How often do we truly take a moment to contemplate the love, holiness, and sacrifice of Mary throughout her life? How often do we actually speak to her as our mother? What about consider her role throughout the gospels and Jesus’ life? The day can pass by quickly without a thought or prayer given to our Mother. What a shame this is! I have been considering this week how amazingly significant the little events in her story are…

God chose Mary, of all the other women of all eternity, to be the mother of God. Why? Can you imagine what she must have been feeling after her encounter with the angel Gabriel? Yet, she still accepted His will in a way that I can not do in the smallest of things sometimes. How incredibly full of faith she is! Here is a great article touching on the significance of the Annunciation.

Mary serves as an incredible example of the acceptance of suffering. She watched her only son die on a cross. She saw him brutally beaten, crowned with thorns, slashed with a lance, and when everyone else had run away, she was at the foot of the cross, gently taking Jesus’ lifeless body into her arms. Can you imagine the pain, the suffering, the anger you would have felt? Yet, she remained strong, full of optimism, and faithful the will of God.

Finally, after Christ’s passion and death, the disciple John took Mary ‘to his own home’ (John 19:27). Let’s stop and consider this. Did he just take her to his house, to stay with him in her old age? No, from that point on, Mary truly became our mother, forming a bond with Christ’s family stronger than any other human bond, a spiritual bond that is a pathway to the unending grace of Christ. Not only has the disciple welcomed all the Lord has taught him, he welcomes his OWN mother into his life in a profound way, one which we are to model today.

Mary is truly my mother. It took me a long time to recognise that, but once I at least partly opened my eyes to her beauty, I was amazed at the depth of her significance and prevalence in the story of salvation. She served as an example of faith, hope, and love in such a special way that God chose her to play an incredibly crucial role in our salvation. How blessed are we! While the day can fly past us with unrelenting speed, I pray that we stop, contemplate our love for Mary each day, and ask ourselves how we can love her more. How can we devote our lives to Jesus, through Mary? How can we learn to turn to her in times of suffering or grief? Let’s take time to pray the rosary, to pray to our mother in an intimate, honest, open way that she is able to transform our will to God’s. What a better way to draw ourselves into the love of Christ than to draw close to the one person who knows him most intimately.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace!

I am sure many of you have been to a fair share of ‘church camps.’ Some good, others, well, leave something to be desired. Some were theologically sound; others stuck to an interesting interpretation of scripture. I bet many ended up as pure entertainment. Only a select few really brought you to the foot of the cross, ultimately encountering Christ in a life changing way. Hearts Aflame 2009 was exactly that for me.

For those of you who may not know, Hearts Aflame is a Catholic summer school held each year for young people from around New Zealand. This year it was held at St. Bede’s College in Christchurch and there were about 150 participants as well as many priests and religious.

While I was not quite sure what to expect during the week, I certainly did not anticipate meeting Christ in such an authentic and intimate way. The entire week was structured around prayer and the liturgy, with morning prayer to start the day, and evening prayer to end it. Mass was celebrated each day as well, with one day a traditional extraordinary form celebrated by the former bishop of Christchurch. The liturgy was celebrated with a reverence that left me awe stuck at the awesome gift Christ has given His Church and His people. Rarely do you find 150 young people on their knees praising God’s name, drawn into complete silence by the beauty and power of the Eucharist. Each night ended in the chapel with adoration, which was the perfect end to such intense learning, prayer, and fellowship during each day.

The instruction during the week was second to none. There were two to three lectures each day on a range of topics, from prayer and the Eucharist, to the life of St. Paul, pro-life and Christian apologetics, evangelism, Mary, philosophy and many others. They were taught by priests or religious, and also by some of the brightest and most esteemed people on their respective subjects in New Zealand. The priests and religious, including many seminarians, were always available for questions or a chat, and taught you in a way that truly made an impact. Each day I walked away from the lectures refreshed and with renewed passion for more knowledge.

Hearts was also a great time of fellowship outside of prayer and learning. Each day was filled with activities, from small group meetings, to free time to do as you please. I got to know a multitude of people from around the country and share in the fellowship of Christ with them. There was just a buzz and liveliness that is often missing during many Sundays at mass or other events.

At least once per day there was a group session with a range of activities and topics discussed, from personal testimony, to Jewish dancing, guys and girls talks, along with excellent praise and worship. The healing service and vocation night were particularly powerful and fruitful. Each evening there was reconciliation available, and we were all consistently encouraged to experience the awesome forgiveness and power of the sacrament. During the week, Christ revealed to me many things that I was hanging onto in my life, things that I needed to offer to Him in sacrifice to grow in my love for Him. It was amazingly freeing to offer these things up, some of which I had been carrying for years.

Finally, the priests and religious were an incredible example of fidelity and love to everyone. I had not seen so many young, faithful, and lively priests or religious since World Youth Day. There were two Sisters of Life that came out from North America and exuded more passion and life from their very being than I had ever encountered. I can not thank all of them enough for sacrificing their time to attend Hearts; they were truly a blessing.

In the end, Hearts Aflame is a treasure for the Church in New Zealand. Only Christ could inspire so many people to sacrifice their time and energy for these young faithful, providing a place for prayer, learning, and fellowship that is so completely Christ centred. I saw many lives transformed during the week and am so thankful for the opportunity to intimately experience the love of Christ through all the people, prayer, instruction, and activities. Praise God!