Day 31 or 32 of the 33 Day Consecration to Mary - The Mother of My Lord Has Come to Me

Today is day 31 or 32 of the 33-day consecration to Mary, depending on whether you were ending on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. We're almost done! If you haven't said the consecration prayer everyday, say it today. I know there are benefits to saying it even once. Elizabeth, pregnant with the precursor to the Messiah, exclaims in today’s Gospel with joy, “How is it that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” I should ask the same question for myself. I would tell the kids in my First Communion classes that it’s a rare case for someone to choose his or her mother. Jesus didn’t just choose a mother; being God, He fashioned her after His own heart. Mary has been a blessing in my life – an unexpected one. I didn’t pay much attention to her until I was listening to a fellow RCIA volunteer explain the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I didn’t know she was biracial. This caught my attention. I looked at her brown skin and light eyes and said, “You look like me.” And then, quite unexpectedly on my part, I asked her to be my mom. Since then, I have had the joy of getting to know someone whose sole purpose is Jesus. She wants me to be the person God made me to be, so I can have more of Him. She is encouraging. She is joyful. She is full of hopeful optimism even on the darkest day. How did I ever live without her? Jesus had her to Himself for nine months of His gestation. Then He shared her with Saint Joseph. Then He gave her to His Apostles (I can see her cooking for 12 when they would come to visit). And then, from the cross, Jesus gave her to everyone. He said to the Disciple whom He loved, “Behold your mother.” Since knowing her, I have come to know Jesus in such ways that I could not have known Him on my own. There are problems in my life that are resolved and others that are being resolved in ways I could not have on my own. I have found my advancement in knowledge and virtue accelerated after I consecrated myself to Mary’s care. "How is it that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" I ask the same in joy and humility. I have always wanted to invite more people under her mantle. Thank you for accepting the invitation. Today, we consecrate to Mary ourselves, our families, our nation and our church. A Solemn Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Most Holy Virgin Mary, tender Mother of men, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the request of the Vicar of Your Son on earth, we consecrate ourselves and our families to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and we recommend to You, all the people of our country and all the world. Please accept our consecration, dearest Mother, and use us as You wish to accomplish Your designs in the world. O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the Rosary more faithfully. We come with confidence to You, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed Your own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Make our hearts and homes Your shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with your rule, triumph in every heart and home. Amen. --Venerable Pope Pius XII