I always heard this in my house, in the catechism classes and in homilies this famous phrase ‘If you seek Mary, you will find Jesus’. I would like to share with you some thoughts on this as we prepare to celebrate the Birthday of the Church. Our RNDM spirituality explains it further under the title ‘Our Lady of the Cenacle’.
Pentecost is the celebration of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. God so loved the world that He lavishly poured out His Spirit upon the Earth! The untamed and unpredictable Spirit of God came upon Mary and the disciples, filled them with courage and power, inspired boldness in proclaiming the Good News and working together for the transformation of the world – RNDM Spirituality
“Seized by the dynamism of the Spirit, like Mary and the disciples of Jesus, who did not remain enclosed within the walls of the Cenacle, Mother Mary of the heart of Jesus wishes to participate in Christ’s redeeming work carried on in the Church. It is this mission embracing the whole world which Euphrasie asks her sisters to undertake for the glory of the Father. The Virgin of the Cenacle symbolises perfectly the ideal of missionary spirituality of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions.” Straight is my Path, Pg 98
Acts 1:12-14 speaks of Mary waiting with the disciples in the upper room in great expectation for the Holy Spirit.
Likewise Pope Francis reflects “On the feast of Pentecost, Jesus’ words remind us also of the maternal presence of Mary in the Upper Room. The Mother of Jesus is with the community of disciples gathered in prayer: she is the living remembrance of the Son and the living invocation of the Holy Spirit. She is the Mother of the Church. We entrust to her intercession, in a particular way, all Christians, families and communities that at this moment are most in need of the Spirit, the Paraclete, the Defender and Comforter, the Spirit of truth, freedom and peace.” Pentecost Sunday 2016
If we allow ourselves to be crucified with Christ, if we surrender our hearts to undergo that dying and rising with Him, we shall be set ablaze with the fire of the Holy Spirit. We shall become living torches who light up the world, bringing comfort, joy and peace to all around us.
“Let us ask the Blessed Virgin to make us contemplatives, to teach us to recognize God’s call of grace and to listen attentively to his voice invoking the Spirit to transform us each day and to set us ablaze with the Holy Spirit.
Happy Pentecost to All
Joyce Peter, RNDM