Faithful Food: Mary, Mary, I Was the Contrary One! [A Recipe for Mothers]

faithful food Mary, Mary, I Was the Contrary One!

Years ago, in my RCIA days (as it was called then), Mary was a constant companion. I fingered my rosary throughout my day - it felt like a treasure in my pocket. Whether I was at the sink, the clothesline, the stove cooking for my family, or rocking my babies to sleep my fingers touched the beads which offered assurance. Time passes. My children grew up, I grew older, graduations, marriages, and grandchildren ensued. Mary and I did not exactly part ways, rather we came to a place where we were never together but close sometimes. I tried to develop a prayer relationship with St. Anne, patroness of grandmothers, but it was not fruitful. I just could not resonate. I still prayed a few Hail Mary’s and even a decade or two along with Fr. Patrick Peyton on YouTube but the feeling I had in the beginning was not the feeling I had at this time; more like an item ticked off a list than pouring my heart out to my spiritual Mother. Upon reflection, my trip back home to Mary began with a sale in our gift shop. Payday week arrived and I strolled into the shop to purchase a large St. Michael statue, which I had budgeted for. Elmira told me they were on backorder. I was crestfallen. I wanted something to look at that would point me toward God, and I was certain St. Michael was the very thing. Dejected, I turned to leave when a statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel caught my eye…and not just any statue, but one crafted for indoors or out. She was perfect for my prayer garden. Money changed hands, and my spiritual life took a turn. Mary went home with me. She smiles at me as I pass by her statue in the garden and I smile back happy that I have found my way back to my spiritual mother. Inwardly a desire was growing for a deeper and closer relationship with my faith. No horrific or joyful event precipitated this change. I attribute it to God’s grace and loving kindness, His answer to my plea of a closer relationship, a deeper bond. My rosary is now handier than it has been in many a year. The feel of the beads rolling through my fingers with blissful familiarity, spiritual muscle memory, I suppose. Now when the familiar words roll off my tongue I feel more prayerful than purpose driven, one of the few Mary moments in my otherwise Martha world. We often speak of Mary’s fiat, her yes. I like acronyms (blame it on years of watching Jeopardy after school) so I examined this word in that context. “Faith in all things” is what I think of when I hear that word. I think of Mary but also my own mother as well as my own foray into motherhood and my continuing role and privilege of being a grandmother. This renewal has led me to my own mother who has long since passed away. Things left too long, hurts not healed; important truths not told were the sort of boneyard I had spent years avoiding. Both of us strong willed, both of us red haired, both of us first born, so it isn’t a stretch to think that there was friction. But lately, when I pray the joyful mysteries, I consider the joy my mother had, joys she shared with Mary. I wonder how my own foray into motherhood stacked up with theirs. I feel that my two heavenly mothers are journeying with me. I am so grateful to feel their presence as I navigate that gentle horror that only middle age can bring with its many thresholds of unwelcome territory and change; to try

A Recipe for Mothers

Take a large portion of unconditional love, add to it hopes, dreams, and prayers for each of your children (please note here some ingredients will not be the same, as each child is different, but all will blend together in the end), stir with a gentle touch. Mix in laughter, tears, and endless smiles. When incorporated, add a double portion of faith, prayer, and a triple amount of forgiveness. Apply this mixture to your everyday life and don’t skimp!

to navigate it alone, with a false sense of my own abilities, is bound to court failure. Do I have faith in all things? Assuredly it is not my default; Martha, you remember wants to be doing something while Mary is content with being someplace. Fiat - faith in all things - is like a new packet of seeds for my spiritual garden. I am reminded of the parable of the sower and the seed and I know that, depending on the day, I can be each of those types of soil. Such is life! In this month of May, when we as Catholics give the blessed Mother more than a passing nod, I pray that you will consider her fiat and begin to grow in the sure and certain belief that we too can say yes, we too can have faith in all things, in all situations. As for me, Mary and my own mother seemed to have caught me just in time. Thanks be to God! My mother was an intellectual, a voracious reader, could sew anything, worked jigsaw puzzles, and cooked almost exclusively from scratch after working a full day. It was in those meals planned and meted out that she showed us we were loved. These meals were not always gourmet but they never left us wanting…anything at all. KIM LONG is the DRE at Saint Mary of the Pines Parish.