Mary's title as Morning Star comes in part from the Song of Songs in which the speaker marvels, “Who is this that comes forth like the dawn,... .(6:10). In the darkest night, Mary joins her prayer to ours, reminding us that her Son has promised to share our burdens. We recently [...]
During last week’s services commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, we heard his strong words of vision, hope and possibility “I've been to the mountaintop.” Like Moses looking over the promised land from Mount Nebo, Dr. King looked to a blessed future time when all people would be [...]
Shaped by the word of God that became incarnate within her, Mary came to know in the most personal way the power, compassion and suffering of Our Lord. This is also our call, for Christ shows to us, as He did to Thomas, the still visible marks of his wounds. In our suffering [...]
After that heart-wrenching moment on Calvary when Jesus commended Mary to John's care and named Mary to be mother to John and to all the church, the Gospel makes no mention of Our Lady. Surely her mother's heart was pierced by sorrow as Simeon had prophesied when she brought her infant son to [...]
Good Friday As we approach Holy Week, scripture invites us to stand with Mary at the foot of the cross. How impossibly long that Calvary morning must have seemed to Mary, Mother of Sorrows and model of strength! Two thousand years later, the world still cries out in lamentation. Erected as a safety [...]
How hard those last months of Jesus’ life must have been for Mary, knowing that as her son's popularity increased so did the jealousy of people in authority. With his dying breath, Jesus commended Mary to John’s care and named her mother of us all. Mary’s children -- our brothers and sisters -- continue to suffer. [...]
The Presentation of Christ When Mary and Joseph, presented Jesus at the temple as prescribed by the law, Simeon gave thanks to God for Jesus, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” and then predicted Mary’s sorrows. Some of the sorrows came early: the flight to Egypt [...]
The Arrival of The Magi: Mary must have been both pleased and startled at the arrival of the magi. Strangers from a distant land, these astrologers had read in the stars God's good news that a king had been born, and they did not hesitate to undertake the long arduous journey to give [...]
Hail Mary: We always have people in our lives who we need to pray for. No doubt you have a list the same as I do. Sometimes it helps me if I think of three specific intentions which become a ritual for me. That way it becomes a discipline. Here is a tradition [...]
Mary Mother of God: For many non-Catholics the title that we use for Mary “Mother of God” seems impossible. We do not believe that Mary is divine. She is a human being like you and I who needs the grace from God to do everything. The church from its early beginnings has used [...]
