theROCK

Whispers in the Heart

Mothers hold a very special place in our hearts and in world.

To say that my maternal mother, Jeanette, was a blessing is an understatement. My mom lived and carried herself as a role model of faith. She helped me to understand what a true disciple is. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I realized the sacrifices she made, and how faith was the constant in her life which sustained her. It was my grandparents who taught her about the works of mercy—what it means to care for those in need.

My mom learned that when you felt that you were at the end of your rope there is always hope. My mom was a widow at the age of 42 with 8 children to raise. I never felt that I lacked anything. I learned of her struggles and how the Lord came through for her in so many desperate times from the stories she shared later. Even now in heaven, she still is helping me and directing my path. I would say, “I love you mom,” and her response was always, “I love you more.” At times, I miss hearing that out loud but it still whispers in my heart.

As I have grown in my faith life, I have come to form a greater relationship with Mary, our Blessed Mother. She is a go-to person for me to ask for her intercession. She is a great example to me of how to be a humble servant. She shows me how to respond to God with great obedience to His plan. 

A third mother is St. (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta. In all aspects of her life she was a generous dispenser of divine mercy. Through her defense of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded, she modeled true discipleship. She is and always will be a model of holiness. 

Jesus, thank you for all the mothers you have placed in my life.  

A Prayer of Surrender

Every day, I begin my day in prayer. The routine is very simple but well-rehearsed. It is the same prayer I have had for the last seven years. As part of my routine, I pray that I be the vessel by which the Lord fulfills His work. It is a prayer of surrender. I have lived my life in surrender to Jesus Christ since I was sixteen years old. When I get
that "feeling" it usually falls in line with a moment of change, a moment of conversion at the climax of surrender. We are meant to go through multiple conversions throughout a lifetime as we grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus by surrendering to His will. I recently had one of those moments that moved me deeper into conversion, resulting once again into surrendering. It is then that I started having that "feeling". I am now left waiting to see what the "feeling" is going to bring.

Many saints write about conversion and surrender as a pathway to holiness. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta would say, "We have to love until it hurts. It is not enough to say I love. We must put that love into a living action. And how do we do that? By giving until it hurts". This loving until it hurts is conversion. It is surrender because it is counter-cultural. St. Faustina brought us the depiction of surrender through the image of the Divine Mercy and the simple yet powerful prayer "Jesus, I trust in you!" Releasing oneself to the will of the Father is liberating yet terrifying.

May Crowning

Did you ever wonder where the May Crowning tradition came from?

To recall a bit of Church history, monotheism, or the belief in one god, was rare in the ancient world. Abraham, according to our faith tradition, was the first to interact with God in order to establish a belief system rooted in the one true God. God establishes a covenant with us through Abraham that connects the faithful to Him throughout time.

A common practice of the polytheistic cultures, those who believed in more than one god, was the practice of making offerings on an altar to a particular god or group of gods in order to find favor with them. If you were found to be in favor with the gods, good things would happen. If you were not in favor with the gods, not so good things would happen. Abraham understood this polytheistic practice. Abraham did many things that demonstrated the application of polytheistic practice to a belief in the one true God. Abraham even made an offering on an altar after God spared Isaac's life because that is all ancient people knew what to do to honor the gods. Abraham applied what he knew to God. Altars were for sacrifice. Altars were for prayer. Offerings were often burned on altars so that the prayers would rise to the heavens in hopes that the gods would find favor.

Sound familiar?
Jesus's sacrifice is the Eucharist. The celebration of that sacrifice is done at the altar. Incense is burned to symbolize our prayers going to heaven. Many of our church rituals are rooted in these ancient ways. 

The May Crowning is no different because many polytheistic cultures honored spring by burning offerings to the goddesses in their belief systems. Whether it was Minerva, Hera, or Persephone, flowers were brought to an altar and burned as prayers were lifted for fertility, a good harvest, family, etc. As Christianity spread among the Roman Empire, they attached an old practice to a new belief; offerings to Mary as opposed to the goddesses. This would explain the procession of flowers and the burning of incense.

While some believers may come with intentions of fertility, harvest, and family, we all come to honor Mary as our Mother and our gratitude for her intercessory power that goes directly to the heart of her Son. We honor her. We celebrate her. We love her. We bring her gifts to demonstrate that love just like we do to our earthly mothers and those that are like mothers to us.