Melanie Rigney

“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” Jesus told the disciples (Luke 12:49).

How in the world could a group of women, ranging in age from nine to ninety-three at their deaths, women formally canonized by the Catholic Church for heroic virtues and associated miracles, be considered radical? Because being a Christian is radical. The word radical comes from the Latin radicalis, meaning “of or relating to a root.” When Christ and his teachings are our foundation, we are on a radical path, a path people have struggled to walk for more than two thousand years.

Say a rosary today. As you progress through the decades, put yourself in Mary’s place. Ponder in your heart what she sorted through at each event, joyful, sorrowful, glorious, or luminous.  Sometimes, we are too anxious about what’s going to happen tomorrow, next week, or next year to ourselves or our loved ones. We go over our problems again and again in our heads or in conversations with others. Write down your biggest fear and ask for Mary’s help in turning it over to her Son.

In the hours after Jesus’s birth Mary is doubtless tired and somewhat confused, far from the comfort of family and friends other than Joseph. Shepherds burst into the place where the family is staying, bringing stories of angels singing praise to the Lord about a newborn in a manger. Does Mary send them away? Does she burst into tears? Nope. She honors their experience and the effort they have made to come to Bethlehem: “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).

Mary’s moments in the New Testament are few, precious, and significant. Sometimes, she teaches by her actions. Other times, she teaches us by her seeming inaction. Why would Mary, the mother of Jesus, born free of original sin, need to purify her heart? We venerate her Immaculate Heart to contemplate her love of God and the earthly journey on which he took her. What could we, normal, struggling children of God hope to learn from such a woman about purifying our own hearts? Ah, that’s the thing about Mary.