August has a Marian theme.
On August 15th we celebrate the Assumption of Mary into heaven and on August 22nd we celebrate the Queenship of Mary. These are days and weeks to consider how we lean on Mary and how she is inviting us into a deeper relationship with her Son. The closer we get to the Mother of God, the more intimacy we will have with Jesus Christ.
I experienced the validity of this claim through my relationship with my earthly mother and my wife’s experience with our children.
My mom has suffered through dialysis for her kidney for several months, a kidney transplant and a hip replacement surgery – all within 2 years. Throughout this time period, I have had to sit with my mother and watch her health deteriorate and now recuperate. I have brought her Holy Communion and I have seen her receive the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Through it all, I have thought of Mary and leaned on her.
I thought often of how much Jesus must have loved his Mother. If the difficult healing processes for my mom evoked such love in my family and me, how much more did Christ love the Blessed Mother? Their connection and relationship must have been profound and personal. This is the type of relationship that Jesus desires for us to have with his Mother.
In the suffering of my wife, Joanna, I also saw the wisdom and grandeur of the Blessed Mother. A year ago this month she had brain surgery to remove a cyst by her pituitary gland and optic nerve. Thankfully, she is fully recovered. However, the suffering she endured in the months leading to surgery, and the way my children showed my wife love was amazing.
Joanna would often need to lie down because of her horrible headaches and dizziness. My five-year-old and 3 year old simply desired to lie with her. In the times when they would be playing on the floor while she was on the couch, they would randomly go over to her, kiss her on the forehead, and ask her if she was alright. During her recovery, post-surgery, all they would do was ask how Mommy was doing.
In the midst of it all, Joanna would share with me late at night how she was scared that she could lose her sight or that something worse could happen in surgery that would prevent her from always being there with her three children. In her love for her kids and in my children’s love for their mother – I saw Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
At the foot of the cross, Christ must have looked at Mary (and she must have looked at him) with such depth and understanding. The conversations they must have had as Jesus grew up must have been profound. He would have leaned on her, and she would have leaned on him at the death of Joseph. Within Jesus’ passion, we can see that their relationship was now being opened up to the rest of the world. For this reason, Jesus gave his Mother to all of us. The work of salvation was being accomplished and the love between a Mother and Son was at the heart of it.
We can gain access to the heart of Christ for the Mother of God by contemplating the Mysteries of the Rosary. I would argue that spending intentional time with the Sorrowful Mysteries can especially aid us in growing our connection to Mary. This is the case because suffering binds people together. Suffering purifies our love and allows us to see from a vision that seeks the good above everything else.
That is why the priorities of those in my family were clarified in my mother’s illness. It is also why my vision for what is most important in life (faith and family) was so easily seen through my wife’s pain, suffering and recovery. The motherly wisdom of the Blessed Mother is to know that in our pain and suffering, she stands beside us with her Son – who experienced the worst passion in order to redeem all suffering.
So, this month, pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. Be captivated by what Christ endured, wily Mary watched, for your sake. And gain a new perspective on how we are called to love as they did.
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Image: Unsplash+
