Random Thoughts on the Annunciation

I realize that it is Palm Sunday today, and so my thoughts are a few days late (and a few dollars short!). But, on Thursday, which was the Feast of the Annunciation, I was thinking quite a bit about Mary's humility -- her "littleness"-- and I wanted to put those thoughts down.

First, during the homily at Mass on Thursday morning, the priest related something that Thomas Merton once wrote about Mary, that "the greatest thing about her is how little we know about her." That struck me as something worth pondering.

So I pondered... and as I did, I thought about that young woman in Nazareth all those years ago. And how "insignificant" she was in the greater world. Yet, in her "yes" to God, she changed the shape of history!

Mary's fiat was a bit like a small pebble that is thrown into a pool of water. It barely makes a splash when it enters, and yet the ripples from the pebble spread to the far reaches of the pool. Mary's humble submission to the will of God has a profound effect on the world even today.

I find that comforting- particularly when I feel like I am struggling in anonymity, doing nothing "important" other than quietly living out my vocation as a husband and father. But when I look at Mary, I realize that I do not have to make a "big splash" to achieve great things. None of us do. All we have to do is humbly say "yes" to God in whatever task He places before us. Then, we too can change the world.

Loves of His Life

The other day, I was grabbing a cup of coffee at a local shop when a disabled woman came in and placed an order. She was difficult to understand (I think a speech impediment was part of her disability) and I could see the clerk struggling to get what she was saying. Eventually, it became clear that she wanted a smaller straw than the one she had been provided. Unfortunately, no smaller straws were available and this woman left-- strawless.

I watched as she left the coffee shop and walked over to a waiting taxi cab. The driver got out and came around to open the door for her. He was a strange looking fellow, to say the least, with a large wool hat on his head, and mumbling to himself as he came around the rear of his cab. The two of them made quite a pair!

Anyway, as I watched these two individuals, a thought popped into my head-- "Lost sheep of the House of Israel." And that got me thinking...

In a way, we are all "lost sheep" to a certain degree, wandering around in the wilderness of this world. Yet, lost though we may be, we can take comfort in the fact that we are loved. Not just loved, but loved uniquely.

Yes- you see, God loves each of us uniquely and individually. We are-- each one of us-- the loves of His life. We are, to Him, the pearls of great price. He is the Good Shepherd, and each one of us "sheep" is uniquely precious in His sight.

So, don't be too hard on yourself... and don't be too hard on others. Remember, we are all little lambs in the flock of the Lord.

Praise God!!

The Church Militant

Slowly, slowly marching on-
heads bowed in prayer,
hearts filled with song-
through the dark valley proceeding.

Events quicken, the valley erupts
yet the column continues onward,
led by the Lady in Blue.

Jesus, we trust in you.
Jesus, we trust in you.
Jesus, we trust in you.

All the way to the Cross...
and beyond.