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Featured Article
Mar
31
Beautiful New Mary Book!
Filed Under Cheryl Dickow | Leave a Comment
The celebration of women and motherhood is most beautifully portrayed in a new book by Catholic author, speaker, and Catholic Exchange columnist, Heidi Hess Saxton. Saxton, a convert to the Catholic faith and adoptive mother herself, exquisitely reveals the relationship between Mary and us, her adopted children in, “Behold Your Mother: Mary Stories and Reflections from a Catholic Convert.”
Beginning with three short personal stories that set the stage for the tone of the book which is one of love, honor, and a clear understanding of Mary’s role in guiding us all to Christ, Saxton gives us the perfect book for time spent in quiet contemplation or when we are in need of a gentle reminder of the power we have in calling upon Christ. It was my good fortune to work with Heidi on this book and then interview Heidi about her work. Heidi has put together a beautiful presentation for Mother’s Day that includes an autographed copy of the book, a special blend tea bag, a bookmark, and a pretty envelope for mailing! The book also lists her blogspot which celebrates motherhood, her email address, and a list of her other works so that “Behold Your Mother” truly becomes a wonderful resource and cherished gift for any Catholic woman today.
I love your book, Behold Your Mother: Mary Stories and Reflections from a Catholic Convert, and thank you for sharing it with us. It is clearly a work of love and commitment to sharing Mary’s role in our own personal journey with Christ. Please give us a little background on your inspiration to write this book.
When I converted to Catholicism in 1994 from the Evangelical Christian tradition, I had no desire whatsoever to get to know Jesus’ mother. She was just that – his mother, someone who makes an appearance in the Christmas crèche each year, then goes back into the box. Praying to Mary made no sense to me (though I did ask my friends to pray for me from time to time). I figured, why go to her when I have always gone straight to Jesus myself? As I continued to grow in the faith, however, I began to change. There were two events that facilitated this change, which I describe in the book: a broken heart, and becoming a mother myself. And yet, I suspect that both these experiences had this affect on me because, as a new Catholic, I had been forced to return to a childlike kind of faith. More than ever, I had a sense that I was a child of God. And it was in that context that I came to experience Mary as truly my adopted spiritual mother.
Sometimes women feel overwhelmed by their role as caregiver and while we love to look at Mary as an “ideal,” which can sometimes seem daunting, how can we also look to her as just “another mom?”
I remember those first weeks after receiving three children into our home (the oldest was later placed with another family), with little sleep and no time for little luxuries like a sit-down dinner or a shower. On one occasion, I watched helplessly as one of the children flushed a sock down the toilet while I was bathing the baby. I think that was the breaking point. “Help!” I cried. “You were the perfect mother, and had one perfect Son. I am and I have neither of those things. Pray for me!” Outwardly, nothing changed. The sock did not miraculously resurface, the bathroom was still wall-to-wall water and kids. But inside, I was calmer. I no longer wanted to send the culprit down after the sock. It was studying the Gospel passages about Mary, and imagining the “back story” behind the Gospel account, that led me to the “real” Mary – the woman behind the Man. So much of her life was hidden – as is ours. But she was – and is – first and foremost, human. Taking care of Jesus (and possibly Joseph’s children from a previous marriage as well) was no different from raising any other child. The same mess. The same worry. The same choice to offer each moment back to God. When we keep that image clearly in mind, talking to Mary becomes no different from calling up Mom on the phone (except doesn’t spoil the grandkids).
I was struck by the realization that this is the perfect “card” for Mother’s Day because it can be cherished all year long. I also see this book as the ideal accompaniment to Eucharistic Adoration. I actually have a copy in my purse because it is such a great “pocket size.” Is there a particular way you recommend the book be read?
Most people I’ve talked to read it from cover to cover when they first get it, then go back and read it again at a more deliberate pace (especially the second half of the book containing the reflections). It’s perfect for a “Mommy time out”; I enjoy pouring myself a cup of tea and spending some quiet time just letting my mind explore the images and scenes the book describes. It’s a particularly good resource to have on hand for those who know of someone who is exploring the Church, particularly those who come from another Christian tradition. (My Baptist sister said she stayed up all night reading it.) The reflections could also work during holy hours or while saying the Rosary … but my favorite way to engage Mary is through momentary ponderings, not formal prayers.
The book has a blogspot (http://beholdyourmotherbook.blogspot.com/) where you invite readers to share their stories. Please tell us what your hopes are for that blog.
The subtitle of the blog – “A Bouquet of Love to Mary from Her Children” – really says it all. As I’ve been exploring a variety of Catholic blogs, I’ve been struck by how often Mary appears not as “Queen of Heaven” but as a true spiritual mother, mentor and friend. “Behold Your Mother” is intended to help those who have an intellectual understanding of what the Church teaches about Mary, but who have a volitional or emotional barrier to overcome, often because of their faith background. The reason it’s important to overcome these barriers is very simple: You can know someone only so well if you are on nodding terms from across the room. A child gets to know her mother by climbing up on her lap, or sitting beside her and chatting. We can do that by turning our hearts toward her at regular intervals during the day.
You are a woman’s retreat and conference speaker. Could you please give us an idea of some of the topics you offer and how you can be contacted?
One talk I especially enjoy giving is called, “Praying Like Our Lady: the Seven Words of Mary in Scripture.” It’s an introduction to the various prayer forms we use as Catholics. Another talk is called “Good Girls of the Gospel,” which takes each of the feminine virtues and explores them through the lens of the New Testament. (This one correlates most closely to “Raising Up Mommy: Virtues for Difficult Mothering Moments,” which is also available at www.christianword.com.) Of course, Mary is the ultimate “Good Girl” of the Gospel … her life and her fiat provides a model for all of us. A related talk is called “Taming the Mommy Monster,” which examines the seven deadly sins and celestial virtues through the lens of motherhood. I can best be reached through my website: www.christianword.com. My books are also available for purchase there by credit card or PayPal.
Is there anything else you would like to share with others?
I’d like to encourage your readers not to feel rushed or pressured where Mary is concern. Her motherhood does not depend on our response. It took several years before I was really comfortable talking to Mary, and even now I don’t pray the Rosary every day (just as I don’t talk to my earthly mother on the phone every day). When I have a specific intention, my petitions become more “formal,” but most of the time I just talk to her as I would any friend. Every relationship goes through its chapters and its seasons. Different images, titles, and or quotes about Mary may appeal to you at different times of your life. The important thing to keep in mind is that Mary is God’s gift to us – Jesus gave her to us from the Cross, to be mother of the whole Church. When we honor Mary, we honor her Son because all true Marian devotion always leads to Christ.
Mar
31
Doubt and Mercy
Filed Under Quotes & Excerpts | Leave a Comment
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The Gospels tell an incredible story. A virginal conception. Miraculous healings. Even people coming back from the dead. How are we to know that it’s not all just a fanciful fabrication?
There is much evidence for the reliability of the Gospels, but here is one of the strongest bits of evidence I know. Think for a minute. If you were part of a group who decided to perpetrate an elaborate hoax, what would be your motive? Wouldn’t you want to gain some significant benefits from such a risky business? Maybe fortune, fame, and privilege? And if you were to be aprominent figure in this tall tale, wouldn’t you at least want the story to make you look good?
But in the story told by the apostles, virtually all of them look really bad. During Jesus’ public ministry they repeatedly fail to “get it.” In fact Jesus wears himself out trying to hammer the truth through their thick skulls. After witnessing three years of miracles, one of them betrays Jesus and the leader of the group denies Him. All but one run away when He’s crucified, and no one believes Mary Magdalene when she brings them the news of His resurrection. Continue reading here…
Mar
31
Cardinal calls overturned death sentence in U.S. victory for life
Filed Under News & Current Events | Leave a Comment
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY (CNS) — A U.S. appeals court decision to overturn the death sentence of Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of killing a police officer in 1981, is a victory for human life, said Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
A panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld Abu-Jamal’s murder conviction March 27, but also upheld a lower court ruling vacating his death sentence.
In an interview published on the front page of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, March 28, Cardinal Martino said: “Justice is not accomplished by punishing with another crime. For this reason, every death sentence not carried out is a victory for man and for life.”
Cardinal Martino said the basis of all human rights is the right to life.
“Therefore, even the criminal who committed a crime has the right to live” and to have the possibility to make amends for his crime and to be rehabilitated, he said.
Pope Benedict XVI publicly has expressed his opposition to the death penalty on several occasions, the cardinal said.
Mar
31
Luke 1:26-38
Filed Under Today's Gospel | Leave a Comment
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be, since I have no husband?”
35 And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mar
31
St. Theresa of Avila
Filed Under The Wisdom of The Saints | Leave a Comment
When the Lord knows that good health is necessary for our soul’s welfare, He sends it to us; and when we need sickness, He sends that too. Sickness makes us discover who we are.
– St. Theresa of Avilaa
Mar
30
John 20:19-31
Filed Under Today's Gospel | Leave a Comment
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.”
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
Mar
30
St. Francis of Assisi
Filed Under The Wisdom of The Saints | Leave a Comment
Here is one of the best means to acquire humility; fix well in mind this maxim: One is as much as he is in the sight of God, and no more.
– St. Francis of Assisi
Mar
29
As the Father Sent Me
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Pope John Paul II dedicated the Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday in 2001. This day is very fitting for such a celebration because of the Church’s long standing practice of turning to the Gospel involving Jesus’ first appearance to the Apostles as a group following the resurrection.
After greeting the 10 (Judas and Thomas were missing) and twice offering the great gift of His peace, Jesus commissions them, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Our Lord passed on to the Apostles the authority to oversee the Church’s mission, which was an extension of the mission that He Himself had received from the Father.
Next, Our risen Lord breathed on them, and said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and whose sins you retain are retained.” The first time that God breathed His Spirit into man was at creation when He gave life to Adam. The second time was this night when God gave new life to the world and to the Church by bestowing upon the Apostles the authority and power to offer God’s forgiveness.
Jesus, the eternal Word present at the creation of the world, came down to earth to re-create it through the gift of His mercy and the reconciliation with God Our Father that flows from His mercy. The Church, in a unique way through her ministerial priesthood, shares in this great work of healing and reconciling the world. Continue reading here…
Mar
29
The Mystery of Divine Mercy
Filed Under Quotes & Excerpts | Leave a Comment
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“Do all you possibly can for this work of My mercy. I desire that My mercy be worshiped, and I am giving mankind the last hope of salvation; that is, recourse to My mercy” (The Diary of St. Faustina, 998).
Contemplating the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ means pondering a sublime mystery. When we consider His proposal of forgiveness and His promise of mercy, we can barely approach an understanding of His perfect goodness and love.
In our sinfulness, even the most pious of us can not fathom such perfect mercy. We’re unable to practice it ourselves and have never been recipients of it through human nature. It is more than we can believe that such a treasure, unmerited, would be ours through the merits of God Himself.
What is the Divine Mercy? It is a special devotion to Jesus that calls us to a deeper understanding of God’s unlimited love and forgiveness. This mercy is available to everyone who seeks it with a repentant heart, even the greatest sinners.
The message of the Divine Mercy is based on the writing of St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary recording revelations she received about God’s mercy. In her meditations, and during mystical experiences with Christ, St. Faustina, though poor and uneducated, became the instrument of communicating the salvific knowledge of the Divine Mercy of Jesus, and spreading its devotion to a world weary in sin.
Mar
29
Mark 16: 9 - 15
Filed Under Today's Gospel | Leave a Comment
9 Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.
10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
12 After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.
13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.
15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
