Today's Thoughts...

​Today’s Thoughts: Five years ago, at this time I had just returned from a pilgrimage to Lourdes. Recently I have thought a lot about that journey and how it changed my relationship with Mary. She was very present during my travels five years ago especially during my time in Lourdes. While some might wonder why we pray through Mary to Jesus or the Father, or the Holy Spirit, it became very evident to me while in Lourdes that Mary has played and continues to play a very important role in my relationship with God and in all our relationships with God. The richness of her life, her presence and her place in the Body of Christ, in the Church and in the living of everyday life is very important. She is a touch stone to the presence of God in our life. I am glad to celebrate the gift of her love for us today on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
 
As we celebrate today I turn to some words by Benedict our Pope Emeritus in offering you some faith food for the journey of life today…
 
“Mary is a woman who loves. How could it be otherwise? As a believer who in faith thinks with God's thoughts and wills with God's will, she cannot fail to be a woman who loves. We sense this in her quiet gestures, as recounted by the infancy narratives in the Gospel. We see it in the delicacy with which she recognizes the need of the spouses at Cana and makes it known to Jesus. We see it in the humility with which she recedes into the background during Jesus' public life, knowing that the Son must establish a new family and that the Mother's hour will come only with the Cross, which will be Jesus' true hour (cf. John 2:4; 13:1). When the disciples flee, Mary will remain beneath the Cross (cf. John 19:25-27); later, at the hour of Pentecost, it will be they who gather around her as they wait for the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).”  (Pope Benedict XVI)
 
Happy Feast of the Assumption of Mary everyone and may the spirit of Mary enliven your journey of faith! Have a great Thursday.