Following Mary's Example

As Marists, we hold Mary in special esteem as the Mother of God and our mother as well.  We refer to her in St. Marcellin's term of endearment, "Mary our Good Mother". In his words, she is our "first superior" and our "ordinary resource."  There is not doubt that she was his way to Jesus, that her example of faith inspired him; that he trusted her implicitly and that he loved her as his real mother.  If we wish to imitate him, we need to ponder, as Mary did, to reflect often on her, and the events of our life.  It might take the form of a "collage" of major events and turns in our lives and see them surrounding the presence of Jesus and Mary. Some of us have been privileged to visit some of her shrines where she has appeared and worked miracles to help us with our faith.  Others have experienced her in the answer to prayers made through her intercession. It is in pondering our spiritual time-line that we come to see how Mary has been there, quietely leading us to Jesus.
Our pondering should lead us to Mary's openness to God's will, her "Behold the handmaid",  her "Fiat",
"be it done unto me."  With this as our mode, our "fiat mode", we touch the heart of Mary and of what it is to be Marist. We allow God to do "great things for us, to lift us up from our lowliness an fill us with what our souls seek We become instruments of saving grace for others, lifting them up and leading them to Jesus. We cannot do much more than this to be like her.
Bro. Rene