The Month of October is dedicated to praying the Holy Rosary. There are two important feasts of Mary on this Month as the Lady of the Rosary; first is October 7 as the feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary and October 13 as the feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of La Naval. I hope this will not confuse you that there are two feasts of the same devotion. You can always check on the internet some basic information about the history of Our Lady of the Rosary of La Naval.
In this blog of mine, I would be sharing my own reflections on the role of Mary as a mother whose love has always been true from the moment she learned about her mission to be the Mother of our Lord, to the cross, to the resurrection, to the early Church and even to our time, now that she is known as the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. I invite you to journey with me.
Palestine at the time of our Lord Jesus was practically a patriarchal society. Well, I believe even at present with all the advancements of science and technology, the modern Israel is still patriarchal in structure. But let us not talk about it here. Okay, going back to Palestine, during the time, when a woman is found to be pregnant but without a husband, she is in danger of death. The most probable reason for this is the crime of adultery which is punishable by stoning to death. I believe you are familiar with the story in the Gospel about a certain prostitute caught in the act of adultery and the scribes and pharisees brought her to Jesus for they wanted to stone her to death. You can check it on the Gospel according to St. John (John 8:7-8). By the way, Jesus did not condemn the adulterous woman...
With that cultural, moral and religious context at the time, a young woman whose name was Mary was greeted by an Angel Gabriel to announce to her that she would conceive a son. She was just betrothed to Joseph by the way – this is found in the Gospel according to St. Luke (Luke 1:26-38). Mary was certainly in great danger. When her situation is exposed to the law, she would be facing a death penalty. But Mary accepted the mission and said her "Yes" to be the Mother of our Lord. And God on his part sent the angel Gabriel to Joseph (he was already decided to leave Mary secretly at this time) to tell him to take Mary as his wife. Because of the faith that Mary had and the love she had for God, she was never left alone to do her mission, Joseph followed the angel's words and took her to be his wife (Matthew 1:18-24).
When she was told by Simeon about her Son destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel...(Luke 2:34), which was actually the rejection and suffering that Jesus would be facing in his ministry and at the last of it would be his death on the cross, Mary was already suffering in her heart. As a parent myself, I believe that one thing that brings so much suffering most to my heart is that which makes my daughter suffer. What makes her suffer, makes me suffer too. And so it was the same with Mary.
Even before Jesus underwent his suffering and passion, Mary already had her share in it.
Furthermore, at the time when Mary and Joseph had been looking for the young boy Jesus, parents as they were, they were in great suffering, but more so with Mary for she just kept all these things in her heart (Luke 2:41-52).
Moreover, at the foot of the cross, when her Son was "helplessly" dying, Mary was there dying with Jesus. I remember one professor of mine calling this experience by Mary as mystical death – "Mary died but she did not die". This concept according to him was from St. Teresa of Avila. Indeed, seeing the one you love most dying is killing yourself in the process. This is sacrificial love that Mary had and it kept her faith in God firm and steadfast. Is this not an example of True Love?
To all the mothers whose love for their children is like that of Mary, I salute you. I salute you as I honor my mother too. May God keep your faith firm in facing all the challenges of being mothers. It is the hardest job ever created but the most important one, for without it, society will collapse. Take the Blessed Mother as your model to follow. And she may always pray for you and for us all.
On the other hand, I pray for all the women whose appreciation to being mothers has been lost. They have been influenced by the world's view of womanhood – that being a mother is never a fulfilling ministry. May the intercession of Mary, the Mother of us all, bring these women the realization that unless they appreciate their own mothers and their roles of being mothers too, they will never find real and lasting happiness in this life.
For only when the love of a mother is true, that real happiness of a family is made real too.
For my conclusion, I would just like to say that I am so grateful to my mother. She has been, like the Blessed Mother, a source of inspiration to me. Her love is an example of a sacrificial love. I really appreciate my mother's sacrifices for us her children. Of course my father too deserves the same appreciation. May my prayer for them through the intercession of Mary, Our Lady of the Most Rosary be heard by God always. Amen.
Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the photos used on this post, due credits go to the owners.
Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of the photos used on this post, due credits go to the owners.
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