Entrustment To Mary = Doing Chores For God’s Glory

I moved my daughters this past weekend into a new apartment. I was a bit appalled by the grime and scum in the bathroom of their old place. I came to learn that they had maybe cleaned the bathroom a handful of times over the past 9 months. I wanted to give them a lecture - but in taking mental inventory of my own cleaning habits I realized I do not complete my chores regularly either.  In fact, since my children have left the nest and I am on my own for cleaning, the house does not get a good scrub but once a month – if that!  As I pondered this reality, I came to the conclusion that I do not like doing chores and instead of offering it up [as my mom used to tell me] I just choose not to do them. Sad to say, I have passed this attitude on to my children.

When I do clean it is usually due to expecting visitors - with me wanting them to believe I keep a tidy home. This desire for human regard leads me to high anxiety and to yelling at my family members to get things picked up in time.[1] I also become critical and unsatisfied with my home believing it is not as nice as I wish it could be and this leads me to become ungrateful for everything I own.[2]

Through God’s mercy He gave me the grace to see a new way to look at doing chores, which is, doing them for His Glory. I should do them as a “thank you” to Him for giving me a home to live in with many comforts.  I should do them to show respect for His gifts He has given to me and my family. I should do them as a sign of my appreciation for the dear friends and family He has blessed me with who come to visit.  I need not worry what others will think, but only concern myself with glorifying God who is the only One who matters.

I think this new perspective will help me be more positive about house cleaning. But knowing my weak nature, it will be short lived, if I do not ask the Blessed Mother for constant help:  Mary, you did everything for the glory of God. You lived an ordinary life, and had many chores to tend to. You were faithful in completing your duties - without complaint. Help me to desire to put aside my negative outlook towards housework. Help me to embrace a new attitude of maintaining a home that celebrates my Lord by caring for His gifts.

God loves me as I am = slothful when it comes to housework.[3] I need to respond to this amazing unconditional love by thanking Him for all He bestows, and entrusting myself to His Mother who will lead me to glorify Him through completing my chores with a grateful heart full of love for my Creator.[4]

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[1] “At the basis of your decisions is not the desire to be open to God’s will, but rather, the pride of human regard. This pride rules over you. You become a marionette moved by the strings of its own pride. Such a puppet considers securing its own honor and good name as the most important thing in life. Sometimes such people torment their spouses with various demands because they want to make sure that everything goes according to their schedule, so that they appear successful before other people. They may even terrorize their children to act in ways that fulfill all of their expectations.” S.C. Biela, Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock (Ft. Collins, CO: IAMF, 2005), 51.

[2] “If you know that you should be giving glory to God with your work, that it should be like a prayer – a time to be in God’s presence and to fulfill what He is expecting in a specific moment – then you will realize that what you do most frequently is forget about God. You will realize that what you do does not serve to adore God, but rather serves to worship yourself.” Ibid. 14

[3] “The truth is that you do everything for your own glory. However, despite this, the Heavenly Father does not stop loving you.” Ibid., 15

[4] “The entrusting of oneself to Mary leads to a special relationship with her. Through Christ’s death, God pours His unfathomable love, fatherly and motherly love, over the world. He wants it to reach the very depths of our hearts through the heart of Mary.  This great grace requires a response. The response that God expects is your entrustment to Mary, which is expressed in living this special relationship with her.” S.C. Biela, In The Arms of Mary, 2nd. ed,rev.  (Ft.Collins, CO: IAMF, 2005), 158-159.