{"id":24990,"date":"2016-10-28T16:10:12","date_gmt":"2016-10-28T22:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=24990"},"modified":"2017-04-17T21:57:37","modified_gmt":"2017-04-18T01:57:37","slug":"mama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/mama\/","title":{"rendered":"Mama!","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mamanursing\"Francisco de Zurbaran (1598-1664)<\/span><\/p>\n

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HER <\/strong>presence was tangible, her voice clear as she spoke in my heart after I received the Blessed Sacrament at Mass. It was the next day after the Flame of Love conference in Philadelphia where I spoke to a packed room\u00a0about the need to entrust oneself totally to Mary.\u00a0But as I knelt after Communion, contemplating the Crucifix\u00a0hanging over the sanctuary, I pondered about the meaning of\u00a0“consecrating” oneself to Mary.\u00a0“What does it mean to give myself totally to Mary? How does one consecrate all his goods, past and present, to the Mother?\u00a0What does it really mean? What are the right words when I feel so helpless?”<\/p>\n

It was at that moment I sensed\u00a0an inaudible voice speak\u00a0in my heart.<\/p>\n

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When a little baby cries out for its mother, it neither articulates clear words nor expresses itself perfectly. But it is enough for the child to cry, and the mother comes quickly, picks him up, and fastens him to her breast. So too, my child, it is enough to simply cry out “Mama” and I will come to you, fastening you to the Breast of Grace, and give you the graces you need. This, in its simplest form, is Consecration to me. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Since then, these words have transformed my relationship with Mary. Because I have often found myself in situations where I cannot pray, cannot find the strength to put the right words together, and so I simply say, “Mama!”\u00a0And she comes. I know she comes, because she is a good Mother who runs to her children whenever they call. I say “runs”, but she is never far away to begin with.<\/p>\n

As I\u00a0pondered this profound maternal image, which penetrated the very depths of my being, I sensed Our Lord add these words:<\/p>\n

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Pay attention, then, to everything she tells you. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That is, Our Mother is not passive. She does not coddle our vanity nor stroke our egos. Rather, she gathers us up in her arms in order to bring us\u00a0closer to \"virgin-mary-holding-lamb\"Jesus, to strengthen us to become better apostles, to nurture us that we may become holier. And so, after we cry out Mama, thereby “attaching” ourselves to she who is “full of grace”, then we need to listen to her wisdom, teaching, and guidance. How? Well, this is why yesterday I said that we must pray, pray, pray. <\/em>For it is in prayer that we learn to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice, whether He is speaking directly to our hearts, through His mother, or through another soul or circumstance.\u00a0Thus, we need to be enrolled in the school of prayer<\/em>\u00a0so we can learn to be docile and receptive to grace. In this way, Our Lady can not only nurse us, but raise us into the full stature of Christ, into full maturity as Christians. [1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. Eph 4:13<\/span><\/span>