There are so many times throughout our lives that we need someone to pray for us. Sometimes it’s an illness or a surgery. Sometimes it’s a life decision that we are making. Sometimes it is for help in getting back on our feet.
But it’s something very special if we ask our mother to say a prayer for us.
My mother has been dead for almost 30 years. It’s not often that I ask her to pray for me. But when I do I know that I really need those prayers.
Usually my prayers to my mother are when I am asking for help for my children. It’s hard to raise children. And your children are never raised. My son, who is 30, needs as many prayers from me as he did as an infant. And, as his mother, I have to abide. It’s a mother’s job.
But I reserve asking for prayers from my mother for the things that weigh heavy on my heart. Usually, I feel that I go to her when I’m at the end of my rope. I go to her with things that I don’t want anyone else to know about, no one else to even fathom that I am thinking. I know that she’ll understand.
I didn’t know it when I was little but my mother was grooming me when I was young to the fact that she wouldn’t be there through life to get me through. She introduced me to another woman who I could feel comfortable going to whenever I needed someone. This woman had been through the worst things imaginable and had persevered. She introduced me to Mary, the mother of God.
Sounds hokey, right? I mean, if you were raised Catholic you knew all about the Blessed Mother. She was introduced to us as an advocate with a direct line to the Son, and to the Father. She would take our side. And the best way to go to her was through the Rosary. If we were diligent in praying to her she would be diligent in taking care of our prayers. Yeah, right.
Well, literally, yeah, right. I don’t know when it was I made up my mind to return to the Rosary, and to the Blessed Mother, but praying the Rosary diligently, sends your prayers directly to the Blessed Mother who will take them to the Son and to the Father. I don’t know how it works. I just know that it works.
I read a book one time by Peggy Noonan, from the Washington Post. She was commenting about her faith with the Rosary and mentioned a friend of hers who prays the Rosary every morning. She asked her if it truly worked. Her friend replied that she wasn’t sure if it helped but she was definitely sure that it didn’t hurt. She went on to say that she could tell a difference in her day if she didn’t start the day praying the Rosary.
In the last 6 years I have taken my troubles to Christ. I have taken them when I was at the last thread of the end of my rope. It was at these times that I told the Lord that He was going to have to take care of things because I couldn’t do it anymore. I was done. And you know what, He did. But I’m sort of a control freak so when things get good again I have a tendency to take my troubles back. There comes a point when I think I can take care of them. Uh, no, I can’t. But I think I can. I have found that the Blessed Mother, through the Rosary, reminds me that I need to let God handle my problems. If He handles them then I am a lot happier and don’t worry as much.
It has probably been 6 years ago that I came to realize that the Blessed Mother tells us what to do without being so demanding. I was praying the Rosary as I did my daily walk. I was professionally in a state of a turmoil. I had a good job that paid me a lot of money. It wasn’t a bad job. It was one of those that people would have given a lot to have. The problem was that I hated it. I loved the people I worked with but I hated them. I was so tired of it all. I wanted to quit but I also knew that I couldn’t afford to quit. I cried so many tears over this job.
While I was praying and walking that morning I was praying the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. These are a set of mysteries enacted by Pope John Paul II. I was intrigued with them from the beginning because they were contemporary but then again, not. The second Luminous Mystery is the Wedding Feast at Cana. Now with this mystery, the first miracle that Christ performs, most people believe that it’s about the miracle of changing water into wine, or the celebration of a wedding. That day I was concentrating on Mary while I was praying the Rosary. And when she said to the servants “Do as He tells you to do” I felt like I had hit a vein of gold. That became my mantra. I had been waiting my whole life for someone to come along and point me in the right direction, and push. I knew I could do anything that came my way but I was always looking for the next thing, usually along the wrong path. So I made up my mind that day that God would send me what He wanted me to do. I didn’t need to run it down. He would take care of it all. All I had to do was what He told me to do.
Since I have been living my life that way I haven’t been disappointed. I have not gotten rich with all of my “get rich quick schemes” but I have been able to create, to think outside the box, and make my professional life worth my while. I used to say that everything about my life was perfect, except my professional life. I used to say once that was fixed that I would truly be happy.
Let me tell you, I am truly happy. Not everyday. Not all the time. But the majority of the time I could about giggle I’m so happy. I am doing things that feed my creativity. I am again helping with the bills, not entirely, but I’m helping. I am giving career advice to those around me. I am developing a customer base and biulding up my invoicing. In another five years I may truly be in wonderful shape financially, maybe a whole lot sooner. Don’t get me wrong, I do have my ups and downs, but overall I am happy.
And when I run into something that is not easy to do, doesn’t seem to be going well, I analyze that and try to determine if it’s God’s will or my desire? Because if it’s my desire then I need to let it go and wait for the next thing that God sends my way. Because He will provide. I truly believe that.
And there are times that I think well, even though this is hard I still think it’s something I should do then I take it back to the Mother and ask her to help me determine if it is something I should be doing or if it’s something I should turn my back on. And she has never steered me wrong.
I don’t think that Mary holds all the answers. But I don’t think it hurts. I equate it to a family lifestyle. I mean, in a lot of households the Dad is the decision maker. A lot of times you will run an issue by the Mom before taking it to Dad for approval or not. If you have Mom’s buy-in then getting the issue past Dad is a whole lot easier. That’s what I think about the relationship between Mary and her Son, and his Father. If Mary thinks you need to take it to the Father she will give you her input. If she doesn’t think it’s right, she’ll let you know that too.
Sometimes, you just have to go ask Mom first.
Fancy Farm 