Mary’s Fiat and Ours

     In a reflection on Mary’s fiat, Fr. James Martin S.J. states that “the feast has tremendous significance because it marks the very starting point of the incarnation.” I also think that its significance is reflected in the fact that it is celebrated daily around the world every time someone prays a Hail Mary or 53 of them while praying the rosary that recalls the Annunciation and all the mysteries in the life of Mary and her Son.  

     I found it delightful reflecting on today’s Gospel reading as I pondered how the call of God is reflected in the events of each one’s life. “Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” We. too, know that God is with each of us.

     My reflection on this feast reminded me that God has a plan for every life and reveals it in some way. I became aware of this when my father died of a massive heart attack when he was 41 and I was 13. I immediately quit all my lessons in tap, toe, acrobats, ballet, drama and piano. My study to become a professional entertainer died the moment Dad died.

    I believe the Spirit fell upon my 8^th grade teacher, Sr. Rita Kettman, O.S.B. when she heard that I was going to Holmes High School, and she called to tell me that she could arrange for me to go to Holy Cross High School for Parish tuition-- $3.00 per month. “Yes, we could afford that.”

     I loved all the Benedictine sisters who taught me in elementary school, and working so closely with them on school projects in high school, I loved and admired them all the more. In my junior year. the Spirit led me to consider a vocation to religious life and soon I knew that God was calling me, and I was sure. I praise God that now at 91 yrs. old, I am still very sure of my vocation.

     When reading Scripture stories and reflecting on how elements apply to my life, I am sometimes overwhelmed in the ways God has entered my life. On this feast I pray with Mary, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices with God my Savior.”

    Sr. Victoria Eisenman, OSB

Lessons from the Saints of March

This blog started out to be about some of the Saints of March.  Some well- known; others less well-known. But, every time I tried to write, the political issues of our times kept interrupting. So, what I wanted to be a clear article became a series of disjointed musings.

March 7:  Saints Felicity and Perpetua two young mothers who were martyred for their Christian faith. One was a slave the other her mistress yet they went to their death with their arms around each other.  Is this not religious intolerance?  Is it not the inhuman separation of mothers and children? 

March 17:  Saint Patrick captured, sold as a slave came back to Ireland when voices called him to “come and walk with us again.”  Is this not an example of human trafficking?  How would Ireland be converted?  Where would the monasteries be that preserved the world’s literacy?

March 19:  Saint Joseph, a carpenter, was known as “a just man.”  His call to be Mary’s husband and the foster father of Jesus was announced to him in a dream.   He did not know what he was being asked, yet he took Mary as his wife and supported her and Jesus by manual labor. Where are all the ordinary jobs by which people can support a family? How realistic is it to think that they will return and quickly?

March 21:  Saint Benedict fled the high life of Rome to seek solitude and closeness with God.  His holiness spread so that many followed him. But, his life was threatened several times by some of the same monks who wanted to follow him.  Saint Benedict’s simple rule respected people of all kinds. He taught respect for things as simple as the dishes. Where is our respect for life, for the earth, for the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land that supplies our food?  Can we still say that there is no such thing as global warming ?

March 25:  The Annunciation:  Mary was visited by an angel with a tremendous request; to be the mother of God.  As a young unmarried Jewish girl, this had to be complicated and perplexing.  What faith and courage it took for Mary to say “yes” not knowing what the future would bring.  Where is our courage? What kind of faith do we have?  Do we trust?  Can we, trust in a bigger plan?  Can we trust the plan of a loving God who created us in His image?

Perhaps it’s time to look to those who have gone before us.

   Sr. Kathleen Ryan, OSB

The Feast of the Annunciation

Sometimes I say it would be easier to write a blog if someone gave me a topic. Given today’s feast I feel a topic has been given to me, yet I have been in a dither. “Hail full of grace, the Lord is with Thee,” the angel Gabriel said to Mary. Such sacred words for reflection and spoken by an angel at that! Yet how often I have uttered them routinely over the years! Joan Chittister, quoting the ancient rabbis reminds us “The first time a thing occurs in nature (in life) it is called a miracle. Later it becomes natural and no attention is paid to it.” Lord, deliver us from allowing this to happen with the sacred events we ponder in Scripture and in our prayer life.

It is not likely in our personal experience that God speaks to us through an angel, but how else would Mary or anyone else understand or believe such news? What a wonder it is, however, that God does speaks to us. Do we not experience God communing with us through another person, a dream, or an event?  May we be filled with gratitude that all believers are filled with God’s grace even on a daily basis. Is not the angel’s message to Mary what may draw us to ask God’s grace and guidance throughout the day?

The Annunciation   Fra  Angelico 1343

“The Lord is with Thee.” The Lord is also with each of us! Pondering this grace, we may be sure that our every moment is blessed. God is with us in the Eucharist, in each person we encounter, in the air we breathe, in the environment we live. God, please grant us the grace to experience this in all we see and in all we touch, and in all of existence.

“Blessed art thou among women.” So true of Mary in her unique blessedness as the Mother of God. We, too, are blessed, so very blessed. Thank you God for saving us from the experience of so many women suffering from human trafficking, living in poverty, being persecuted for their belief in you, living in a refugee camp, or being denied refuge in the United States. How can we name all our blessings? May we remember to offer thanks to You every day.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Sr. Victoria Eisenman, OSB