Our Spiritual Advisor for May: Fr. Kevin Moebius
The Month of Mary
“And the angel said to her in reply, ‘The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.’” (Lk 1:35)
In the month of May, I can not think of two more important things to talk about….the Holy Spirit and of course Mary. It’s no secret that together we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of this beautiful Easter season. We’re journeying through these final weeks of Easter on the Liturgical calendar. Not that I want to go there quite yet, but can you recall liturgically how the month of May ends? You guessed it… Pentecost and then, not one, but two Marian Feast Days! The Monday after Pentecost, we celebrate The Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and then the following Wednesday the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary! How about that? Wow, quite a month indeed!
Ok ok, maybe the liturgical calendar doesn’t bring all of us such joy, to you i’d say “April showers bring May flowers.” Haha! A reminder that what seems like the most difficult of things to deal with in life, can always be turned into something beautiful. Like pouring down rain! For Mary, let us forget it was no different. We remember the first words from angel Gabriel to Mary, “Do not be afraid.” (Lk 1:30) It seems like the world is fuller now more than ever of things to be afraid of. Frightened, the world might break out into war at any minute. Scared our own children will never come back to the Church. Terrified, the government is leading the nation in the wrong direction. Fearful of failure and rejection. Nervous about a soon to be drastic life change in our job or physical health. It’s real. Now, what are we going to do with it?
Mary is THE example. Now is the time. The Holy Spirit is the answer. For what? A fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, to be overpowered from on high. The good news is, if we’re not ready yet, well we have the fifth, sixth and seventh week of Easter before Pentecost to think about it. Isn’t the Liturgical Calendar great?
De Colores!
Fr. Kevin