Faithful Servant

Dear Sisters,
At the St. Steven's Book Club we are undertaking consecration to Mary using 33 Days to Morning Glory by Micheal E. Gaitley, MIC. as our conduit. With a crazy holiday schedule, I've only been able to make one meeting. Keeping up with the readings while challenging during this busy time leading up to Christmas was rewarding too.

I blogged about my last experience with consecration.  I was very ill throughout most of the consecration.  I didn't get well in fact until I made the last vow at an evening mass.  Even the ride to the church was ominous as the clouds were gathering and the sky became very threatening with the winds blowing. We've discussed among ourselves how suffering usually comes with the consecration. Our Deacon fell down a flight of stairs and was hurting mightily, one sister had leg pain, another had sciatica pain that was excruciating, one sister almost lost her beloved pet.  During this consecration it seemed that obstacles were constantly in my way of being able to join the group and as the days of completing the journey were approaching, I was hit with a debilitating bout of allergies that made it nearly impossible to breath or sleep.  One day in particular I coughed so violently I thought I had cracked a rib.

How the devil must hate when we commit ourselves to the Immaculata.  Imagine how much he hates Our Blessed Mother; this lowly creature that gave birth to the son of God! She a queen?  He could never serve her so he hates all of us that commit to doing just that!  As we commit ourselves to her, he makes our life a misery.  He hopes that we will stop the journey.  He doesn't want us under her mantle of protection and doing her will.  I've noticed that even the weather has once more reacted to the fact that we are nearly at the end of the journey.  The skies are once more grey and it looks like it will be raining for days.  Coincidence?  Although it does rain in Phoenix, it doesn't usually rain this many days in a row at this time of year.  But what can he do to keep us from saying YES to Our Lady?  Yes!  I'll be your faithful servant!

A reflection in Week 4 of the consecration in our books struck me mightily.  It came from Saint Pope John Paul II...of course!  In the bible account of the wedding feast in Cana, Mary as the ultimate mother is the very first person to notice that there is no wine.  Such a small detail really, but she's alert to the needs of others and notices this situation.  Her "Do whatever He tells you..." is directed at the servants.  As a result of their faithful obedience to Jesus, to fill the jars with water...they were the very first humans to see the power of God manifested in his Son!

Mary needs servants who obey her and thereby obey Jesus!  If we can do this concretely, every day of our lives, we WILL see the power of Jesus manifested in our lives and the lives of all we love.

Dear Mother,
I will be your faithful servant. I will do as you ask as I know that this will always lead me to Jesus. And I will become a conduit of the Lord's love in this small little patch of the Earth that I inhabit.  I accept you as my Queen and my Mother!  Do with me what you will!

Yours!

IT'S SIMPLE!

Dear Sisters,

God is simple.

In no way am I demeaning the work of so very many wonderful theologians in our church, but the truth is that God is simple.

Follow if you will the logic of this:
First, God is truth.  He is not both truth and deceit.
God is Love.  He does not love and hate.
God is Good.  He is only good and never bad.
God is Powerful.  He is never tired or weak.

God has revealed Himself as a Simple Nature.

I've taken a hard look at my life and have realized that anything complicated isn't coming from God. If I feel conflicted, it is my weakness that makes me so.  God is simple...
I've pondered this so much lately.  I've looked at all the crooked paths of my life and the crooked people that have come my way.  I've looked at the deceit, the errors, the pain and have realized that this wasn't from God.  Of course He's used all of it for good, in His wonderful simple way.

God in all his splendid simplicity stood by me at every turn and bump in the road.  In His truth, love, goodness and power He sustained me, taught me, corrected me and invited me to join Him in His Divine Simplicity!

So lets take a look at our lives.  Are they complicated?  Do you have relationships that are a mess? If so sisters I ask you to meditate on God's simplicity and ask you to see that it is the enemy that is throwing a wrench into your lives.  Ask God with all his simple power to help you to stay on the simple path.

God's way will never turn your journey into a knot; a knot, that Our Lady is so adept at taking apart. No, if we follow Him in all his simplicity, the way will be clear and sure.

God is simple!