Be And Become

May is a month dedicated to Mary, our Mother, and so I write some thoughts about her. Photo by Fr. Jboy Gonzales SJ   I have to admit that there was a time in my life that I did not accept Catholic teachings about Mary. Although I was educated in a Catholic school ran by religious men devoted to Mary, I did not pray the rosary (unless I was required) and took for granted Mary’s role in the Church. To me, a devotion to Mary was non-essential and the rosary was a dull and ineffective way of prayer. All of that changed a few years ago while I was traveling back home from a business trip. A year before that my youngest daughter, then six years old, gave me a gift for my birthday. It was a small rosary made out of ten beads laced with a string with a small cross made of woven grass.   My youngest child loved giving us small gifts on special occasions, so I kept it in my backpack, not knowing that someday I’d be using it. That day came when having nothin...

Do we really need to go on a retreat? We must see a retreat as a need. Just as our bodies need water and food to survive, we also need spiritual nourishment to grow and all we need to do is to receive this spiritual nourishment when it is offered. But how do we receive it?  The first step is always to respond to God’s invitation. Remember Mary when the angel of the Lord came and told her that the Most High has favored her? Did she say, “I am busy, let me try that some other time” or “I do not have the resources to raise the child” or “let me ask my mother or Joseph first before I decide to accept the offer”? There was no excuse and no hesitation on Mary’s part when she responded to God’s call and said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.” It was an absolute yes borne out of her trust in God, for in her heart Mary knew that it was God calling her. And her response gave all of mankind the opportunity to experience God’s ...