TEACHING ME HOW TO DO THE WILL OF GOD
“Place in this Heart all your sufferings and difficulties… He changes everything into love.”— St. Margaret Mary Alacoque“The Blessed Virgin has always taken great care of me. I had recourse to her in all my necessities, and she has preserved me from great dangers.”
From: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Autobiography
October is a special month for us. The Church traditionally invites us to turn our attention to Mary through the prayer of the Rosary, and on October 16 we celebrate the feast of our patron, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Perhaps, then, this is a good month to get to know Margaret Mary a little better.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, had an important place in Margaret Mary’s life from childhood. As a young girl she suffered a serious illness that left her unable to walk for several years. During that time she turned frequently to the Blessed Virgin and eventually promised that, if she recovered, she would become one of Mary’s daughters.
Margaret Mary did recover, and she later wrote of Mary’s continuing presence in her life, describing her as “teaching me how to do the Will of God.” Those few words tell us something important about both women. Mary’s own life had been shaped by her willingness to say yes to God: “Let it be done to me according to your word.”
She did not know where that yes would lead. She simply trusted that God would accompany her. Margaret Mary gradually learned the same lesson. And perhaps that is something Mary can teach us as well.
Doing the will of God does not necessarily mean understanding everything that happens to us. Nor does it mean that every road will be easy. It means learning to trust that God is present and asking, sometimes very quietly: Lord, what are you asking of me here?
As we celebrate sixty years as a parish, that question matters. We give thanks for those who said yes before us—the people who built this parish, prayed here, served here, raised their families here and handed the faith on to us. Now it is our turn.
Through the prayers of Mary and St. Margaret Mary, may we learn to listen carefully for what God is asking of us and have the courage to answer with our own yes.
Prayer
Mary, Mother of Jesus,
teach us to listen as you listened,
to trust as you trusted,
and to say yes when God calls.
St. Margaret Mary,
teach us to seek the will of God
and to place our lives
within the loving Heart of Jesus.
As we give thanks for sixty years,
help us to cherish what we have received
and to respond generously
to what God is asking of us now.
Sacred Heart of Jesus,
we place our trust in you.
St. Margaret Mary, pray for us.
Amen.