Entrustment to Mary = Seeing God's Love In Every Situation

FYI: Keep in mind that I enjoy cookies - almost to a gluttonous fault.

This summer had me taking a few flights to destinations to be with family for special occasions. When booking my flight for a niece’s wedding I noticed the day I was to return would be my anniversary date for entrusting myself to the Blessed Mother. I had full confidence in booking on that day, knowing she would be treating me to blessed travel.

 

My departure flight was to leave on a Thursday evening having me fly through the night with one connection to change planes in Phoenix. My son-in-law was meeting me there to join my next flight so to surprise my daughter by arriving a day earlier than planned. We were going to surprise my husband too, not telling him he would be picking up both of us.

 

The departure flight was delayed an hour before loading. There had been a maintenance issue which needed paperwork signed. When we loaded the plane, we sat awaiting the FAX for clearance for another hour. As the time ticked on, I realized I would not make my connection. My son-in-law was already in the air heading toward Phoenix. I texted my husband and told him I would be detained and that he was still to go to the airport and pick up our son-in-law the next morning. After I sent the text message I began to cry. Big crocodile tears rolled down my cheeks. I tried to hold it in as a young man sat next to me and I didn’t want him to think I had “lost it”…which I had. I felt great anxiety not knowing what awaited me in Phoenix. Was I to be sleeping in the airport? The airline was not being very comforting in their announcements, and did not say what would happen if anyone missed their connections. In my desperate state, I prayed more out of a sense of duty - acknowledging God’s power, admitting I knew He would take care of me, but I found no real sense of comfort in Blessed Mom’s arms. I tried to get some rest but an uncertainty covered me like a blanket. When the plane landed we were told to go to the airline’s service desk. When I approached the clerk she asked my final destination. I told her, and she looked through a stack of vouchers and found mine. She handed me a set that included a voucher for a hotel room, breakfast, and plane ticket for the following morning. She told me to contact the phone number on the hotel ticket for their shuttle to pick me up. I headed to baggage claim thinking I would be getting my bag, but found out it was kept to be sent to the final destination. When I called the shuttle they told me to look for the van with the big “cookie” on the side. Once I made it to the hotel at 1:30AM, I was greeted with a fresh baked cookie and a room key. I had to smile and sincerely thank God for His loving care, especially seen through the cookies. My fears started to subside as I drifted off to sleep. The next morning I enjoyed a free breakfast buffet, then a shuttle ride to the airport where I had an uneventful flight and was greeted by my son-in-law and my suitcase!

 

My return flight and travel was indeed blessed like I had assumed it would be. So what I learned in this event is I only trust when I think I “deserve” a blessed event, like an anniversary date, or a holy day. This is why I need my entrustment to Blessed Mom so she can be my daily trust, especially during times when my plans are changed, and my schedule is altered. She has to be my belief that in all events God is taking good care of me - even when there are no cookie surprises, He is still managing my affairs with His love and His mercy!

"If we are surprised that God foils our plans and leads us down a different road than the one we imagined, let us recall that it was the same in the life of the Blessed Mother. Mary also thought of her sanctity, her road, her mission differently. The one who gave up motherhood was called to an exceptional and unique motherhood. This call foiled all of her plans."  

Tadeusz Dajczer, The Gift of Faith, 3rd. ed. (Ft. Collins, CO: IAMF, 2012), 116.

 

"In every situation Mary realized the will of God with full inner peace, because she accepted everything with childlike trust."                         

S.C. Biela, In The Arms of Mary, 2nd. ed, rev. (Ft.Collins, CO: IAMF, 2005), 128.

Entrustment to Mary = Leaving My Comfort Zone

Happy 4^th of July! Another year in the life of our country is complete. I cannot say I am proud of the decisions our Supreme Court has made this past month. Yet through this spirituality I have learned to always look at myself and see where I have failed, instead of pointing fingers at others. What I see is that I am very quiet when it comes to sharing the Good News of the Gospel.

 

Being a "Scaredy Cat" I fear conflict. I like to keep things status quo. I feel "safe" praying in private for worldly issues. While I am not being sinful by not joining the front lines, I am choosing to be comfortable, and maybe that is something I need to change. Getting out of my comfort zone will lead me to beg for help from my Blessed Mother. She will have to carry me into the areas I fear and to be my strength in the battles I join to uphold the truths of her Son. I must remember also that God, my Father, is in charge, and the Holy Spirit is protector of my soul ~ so I need not be afraid!

 

“The presence of God throughout history affects equally the things that happen in the realm of politics, society, and the economy, as well as in our family or in professional matters. He is present everywhere, and everything depends on Him. In His hands lie the destinies of all of us, as well as the destinies of nations and of the world. We come to know all this through faith, which brings about inner peace in us. This peace flows from faith that gives us the understanding that He, Who is the eternal might and eternal love, holds everything in His hands filled with mercy. He guides everything with His eternal wisdom and total love. Faith gives us feelings of security and peace, and the confidence that we are always immersed in God’s love.”

Tadeusz Dajczer, The Gift of Faith, 3rd ed. (Ft. Collins, CO: IAMF, 2012), 8.

 

 

Entrustment to Mary = Not Being Fooled

The other night I was putting the Little One to bed when he started to work his way into an anxiety attack. It started off simply as a stall to going to bed, but then he remembered past days of scary dreams and convinced himself that he was going to have a scary dream that night and he couldn’t stop crying and whining about it. He was obviously overtired, but the emotions he was going through were real to him. I know this because I suffer anxiety and so I knew a simple “get a hold of yourself” wasn’t going to be effective!

The Little One’s trouble with anxiety began after he had some bad dreams. First it was fire in his bedroom, then it was bears in the back yard and other animals – all wanting to eat him. The dreams must have been very intense because they sparked such vivid thoughts in the day time that he hated to be in his own room for fear of a real fire. When he awoke from his dreams, he would beg me to lay with him, hold him and say prayers with him. He started to pray differently. He now begs Jesus and Mary every night to protect him from scary dreams and thoughts, and when he wakes up in the morning he is grateful that the prayers are answered. This trial of faith has produced many fruits in his relationship with Divine Love and Mercy to the point I am convinced this was a gift – a gift for deeper faith.

By the grace of God, I was in a very good place the other night when the Little One was too tired to go to sleep. My husband came into the room, concerned the whole episode was going to push me into a bad place, but I assured him I was okay. I was really in the grace of the moment. I had been praying, and started to pray aloud the Psalms that help the Little One when he is most afraid “The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack…I will fear no evil, for you are with me;” (Ps 23:1, 4).  His response to my praying was to intensify his whining and crying. Why weren’t the prayers working that night? Could it be because he wasn’t living in the moment? Could he be focusing on feelings from the past only to be afraid of the future which is out of his control? Where was his confidence in Jesus and Mary to answer his night time prayer not to have scary dreams?

Wow. These questions were very eye-opening for me with my own anxieties. The very next day I found out my friend with cancer had made a turn for the worse. I started to remember the grief I had really experienced when my father died. Instead of staying in the current moment and wondering what my friend might need, I remembered how terrible I felt in the past, and projected this onto the future – this process put me in a stupor and anxiety pursued! Before it went too far, however, Blessed Mother helped me to remember my Little One’s struggle from the night before. Was I, too, creating undue stress? Was I focusing on my feelings from the past to the point I was more afraid of the future that is out of my control? Since I hadn’t immediately turned to prayer, I could see that the fear I had was more imagined than a real threat. Where was my confidence in Jesus and Mary to carry me, to carry my friend which I pray for incessantly? Immediately, I entrusted my thoughts to Blessed Mother to be immersed in Divine Mercy and Love. That day MOM kept me from being fooled into spending a lot of tears on an illusion--tears before their proper time.

“Anxieties that nag you about the past or the future are also trials of faith. God expects that you will offer Him all of these anxieties so that you can entrust yourself more fully to Him and totally abandon yourself to Him.” (Tadeusz Dajczer, The Gift of Faith, 3rd. ed. (Ft. Collins, CO: IAMF, 2012), p. 129)

Entrustment to Mary = Celebrating God's Merciful Love

My daughter went into labor on the Monday of Holy Week. Before I could pack up and drive even one hour of the five hour journey to the city she is living in, I received the text that her baby girl had been born, just a short 1 ½  hours after being admitted into the hospital! She had been considered a high risk pregnancy and we had a scare in January of a premature delivery. Prayers ensued, and miraculously [according to the neonatal specialists], she and baby held on 10 more weeks to deliver at week 35. The baby was 6.6lbs - a healthy weight for her gestation. She remained in the hospital the next 10 days to rid her jaundice and gain the weight she lost in the first few days. She is God’s beautiful creation, just how He designed her to be.

For me, it turned my final week of Lent upside down. Coming into Holy Week, I was ready to give my full attention to the special themes of each daily Mass, and then to participate in the Triduum as we do every year. Instead, I forgot to pack my prayer book, and only attended Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday Masses. My whole schedule was rearranged as I took on helping my daughter learn how to nurse and care for her baby, for I was fortunate to be able to stay with her in the hospital room. I felt uneasy during the adjustment of “not being in control” of my prayer life, exercise routine, and meal preparation. Basically I had to put aside my expectations of what the week should be, and just be! Once I surrendered to my Blessed Mom and entrusted to her my prayer, my desire, and my awaiting for Easter, I was then able to relax and concentrate on helping my daughter. It was freeing to drop my illusions of how I believed Holy Week was to be experienced. It was refreshing to acknowledge that God is in control and I only need to follow His lead. Just as my new little grandbaby required our love and care, God showed me how helpless I am and how I need the love and care of my Blessed Mom. She helps me see the truth about myself and with her WE then can call upon the abyss of Jesus’ merciful love. She helps me see how her Son died for my sins and through this merciful act rescues me. And with this Good News I may sing this Easter Season ~ Alleluia! Alleluia!

 

"An “old” person – someone who relies on his own calculations, who lists pros and cons – limits the possibility for God to act and sets limits on His love and mercy. Constantly calculating and predicting if one will be successful or not is a trait of old age. A child grasps for the moon and believes that he will get it – and God wants to give you more than the moon. He wants to give you His kingdom, but if you do not become a child, His hands will be tied."

 

Tadeusz Dajczer, TheGift of Faith, 3rd. ed. (Ft. Collins, CO: IAMF, 2012), 64.

Entrustment to Mary = More than Baking Cookies!

The priest commented, “Wow, these Christmas cookies you made look amazing! I bet you put in a lot of time and effort to make them.”

“Yes!” I responded. “They have only the finest ingredients, and I used recipes that have been passed down for generations!”

“That sounds wonderful. So, did the process of preparing them draw you into a deeper relationship with Blessed Mother? Did you become more aware of Christ’s presence in your life while you baked them?”

“Hmm, to tell you the truth, I didn’t think much about that. I guess I didn’t think much about Christ while I baked them at all.”

The priest took the whole plate of cookies I had prepared him and tossed them into the trash can saying, “Then they are worth garbage!”

Harsh, you say? Well, this event didn’t actually happen to me, but something similar did to someone else and now I am the benefactor of her shock and amazement – as I have recently been shown through the example just how useless my actions can become when I am following my own will or acting as if God does not exist.

Each and every aspect of my day can either be full of me or full of GOD. I get to choose.

“The entire world is not worthy of a man’s thought, for this belongs to God alone; any thought, therefore, not centered on God is stolen from Him.” ~ St. John of the Cross, Maxims and Counsels

I have read this line from St. John of the Cross many times, but somehow the example of the cookies that are only worth garbage has drawn out the reality of what he was trying to say. All my actions are garbage if done without being focused on the One who created me, the One who saved me, the One who desires to fill me with His power and love.

Faced with this truth, what can I do? I am so immersed in my will that it seems impossible to believe I could ever fulfill the great command to love God with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my mind (cf. Mt 22:37). But, then I remember I am entrusted to Mother Mary. Jesus says to me again, “Behold, your mother” (Jn19:27).

Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer reminds us in his introduction to S. C. Biela's book God Alone Suffices that when faced with difficult situations, or what we perceive as impossible to change: “we can choose the way of faith, trusting that the endangerment is the opportunity leading us to Jesus, who controls the situation, or, on the Marian way, to Christ through Mary. If it is she who is in control, then we only need to find shelter under her mantle and already we become calm and safe.” (God Alone Suffices, p. xviii. Bold emphasis added.)

Our Lady of Guadalupe's words to St. Juan Diego can become the words she says to me:

Listen, put it into your heart,

my youngest and dearest [child],

the thing that afflicts you, is nothing.

Do not let your countenance,

your heart be disturbed. . . .

Am I not here, I, who am your Mother?

Are you not under my shadow and protection?

Am I not the source of your joy?

Are you not in the hollow of my mantle,

in the crossing of my arms?

Do you need anything more?

(Antonio Valeriano, “Nican Mopohua: Original account of Guadalupe,” in A Handbook on Guadalupe, ed. francis Mary Kalvelage, trans. Mario Rojas Sánchez and Janet Barber (New Bedford, MA: Academy of the Immaculate, 2001), 200. Italic and hard return emphasis added.)

Now, the Christ-mas cookies have value – more value in the garbage than on the plate. This Advent, instead of thinking of and hungering for cookies, I am asking my MOM to hunger in me and for me for what truly matters...Her Son. My Savior.

“Thank you God, for allowing me to see the truth about my weakness, and how that calls upon the abyss of your merciful love!”

Entrustment to Mary = Being Grateful For Everything

Only a person who has faith is able to be grateful for everything. This gratitude will be visible on your face as joy, for everything may be changed into good. [1]

 

It was easy to thank God when my husband and I survived driving the wrong way down a three lane one-way road. Miraculously the cars we were facing dispersed and we were able to turn 180* and head in the right direction, praising God as we did so.

 

It is easy to thank God for His blessings of a warm house, food to eat, employment, and family visiting during the holiday season.

 

It has not been easy to be grateful for my daughter being served divorce papers after only four months of marriage.

 

Although I am a person who has faith, it is not so easy for me to be grateful for everything. I do not always appreciate difficult trials; nor am I thankful for my weaknesses. I am currently reading the book How to Profit from Your Faults. It is based on the writings of St. Francis De Sales and discusses the positive side of one’s faults and failings. I am learning to have gratitude for my weaknesses as it is through them that I come to see how much I need God and His mercy. It is through my humiliations that I grow in my awareness of “who” I am not. It is when I can see my misery and stand in the truth and admit my unfaithfulness to God that I become open to allowing Him to rescue me. And who wouldn’t be grateful for that!?

The seeing, admitting, and opening myself up to my God is not easy for me. That is where my entrustment to Mary comes in, for on my own I cannot, and would not, admit the truth about myself. But in my Blessed Mom’s arms WE can thank God for everything, for WE can trust that everything may be changed into good!

 

Jesus is never sad when looking at your life that may be filled with failures, problems, conflicts, unfulfilled plans, everyday difficulties, and spiritual difficulties. He is joyful because He expects all those things to bear fruit. He expects that you will take advantage of them and you will be joyful and grateful for everything He gives you.[2]
[1][2]Tadeusz Dajczer, The Gift of Faith, 3rd. ed. (Ft. Collins, CO: IAMF, 2012), 13.

 

On behalf of High Hopes, Control Freak, and Scaredy Cat we wish all of our readers a most blessed Thanksgiving and Advent Season. Thank you for sharing in our revelations of the many ways God loves us all as we are!

  

Entrustment to Mary Does NOT = Being Free from Trials

A common misconception I’ve run across is that if you are entrusted to Blessed Mother it means your life will begin to look prefect and trials will cease to exist. I lived with that way of thinking for a long time. When bad things happened in my life, or to those around me, I would think “if only I stayed in MOM’s arms more,” or “if only that person entrusted themselves to Mary.” But is this really true? Am I really running from Mary’s arms when I encounter trials? Is it Mary’s role to work like a magic genie in my life, taking away all bad things?

Looking at the life of St. Peter this week has helped me to realize that God is still with me when I fall or fail at something. In fact, He even predicts and warns me when it might happen. Last Sunday’s Gospel was when Jesus had to say to Peter: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do”(Mt 16:23). Jesus was right there with Peter when this happened. Peter faced our LORD and thought as a human being. At the last supper Jesus predicted Peter would deny him…and Peter did. Wasn’t this the grace for Peter? Wasn’t Jesus, who loved him fully, trying to help Peter live a deeper calling?

Meditating on Peter’s journey is helping me to realize that Jesus and Mary do not have the same expectations of me that I have. I am the one who lives in this illusion that I won’t fall or experience injustice as a Christian. This illusion is why I am constantly disappointed and anxious about my life. This week, I have several emergency-type deadlines and in addition, I am empathizing with multiple friends whose lives are truly in trial mode. Everything in me wants to allow myself to wallow in anxiety and justify lethargy as a solution to escape the responsibilities. But to be a Christian isn’t about removing it so I can function. It is about functioning while living it. I’m discovering that living in the Arms of Mary isn’t about being free of these things; it is about learning to know myself and coming to expect my falls and the injustices all around me. It is about becoming small enough to call out for the miracles and rely more on Christ’s power than my own.

"Peter said, ‘I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk’” (Acts 3:6).

Peter spent three years with Jesus, who helped Peter learn how God truly loved him for who he was, not for any false perfection. In turn, Peter became convinced of this truth so that he realized he was never apart from Christ, which in turn enabled him to give Christ to others. I believe this is my journey too. My entrustment to Blessed Mother is helping me to live in the truth of who I am and who God really loves – and more importantly, HOW God really loves. I don’t think I can truly desire pure love for others until I experience this true love – and that is what Blessed Mother’s arms are helping me with. My entrustment is helping me to utilize my trials for a greater good – to reach out to others that they might know THE True Love.

"During our storms and our trials of faith, we must also never forget about the continuous presence of Mary who is close to us as the Mother of our abandonment to God. Let us ask her to allow us to share in her abandonment to God, so that we may stop trusting ourselves, things, and people, and that we may perceive the continuous presence of her son who is close to us and is our only security. We ask Mary that, following her example, we trust exclusively in the Lord: Mother of Great Abandonment, I offer myself to you without reservation – to the end." (Tadeusz Dajczer, The Gift of Faith, 3rd. ed. [Ft. Collins, CO: IAMF, 2012], 125-126.)

Entrustment To Mary = Acknowledging I Can Do Nothing Without Christ

Humility is so important because God is ready to give everything to a person who credits nothing to himself. If you live in the truth and acknowledge that you can do nothing without Christ, it is as if you are beckoning to Him: Come and live in me. It is only then that Christ comes. Tadeusz Dajczer, The Gift of Faith, 3rd ed. (Ft. Collins, CO. IAMF, 2012), 259-260.

I experienced this message in the above quote just last week. At work we were changing computer programs. We had to load all of our patients' information onto the new program before their appointment times. My coworker and I were working overtime. I really wanted to be a helper to her for I saw she was very stressed by the changeover. I made a decision to input the patients' new ID numbers a certain way. I went to lunch quite proud of myself believing I was such an asset to our office and to her. When I returned, my coworker informed me she had devised a "better" way to input the ID numbers and that was the way we were to do it. My ego was crushed and my pride bruised. I became dejected, but also perturbed that we have to always do it her way. I sulked as I finished my work day. At home I felt depressed thinking maybe I am not cut out for the job after all, for my nerves were fried and I was full of anxiety. Becoming emotional, I offered supplications to God, Jesus, and the Blessed Mother - to rescue me, help me, and comfort me. Then, with bestowed graces, I could look back at the day's happenings and see I had wanted to be in control, and my pride had wanted to be successful. I had not asked for heavenly help during the day as I had wanted to do it all on my own. In my Blessed Mom's arms, WE could stand in the truth admitting who I was and could ask for God's mercy.

 

The next day was a complete turnaround. The office setting was peaceful. I could see that the way my coworker had inputted the numbers was better than mine. I was surprised to have my boss give me my first performance review, and it was very positive. Christ gave me "everything" that day, but only after I admitted I could do nothing without Him. The complete clarity of this event again shows me how much I am loved for the bungler I am. Thanks to my entrustment to my Blessed Mother, God can trust me to see my weaknesses, ask for forgiveness, and with Her pick myself up and begin anew.

 

 

Entrustment to Mary = Allowing Her to Love My Friends

One of my dearest friends turned the big 4-0 this past weekend and had invited my husband and I to join her and her husband, along with another couple, for a weekend get-away.  I had been looking forward to this weekend for months, although I was a bit curious as to how the conversations would go.  You see, the wife of the other couple was a self-proclaimed atheist, and I knew from her Facebook posts that we have polar-opposite views on many, many topics. 

Being in this spirituality, I desired to entrust it all to Blessed Mama.  I would jump out of her arms from time to time, worrying about the topics of conversation, or whether I would revert back to the crippling shyness of my youth.  I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of the chatting around the dinner table the first night, and found myself on her team while playing a board game. 

On Saturday, while the men went off to golf and us ladies enjoyed the spa (yes, I was totally spoiled), I found myself praying for both ladies during my back massage.  There would be a time when my acquaintance and I would spend some time together alone, while my dear friend was receiving a different beauty treatment.  Although I was originally anxious about how we would fill the time, the prayer time soothed my soul and I was able to re-entrust our visit to Our Mama.  As we lounged on the deck, she asked me if I was planning on having any more children, and I found myself smiling and not at all defensive like I imagined I would be (this question was coming from a woman who, when bringing me a hot meal after my fourth child, told me she hoped this was the last one, because I was overpopulating).  I just shared the story of how overwhelmed I felt when I first discovered I was pregnant with our fifth child.  But the very day we discovered his existence, a friend of my husband’s called, begging for prayers as his 13 year old son was dying from cancer in the hospital.  At that moment, my so-called “trial” was flipped 180 degrees into the greatest blessing.  I shared about my gratitude and what a gift our son was to each member of our family. 

My conversation with her reminded me that I am called to allow God to love me and love through me.  I am not to worry about which words to use, or what the end result will be, but just to share my experience of God’s love.  Regardless of whether she had a name for God or not, she recognized His presence in my story; she recognized Love.  She could identify with gratitude.  

I see so many signs of my own weakness during the weekend:  anxiety, lack of trust, trials of the imagination, neglecting God’s will in my leisure time..etc, but I love this quote by Rev. Tadeusz Dajczer in the Introduction of In the Arms of Mary by S.C. Biela:

Our sinfulness does not stop God’s action in us.  By experiencing interior conflict as a result of sin, we can open up, like St. John the Apostle, who also experienced weakness and sin, to the words the Savior said to His beloved disciple and to all of us:  “Behold, your mother” (Jn 19:27).  John, entrusted then to the Mother of God, “took her into his home.”  We, too, can discover in those words the call to self-entrustment to Mary as we invite her, who formed the earthly face of Christ, to form also this face in us. (S.C. Biela, In the Arms of Mary, 2^nd.ed, rev. [Ft. Collins, CO:  IAMF, 2005], xxxviii - xxxix).

As a close relative pointed out as I shared the details of my weekend, nothing is wasted.  Even in what I perceived to have been a very secular weekend, through my entrustment, I brought Blessed Mama’s presence regardless.  Only she could love them through me without commentary, bringing Christ to them purely.  On my own, I can only bring garbage. But our Blessed Mother can love all her children even through the weak vessel that I am.  It is not up to me to see any fruits, but I can desire that no matter where I go, I go in our Mother’s arms.

Entrustment To Mary = Changing Hearts And Minds

Today [January 22^nd], is the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children - a day our Catholic Church has deemed for prayer and penance to combat the results of the Roe vs. Wade decision which legalized abortion in our country 41 years ago. I have been participating in the 9 Days for Life novena from the USCCB website. Even though every year I redouble my prayers for the preborn children during this week, I still succumb to the feeling that this is a battle we may never win. But in saying that, I realize it is because I do not trust in God’s omnipotence, and I have not converted enough to help make a change.

It is no coincidence that my prayer group this week read a reflection that directly relates to the subject of converting the world: "The reformation of the world and the transformation of others must begin with ourselves. The life of Christ must first increase to such an extent in you that the graces and good accepted by you cause the conversion of others." [1]

Even this statement can be overwhelming for me – especially when seeing how I lack the gumption to overcome my weaknesses. I also get paralyzed by the enormity of the problem -  millions of babies dead due to abortion – that I forget that I can begin my conversion just by admitting that I lack the gumption to change. By standing in the truth and admitting my weaknesses, God can begin the process of purification. Of course as I have stated in previous blog posts, I would never be able to do this on my own.  Only with the Blessed Mother will I be able to stand in the truth, admit who I truly am, and ask for God’s mercy. Only with her will I desire conversion. Only with her will I start to adhere to Christ and begin to affect this horrific tragedy happening in the United States.

The reflection also talked about how St. Francis of Assisi helped change the “decline of morality” in Europe during his time. I offer the following passage to help you see how the minds of saints differ from my mind - yet it is exactly these saintly minds that are needed to change my heart and mind, and the hearts and minds of the citizens in the United States, as we allow this genocide to continue year after year. We need saints to help change the hearts and minds of our media that champions a woman’s right to choose an option that ends an innocent human being’s life. We need saints to change the hearts and minds of those connected with the billion dollar abortion industry, the politicians who support this industry, and the medical staff that carries out this fatal law. We are all responsible in some way – let us all begin by begging our Lord for our own conversions, thus starting our journey to becoming the saints that can bring our country back to being one that respects LIFE at every stage.

"Francis never criticized anyone. He believed that if evil was all around, it was he, and not others, who must first be converted. If such great abundance of wealth and debauchery was rife, then it was though his fault. It was he who must become radically poor and pure. Saints differ from those who create heresies because heretics want to convert others, but do not want to convert themselves, whereas saints turn all the cutting edges of criticism toward themselves; they strive to be converted so that the world can be better.

     The more rot and scandal that St. Francis saw around him, the more he desired to conform to the image of Christ and history proved that he was right. For when Francis was converted, when he became so ‘transparent’ to the Lord that the image of Christ could be reflected in him, Europe then began to heave itself up from its fall.

    By the power of Francis’ sanctity Christ raised His Church from the “death” of its faith. The world was enriched by his sanctity, not so much in the way of learning about a man who actualized the spirit of the Gospel in an extraordinary and heroic way, but in the way of the system of connected vessels, since his sanctity affected people that he never came into contact with. The light of faith lets you see that, through Baptism, you belong to the Body of Christ, that you are incorporated into the system of connected vessels of this Body. This Body so greatly needs the converted and the saints. It is in great need of your conversion and your sanctity. Thanks to the light of faith, you come to know that the reformation of others should always begin with yourself."[2]

[1]Tadeusz Dajczer, The Gift of Faith, 3rd. ed. (Ft. Collins, CO: IAMF, 2012), 177.

[2] ibid 178-179.

Entrustment to Mary = Learning Simplicity from a Child

The last few early mornings I've been woken up by the Little One crawling into bed needing to be held. “HUG ME!” she says.  I usually have to roll over to face her, and I sleepily put my arm around her. She much prefers the two armed hold, but will accept my attempt, especially if it’s still dark outside.  If I’m too asleep to respond, she has no trouble waking up my husband with the same demand. It has got me thinking…how much do I need to be held by Blessed Mother?

The spirituality of Communion of Life with Christ through Mary emphasizes childlike trust and humility. I have come to believe that one of my Little One’s roles is to teach me the proper disposition to have in front of my Mother and ultimately, my Father in Heaven.

So my reflection and prayer today is what does MOM (Blessed Mother) want to share with me through the Little One’s desire for being held?

It is in the mornings, when the Little One finds herself alone and in the dark, that she seeks out my arms or my husband’s, but not only then. She asks to go to sleep in our arms too. During the day, she comes to us regularly asking to be held. If the walk is too long, she starts stretching her arms high, whining “hold me!”  When she gets a boo-boo, she runs to share the news with us…hoping for kisses and hugs. When she eats, she prefers to sit on our lap. When she is cold and/or tired, she snuggles into our embrace. I find she seeks me out when she is bored, and/or when I am distracted – wanting to make sure I still remember she is there. She runs to us to share her good news, as well as her bad news. She comes when she doesn’t understand something, and/or when she finally gets it! She often seeks out our arms at the Holy Mass – when she is overwhelmed by her lack of patience and/or distractions. 

Entrustment to Mary, submission to her, and being in her arms are your source of life. Outside of these arms everything appears to be threatening, the world seems hostile, and you encounter the worst things. And it would be so if Mary did not pick you up, embrace, cuddle, and hold you within her merciful arms. (S.C. Biela, The Two Pillars, [Ft.Collins, CO: IAMF, 2006], 77.)

And, what does MOM want to tell me through the Little One’s desire NOT to be held?

It is always when the Little One wants to exert independence that she doesn’t seem interested in being held. When we pick her up to keep her from something is when she flies out of our arms quickest. She screams when her siblings pick her up and won’t let her down – when she feels trapped and when it isn’t her will. She stays away from us when she wants to be in control, or when she doesn’t trust us.

The words, I am afraid to turn everything over to God, hurt like a slap in the face because they are as if you were saying to God, I don’t trust You; I do not know what You are going to do to me. … Distrust, in a certain way, is worse than sin because it is the root and the source of sin. If you do not want to trust, if your enemy is able to engraft distrust in your heart, then consequences will have to follow – fear, the feeling of being threatened, and the suffering associated with it.  Only through the consequences of this evil will you see how far you have strayed. … You will continue to carry the burden of fear until you are converted, until you become like a child who simply entrusts himself into his loving father’s arms. “A patient should be treated for as long as it takes until he learns to pray,” wrote L. Szondi. This does not refer to repeating simple prayers. It refers to an attitude of deep prayer, the trusting prayer of a child who surrenders himself fully into the arms of the Father. (Tadeusz Dajczer, The Gift of Faith, 3rd. ed. [Ft. Collins, CO: IAMF, 2012], 63.)

Childlike trust and humility, what does it mean for me?

I guess, in simplicity, it means I need MOM’s arms always:

The arms of Mary, where we can find security and happiness, are in reality the arms of God Himself, who completely permeates the one whom the Church calls the Vessel of the Holy Spirit. (S.C. Biela, God Alone Suffices, 3rd. ed. [Ft.Collins, CO: IAMF, 2011], 137.) 

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