Mary as Model of #Discernment, Vocation & Mission

The devotion to Mary, Queen of the Apostles, is one of the oldest devotions to Mary in the Church. One of our sisters recently let me know about a youtube video of the song, Queen of Apostles, composed and sung by Nancy Krebs, which beautifully offers reflections and prayers about two key events in Mary’s life associated with this particular title of Mary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N55Oz2ThdAo

A key in discerning and living our vocation is devotion to Mary. Devotion to Mary as our Queen of Apostles is more than asking Mary to help us discover and carry out the mission God has entrusted to us. It also means entrusting ourselves and our spiritual journey to her. It means imitating Mary in how she shared her Son with the world, taking on her attitudes of humility, of receptivity to God (especially her docility to the Holy Spirit),  her obedience to God’s Word, and her union with her Son in his mission. If we entrust every effort that we make and everyone whom we seek to serve to Mary’s motherly care, all our efforts will be blessed.

Sr. Marianne Lorraine Trouve, on her blog Thomas for Today, posted an introductory reflection on this ancient devotion: Mary and the Holy Spirit.

2015 Reminds Us: God Re-Creates Us Every Day!

2015 has begun. I love new beginnings (perhaps that’s why I love early mornings!). The freshness of a new year reminds us that God re-creates us every day! I begin this New Year, praying for all of you who are reading this blog, have emailed me, commented, or started to follow the blog: that you will receive the grace to hear and respond generously to God’s invitation. And I entrust all of us (including myself) to the intercession of Mary, our Blessed Mother and Queen, whose generous yes is the model for our yes: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” This is one of my favorite hymns to Mary, who always leads us to Christ:

 

The WordPress.com stats “helper monkeys” prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Considering that the blog is just over a month old, the stats are pretty amazing. A big thanks to all of you readers who have helped get this blog off the ground! I look forward to posting in the new year…

Here’s an excerpt from the report:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,800 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.