May, month of Mary

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, with the arrival of May comes the opportunity to venerate more deeply and more public the queen of our parish community: the Blessed Virgin Mary. No. We do not adore her, adoration is reserved for God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We venerate Our Lady with great love; God alone is worthy of worship. I have an Evangelical friend who says: "When I go to a doctor I don't want to talk to his mother."  That is an interesting analogy. However, this friend of mine talks regularly with his pastor and asks the pastor to pray for him. The pastor doesn't turn him away by saying, "Don't talk to me! Don't ask me to pray for you! Go straight to Jesus!" The pastor has compassion and "intercedes" (stands in the gap) for him. He prays for the congregation and for individuals. He has compassion and wants to assist people in their relationship with Christ. This in no way diminishes Jesus' role as the Lord and Savior. We Catholics ask Mary to pray to Jesus for us. She is interceding, kind of in the way a pastor might pray for you or me. In the Rosary we ask Mary to Pray for us sinners, and we think she’s quite good at that. In the movie The Passion of the Christ, I was floored when I saw Mary at the foot of the Cross. I would like to have that woman pray for me. I ask her to do just that, pray for me. I also ask her to pray for you. I feel her prayers and I thank her for spending so much time praying for our world. I hope this month of May, the month of Mary; we all spend more time contemplating the mysteries of the life of the Virgin, and devote more time to pray the Holy Rosary or any other Marian devotion. As Catholics we cannot separate, ever, Jesus of His Mother; she will always lead us to her Son. So, let use as often as possible the beautiful phrase that use to say St. Marcellin Champagnat, the founder of the Marist Brothers: All to Jesus through Mary, all to Mary for Jesus ■ Fr. Agustín, Pastor.