Our Lady, Health of the Sick: Honoring Mary as the Ideal Model for Care of all People

Blessed Virgin Mary                        en-wikipedia.org

 IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

By Larry Peterson

It was in December of 1531 when  Juan Diego, alone on Tepeyac Hill (in the area which is now called Guadalupe),  was praying to the Blessed Mother asking if she could cure a sick relative. Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego and said this to him, "Do not worry about this illness or about any other misfortune. Am I, your Mother, not here at your side? Are you not protected by my shadow? Am I not your safety?"

We celebrated the great feast of The Queenship of Mary on August 22^nd. This feast is so important that there are those who believe it should be declared a Holy Day of Obligation replacing the Assumption celebrated on August 15. What is not so celebrated and well known is the feast day that follows. It is always held on the Saturday before the last Sunday in August. This feast day is known as Our Lady, Health of the Sick.

If we stop to think about it, we can quickly see that our Blessed Mother stands out in the gospel readings as someone who was always there to help others. She gives herself over starting at the Annunciation. A teenager, she is asked to be a mother to the Son of God. She said to the Angel Gabriel, “but I know not man.” She understood the ramifications of what she was accepting. But she embraced God’s calling willingly not worrying about herself.

Next, it is on to her cousin Elizabeth’s house. Why? To assist her aging cousin in giving birth to her child. Mary must have stayed for about six months before leaving for home. Unselfishly, she stayed until Elizabeth was healthy enough to take care of baby John, by herself. Mary would have been almost six months pregnant when she returned home.

Classic artwork always depicts Mary’s parents, St. Joachim and St. Ann, as loving parents who took wonderful care of their special child. It is not written in the gospels, but it is safe to assume that Mary was with them when they were old, caring for them and even being with them as they passed on to their waiting reward.

We see her and her Son, Jesus, sitting with St. Joseph as he is old and dying. St. Joseph, the Patron of the Dying, has his true love by his side wiping his brow, wetting his lips, keeping vigil, and not leaving her husband’s side until his time is done. There are those that believe that it was these actions which first brought her to be called, “Health of the Sick.”

A true Angel of Mercy, Mary’s greatest challenge, and heartbreak came as she had to watch her Son, who was immune to sickness and death, willingly allow Himself to be whipped, beaten, crowned with thorns, mocked and ridiculed. Then she had to follow Him, bloodied, and battered, as He carried His cross to Calvary. She watched Him die and held His blood-soaked, lifeless body in her arms before he was buried.

Jesus gave his Mother to all of us as He lay dying on the cross. Mary gave her all to Him and, as our Mother, will do so for us. This is why she is called Our Lady, Health of the Sick.”

The magnificent Stabat Mater (translated means Sorrowful Mother), was written to describe the pain and suffering Mary had to endure during her Son’s crucifixion and death.  What follows are the first two and the next to last verses of the Stabat Mater. They are quite poignant and frame the entire hymn. The link above will give the entire hymn, considered among the top seven hymns ever written.

At the Cross, her station keeping
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to her Son to the last.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has passed.

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
be Thy Mother my defense,
be Thy Cross my victory;

As She said to Juan Diego at Guadalupe, 1500 years later,  Am I, your Mother, not here at your side? Are you not protected by my shadow? Am I not your safety?"

Our Lady, Health of the Sick; Please pray for us.

copyright©Larry Peterson2018

THANK YOU Lord, for Christmas

by Larry Peterson

 We Catholics have our "Catholic Hall of Fame" (I call it that) which is filled with people we call saints. The Blessed Virgin Mary is undoubtedly the greatest of all saints and, as the Mother of God, she is highly honored above all others.  But it is important to remember that when they were alive  they did not walk around with glowing orbs wrapped around their heads for all to see. They walked and talked and ate and slept and got sick and even woke up "on the wrong side of the bed" at times...just like the rest of us. They were people like we are. But they had made a choice to open their hearts to God's grace and once they did  there was no turning back.  No matter what they were confronted with, whatever hardship, obstacle, injustice or whatever it might have been, they were determined to serve God before all else even if it meant giving up their very lives. This is how certain people are able to rip their "pride filled egos" from inside themselves and leave it  in the pile of dust of what once was.

Christmas and the great lessons it teaches in giving of oneself to others is once again upon us. A young girl named Mary would listen to a message from the Angel Gabriel and unhesitatingly accept  being  the Mother of God. She would now be pregnant and unmarried. She did not understand any of it. She knew that under Jewish law this could mean her possible execution when people found out. It did not matter. Filled with the grace of God she gave all of her being to Him. She trusted Him completely. Her espoused, Joseph of Nazareth, a carpenter and "righteous" Jew,  kicked  his manly pride to the dusty curb and accepted the  pregnant woman as his wife. He would love her with all  his heart, protect her, provide her a home and be her best friend until the day he died. This was, indeed, a Holy Family.

We Christians believe that the infant born on that first Christmas night so long ago was and is the Son of God. The Creator Himself  sent His only Son to teach us and to save us. What did He have to teach us? He had to first and  foremost teach us how to love one another. Then we needed to learn that Pride leads to all sin. It is the parent of jealousy and greed, envy and anger, lust and gluttony. We needed  to know how to conquer the great sin of pride. So the baby grew and became the Man that preached love and forgiveness. He was kind and caring and cured sick people. He taught us about the evils of "pride". After He finished teaching us how did He save us? He allowed us to kill Him. His Mom was there, watching and feeling the searing pain of Simeon's  prophesied sword pierce her tender, loving heart. She gave Him to the world and watched as the world took Him away from her.

Jesus died for us. He poured out every last drop of His blood so we could once again have access to heaven. He did this out of pure love for each and every person that ever lived or will live. "We come to know and believe that God is Love and he who abides in Love abides in God and God in him"   1 John 4:16

Christmas begins the "Greatest story ever told". It is about love and forgiveness and kindness and sharing. It is about peace and joy. For children it can be about a man in a red suit with a "broad face and a little round belly, that shakes when he laughs like a bowl full of jelly---". It is a beautiful thing, Christmas, a beautiful thing. How can you not love the goodness and peace it represents.  God IS Love.  I would like to join the millions of others around the world and say THANK YOU Lord for Christmas and all it represents.