October 2022
Reflections of God's Goodness
God has given us so much love. His own love, of course, but also: love between brothers and sisters, love between spouses, and love between friends. However, there is no other love on earth like the love of a mother. A mother prays for her child and wants to shield her child from hurt and suffering. We all need a mother’s love.
Mary is set apart from all other mothers. It is Jesus who makes Mary unique. Jesus knew we would need a heavenly mother and so he gave us Mary to be our mother, too. Over the many centuries since, Mary has visited people on earth, always with a message that points to her Son, bringing the message of God’s love and concern for His sons and daughters.
Mary’s “yes” to God when the angel came to tell her she was to be the Mother of Jesus is an example of complete availability to God. As Mary lived out her “yes,” she followed Jesus all the way to the cross. As His mother, Mary suffered with Jesus. Her heart was broken by Crucifixion.
After the Resurrection, Mary continued her journey in the upper room with disciples as they waited for the Holy Spirit. She kept company with the apostles and help spread the gospel message.
“I see Mary as the perfect role model of discipleship. Marian devotions, the rosary, the different canticles, give us a sense of the surrendering to God in our lives, having that relationship with God which builds up who we are in relationship with Christ.”
The month of October is dedicated to the rosary. Padre Pio called the rosary his weapon and many saints prayed the rosary daily. As we look around the world, where so many things have changed, and evil often seems to be winning over good, perhaps we, too should look at the rosary as a weapon. Venerable Fulton Sheen said,
“The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next.”
If you have not considered the rosary as part of your prayer life, now is the time. Take up the rosary and fight for God in resistance to the evil you see. Contemplate the gospel message through the joyful, sorrowful, glorious and luminous mysteries of the rosary.
Mary promised to help us. She wants to intercede for us and with us. Mary wants to help us save the world! This month, consider praying at least a decade of rosary every day, and ask Mary to bless our world and bring us all ever closer to Jesus.
Remember Mary loves us with a Mother’s love.
Blessings,
Sister Mary Ann Barnhorn, SNDdeN
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior . . .The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
