Today’s Gospel reading reminds me once again that holiness consists in listening to God acting upon his words! And acting upon them with the knowledge that I can’t do it—I’m not self-sufficient. I must be totally dependent on Him for carrying out what He wants of me. The secret to be spiritually dependent and do the will of God? Blessed Mother helps.
Mt 7:21, 24-27
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
How can I dare call You Lord and not listen to your words and not act on them? That is failing to do the Divine Will.
One night, recently, I dreamt I was by myself in a house that collapsed!
I need to pray everyday over your words that I may know you, the Word made Flesh and know what you want of me. Your will is solid rock. That’s where I wish to dwell.
Mary personifies the Church. She heard Your words most perfectly and did them. She built on rock. Who better to teach us how to do the same! Matter of fact, she is cement we need to use!
St. Louis de Montfort spoke about “doing everything through Mary, with Mary, in Mary, and for Mary, in order to do it more perfectly through Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus, and for Jesus”:
Through Mary
We must do everything through Mary, that is, we must obey her always and be led in all things by her spirit, which is the Holy Spirit of God.
…the spirit of Mary is the spirit of God because she was never led by her own spirit,, but always by the spirit of God, who made himself master of her to such an extent that he became her very spirit.
With Mary
We must do our actions with Mary. We must consider in every action how Mary has done it, she being in our place. For this end, we must meditate on the great virtues which she practiced during her life, first of all her lively faith, by which she believed, without hesitation, the angel’s word, and believed faithfully and constantly, up to the foot of the Cross; her profound humility which made her hide herself, hold her peace, submit to everything, and put herself last of all.
In Mary
Our Blessed Lady is the true terrestrial paradise of the New Adam, and the ancient paradise was but a figure of her. It is in this earthly paradise that there is the true tree of life, which has borne Jesus Christ, the Fruit of Life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which has given light unto the world. The Holy Ghost, by the mouth of the Fathers, also styles the Blessed Virgin the Eastern Gate, by which the High-Priest, Jesus Christ, enters the world, and leaves it. By it, He came the first time, He will come the second, by it.
When we pray we will pray in Mary. When we receive Jesus in Holy Communion we will place him in Mary for him to take his delight in her. If we do anything at all, it will be in Mary, and in this way Mary will help us to forget self everywhere and in all things.
For Mary
Finally, we must do all our actions for Mary, we must take her for our proximate end, our mysterious means, and our way to go to Jesus Christ. Supported by her protection we must undertake and achieve great things for Christ. We must defend her privileges, when they are disputed. We must stand up for her glory when it is attacked; we must draw all the world, if we can, to her service, and to this true and solid devotion. We must pretend to no recompense for our little service, except the honor of belonging to so sweet a Queen, and the happiness of being united through her to Jesus, her Son, by an indissoluble tie, in time and in eternity.
Ave Maria!