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But no matter what we do or don’t do, no matter if we get it “right” or “wrong,” no matter if we figure out what we’re “going to do with our lives” or take every moment in stride, God will be there at our side guiding our path. Our goal in discernment is not to answer all of the big questions once and for all, to check boxes off a list and cast them—and God— aside until we have another question; our goal is to journey with God, to be constantly listening for the call that he has for us, the call to be a disciple of his Son in today’s world.

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.

We can all understand the universal care of our Mother in Heaven for us or, at the very least, the longing for that spiritual motherly care in our lives. The Blessed Mother’s love and care is especially healing for those whose own biological mothers were unwilling or unable to provide authentic self-giving love. Mother Mary loves us all with a pure, selfless, and steadfast motherly love. She tirelessly calls to our hearts and souls. Her utmost aim is to bring us to her Son. Mother Mary’s care is rooted in the Holy Spirit.

The Lord often surprises us in his choice of messenger. He uses the humble, the weak, the small. Often, he chooses children to bear his message of hope and peace. In Fatima, he chose Lucia dos Santos, age ten, and her younger cousins, brother and sister Francisco, nine, and Jacinta Marto, seven. These three simple yet faithful children, all from Catholic farm families, were good children from humble backgrounds. Yet, by God’s grace, their lives—and ours—were forever changed. Because of heaven’s designs on their hearts, they all experienced deeper conversions of heart

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.

Mary is the hinge of doctrine because she is the hinge of history. God awaited her yes at the pivotal moment. Thus, St. Irenaeus in the second century called her the “cause of salvation, both to herself and the whole human race.”9 She was not the Savior, but she was indeed the “cause of salvation” and the first to be saved. Mary’s place in history, doctrine, and devotion is extraordinary, exceptional, unique. Her vocation was distinctive and singular, and she responded with unfailing fidelity.