Feb 26, 2019
(Sir.4:11-19; Ps.119:165,168,171-172,174-175; Mk.9:38-40)
“Those who serve her serve the Holy One;
those who love her the Lord loves.”
Such is wisdom, she who “instructs her children and admonishes those who seek her,” she under whose counsel we become the children of God.
And I cannot help but think as I contemplate this personification of wisdom, how well and how appropriately she is embodied by our Blessed Mother, she who was immaculately conceived, she under whose mantle even Jesus our Savior “advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man” (Lk.2:52). “To Jesus through Mary” is the motto of the fortunate souls who have consecrated themselves to the Virgin (even as St. Louis De Montfort most wisely instructs), and it is through her intercession that we find God’s graces and favors lovingly bestowed upon us. She is our dear Mother, and instructs us as she has her Son.
Indeed it is His beloved disciple John whom the Lord must admonish today, teaching him that those who do the Lord’s work serve Him, and these He blesses; and, of course, it is this same disciple to whom Jesus will entrust His Blessed Mother – and she to him – even while dying on the cross: “He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son.’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home” (Jn.19:26-27). And now as she has taught Him, so she shall teach His beloved, shall teach all His Church, how to follow the Holy One. And certainly the home into which John gathered the Virgin Mary was more than an earthly domicile: even “from that hour” he took her into his heart.
And she is with us still; she is with him who remains (see Jn.21:20-23), with the Church here on earth, serving as our Mother, guiding us in all wisdom. And, my brother, my sister, do not be discouraged if “at first she puts [you] to the test… and tries [you] with her discipline,” for she only seeks to learn that your “heart is fully with her,” and so, fully with her Son; she only longs to teach you wisdom. She will come back “to bring [you] happiness and reveal her secrets” to you. And as long as you remain with her, she will hold you in her loving arms as no other mother, and form you in the divine image of her blessed Son.
O Lord, “those who love your law have great peace,” for in your wisdom all question and doubt flee. Discipline me by your Word and form me in the womb of your Blessed Mother. “Let my soul live to praise you,” for I would be in your company forever. May your wisdom and grace keep me from “the hands of despoilers.”
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O LORD, your wisdom transcends Heaven and earth;
let us listen to your instruction.
YHWH, let us never be against you, never fail in our embrace of the wisdom and grace that pour forth from your throne. Into your glory let us come, obediently following in the way of your Son, listening ever to His words of instruction. If we serve Him and love Him we will know the blessings that are upon Him through you and the Spirit.
Let us not be forgetful, O LORD, forgetful of the blessings we have known or the ones which are yet promised us if we continue along the path your precepts mark out for us in this dark world. Because the world is dark, you must sometimes hide your face from us, you must sometimes seem dark to our minds, which are clouded over by sin and the inclination to sin. But if we reach out to you, if we seek your will, trusting in your love, we will indeed come soon to sing your praise in the surpassing light of your kingdom.
Let us fear no discipline, LORD, but rather rejoice in carrying our cross with your Son.