Entrustment to Mary = To Need Love and Care

Mother’s Day 2015 is about to end as I start to write this post. Another gentle day in which I was reminded of the value of communion of life with Christ through Mary.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been dealing with anxiety, and now depression has reared its ugly head. It is surely a hormonal imbalance of some kind as, to date, my interior peace is riding the storm without being too disturbed. The symptoms come and go randomly. I am still surprised when the emotions overcome me and I am a ball of nerves or tears. My surprise is a source of comedy for me. After 15 years of living in my Mother’s arms, I am still surprised by my tremendous need for Her love and care! Oh, Mama, how quickly your little one forgets!

Meanwhile, Blessed Mother is not surprised that I forget. I believe She expects me to! Therefore, She always has a plan to remind me: A sudden irritation that leads me to a harsh reaction; a stubbed toe; a spilled drink; a broken mug; a mess left by my child; a runny nose; a deadline that is fast approaching; a late payment charge; a cell phone upgrade that I can’t figure out; a rainy day; three rainy days in a row; a computer glitch; a printer problem; a dead car battery; a bit cheek; a chin hair that got too long; the dirty kitchen floor; a flat tire; a bad crust on my pizza; the list can go on and on.  All these beautiful interruptions in my day remind me I am not in charge and I don’t know how to fully love myself or others.

To live in Mary's arms is the opportunity to see God’s action in the ordinary and difficult events of life. Each moment that I forget and react is my opportunity to remember how much I need MOM’s love and care.

“Believing that the Mother of Jesus is also my Beloved Mother, and that I am always her most beloved child, I dare to call her ‘Mom,’ as she teaches me to abandon myself to God through her openness to the ‘spirituality of events,’ especially in the experiences I do not understand.

Mary is an example and support for all believers: she encourages us not to lose confidence before the difficulties and inevitable problems of every day. She assures us of her help and reminds us that it is essential to seek and think of ‘the things above, not those of the earth’ (cf. Col 3:2).

Pope Benedict XVI

Homily of the Solemnity of the Assumption

August 15, 2006”*

*Quoted from the Creed of the Families of Nazareth Movement USA.

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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