On this Saturday, I’d like to reflect once again with you on the readings, the beautiful readings that are given to us, but especially in the light of our Blessed Mother and her life, and how her very life illuminates this Word of God for us today.
In fact, the Word of God today speaks to us about Jesus’ authority, and Mary can so teach us what it means to truly believe and surrender to God’s authority in the Gospel. The religious leaders refused to answer Jesus honestly because they were more concerned about public opinion and protecting themselves than with the truth.
Our Blessed Mother is the complete opposite.
Think about it.
At the Annunciation, she immediately places herself under God’s authority with her words: “Let it be done to me according to your word.” Mary reminds us that authentic faith is humble, obedient, and courageous enough to say yes to God even when we do not fully understand everything.
My brothers and sisters, there are going to be many situations in life that will not be clear, that might be difficult to embrace, that might even be difficult to imagine are permitted by God. And yet, all the while, the Holy Spirit, through these difficult events, can shape and mold us and purify and prepare us, sanctifying us for the world to come.
But we need to collaborate with Him and place ourselves under His authority, as did our Blessed Mother when she could not understand.
Mary shows us how to persevere in faith and remain in the love of God.
See, a lot of us start off well. We start off with a lot of passion and zeal, and we want to convert the world. And then, at the slightest difficulty that we encounter, we imagine God is not with us, that He has abandoned us, that He is not listening to our prayers, that we pray and nothing changes.
Saint Jude, in today’s first reading, tells us: “Build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God.”
My brothers and sisters, no disciple lived this more perfectly than our Blessed Mother Mary. She remained faithful at Nazareth, at Bethlehem during the hidden years, beneath the Cross, and finally in prayer with the apostles awaiting Pentecost, where she once again embraced intimately the power of the Holy Spirit.
She teaches us that holiness is not built on huge dramatic moments, but on steady fidelity, prayer, mercy toward others, and trusting perseverance until eternal life.
As you go on this Saturday dedicated to her, ask her to continue to give you the grace to be open to the Holy Spirit, His illumination, and how He sometimes prompts us into difficult things — just as He led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the evil one, only because He knew that His human nature would be strengthened by it — not diminished, not ruined, not destroyed, but strengthened.
Through the intercession of she who was the perfect spouse of the Holy Spirit, may God Almighty, the third Person of the Divine Trinity, descend upon you and within you and give you His gifts so that His fruits may emerge in your life.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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