Musings on Monotony

September 8^th, now past, dawned with slivers of sunshine after several days of clouds and rain as in much of the surrounding South. It was quite fitting, considering the themes repeated in the Divine Office for Our Lady’s Birthday which highlighted Mary as the Dawn of our salvation, Jesus Christ. When we think of Mary’s humble birth and what her early life must have been from the vantage of our more ‘sophisticated’ age, perhaps we are tempted to immediately think: ‘monotony!’ Could life in 1^st century rural Nazareth have been exciting, or anything other than tedious?! And yet the so-called ‘monotonous’ life cloaks the possibility for a deep penetration into the Reality that rests beneath the tizzy of frenetic life. One can imagine how the hours of routine tasks in Mary’s life gave her the time to marvel at her Son, to delve into the meaning of Simeon’s words, or to wonder at her Son’s unannounced stay in the Temple. Through her simple life, dwelling daily with God Incarnate, she knew firsthand that God looks with favor on His lowly servant. The dawning of salvation began in the obscurity of a human village, and it continues in the unassuming work of the here and now. Perhaps many people today would wish for a slower, quieter routine in a rather demanding world. Even if one has to juggle a thousand responsibilities, as St. Teresa of Avila once said, God can be found among the pots and pans! (It’s true!!) Nonetheless, it is important to use the lulls, or the stretches of ‘flavorless’ work, to penetrate beyond the mundane and material. Those moments lend themselves most surely to our minds, hearts and souls to rest in God and see what He has to say…

At this time we pray especially for those who lost loved ones 10 years ago this September 11^th, and in times more recent. Where grief and sorrow add a heavy burden to the routines of daily life, we pray you find solace in the compassionate and sorrowful heart of Mary.

The above picture was taken at dawn here at the Shrine on September 4th when we celebrated the Patronal Feast of the Shrine: the Solemnity of the Divino Nino Jesus! It was a blessing to have hundreds of pilgrims come (especially from the country of Columbia!) to honor the Divino Nino!