Mary Archives - Shepherd of Faith

To Jesus through Mary is what many Catholics imagine when praying the Rosary or thinking about Jesus ‘ first miracle, the wedding feast at Cana. The phrase seems to imply that Mary is our conduit to Jesus or that without Mary we can’t “get” to Jesus. In a sense, that’s true. Think about what our lives would be like if Mary had said no – but that’s not what this post is about.

I recently contemplated what the phrase REALLY means for me. So, on this Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, I wanted to share some thoughts on that.

My Advent Journey

During my morning meditation several weeks ago, I was joyful because Christmas was a little over a week away and my Advent preparation has been amazing. I’ve been journeying through Advent with Mary through a book called Rejoice: Advent Meditations with Mary. The meditations helped me to truly focus on Mary’s wisdom. I was reminded of how she studied and prayed with scripture and how she pondered things in her heart. Mary possessed a strength, confidence and trust that allowed her to accept God’s will for her life. She was unwavering in her faith. Mary was a powerful example of discipleship for her son and she should be a powerful example for us!

So how do I translate “to Jesus through Mary?” What does it mean for me? Of course, through baptism we all begin to develop a relationship with Jesus and yes, we can go straight to Him in prayer. But for me, this phrase is more about how we become more like Him rather than how we approach Him in prayer.

A great example

As all mothers are examples for their children, Mary was an example for Jesus. Although Jesus was divine, He chose to become human for our sake. In His humanity, He chose to remain humble, as His mom was. He didn’t “drop names” to get what He wanted or to change the outcome of certain situations. Instead, He chose to remain human and follow His mom’s example of humility and trust in God.

Jesus was divine and thus, perfect – no doubt. His supernatural gifts came from the Father. But when He chose to become human He became subject to the same trials and temptations we are. Worse, He was subject to massive persecution. Despite all that, Jesus remained steadfast in faith. His faith was unwavering because He trusted in God’s promise. Sound familiar? Where do you think that came from? It came from His mother.

To Jesus through Mary?

So when I hear “to Jesus through Mary” now I think: How can I become more like Jesus? By looking to Mary, Jesus’ prime, shining example of humility, faith, strength and trust. In His humanity – He was who He was and how He was because of the example He had in His mother, Mary.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen! What a gem, scriptural in nature and the background music of the rosary.

Happy New Year! May this year be one of abundant blessings, good health and tremendous spiritual growth. Step out of your comfort zone this year – stretch yourself beyond your perceived limits. Remember God loves you and He’s with you every step of the way! God bless you!

Mary, Undoer of Knots!

Mary, Undoer of Knots! I can’t remember when I was first introduced to this devotion or how. It was probably after I read 33 Days to Morning Glory. I remember reading about it and praying the novena once several years ago, but since then I hadn’t paid much attention to it. Then I heard Pope Francis has a special devotion to Mary, Undoer of Knots. It piqued my interest again so I downloaded the app to my android phone.

As I navigated the app, I came across a “video gallery” option which led me to YouTube. What a beauty! There, on YouTube, are videos and audio for each day of the novena. You can follow along with all the prayers. The part that’s so beautiful and moving is the video consists of various icons and art for each of the decades of the rosary. As each prayer is recited a different image pertaining to the particular mystery or prayer pops up on the screen.

For the Our Fathers, an image of God is displayed, for the Glory Be an image of the Trinity, for the Fatima prayer, an image of St. Michael and for the Hail Marys 10 different images of the mystery you are contemplating. Well done! The images alone are enough to meditate on but the special prayers unique to the novena are comforting. Click here to check it out.