Mary Star of the Sea
Deacon Kevin Reid
This past Sunday we celebrated the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mother who was physically taken body and soul into Heaven.
Her Ascension into Heaven is celebrated usually as a Holy Day of Obligation, in other words a day that the Church declares to be so special that we are REQUIRED to attend as if it was a Sunday.
This week I am in the Outer Banks vacationing with my family along with my Mom Muriel, my mother in-law Marilyn and my Father in-law David. So counting Lisa and the boys there are 7 of us here.
Of the seven present here, three of them are Mothers. As Catholics and as Knights of Columbus we count Mary as our Spiritual Mother. Mary who has so many titles, that each culture claims as their own. Each culture has a special devotion and reverence that they hold for "Our Lady".
Our Lady of Guadalupe the Patroness of the Americas, Our Lady of Knock for the Irish, Our Lady of Fatima for the Portuguese, Our Lady of Lourdes for the French, Our Lady of Pompeii for the Italians. Of course there are many more then I can name or that we have the time or the space for.
This past Sunday while attending Mass here on in the Outer Banks, the Priest who presided at the Liturgy said of all of the Titles that have been given to Mary, perhaps the one that best fits her is the title of "The Perfect Disciple" for in all of Mary's life she was and is always the perfect disciple.
We do not think of Mary as a God, but rather as the perfect example of Discipleship, she is the model of obedience and of love for the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Her "YES" to the angel Gabriel was a yes for all of Humanity, she became the second more perfect "Eve" the Spiritual Mother of all of us.
So perfect was her discipleship that she is the only person born to be called the Christ Bearer her body was the Tabernacle that held the Infant Jesus before he was born, when she visited her cousin Elizabeth it was her own son John the Baptist who leapt in the womb at the sound of the voice of the Mother of God greeting his Mother.
Brothers and wives of Knights how easy is it for us to be able to recognize the Lord when he appears in our presence. Our prayers in the Rosaries that we carry in our pockets can be part of the key for own attempt to be perfect disciples.
In our reflections on the Mysteries of the Rosary we enter into the Graces that Mary her self received in her own perfect discipleship, to know sorrow and joy at the same time.
So as we pray the Rosary whether at home in our own private prayer time or as a group in a Public setting, we too enter into the mysteries that help us to better grasp at the path of true and perfect discipleship that Mary emulates in her joys and in her sorrows.
The path to Discipleship is not unlike the path to Knighthood, it involves self discipline, faith and a willingness to offer our lives up in sacrifice as Christ did for the least of his people.
Mary our Spiritual Mother always there guiding her children and especially her Knights who have sworn an Oath to her son and to be her Knights and to defend life and to be examples of Discipleship to all who observe us.
I started this refection with the Title of Mary Star of the Sea, while on the beach here I have reflected on Mary guiding Columbus in his journey to the Americas and in the trust he had in his Lady guiding him through then Stars across the Seas to this new land of hope and promise. Mary is like the moon reflecting God's love to his people and his Holy Church.
Let us pray for that same guidance and reflection of his unending love for us this month in our own journey towards perfect discipleship, as we trust in the perfect light as we follow our "Stella Maris" Mary Star of the Sea.
Deacon Kevin Reid
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