The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
This is the first year in 6 years that I have not done my annual January 1st Marian Consecration.
Not for lack of love for the Mother, but for reasons that up close feel monumental, and from afar seem miniscule. Two crying Littles. Laundry. Dishes. Just one more hour of precious, elusive sleep.
Guilt knocks at my door, but nobody answers. Instead, my Mother calls to me, already inside the house, as she pulls out a box of treasures to give me. Hardship, rejection, and pain are present. But so are wonder and awe. She points to a joy and freedom that comes with simply being amazed how God works through the mundane. It is here that Mary invites me into her world of amazement in radical self-gift. For I am no longer a slave, but a daughter.
As we begin a new year, many of us will make resolutions and lists and promises to God about how we want to spend the next year. And that is great. But great ambition and zeal for the Lord can be volatile chemicals when mixed; many of us overextend ourselves and crash and burn. Perhaps this year, the Lord is asking something simple of us. How interesting that Luke, our Gospel writer, believed that “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” was something significant enough to write.
The whole Gospel seeps with the freedom that comes with just being amazed. How counter-intuitive. What would my life look like if I allowed myself to just simply be amazed at what the Lord does in my life? No grand promises required. Just a simple intimacy offered to a deeply loved daughter who is up to her ears in “Mama I want another snack” and cleaning pee off the toddler’s bed for the 3rd time this week. And an offer of freedom to be amazed even in that.
So my 33-day Marian consecration didn’t happen this year as planned. Instead, I received an invitation to simply be amazed.
Jennifer Stavinoha lives in Bryan, TX with her husband and two little girls. She loves reading, baking, and judging international figure skating from her couch. Jennifer is the Content Coordinator for Ablaze Ministries’ parent outreach ministry, Beyond the Pew. To find out more, find the Beyond the Pew Facebook group or visit their website.