The Woman For All Women

Today is the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, so I do not want to miss my chance to say a couple of things about the model that we have in the Blessed Mother of Our Lord. The Immaculate Conception means that Mary was conceived without original sin. She was to be the temple of Our Lord here on earth, the spotless vessel that would house Him for nine months; it makes sense that she would not be an ordinary gal. But the main thing to remember is that Our Lady is also redeemed through the sacrifice of her Son on the cross, like all of us. Jesus' death on the cross transcends time and space, purifying those before and after Him. (Think of it as one of those BC, AD timelines where you have the cross in the center.) His Sacrifice flows from both sides of the cross beam to all those here on earth that lived before Him and all that will live after. We are all able to enter Heaven because Jesus opened the gates, and His suffering gives us the grace we need to follow Him. Our Lady was purified and saved from sin in advance (Jesus' sacrifice is not bound in time) by the very merits of Her Son. It's deep. I know.

It's nearing Christmas so we are all thinking about the coming of the Infant Christ and of His mother and father here on earth- Mary and Joseph. It's a time for us to appreciate and come to a deeper love of the Holy Family. I think my Protestant friends have a fondness for Mary displayed at this season that they do not even realize. We all sing about her during the Holidays, we have images of her in our homes and on our Christmas cards. We love her because she was the first person to hold Emmanuel, God With Us. Shouldn't that make us think how Jesus would love her as an adult just as much as He did looking up into her face as a child? That's why Catholics love and honor Mary-- because Jesus did.

Our Blessed Mother Mary went through everything possible that a woman can experience. She was a virgin throughout her life. She had an unplanned pregnancy. She was married. She was a mother. She took care of a home. She cooked. She worked. She traveled. She lost her husband. She lost her Son. She died. (And I'm only scratching the surface!) She is an amazing woman and I want to deepen my love and devotion to her through the eyes of her Son.

I have been praying a thirty day novena to Saint Joseph, leading up to Christmas, for a special personal intention (please join me in my prayers). While reading through the beautiful prayer, I was reflecting on how hard it must have been for Joseph, as he was nearing death, to think about leaving Jesus and Mary. He would never want to be parted from them! (But what peace to have them at his deathbed!) It struck me especially how it must have hurt Our Lady when Saint Joseph died. They were husband and wife and loved each other as such, though they never consummated that love in the physical sense.  I pray about wanting to find the spouse God has chosen for me and I think about the women, like Our Lady, who found that spouse here on earth and endured the tremendous suffering of being parted from him.  I was very moved this week to hear about the work of Taryn Davis and what she has done to reach out to military widows- and I see a need for groups like this in the Catholic church to reach out to these women through Mary. Mary is the perfect model for all women suffering such a loss. I will be praying for all widows (and widowers) during this Christmas Season in a special way. I can't imagine how hard it is.

I would love to share how my family celebrates Advent and Christmas in my next post, along with all my random thoughts of the season. It's a wonderful time.