then go about your business. It's really better if - no matter how busy the day gets - you take a moment here and there to acknowledge God's presence. For many of us, this may be the toughest thing to do.
Now that it's May, the month of Mary, let's call on Our Blessed Mother to help us remember Our Lord during the work day. She'll be able to encourage, maybe even remind us. In fact, she's really the connection between us and God.
St Stanislaus Kostka had a wonderful little phrase he'd say throughout his day: "Mater Dei, mater mei." It means God's mother is my mother.
What a wonderful phrase. Even more, what a wonderful reality! The more you think about it, the more wonderful it seems.
That same mother who brought Our Lord into this world two thousand years ago became our own mother. She cares for us just as our individual mothers do (or did).
Our Lord Himself entrusted His mother to St John's care as He looked down from the Cross at the two of them on Good Friday. He said to St John: Behold your mother. The Church has always held that Mary is mother to us all - that in that moment, as He was dying, Our Lord made this clear once and forever.
Her Immaculate Heart - born without sin - beats as our own. She is not some spiritual being "up there" removed from our daily lives. As a loving mother, she can and will hear any and all prayers and petitions we make and help us grow strong and holy in the sight of God.
She knows that our purpose here is to "know, love and serve God" and her life is the perfect example of that. She knows that, above all, the true end of our lives is to get to Heaven.
Her main concern -as is true for any mother - is what's good for us. And what's good for us is to never lose sight of our purpose here on earth and our ultimate goal: Heaven.
That's why during our busy days, we can't afford to just put God off to the side. The more we keep God "at bay" during the day, the harder it will be to work for His greater glory, rather than or own.
So, good mother that she is, caring, understanding and loving mother that she is, Mary will be the perfect person to think about by calling to mind that simple phrase: Mater Dei, mater mea - The mother of God is my mother. And in the moment we say it, we will have brought the presence of God into our busy day - with Mary's help.
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