And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord (Luke 1:45) The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your mercy, O Lord, endures forever (Psalm 138:8)
Dear Friends,
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers, Frodo and Sam stand on the lid of hell. They are about to enter Mordor, evil’s stronghold, in their quest to destroy the Ring. And Sam muses “The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them… But that’s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered… Folks seem to have been just landed in them, usually – their paths were laid that way… I wonder what sort of tale we’ve fallen into?” I wonder what sort of tale we’ve fallen into… That question is paramount. Is the story finally good, or is it meaningless? How much can we trust Creation’s author? What’s our part in the story? On September 15, we celebrate Mary under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows. At the foot of the Cross, as Lumen Gentium explains in numbers 58 and 61, Mary united her heart to Christ’s sacrifice and freely cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and love in her Son’s mission to restore divine life to all people. But what enabled Mary to trust God so much? What enabled her to freely walk the path laid out for her? She knew what sort of story she’d fallen into, its summary appears in Luke 1:26-38 under three declarations made by God through the angel’s message: “I love you. Do not be afraid. Go!” “I love you.” First God reveals to Mary how much he loves her: he is with her, which is the wellspring of a joy that nothing can finally quench. She is precious in God’s eyes, and honored, and he loves her (Isaiah 43:4). “Do not be afraid, Mary.” Then the Lord strengthens Mary. She too felt fear. She too needed to bring that fear to God, to let him give courage to her heart (Psalm 27:14). As the old saying goes, “Courage is simply fear that has said its prayers.” “Go!” And Mary receives a mission. God calls her to an adventure of his own marvelous design. He will not fail her or forsake her (Joshua 1:5,9). In his presence, in his strength, he sends her as a vessel of his mercy to others (Romans 9:23). In everything she does, from the simple to the dramatic, Mary is a missionary of God’s love. “I love you. Do not be afraid. Go!” Mary must have pondered those words again and again. They reminded her of the tale she’d fallen into; they reminded her that the story was, ultimately, very good (Genesis 1:31, John 3:16-17). What sort of tale have you and I fallen into?
God bless you,
Fr. John Pietropaoli Two Priests and A Mic podcaster
