Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. John 19:27

The other night I was talking with a group of ladies in a study group about how Mary is the example of the contemplative life, and the Holy Spirit is charismatic and because they are spouses these things are meant to fit together. It was then that my friend Leah said, “yes, and if you invite the Blessed Mother into your heart, the Holy Spirit comes with her, and they will help you conceive Jesus within you.” It is the way to union with the Lord.

Leah later went further and told me, this is in essence a “Mystical Incarnation”, if you will. Spiritually we are meant to conceive Jesus within us and Mary and the Holy Spirit guide us along this path to birth Him completely within us.

Mary with the Holy Spirit literally conceived Jesus. In her perfection, she knew the Father. She trusted the Father. Her trust led to her espousal. Her espousal led to Jesus’ conception. But that is not the end of the story. The Father wants all of us to conceive Him spiritually in our hearts, through the help of Mary and the Holy Spirit. Further, we must spiritually mature to where He is fully birthed inside of us and we resemble Him becoming mini-Christs.

This is a journey we can see that the Apostles took and it is a journey for us. Jesus knows us and He knows what we need. He asks some of the Apostles, and by extension He asks us;

…What are you looking for?… John 1:38

And further he tells them and us;

…Come and See… John 1:39

We are born into a broken and suffering world. Most of us are restless and we know that how we are living is not satisfactory but many of us don’t know why or what the major issue is. We may think we want fame or money, but those things do not calm our hearts. Sometimes it is when we experience a major suffering that we respond to the call to, “come and see” because we have found ourselves in that place of longing for more and we feel powerless.

Those of us who have reached that point, the point of a suffering or a longing for more, we usually sit with Him for a while and when we do, we conclude;

We have found the Messiah….John 1:41

We know that the message He shares is different and we find our hearts burning to know Him more.

It is here Jesus invites us;

Come follow me…Matthew 4:19

This decision changes everything. This is like the conception of the pregnancy. Your whole life changes. It can be scary, but it is also exciting and miraculous.

Many of us have chosen this path. It is often sweet and healing. We feel the love of God. We see miracles. We know this is the way. We falter, though, in thinking that because we have followed, we are done and nothing more is necessary. For this is a way of perfection and for those who fail to grasp that, it is where Apostasy happens.

We want, in essence, to stay in the place of middle pregnancy, feeling the sweet closeness of the Lord, feeling the intimacy of the miracles kicking inside of our lives. But we fight the birth, knowing that the separation towards growth is painful. It is a journey that makes us have to love even more and sacrifice even more. We think, isn’t it enough that I followed you? Can’t you just stay close? What else will I have to lose before enough is enough? We fail to see the glory that lies ahead if we let God move us towards perfection detaching us completely from earthly things.

For many moving into the place of discomfort and extreme hardship is enough to make them walk away. They say to themselves, do not ask me to do something that will change the status quo of the comfort I have.

And Jesus says;

Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink? Matthew 20:22

Can you stay on the journey? If you stay on the path the birth becomes imminent. Comfort is removed as any woman at the end of a pregnancy can attest to. Sometimes the suffering is so great it is hard to breathe. It can feel like a crumbling rather than a birth. You may writhe in pain. But His grace is sufficient for you even if you cannot feel it.

For the Apostles this would look like their time of healing and performing miracles was coming to an end. The leaders of their religion wanted Jesus dead. The government was closing in. All the beauty and miracles and closeness couldn’t stop the trajectory of pain they would go through. All that was not of God was being removed. It is hard to go through this, no matter the time period you live in.

Most of the Apostles ran away. But John came back. The women stayed. And Mary was there.

She was there at the Nativity, and she was there at the Cross.

Jesus left John to Mary. But he didn’t just become her son. He became a true Father. A Priestly Father who could feed His flock because he made it through the Cross. His worldview became heavenly.

The birth of the Church came at what seems for some, too painful price. But it is in that pain that the new beginning happens.

Pentecost came to them all with Mary in the room as the Holy Spirit reigned down, fully birthing Christ inside of them.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Acts 2:1-4

And suddenly, all that they had lost was nothing compared to all that they gained. The Holy Face of God was reflected in their own faces and greater miracles came about, but only after they were stripped of all their attachments that were not of God.

Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”  So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:38-42

Mary is there for us at the beginning, and she is there for us as we mature. Rapt in the Holy Spirit, ready to bring forth new life in us. It is essential that we invite her in our hearts for a new Pentecost to pour out upon us like it did for the Apostles.

Today is the feast of Saint Monica. She birthed Augustine into the world. And through prayer, heavy crosses and perseverance, her intercession birthed him into the Kingdom of God. She did not walk away when it got difficult and when it took a long time by our standards. In his Confessions, Augustine says his mom was ready to die after He converted fully. That is when her work was done. When we think more of the Salvation of others than of our own comfort or power we are well on our way to heaven.

We too need to stay on the path of perfection – even if all of our comforts are removed. We must trust God that He loves us more than we know, and He wants more than anything for us to be a part of the Mystical Body of Christ forever.

If you would like to purchase the Family Healing prayer book, The Queen’s Triumph, I co-authored with Ashley Blackburn, please click this link.