A Total Yes to the Lord
Blessed beginning of Ordinary Time! Last Sunday, we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus and this Sunday, we will revel in His first miracle at the Wedding Feast at Cana. Both of these beautiful mysteries shed marvelous light into discerning the vocation to the consecrated life.
One of our Sisters recounts that there was a period in her young life that her Mother attended several funerals in a row, and she tagged along. “In Baptism, Charles died in Christ;” “In Baptism, Loretta died in Christ;” “In Baptism, George died in Christ;”- this was too much for her sensitive heart! Deeply concerned for the infants of the parish (a budding Sister of Life), she tearfully asked, “Mom, what is going on with the Baptisms?”
In Baptism, we do indeed die with Christ and we rise with Him. We are consecrated- that is, made holy and set aside for the sacred- becoming One with Jesus, an adopted child of God. It is a gift I didn’t deserve or earn, totally gratuitous and lavish. The call to consecration in religious life is a new and special bond, built upon the gift of Baptism. I am invited to be conformed to Jesus in a deeply intimate way, to live His very life- poor, chaste and obedient- by letting Him “renew His whole mystery” in me. (Elizabeth of the Trinity) The soul that is consecrated by these vows is changed, transformed, like water into wine. Jesus takes the simple elements of a life given over to Him and has the power to radically transform everything.
I love the words of the Blessed Mother at Cana- after she has told Jesus the need she sees, “They have no wine”- then she tells the servers, “Do whatever He tells you.” John Paul II said that Mary shares “the deepest secret of her life” in these words. He goes on, “The whole of her person is in these words. Her life, in fact, has been a total yes to the Lord. A yes filled with joy and trust. ‘Do whatever He tells you’ means: listen to Jesus, my Son, act on His word and put your trust in Him. Learn to say yes to the Lord in every situation of your life.”
JPII’s motto, “Totus Tuus”- Totally Yours (Mary)- came from St. Louis de Montfort’s Total Consecration to Mary. Recently, Fr. Michael Gaitley wrote 33 Days to Morning Glory, another way of preparing your heart to give your life to Jesus through Mary. Consider using one of these methods to entrust your life and vocation to Our Lady this year. Jesus worked His first miracle at her request and hasn’t stopped! May Our Lady of Cana bring your needs to Him, and may the Divine Bridegroom respond by filling the emptiness with His wine of love, peace and joy.
Enjoy this reflection on a line from the Litany of Trust- “From the belief I have to earn your love”- given by Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tucci7OUDBA
Be assured of our prayers, in Christ, our Life,
Sr. Bethany, Sr. Faustina, and Sr. Ann
