May: A Month for Our Blessed Mother

Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother. John 19:26-27

Just like we’ve done in years past, we crowned our Marian statue out front with a wreath of white flowers at the beginning of this month and She will continue to wear this wreath for the month of May. This is the month set aside by the Church to honor Mary and for us to take opportunities to increase our devotion to Her.

I will admit that I’ve struggled before in my relationship with Mary, although it is made abundantly clear by Jesus in the Scripture verse above and even by Mary Herself in her Magnificat (“From this day all generations will call me blessed”) that God wills us to view Her as a stepping stone and aide on our earthly pilgrimage rather than an obstacle that distracts us from Christ. In fact, She wants to bring us closer to Him! And what a wonderful model She can be if we let her in. She was the one who bore Christ in Her own womb for nine months. She has that same maternal attachment that any mother would have with their baby, except this is an attachment with Our Lord and Savior, our own Creator! For 30 years, She lived alongside Him, watching Him work as a carpenter and no doubt taking in every moment and every word that Her Son spoke, since She had had some sense of His mission described to Her by the angel Gabriel. Luke 2:51 tells us that after Jesus was found in the temple and He left with Mary and Joseph, that Mary “treasured all these things in Her Heart.” Wouldn’t this be true of EVERY event and word spoken by Jesus? And if She did ponder everything, what spiritual graces and insight She must have received! She can pass this on to us and help us follow Her example in order to grow closer to Her Son.

This month, meditate on Mary’s life and how She humbled Herself to receive Jesus in Her life and conform Herself to Him completely and ask Her to help you do the same. If you haven’t been saying the rosary daily, start. Go to Eucharistic adoration and imagine Mary sitting there, gazing at Her own Son and ask Her to help you have the same tenderness and love toward Him. And if you’re struggling in your relationship with Her, like I have, ask Jesus for His help. He will be more than happy to help you “behold your mother” because that command that He gave to John is the same one He wishes us to follow.