Following the Queen

by Maura
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Drawing in ink- Christine Meert

By some small miracle, we ACTUALLY made it to morning mass today- the feast of the Queenship of Mary. Our wonderful priest gave a short homily, but one that was so profound that… here I sit, still thinking about it, hours later. He said it much better, but the idea was this: All of the feasts of Mary go back to one moment- the Magnificat- the moment that Mary said yes to God. We are all called to say yes to God, and Mary showed us how to do that. In fact, she is the QUEEN at that! 

I often hear from couples that they are afraid for the future. They have financial debt, they are unsure of where they will settle, some are still finishing school, etc. From the viewpoint of an engaged person, the idea of total self-giving love is scary….they are so close, but they have yet to experience what it truly means to give 100% of yourself to the spouse.  The idea of pregnancy is scary for many. The idea of NFP is…let’s face it, kind of hard. What if that means a honeymoon of abstinence? Major buzz kill. Couldn’t they just use contraception until they get the hang of NFP? Questions and questions and uncertainty after uncertainty….leading to logical points on why THEY are the exception to the 
(God- is-in-Charge) rule.

Now imagine Mary, a single teenager living in a culture where adultery meant stoning to death. Imagine her uncertainty! But she said yes to God. Her faith at that moment paved the way for our salvation. Her faith at that moment outweighed the possibility of severe consequences for being pregnant and unwed. 

Drawing in ink - Christine Meert

Drawing in ink - Christine Meert

 “Living in the moment” has a reckless ring to it, right? There is a difference with that and with what we SHOULD do, which is to constantly respond to the stream of God’s graces.  Luckily, we are not asked to provide anything—just to respond to what is being provided for us. One couple, who had always planned on using contraception, was upset when they were presented with the knowledge that contraception is actually sinful. Now what? They preferred the time when they didn’t know it was wrong. Well, don’t worry. The God who led you down this path of marriage with your intended chose this very moment for you to receive this knowledge. All he asks is for you to respond. Clean Slate. Respond now. Drop pre-planned ideas and preconceived ideas. It will take time to talk this out with your spouse. It will take humility, no doubt, to come to grips with the knowledge that your prior plan wasn’t good. But, be like Mary. Don’t look to the uncertainty of what is ahead. Don’t be too proud to face the fact that your plan wasn’t best.  Respond to the truth that is being given to you this day. Tomorrow there will be another one, then another one, then another one. And that is what it means to walk in faith. No one who has walked this faith and responded to these truths is left alone and uncared for. 

And, yet, here I am married with 4 kids. Every single time we have been open and generous to life, God has outdone us in generosity in other areas of our life. You’d think that responding back with more generosity would not be scary or hard….how little we are! I’m that apostle. (Sorry, Thomas). My husband is Peter. No really- that is his name. Pray for us!