"Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?" - Song of Songs 6:10
12:3 TO WELD ALL TOGETHER (pg. 74 – pg. 76) It says in the beginning of today’s reading: “This seeking ‘first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness’ (Mt 6:33), that is, its direct labors for souls, absorbs the Legion altogether. It means, the main concern for us is the salvation of the souls including you and me. And we must always dedicate our duties to the work of saving the souls even if there is only one who has strayed and is lost in the desert.
Through the reading of today, one thing that caught my eyes is that: “Communities have such vitality that they continue to function even though half their parts are misfits. But they work at a terrible price of poverty, frustration, and unhappiness. Money and effort are poured out to drive parts which should be moving effortlessly, or which indeed should be sources of power. Result: problems, turmoil, crises.” This says to me that all kinds of groups including the Legion of Mary have their vitality for sure. Even if half of the members are misfits, they can still continue their function; but this kind of work is bound to be average, ineffective, and unpleasant.
It is undeniable that selfishness has become a common problem in human life today; hatred has destroyed the principles of life and the strength of unity of many people.
Frankly speaking, the love of God must go through the mystical body before it can radiate, even if the body is injured and broken. The operation of the mystical body, or even rather to say, the praesidium or any level of the Legion of Mary, has gone through many trials and tribulations. Many people are sad and at a loss because of the brokenness. Many people even fall because of problems, turmoil, or crises within the group. In many cases, what we really should pay attention to is the root cause; which is not the business or operation itself, but rather each one of us. As sinners, what would happen if we say: "It is because of my shortcomings," or "I have sinned," then no matter how big the problem is, through this kind of self-awareness, there is hope that it will become smaller or can even be resolved. We would use this self-awareness to find ways for improvement.
However very often, it is hard to recognize our own shortcomings. We are obviously imperfect but pride will get in the way of letting us recognize and even improve. And we cannot rely on the people around us to have the ability or even possibly the courage to acknowledge our shortcomings. Whatever we do affects all those around us.
But we should never lose the hope that the love of God will still go through You and I, His mystical body, and we can be the carriers of God’s love.
But how?
"Unless we willing to give in and submit ourselves completely to God as our Heavenly Mother Mary did, if not, with our imperfectness, even God wants to give us all of His graces, we just cannot hold onto them.” Submissive is a way of filling up the holes caused by our imperfectness.
Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” We must die to ourselves, our wants, desires, and self-love and submit ourselves openly to Him just as Mother Mary did so that we can achieve the ideals of self- sacrifice and mutual love.
Dear Mother Mary, help us to submit to God as you did and bring us closer to Jesus. Amen.