In a Crisis, Call Your Mother

The following was first published in the Winter 2018-19 issue of Marian Helper magazine. View the digital edition or order a free copy:

In this time of sexual abuse scandals in the Church, revelations of coverup and corruption amongst the clergy, and general loss of faith, we need to go to the people we can trust to sort this whole thing out.

We need to turn to the saints in Heaven.

They, after all, are incorruptible, wise with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and strong with the full might of the Lord's arm. But they, like the Lord who is Love Itself, wait on the permission of their brethren on earth before they get involved in earthly affairs. They wait on our prayers and petitions.

And then they can move with power.

Chief among them, of course, is Our Lady, Mary Immaculate, Queen of Heaven and earth. Thanks to the Lord's gift of the Immaculate Conception, she is the only human person in whom the devil never had his claws. She was never touched at any point in her existence by the stain of original sin.

In an age of corruption and scandal, it's time to turn to the incorruptible, to the Immaculate Conception.
In a time where you don't know whom to trust on earth, trust in Mary and her Son; trust in the saints; trust in Heaven.

In a time when it's easy to feel powerless, overwhelmed by the drumbeat of scandal, come to her in whom God Himself trusted. Come to Mary, who carried God in her arms, who fed God, to whom God was obedient. Come to Mary, the victorious warrior, the woman whom no evil shall ever overcome.

Come to Mary, and invite her back with you into the life of the Church, your home, and your family. Come to Mary, asking her help by attending Mass on her feast days, especially on Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

Come to Mary by wearing her scapulars and the Miraculous Medal. Come to Mary by praying the traditional Dominican Rosary, the Seven Sorrows Rosary, or the Chaplet of the Ten Evangelical Virtues.

Come to Mary by placing images of her in your home and parish, lighting candles before her images, or performing whatever other devotions are available to you. Come to Mary by making a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine or holy place such as the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, or go to your parish for special times of devotion before her statue or by accompanying her through walking the Stations of the Cross.

Come to Mary. Let her lead you to Jesus through the Five First Saturdays devotion or through total consecration, using guides such as Marian Fr. Michael Gaitley's 33 Days to Morning Glory. Come to Mary, learning more about her and her powerful protection through books such as Marian Fr. Donald Calloway's Champions of the Rosary and Under the Mantle, or Dr. Robert Stackpole's Mary: Who She Is and Why She Matters.

Come to Mary! We stand here in a time of crisis. Do as God did when the world was falling away from Him, and place yourself in her hands. Entrust yourself, the Church, and the world to her through prayer, interceding for everything you've been asked to pray for, meant to pray for, or that God wants you to pray for.

Come to Mary. She will not abandon you, even if she must accompany you to your cross on Calvary. She will be there for you, and help you in all your needs. She will intercede for your salvation before the court of Heaven, and her requests are never denied.

Our Catholic family is in crisis. It's time to go back to the Mother of the Church, and to bring our brothers and sisters to her, as well.

As St. Stanislaus Papczynski, Founder of the Marian Fathers, taught us to pray, "May the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception be our health and our protection." Amen.
MBK

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