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Saint Junipero Serra had a vision that did not turn out as he originally conceived, after human sinfulness overwhelmed the design, as it did in the Garden of Eden. Yet the Holy Spirit succeeded, and the missions he founded today are sacred places, alive with God’s Spirit and God’s people.

The faithful who inhabit and tend these missions can give hope to all pilgrims, that however flawed our own efforts are, the Gospel will still find a way.

One does not go into solitude just to be there, or to be alone, or to struggle with one’s false self or demons. That would be sadism. A person builds a rhythm of solitude into life because of a need to meet and surrender to Christ. One may resist that, but it is a need. It is not possible to maintain and nurture a life of solitude without this dynamic. I must be aware that I want to meet Christ in my solitude. The surrender may be just for a moment, but if it is unconditional at that moment, there is peace and calm.

At this time in history, you and I now are present. We, like the apostles, are unreliable and weak and afraid. We are inconstant in our devotion to our Lord. We deny him, we betray him.

But Jesus is I Am. He is constant.

Without prayer, we run the risk of forgetting who we have become and slowly we begin to feel as if God is distant and uninterested. Prayer also prevents us from hiding from God, for through it, we place ourselves before the only one that can perfect us and transform our lives. Every prayer, whether spoken or not, alone or with others, is truly an opportunity to say to Lord, “Fill me with your life. Change me into the person you know me to be.”

Mary believes in you. She believes in you, and she loves you more than you can imagine. You are special to her, and for that reason, she is always by your side whether you are aware of it or not. She knows the joy of being a child of God and she wants you to experience that same joy. Mary wants you to feel as though you are a child of God, loved and cherished by him.