The Virgin Mary, our model??

 By Rita Murdock

    As the new school year continues, let us all remember to look to the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope as our model and our support. Most of all, ask Mary to intercede for us and lead us through the darkness of our trials to the radiant dawn of an encounter with the Risen Christ. October is the month of the rosary. Renew devotion to the Rosary as a family and vow to pray a nightly rosary. Your family will grow in closeness and in grace. Pray for the end of abortion and euthanasia; perhaps spend time in front of the Family Planning Service building on 3rd Ave to make a difference. “Be confident that you can make a difference."

    Don’t get overwhelmed. Stop and remind yourself to take each day as it comes and to break challenges into manageable pieces, one step at a time. Harriet Beecher Stove wrote, ‘When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you and you think you can’t hang on a minute longer, don’t give up, for that is the time and place the tide will turn.’ Teach your children to choose friends carefully. Read stories of the saints to learn about Important virtues. Change your own circle of  “friends” if they do not lead you to holiness. You are an original creation of God and He loves you and has a specific purpose for you. Pray to discern. Try not to become someone else’s copy. You have a role to play every minute of the day. 

    Have you ever noticed how one example, good or bad, can prompt others to follow? How one illegally parked car can give permission for others to do likewise? How one racial joke can fuel another? How one sour person can ruin a meeting? The opposite is also true. Be a person of virtue, integrity, and morality. We have too much sin in the world. Get in to confession. Personal holiness is catching! Then you’ll be in the company of saints.