There's Something About Mary

Luke 1:46-55

Phrases that spoke to me today:
• my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
• the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name
• he has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy

Applying the Word to My Life:
For most of my life, I wasn't someone who prayed the Rosary. Mary was more of an afterthought, if she got much attention at all. At about the same time, faith itself was more of an afterthought too. I had put a lot of effort into trying to create security through my own work, money, competence, and control, but the fear never really went away.

Worse, that fear didn't stay contained inside me. When I was on edge, the people around me felt it too. I was shorter with them, less patient, less present, and not always a very enjoyable person to be around. Eventually, with not much to lose, I decided to pray a Rosary.

The difference the next day was dramatic enough that I noticed it. So I prayed another one. Slowly, a devotion began to grow. Now I pray the Rosary most days, and sometimes more than once.

There's nothing magical about the Rosary. I certainly leave room for Mary's intercession, but I also think something simpler and deeper is happening. The Rosary makes time for me to be present with Christ and His mother. It walks me again and again through the life of Jesus. It keeps me rooted in the Holy Family, a family I've been adopted into. Over time, the fear has loosened, not because I've gained more control, but because my attention keeps moving from what I can secure to what God has already done.

The Rosary isn't magic. It's time spent inside the life of the Holy Family until their way of seeing God begins to shape ours.

That way of seeing God is all over Mary's prayer in today's Gospel. Her Magnificat isn't about what she's accomplished. It's about what God has done. He has looked upon her. He has done great things. He has shown strength. He has lifted up the lowly. He has remembered His promise.

Mary had every reason to talk about herself. Her yes had changed the world. Instead, she keeps turning attention back toward God.

In that way, she reminds me of Hannah. Hannah received the child she had prayed for and then offered Samuel back to God. Mary also received a child as pure gift and spent her life offering Him back, first in trust and finally at the Cross. Both women received the most precious gift imaginable and refused to make the gift about themselves.

The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary grew out of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, when a Christian fleet faced a powerful Ottoman navy in the Mediterranean. Pope Pius V called Christians across Europe to pray the Rosary, and after the unexpected victory he established a feast in thanksgiving. It's easy to focus only on the battle, but the deeper pattern is the same one we see in Mary: faced with something larger than themselves, Christians turned their attention toward God instead of pretending they could control everything on their own.

That's the pattern for us too. God gives us people, gifts, opportunities, responsibilities, and a life that isn't meant to end with us. We receive, we give thanks, and then we offer it back.

There is something about Mary: she keeps turning our attention toward what God has done. There is something about you too: God has given you a life that can do the same.

My Response for Today:
Today I'll notice one gift from God and offer it back through an act of love.

ABOUT OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
Who: the Blessed Virgin Mary, honored through the Rosary devotion
Devotion: prayer of Hail Marys and Our Fathers while meditating on the mysteries of Christ's life (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious)
Feast Day: October 7
Established: instituted by Pope St. Pius V in 1571 as Our Lady of Victory after the Battle of Lepanto; renamed the Feast of the Holy Rosary by Gregory XIII in 1573; extended to the universal Church by Clement XI in 1716; fixed on October 7 by St. Pius X in 1913
Scriptural basis: Luke 1:28, 42 (the greetings of Gabriel and Elizabeth, which form the Hail Mary); Luke 1:46-55 (the Magnificat)
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