Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

As a child, most of my religious education relating to Mary dealt with the concept of her love for me.  Mary was always taught as the embodiment of love.  As I matured, my understanding of Mary deepened and became more real and applicable to me, especially when learning how to see Mary as a model for obedience to the will of the Lord.  

Many times as a young mother and wife, I was at the end of my line, emotionally and spiritually. Life became very hard, and I would dream of a day that my life would become easier.  I dreamed of a time without the chaos that was my life.  While I knew that I was exactly where the Lord wanted me to be, I wanted something different.

At this time, I was blessed with a dear friend, a woman in a very similar situation.  We were two women raising our beautiful children, but we were exhausted beyond words.  To support each other and find solace, we would get together often.  The beauty of our friendship was marked by our mutual knowledge and understanding that there were no words that we could exchange to solve our current problems.  Our frustrations would not magically go away by complaining about circumstances that were beyond our control.  Instead, we would just sit and pray the rosary together.  Praying the rosary, while at the same time juggling a nursing baby and changing a toddler, we would look to Mary to be our teacher.  Mary, who loved the Lord most perfectly, and obeyed Him despite her fears.  This obedience of Mary taught me about conforming my will to the will of the Lord.  Only by understanding Mary’s love for the Lord did her obedience make sense to me.  Through love, obedience comes naturally. 

In all honesty, my life never did get easier.  There would be more children to come and more chaos, less time, more stress, and even less money, but there is great joy in my life.  I learned through Mary that my joy was more closely related to love and obedience then lack of stress, because joy is deeper.  My joy came through learning how to pray, not just say, the words of our Blessed Mother: “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word.”

Originally from Florida, Linda O’Gara reverted back to the Catholic faith at the campus ministry of Florida State University. She currently lives in Lafayette with her husband and three kids and serves in the Ecclesiastical Tribunal for the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana.