This is the 4th day that this blog has been focused on Our Lady of Fatima. Due to special relationships, it is a very rare thing for a parish to have enjoyed such a lengthy privileged time to have this authentic image of Mary in one place. I heard yesterday that one parish had an event with the Pilgrim statue for only one hour - so it is indeed a special time for our parish.
Each time that I have gone into the Church, I have been thinking more and more about the place of Mary in our world and in my life. I know the theology of Mary. I know the reasons for her importance in the Church. However, I genuinely did not have such a appreciation of her role until these few days for our parish. This may have been one of the spiritual high points of my 45 years as a priest. The only times to have ranked so high in my life would have been the three times that I was privileged to be in the Holy Land. However, I can clearly say that this visit was the high point of the 45 years that I have been connected with Corpus Christi. (I leave unsaid the spiritual intensity of the time that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series!)
Certainly one of the things that made a difference was the chance to really meditate on her face - and to connect with her eyes. It was a very surreal experience - which I cannot push out of my mind - nor would I want to. The hours that I spent meditating in Church were spent praying the rosary and just looking at her face: the kindness, the love, and the mercy were part of this. Other phrases kept going through my mind: passionate tenderness, non-abandoning love, and, less elegantly using my language rather than the language of theologians - this is the person who will always have our back! This is the one who will never give up on us.
I am personally uncomfortable with some of the words used to describe Mary in some books. I'm not talking about doctrine, but rather words used to describe her. Some authors go to such great lengths to describe her in ways that make it difficult to relate with such a person. Let's face it - Mary may be and is the easiest person in the world to relate with - and all we have to do is just try, even a little bit.
Having Our Lady of Fatima here reminded me of this - and helped fill in some holes and move out some darkness which has really been weighing me down. I'm not totally transformed. But I am certainly in a better place than I was before she arrived here. May I find ways for this to continue - please!!!!
TODAY's GRATITUDE: For the gift of Mary.