Vol.6 No.10 DoM E Message
Spiritual Gift of the Week
Let us pray to live our faith with courage and wisdom.
Mary assists us as we persevere during difficulty and struggle.
Spiritual Instruction of the Week
There is only one way to show Jesus you love him— let Him love you. Let us pray…
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Dear Beautiful Daughters of Mary,
Since Jesus of Nazareth walked on this earth, women have played an active role in his mission—women just like us.
Mary of course was the first. Her love and gentle care of her son Jesus worked in an intimate and uniquely influential way to impact his life and his role as Savior of humanity. She was his mother, she loved him even before he was born. She was his first disciple. She was the first leader of his Church. She was the first and most important woman in his life. She lived for the sake of his mission. And we are her daughters. She guides us and intercedes for us that we may live for the sake of his mission.
Under the care of Mary, the women of Jesus’ time were strong and courageous. They were privy to her intimate knowledge of Jesus. She taught them about his character and wisdom. She gave them insight into his teachings. She introduced them to his love and taught them to love him. Elizabeth, his cousin would rear the one who would herald his message. Joanna and Susanna were among the women who ministered to Jesus. Martha and Mary of Bethany, were of course his benefactors and friends. Mary Magdalene, who we call the apostle to the apostles, was among those who were closest to him. The Samaritan, the hemorrhaging, the one caught in adultery, all of these women found a reason to love him. And each brought to Jesus’ world her own uniquely ‘feminine’ gift and grace. They were with him, not only during his life, but also, at the earliest moments of the Church. Without women our Church would not be Christ’s Church. And without women Christ’s Church would not be. The women of Jesus’ day embodied his message. As Benedict the XVI once said, “the female presence was anything but secondary.” His words remind us of the teaching of St. John Paul II who charged us to use our gifts: “The Church gives thanks for each and every woman, for all the manifestations of the feminine genius.”
Daughters of Mary exemplifies an authentically faithful face of femininity. We nurture and cultivate a substantive and enduring format for study and worship. We are ‘thinking women’ who ‘prayerfully bond in community.’ We affirm one another. We share Jesus’ message—in a way that reveals his presence. Knowing that only Christ saves, we don’t exploit the weakness of others. Nor do we gossip about one another. We do however encourage one another’s giftedness, never diminishing our roles in family or community life. We do everything in fact to secure that we enter into all our endeavors with prayerful, faithful love for Christ. Our hope is to faithfully relate to Jesus, just as the women did in his own circle, during his life on earth. Our purpose is, like other women in Christian history, to recognize and proclaim the distinction between the enemy of God and ‘the Holy one of God,” the Christ.
Daughters of Mary is a part of an ever deepening, ongoing conversion. It is an asset to the faith of the Church. We revere Mary and worship her Son by studying his Word. We deepen our reverence for Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, by preparing for Sunday liturgy. We commit to Christ’s presence at work in the life of the Church. We serve as instruments for Christ’s presence in our families and in our community.
Ours is a different sort of dedication than that of women religious orders. We are lay married women, mothers, grandmothers, widows, friends, sisters, working women—and in all of these roles, we pray and act hoping to encounter and become effective Christian women. Our work for Christ happens ‘in our world’—and our work is meant to serve Christ ‘in the world.’
If we had lived in Jesus’ day—if we had called upon his mother Mary, and treated her as our own—we also would be privy to her greatest desire—that is—for us to become close to her son. She would tell us to speak to him daily. Speak heart to heart and then listen. She would say ask for his forgiveness. Ask for his mercy. Ask for his direction. Share our burdens and concerns with him. Most of all express our gratitude for all is gift. And she would assure us of her prayers for us. Louis DeMontfort wrote: “Mary is so full of love that no one who asks for her intercession is rejected, no matter how sinful he or she may be.” Mary wants us to know and love her son, Jesus. She wants us to continue to offer authentic feminine gifts and graces. Her desire is to keep her Son’s Church vital.
Dear beautiful Daughters of Mary, there is perhaps one most important message that I offer to you: We do not have to be holy to approach Jesus as a friend. We approach him as friend because he is ‘the holy one of God.” He is the Christ, our friend, our love, our Savior—and the only way to show him we love him is to receive his love. Let us pray…
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About lay women Pope Francis has said: “We know that the future of the Church in a rapidly changing society now calls for more, a much more active engagement on the part of the laity. In a particular way, it means valuing the immense contribution that women…have made and continue to make to the life of our communities.”
Daughters of Mary is a model of what women can do to make a contribution to the Church. Please pray for me as I transition into my new role. Pray for the Holy Spirit to move and guide our effort as we begin to package our uniquely feminine way of prayer. it is our hope to share with other women this beautiful gift of Daughters of Mary, in the hope that others may find the same gift of consolation that we enjoy.
Veni, Spirito Santo, la misericordia di Dio ci salva—
Come Holy Spirit, it is by God’s mercy that we are saved,
Deb
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