Holy Mary, Point Us To Your Son

I guess this is Mary week! *my Catholic is showing* I wrote this a few weeks ago but it seems quite appropriate for today...

We stayed in Haiti a few extra days to have family rest time at a beach on the Northern part of the claw. As we drove out of Port-au-Prince, passing filth and poverty beyond our American imagination, I prayed my rosary and sobbed silently. Kent reached over to ask if I was scared from the crazy shuttle driving but I had long gotten used to their no-rules-go-kart-racing style of driving in Haiti.

I cried thinking of the children we said goodbye to in L'Asile. I cried for the children I saw out my window. I cried with joy thinking of the future children and adults we would get to serve in a foreign land soon enough.

After I finished praying I wiped my face and turned to the Haitian woman sitting behind us. "Ou Katolik (You Catholic)?", I asked in the best broken Haitian Creole that I had learned over the previous week there. The woman's face lit up as she replied, "Wi (Yes)!" I reached into my bag and pulled out a Miraculous Medal. The kids of L'Asile all loved the medals we gave out. They were enamored by them. How will this woman react?

I couldn't remember the full sentence I was supposed to say in Haitian Creole and she seemed very well off. She's not impoverished and doubtfully would be excited by a medal like the children were.

"Meday Manaman Mary pou ou (Mother Mary medal for you)..." She was so happy to receive it! She smiled and looked at me surprised. I turned back around and thanked God for the opportunity to "practice" being a missionary in a foreign land on our own even just a little bit. I was barely through thanking God when she tapped my shoulder, excited to show me her rosary that she had brought with her.

Face beaming with pride, she held up the rosary with our crucified Savior on it and I felt joy and accomplishment, much like I assume our Mother Mary does every time we come to her and she gets to point us to her Son.

No, the woman didn't join us in running through resort sprinklers at 5:30 the next morning to make it to our taptap (cab) in time for the only mass in the town. When we got to the resort she kind of just disappeared and I never saw her again. But that's okay. With my limited language I was still able to proclaim the Gospel to her- love. 

Similarly, Mary uses her love to constantly point us to her Son. There's nothing quite like the love of a mother for her child, right?

As Catholics we celebrate today as the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. The quickest explanation is that God Himself came to earth in a vessel- Mary. That vessel was kept pure and free from original sin (this goes back to Old Testament Traditions of the faith - Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant). So Mary was saved from decay of the body (result of Original Sin) and assumed into Heaven. We pray to Mary to help us by asking her Son. We pray for her intervention in the same sense that we ask our friends to pray for us.

Not that my single prayer asking God to help sell my home quick isn't important, but I'd prefer to have all my friends, family, and the God-chosen mother our Savior praying along with me! Wouldn't you?

Holy Mary, help those in need, give strength to the weak, comfort the sorrowful, pray for God's people.

Amen.