Posted on 01/09/2005 5:41:09 PM PST by Knitting A Conundrum
Like a whisper
hidden
behind a wall of noise,
like a rose
hidden in a forgotten garden,
like a
buried,
precious, unseen,
there you lived your life, Mary,
only briefly
letting us see
your smiling face,
hear your soft voice,
witness your faith,
unwavering,
total.
Sweeping,
and sewing
and scrubbing
and caring,
and loving,
and praying,
one long yes
to the call of the Father,
to the actions of the Son,
to the promptings of the Spirit.
O Mary,
pray for me
that in the daily
I may find God,
that in my weariness
I may say yes,
and in the end,
like you,
I will be willing
to give my God my all.
Amen.
Luke 1:25-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be.
And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end."
And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?"
And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible."
And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
John 2: 1-10
On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.
When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.
He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast." So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now."
John 19: 25-27
So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Mag'dalene.
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, 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 to his own home.
Acts 1: 12-14
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away; and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Revelations 12
And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.
And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
As we contemplate, let us join the angel Gabriel in saying, Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!
And with Elizabeth, exclaim, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."
Amen.
Prayer Ping
Let me know if you would like to be added or removed from this prayer and meditation ping
While I agree it's good to contemplate the life of Mary, don't you find it unnecessary to pray to her (or any other saint, for that matter) when you can pray directly to God?
I don't do theological argumentative discussion on my prayer threads...There will be those who will be happy to discuss this with you. Here we have the hard work of praying, learning and loving God.
God Bless.
O Blessed Mother,
Impossible for me to imagine, really,
all those years with him who was love incarnate,
growing up straight and tall ,
a graceful sapling
turnng into a man.
I can imagine him
playing games through the streets of Nazareth,
sitting at Joseph's feet among the wood shavings,
watching you sewing.
Yet, to be with him all that time -
Did not the villagers notice
something special
about the youth
growing in their midst?
And you -
impossible to imagine
a lifetime spent
tending and caring,
loving and fixing for
God on earth -
Amazing that the glory invisible in your home
did not shatter your walls -
Indelible the brightness
it left upon your soul!
Bump
O Sorrowful Mother,
How dark that day must have been,
When the light that was your son,
the light of heaven
who had been your life
who had been your light
lay
seemingly extinguished
in the cold, cold tomb.
O Mother of Sorrows,
did the little band of followers
come together that sabbath,
shocked,
exhausted,
frightened
in that numbing twilight of fresh grief?
How dark it must have seemed
without his light,
his soft voice,
his touch.
How much he had asked you to give,
your heart,
your body,
your love.
Thank you for saying yes.
Add Me.
You're added!
Thanks,I love Our Lady.
O Mother of Sorrows,
who in the midst of your pain
becomes the mother of us all
by the gift of your son,
Pray for us
in these days when so many forget,
so many reject,
so many hurt.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not our petitions,
but in your mercy hear and answer us.
Amen.
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