January Reflection
In our daily lives, in the course of going about our careers and vocations, we meet a lot of different people. We do not know them that well, and our relationship with them varies. Some become great friends, spouses, business clients and partners, others acquaintances. In the daytime, we work with them to reach our intended goals and destinations. However, at the end of the day, we all would like to go back to what is familiar and basic to all of us
-the basics- our own family whom we all know and love to the end. We would like them to be just within our reach.
How do you feel when you have tried to contact them only to find out that they are unavailable because of some reason beyond your control? Just the sight of them, their warmth, sights and sounds, makes us whole again. We are enriched in their presence.
In the spiritual aspect, we cannot spread ourselves too thinly, too far, and end up being open to an attack by the devil. We can resist temptations only when we are firmly planted in our faith, our family and our home. These are the basic things that are near and closest to our hearts that makes all of us one and strong.
Reflection About Our Lady
One day a friar asked S. Pio of Pietrelcina, "Father, what are your thoughts about Our Lady?" He replied, "She is worth more than theology and philosophy." This answer of Padre Pio echoes the words of the Holy Spirit which the liturgy places upon the lips of Our Lady: "I encircled the vault of the sky, and I walked on the bottom of the deep" (Ec 24:5). What a vast and heavenly reality is the mystery of Mary!
She is our Lady. She belongs to God and to mankind. She is both Jesus' mother and ours. "Behold, thy Son" (John 19:26). Our Lady cannot fail to love us. Motherhood signifies love. If St. Paul found his "daily preoccupation" to be "anxiety for all the churches" (2 Cor 11:28), how much more are all of us the concern of Our Lady, who is mother of us all? As the holy Cure of Ars ventured to say that not even in Heaven can Our Lady enjoy Paradise in peace; for she is like a good mother with children away from home who is watching out for their return. Her cares will cease only at the end of time when her last child shall enter the Father's house and she, having at last her children about her, will be able to enjoy her Paradise in peace.