Mary

I'm reading a new book. Walking with Mary by Edward Sri. The opening line of the Introduction was a total "Ah ha!" moment for me. The author states that a friend of his commented once "I'm not sure how devoted I've been to Mary. But I know she has been very devoted to me." WOW! He is so correct. Sometimes we don't understand know her as we should but we take for granted, just as we do our earthly mothers, that she is there for us. Guilty as charged! 

I know that I so want to learn the tenants of my religion that I missed out learning as a child. (Remember I was baptized Catholic, identified myself as Catholic but was never actually taught what it meant to BE Catholic). When I decided to take this journey, I realized there is so much I don't know. And that I will be playing catch-up for a long time to come! It's ok though, I'm happy to have found my home in the Catholic Church. 

What I did learn as a child though was that Mary was important and I was taught to pray the Hail Mary. I did own a rosary but did not learn how to pray it. I have been trying to learn it by heart but I have not been consistent. I keep letting life interfere - it's a choice and I know I need to make the right choice. Mary keeps reminding me of that!

Lately I seem to be drawn to books about her. I finished Under the Mantle last night. In this book author Donald Calloway explains how Mary fits into so many parts of our lives and beliefs as Catholics.It's a wonderful book that puts so many topics for our current age into perspective with Mary's help.

Sooo....Mary seems to be speaking to me... calling my name to be nearer to her. To learn to trust God the way she did. To accept all the events of my life with hope in the Lord. I only hope that I can reciprocate the devotion she has shown me.

Learning

I'm learning... mostly that there is so much to learn! I've also learned that for people who want to be Catholic there is no consistent program. Sure parishes have RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) but it's different depending on who is doing the teaching. I guess as an educator (I teach Middle School during the day) I would think at minimum the Archdiocese would have a consistent set of standards or curriculum that should be taught to everyone. But that doesn't seem to be so. I'm not saying it all should be done the same way. But rather, that all parishes would work with the same materials. So far I've seen two different books and in one parish they simply used Catholic Update newsletters.

Sooo.... I guess I'm on a mission to see what can be done about that. I want to ask several different people (priests, nuns, deacons and all sorts of laity what the 10 things they believe should be taught to someone entering our beautiful faith. Now I just need to figure out which people to ask!

Believe,
Bobbi