Just before his death on the Cross, Jesus offered us his mother (Jn. 19:26-27). Ever since, Mary has been present by our side – she has become the mother of the Church. She is the manifestation of the Father’s love that guides us to Christ and opens our hearts to the action of the Holy Spirit.
On earth, Mary nursed, nurtured, and educated Jesus and was the most loving of mothers. In the same way she is now taking care of us. Let us entrust her all our troubles to her, big and small, from the most spiritual to the most mundane. For example: the lack of diligence in prayer, our family problems, or even something as simple as deciding “what to have for dinner." Naturally, the Holy Virgin won’t do our cooking for us or provide a magic recipe for a succulent meal, but her intercession will help unburden us, so we can become receptive to what the Lord requires of us here and now.
Mary is as attentive to our needs as she was to those of guests in Cana. And as in their case she intercedes for us (Jn.2:3). She takes all of our supplications and all of our prayers to her Son. Whenever we recite a “Hail Mary,” we are like little children holding our mother’s hand to progress. We trust her to intercede on our behalf and rely on her guidance on our path to Christ. We are carried by her prayer -- for little children, their mother’s arms are the best way to progress quickly and safely, without a risk of falling, even when they are tired or don’t know their way.
This month of May invites us to learn from Mary. The reason why during this month we pray the Rosary with and for our children is because “the richness of this traditional prayer, which has the simplicity of a popular devotion but also the theological depth of a prayer suited to those who feel the need for deeper contemplation” (St. John-Paul II Rosarium Virginis Mariae).
There are thousands of ways to say this prayer: alone, in a group, in the silence of a church or in the din of a busy street; morning and evening, with the family gathered in a prayer corner; in bed during sleepless night. When we’re tired, it’s even possible to recite it without thinking, as a call of love, repeated over and over again.
“Do whatever He tells you” were the last words of Mary recorded in the Gospels, her only instruction addressed to us (Jn. 2:5). They reveal all that Mary wants to teach us: to rely on her tenderness instead of twiddling our thumbs or making a mess of things, assuming she’ll fix them. Entrusting ourselves into Mary’s hands is not an excuse for becoming spiritually lazy. On the contrary!
In Cana, Mary interceded with her Son and then told the servants: “Do whatever He tells you.” Similarly she is asking us to accomplish God’s will on Earth. And the closer we grow to her, the more she makes us realize that the only thing that truly matters, the only thing we need to look for, is to “do as He tells us.”
Christine Ponsard
