Doing It Again
“Every year, back comes Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground all mucked up with plants.” ~ Dorothy Parker
Born in the late 1800’s, Dorothy Parker was an American poet and satirist. She wrote many a feature, always with an eye towards wit. And thus, I open with her quote regarding the first day of May. Every year, back comes the month of May, with all sorts of things that shout out at us:
- May is the month of Mary
- May is the month of Mother’s Day
- May is the month of Memorial Day
- May is the month of final exams
- May is the month of graduations and graduation prep
- May is a very busy month
Yet, what would we do without May? What would we do without honoring our mothers? What would we do without remembering those who have died in pursuit of our freedom? What would we do without graduations and moving on? What would we do without our Blessed Mother?
Nothing. That’s right. Nothing.
Without our mothers, of course, none of us would exist. Without sacrifices made for our freedom, we might very well be living in a nation rife with oppression. Without moving on, we would be stuck in the same place physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Without our Blessed Mother’s “Yes” to God, we might still be enslaved to sin and death.
We need this very special month to remind us that responding to God is not only a great privilege, it is also a necessity. If we do not shoulder the work that God has asked us to do, the road to the Kingdom would be unpaved.
We all know what unpaved roads — and poorly paved roads, for that matter — are like. Just look at the ruts and potholes all through our region after a hard winter. With the roads in horrible shape, people begin to look for alternate routes. Sometimes those routes get them where they want to go, sometimes not.
If we do not do our part to keep the road to the Kingdom clear, we might well cause problems for others looking for the way. They might stray and take alternate routes, routes that might lead to places better left unvisited.
In this busy month, we honor many people. We honor our own mothers who always took the time to say yes to our needs so that we would be safe and comforted. We honor the Blessed Virgin Mary for saying yes and bringing Jesus into our world. We honor all those who perished in wars in order to preserve our freedom.
We do this yearly, so that we do not forget. It is a good thing to do. It is a noble thing to do. It is the thing that needs to be done to keep us on our way.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God to give you the same grace, courage, and humility that Mary had in order to say yes to His holy will today.