 I have to admit, this is one of the things I've come under conviction in the last few months, that even though I have spoken about Mary and I do pray the rosary, I am still lagging behind in my own intimate relationship with Mary. And so my hope and prayer is that as I prepare thoughts and share them today and share them Sunday morning, that that journey alongside Mary is going to get sweeter and sweeter. And I have no idea. You may have walked with Mary your entire life. For me, it was a new relationship after my conversion. Scott felt like he found a birth mother, which he was not adopted, but it was that close relationship and I kind of felt like it was another mother-in-law. Like, I don't know you and I do want to get to know you somewhat. And I think you know me, so you notice. And I'm trying to have my heart get closer to her. So my prayer is that this reflection may trigger some additional, deeper thoughts for you in your own personal walk alongside this precious gift of Jesus' mother to every one of us. So I'm gonna give you a reflection on 10 joys and 10 sorrows. Now, I'm not changing the rosary and I'm not changing the devotion of the seven sorrows, but as I've reflected, I think there's more and I'm sure eventually there'll be many more. I grew up thinking there was practically nothing in the Bible about Mary. And obviously, if you've done some meditation yourselves on the rosary, you know there is a lot there. So I hope that you'll just join me in this reflection this morning about how our Blessed Mother prepared for, walked with, responded to the graces of God and ways in which we need to imitate her more specifically. Now I'm gonna give you passages that you can look up on your own at home, okay. I do wanna give you the passages that tie into these joys and sorrows, but there just isn't time to read them all while we're doing this reflection today. So we first observe Mary, and this is joy number one at the Annunciation that is Luke 1, 26 to 38. This is where she responds to the joyous news that the Lord has chosen her to bear his son, the longed-for redeemer. Without knowing all that that would mean, she responds, yes. Be it done unto me according to thy word. Her response is not, you pick the perfect gal. I can do this. And it also isn't false humility if I could never raise the son of God. She just simply says, be it done unto me according to thy word. And like Mary, God has a plan for our lives as well. We could be tempted to respond in fear or even in false humility or false courage. There are always going to be unanswered questions, concerns. But like Mary, we wanna reach out our hand and say, I trust you, Lord. And yes, I will follow where you lead. That first joy is immediately followed by the first sorrow, Matthew 1, 18 to 25, where she goes to Joseph and she says what is this word from God and he's troubled. He doesn't know how to respond. The Lord then reveals the plan to Joseph and he also gives his fiat, his yes, in humility. Sometimes we have to bear good news alone. Perhaps our spouse is not happy that we just found out we're expecting or maybe we're facing together a new job or a move. Like Mary, we pray that others will share our joy and then we look to the Lord to strengthen us while we wait for that to happen. Joy number two is in Luke 1, 39 to 56. Without hesitation, Mary makes plans to visit Elizabeth eager to take the savior to her. She wants to share this good news and she knows that her cousin is unique in her ability to understand what God is doing. She glorifies the Lord in the Magnificat proclaimed after Elizabeth's greeting that future generations will in fact call her blessed and that's us. We are part of that future generation. This is interesting. I saw a piece of artwork recently that had in the background, the foreground is Elizabeth and Mary greeting each other but in the background, it was Zechariah who's mute because he has not received the gift of being able to speak again and St. Joseph are in the background watching the visitation. When we were in Israel recently, I mentioned that to one of the guides and he said, well, our tradition for hundreds of years is that yes, Joseph accompanied Mary and then the three months that she stayed with Elizabeth and Zechariah, he went to the temple and he stayed there for those three months to prepare himself to be the father of Jesus. It's a beautiful tradition. Now we have sorrow number two, Luke two, one to seven. After three months, Mary returns home to await the birth of the baby but the emperor has intervened. The census is called and they have to uproot. Now she knows her mother will not be at the birth with her that she doesn't know if any family will be. Mary relinquishes her right to give birth at home and so they arrive in Bethlehem and there's no room. There are so many unknowns. She has to deliver in a stable and put her baby in an animal trough. You think of the sacrifice of Joseph on that one. He probably had already fashioned something for the baby by the time the news of the census arrived but he had to leave it and he had to come and then as a carpenter place the newborn baby in an animal feeding trough. Like Mary, things aren't always the way we expect them to be but we can trust the Lord which she obviously does. That leads to joy number three, Luke two, eight to 20. Mary gives birth to this beautiful baby and she and Joseph are the first to adore the Lord. Now we're all tempted to, right? I think every time I held a newborn it was all I could do not to just adore this gorgeous creature. I had an opportunity to help create, you know? They actually got away with it. They could actually adore him. She has the consolation of holding in her arms her very own son and the shepherds bring the good news. The angels had declared from the heavens that the savior had been born and we read that Mary kept all these things in her heart pondering them. Like Mary, do we take time to ponder the marvelous things that the Lord is in fact doing in our lives? That leads to joy number four, Luke two, third 22 to 32, the presentation in the temple. Mary and Joseph obey the law. They bring the Lord of the temple to the temple, his temple for the very first time. They offer pigeons for purification which was what the poor people could offer. That was the sacrifice. And like Mary, we bring the gift of each child back to him as we bring him or her to baptism. Simeon responds in verses 30 to 32, quote, mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou has prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to thy people Israel. Mary and Joseph's response is that they marveled. The Holy Spirit was revealing to holy men and women what they alone had known for months. But along with that joy is sorrow number three, the prophecy of Simeon, Luke two 33 to 35, quote, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against and a sword will pierce through your soul also that the thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. Now every pregnancy includes hopes and dreams for that child and Simeon's prophecy includes incredible hopes, wonderful things but also terrible things that lie ahead. Mary will need courage to face the fact that Jesus life will be threatened and she relinquishes her right to have joy without sorrow. I remember holding Michael as a baby he was probably about six months old just a gorgeous little boy and all of a sudden it hit me there are going to be people that don't like him. There could even be people that hurt him and I remember holding him and just weeping over the idea that anyone might not just love my son. Well, Mary already knows that there will be people who will not only not love her son but will decide to kill him. Mary loves her son and if he suffers, she will suffer but she still consents to God's will just like she did at the Annunciation. She had to have similar questions. When will this be? How will this be? Where will this be? But the details aren't given. She simply has to trust. God's will be done is her heart's cry. She isn't gonna try to bargain her way out of the sorrow but she also doesn't give in to the concern the waves of concern that could simply overwhelm capsize her boat of faith. She chooses to trust God focusing on him rather than her concerns and even though she faces an uncertain future she faces it without fear. She doesn't know what will cause such heartache in her future but she resolves to trust the one who knows the future, her heavenly father and Jesus. And like Mary, we can trust our future to our heavenly father and the future of our children. As you've heard from other people suffering is inevitable in all of our lives. We can't control the circumstances. We simply can choose how we respond and the news of impending calamity will change things. Some of you have faced doctors reports that have been either ambiguous or very scary. We've all faced dilemmas that we knew we only had partial information but like Mary we can say Jesus in you I place my trust, heavenly father I place my marriage or my children or my physical health in your care and then live each day intentionally with gratitude that we have that day. Notice the prophecy is for her alone. That means Joseph won't be there and there's only one reason why Joseph would not be there because he can't be there. So I think this is also a prediction of her widowhood. What else would ever keep Joseph from being at the foot of the cross helping her bear this burden? And I don't know if you ever noticed but right after that prophecy in Luke 238 it says Anna came up just at that moment and Anna is identified as someone who was a young widow and it's so interesting to me that God would offer this little consolation to Mary that she would be so lovingly greeted by Anna who also had suffered young widowhood and to receive strength and comfort from that. Join number five, the visit of the Magi, Matthew 2 1 to 11. Mary and Jesus received this breathtaking witness of the Magi and Joseph he's there as well. These Magi have traveled for hundreds of miles so that they could honor and worship Christ with great joy. They give him expensive gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh and these Gentiles point to the deeper reality of Jesus' kingship and the sacrificial death he will give for all people, not just the Jewish people. Like Mary, we need to notice to recognize the miraculous way that God's plan is unfolding in our lives. Now we have the fourth sorrow, their flight to Egypt, Matthew 2, 12 to 18. No sooner had the Magi left than Joseph is warned in a dream. Jesus' life is in grave danger from King Herod. The Holy Spirit reveals this plan to Joseph. It is urgent and he has to respond immediately. He awakens Mary. He says, it's time, rise, take, we must flee. And Mary obeys immediately. She doesn't say, hey, I think really the angels usually come and talk to me first. She doesn't question his leadership. She trusts God and she trusts her husband and she relinquishes the right to raise her son where she wants to. I believe both of them are aware of Jeremiah's prophecy of Rachel weeping for her children in Jeremiah 31, 15. They know other parents will soon grieve the loss of their baby boys while Joseph and Mary are able to escape. But there is no time to warn them. Mary cannot save what we refer to as the proto martyrs or their bereft parents from pain. They cannot warn others as they have been warned. They'd have to leave everything behind. I mean, Joseph's just set up his carpenter shop a second time and he can only take what he can take on that donkey. Everything familiar, they're going to have to walk away from language, customs, terrain. They're going to be exiles in Egypt. They have to go secretly at night. They suffer displacement. They flee the threat of harm. They will be vulnerable. They will feel lonely and away from family. And they have no idea how many years this might be. They don't know the whole plan. It's just clear they cannot return while Herod's alive. So they flee to Egypt to a Jewish community there. They don't know this foreign pagan land. But it does later fulfill a prophecy out of Hosea 11-1 out of Egypt, have I called my son? What discomforts did baby Jesus have? Well, he would have been tired, hungry, concerned for safety, dangers around. And yet Mary and Joseph were there to comfort him, to strengthen him, to provide for him. But they would have shared these challenges. Mary knew the scriptures and would have drawn strength from them and there's so many Psalms that say the Lord is our refuge. The Lord is our stronghold. The Lord is our fortress. The Lord is our deliverer, our shelter from the storm. And I can imagine that they would have quoted the Psalms back and forth to each other, to remind each other that in the midst of this tremendous difficulty, God was there. God was leading. How often in our lives as we face major challenges, do we need to reflect on what the psalmist has written about our God? We are not alone. We are not abandoned. We are surrounded by our Lord and His strength. And like Mary, we may need to leave what is familiar to obey the Lord. I would say even our conversions into the Catholic Church fall under this category. And when Scott converted, it caused spiritual rifts between us and in our families. And we lost friends over that. And then four years later, when I made the decision to be received into the church, that furthered some of those rifts. More friends fell off. And yet what had to be at the forefront is what is truth? And by the grace of God, we want to say yes to follow you and how grateful to God we are that we were able to come home to the Catholic faith. But there certainly were unknowns and God had to be our refuge. Now we have joy number six, they get to go home. The word comes that Herod in fact has died and it is safe for them to bring Jesus back. And so the Holy Family makes the arduous trip home and then they continue these years of hidden family life. What a gift to have that kind of time together. I don't know how you spent your COVID, what do we call it, pause or whatever. But one of the most precious gifts that Scott and I received was we had two sons in the seminary and we had one son here at the college and everybody came home, all three came home. And they were continuing their studies online but we began each day with morning prayer, then we scattered for a few hours, then we met up for lunch and shared and they were sharing what they were learning in theology and philosophy classes and Scott was sharing what he was reading and studying. And then we'd go back, they would all study more then we'd gather for dinner and talk theology. I at some point, I think Mike Aquilina, I both feel like we've spent enough time with Scott. Where's the degree? I would like to get credit for this, right? But it was so rich, it was so beautiful to have this life together and we'd have evening prayer and then we'd play games, we'd do other things but it was such a hidden life and to think, to imagine what Jesus may have shared with them, how they would have loved each other, how they would have enjoyed each other, again, not having any idea how long that hidden life might last. I'm personally grateful COVID's over but I would say it was a precious, precious time and in unrepeatable, unrepeatable. So that also leads to something that is both the fifth sorrow and the seventh joy if you're keeping track of the numbers and that is Jesus missing for three days. One of the joyful mysteries of the rosary is finding the boy Jesus in the temple but before we get to the joy, I think there was the sorrow. Mary and Joseph had faithfully taken Jesus on a 70 mile journey with them from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the Passover and Jesus had just turned 12 so he was returning to Jerusalem as a son of the law. He enjoys their trust, he's free to mingle and they assume that he's in the group that's leaving. Did Jesus choose not to leave because he wanted to assert I'm really a man now? Was it an act of rebellion or willfulness? Obviously not but he does counter their wishes. He would know that they would expect him to be in the crowd. They are unaware of his decision so they travel an entire day without knowing that he is not in their midst and then it takes them a day to go back and they are searching for him. They only find him on the third day which is really a foretaste of that three days between our Lord's death and resurrection. I'm sure Mary eventually reflected on that. Mary and Joseph have frustration, confusion, concern, even anger and they don't worry in the search. Did they stop to sleep? Did they stop to eat? They have no idea where he is. They have no idea if anyone's taking care of him there could this possibly be part of Simeon's prophecy? They don't know. They had had so much joy gathered together with relatives and friends in the beauty of the temple remembering God's saving act. It isn't easy for parents to differentiate between true and false guilt especially when a child is lost in some way. Maybe a child just goes missing in a mall. I know my sister lost one of her little sons and he was just this gorgeous little blonde curly headed boy. He was there one minute, he was not there the next. They shut down the mall. Everyone was searching for him and eventually he just came out from behind some clothes and thought he was having fun. He was playing hide and seek in the department store and she said I didn't know if I would spank him or just dog him and she said I just grabbed him and cried. But sometimes our children get lost in depression. They get lost in drinking or alcohol and there's emotional distance, they're broken relationships and the if onlys and the what ifs can so derail us as parents. And then we've got that added challenge of not turning on each other. I thought he was with you. I thought you would have been paying attention and Mary and Joseph do not do that. They do not turn on each other and even though their emotions are justified they respond meditatively when Jesus actually in a sense rebukes them. Like Mary, by the grace of God, we can be better parents but we always have to come back to recognizing that our children are in his hands and we can trust them to him. And that does lead to joy number seven which is finding Jesus in the temple, Luke 2, 41 to 52. They have the joy of finding their son who'd been missing for three days and they find him in the temple speaking with the elders as if he's speaking to peers and they're amazed, the elders are amazed at his understanding and knowledge. I keep wondering, where was he in the night? Like did all the priests and elders just go home and assumed he went home somewhere or did any of them say, hey, do you wanna come home for a meal or did they just all stay there the whole three days mesmerized by his wisdom and understanding? Who knows? God knows, but Jesus is serene. He's calm, he hasn't been missing them for three days. His response, I find astounding. How is it that you sought me? Did you not know I must be in my father's house? Must be, not should have thought I might be here. He's saying you should have known this is where I would be. The temple is a very personal place for him. He is first and foremost, God's son. So Jesus is very aware of who he is and what his mission is. Don't ever be confused that it is baptism. All of a sudden Jesus thought, oh, I'm to be the savior of the world. He knew, he knew what his mission was. He knew God's will. He knew he was doing God's will which is a confidence we don't always have. But to be a good parent does not require omniscience. Mary and Joseph didn't have it, we don't have it. Had they failed to protect Jesus? No, no. He no longer needed their help in the same way. They're relieved and his response does not evoke a further rebuke from them. But at the same time, he immediately submits to their authority and humbly goes home with them, submitting to them. And it says they pondered this in their hearts. Mary will have a few more years with Jesus but she can already look ahead to see the separation that will be there. And like Mary, part of our suffering as parents is all the unknowns. I cannot even fathom bringing children into the world at this point in time because it seems so much scarier. It seems so much more challenging than when we were having children. And that's where we have to go back to the things that Mike was talking about. We have to speak the truth to our adult children that of course they need to be as open to life as God has made clear through the teaching of the church that this is a time, if he has drawn you together into marriage, he will lead, he will guide and they need to be able to embrace parenting without fear, choosing to place their trust in the Lord. I even had friends in high school say, why would you ever have a child in this day and age? And I said, it'll be out of obedience. It will be because I'm trusting God and not my culture. And I believe that my children will be change agents. I believe that they will take the gospel to people that will never hear otherwise. And I still believe that's true, but we need to pray more for our children who are married and our grandchildren because they do face so much. We have limited knowledge and wisdom. It seems like as soon as you get the hang of parenting, you have to start de-parenting and sending them out and letting them go. We have to remember our children first and foremost belong to God. And we have to relinquish our right, quote unquote, to direct their life as we see fit. We need to take time to ponder how God is acting directly on our children and then trust him to lead each particular child. Mary relinquishes her right for Jesus to obey her desires. And she accepts the mystery of God's actions and her sons. So like Mary, we're invited to relinquish our plans for our children. And now we look at a series of sorrowful mysteries and then a series of joyful ones. Sorrow number six, we don't talk about this, but I believe this happened, the death of St. Joseph. It's alluded to by Simeon who gives only that warning about the sword piercing the heart directly to Mary. And there's only one reason, as I said, that Joseph wouldn't be there and that's because he could not be. It's clouded in mystery. We don't know when it happened. We don't know how it happened. We just know that sometime between the age of 12 for Jesus and when he heads out in ministry, that there's no reference to his father. And that's something that they would have again had in the midst of their hidden life together. Sorrow number seven, and it's fast forwarding quite a bit. Maybe eventually I'll have 20 joys and sorrows as I reflect more on Mary in his ministry, but the next one that I have is Mary meeting Jesus on the way of the cross. Luke 23, 26 to 32. Mary is present during Jesus' suffering leading up to the crucifixion. She has too much courage and compassion not to be. I've reflected a lot on this next thought. She has to extend forgiveness while they hurt him. You know, when we get wronged, when someone offends us or hurts us, we usually need time to work it through. You know, we maybe physically move out of the room. We maybe take days. Sometimes people give each other the silent treatment as they work it through. Mary had no time to work it through. Her heart was so united to Jesus' heart that she had to forgive as it was occurring. Cannot even fathom that. The disciples not being there abandoning him. The Romans inflicting tortuous pain. The mocking of the common people who have no clue what he's doing. The shunning of the religious leaders who should have known exactly what he was doing and did not know what he was doing. But she understands Jesus' mission. She is of one heart with him. And she bears him while he bears the cross. These two hearts united. Her presence strengthens him. She is the chalice, the vessel from whence he receives the blood that he now is shedding. She knows he's voluntarily laying down his life to redeem the people even though it looks like they're just taking it away from him. She witnesses his suffering and accompanies him and she is powerless to alleviate his suffering which has gotta be that mother's heart desire. Let me make it better. Let me kiss it and make it better. Let me help you. And she knows there is nothing she can do. In fact, I would say that each of their suffering actually intensifies the others. He does not keep her from this suffering and she can't keep from it being in her face how much she is suffering with him. But they do help each other to bear this. They both know it is essential for your salvation and mine. Mary accompanies Jesus sharing his pain and according to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux this is her martyrdom. It is a deep interior martyrdom. Mary knows the powerlessness of a parent whose child is in severe pain, especially when it is unjust. She is not alone, others do share her sorrow, Mark 15, 40 and one, but none of them carry the same pain and she bears it silently and patiently. She is trusting the father, giving him the gift of her suffering united to Jesus and she perseveres at the side of Jesus as he carries the cross all the way to Calvary for the very ones causing his pain and hers. Typically our response to pain and frustration is sadness. We turn inward to console ourselves, especially when that suffering is unjust. Mary's sorrow is real and her suffering is unjust but she does not permit that interior focus. She is not our lady of sadness. She is our lady of sorrows. The catechism teaches us that she never lost the virtue of joy in the midst of her anguish, which is just amazing. And so we never say Mary, mother most sad, but we do acknowledge that she is sorrowful. She who experienced such great sorrow can help us bear ours. She stands with us as we endure various crosses in our lives, helping us to unite our sufferings to our Lord's as the body of Christ for the salvation of souls and we have to always keep that at the forefront. That is the goal, that's why we're uniting our sufferings to his. Sorrow number eight, Mary's vigil at the cross as he dies, John 19, 18 to 27. I find this just worthy of reflection. In verse 25, it says standing by the cross of Jesus where his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clovis and Mary Magdalene. She's standing. She could be so crushed by all of this pain and sorrow that she's just low to the ground, but while she can give that small bit of strength to him, she stands there. She can't take away his suffering, but she shares it. Courageous love demonstrated through her presence there means that the focus is not on her own suffering but on his and being present to him. And what does she hear him say? She hears him say, I thirst. And she knows this has nothing to do with needing a drink, but that he is thirsting for the souls, as Mother Teresa of Calcutta says, thirsting for the souls for which he is laying down his life. In the midst of agony, Jesus addresses her from the cross, gifts her to the beloved disciple, to you and me as beloved disciples. Imagine in the midst of her agony, he's saying, there's a lot more for you to do, Mom. There's a lot more for you to do. Some of you have come here today, this retreat, bereft of your spouse in just the last year. I've met three widows here who have come to this conference before and now you're here. And I wanna say, Jesus has more for you to do. He has more for you to do. And so from the cross, Jesus says, Mom, there's more for you to do. Mary knows the excruciating pain of watching a loved one suffer and die. She understands what he is accomplishing. And as the first disciple, Mary is willing to conform herself utterly to him. Like Mary, no one embracing the cross escapes without getting pierced. And Mary relinquishes her right to die before her child does. And some of you have faced that as well. Mary hears Jesus say, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they do. Instead of lashing out at us for causing his suffering and death, Mary has this beautiful title, Refuge of Sinners. And instead of rejecting us, she draws us close. She draws us close to our heart for our deliberate sins and also sins I know I have committed maybe you have of simply neglecting her. Who's she? She's just a woman. I don't need to pay attention to her. Jesus is the focus. But Jesus turns our attention to her and says, You need to love her. You need to know her. You need to walk alongside her if you want to be holy. She's the model of holiness. She's the compassion of mother who calls us to repentance, to confession and to receive the grace we can through this incredible sacrifice of her son. Then she hears him say the words that she would have taught Jesus or sung to him as a Jewish mother rocking her baby to sleep. Into thy hands I commit my spirit. Jesus truly dies when he chooses to give up his spirit. He relinquishes his life. Others don't take it. And what does Mary touch? She touches the rough human cross. She sees and touches the blood that trickles down. She sees the sign that declares the truth above his head, the king of the Jews, because in fact he is. She experiences the darkness of midday as he bows his head and dies. Even the earth is groaning at the death of her son. You know we have a word for someone who loses a spouse. It's a widow or a widower. We have a word for a child who loses his or her parents' orphan. But we have no word for a parent who loses a child. And that leads to sorrow number nine. Receiving Jesus' body off the cross, John 19, 31 to 38. Mary receives back what she had given, the body of Jesus. The body matters. The arms that hug. Hands to hold, cheeks and lips to kiss. It's so much more than a container of the spirit. As she holds him, his body is heavy, but it is her precious son. She needs to cradle him one more time in her arms to rock him once more. She sees the wounds this close. The result of the scourging, the crown of thorns, the nail marks, and she knows the deeper sufferings where everything he went through interiorly. Would she have wept? I had someone tell me what an impious thought she knew what was being accomplished. She was a mother. She was a Jewish mother. Of course she mourned. Of course she wept. I think she would have wailed. How did she let go? Mary has to relinquish her right to hold him as long as she wants because it's time. They have to move toward the burial. She had known the savior of the world would suffer for redemption and she gave consent. Sometimes Mary is called mother of solitude because some sufferings are carried alone and she knows the depth of that. And Father Cesario says this, which I thought was so beautiful. God has predestined Mary and priests to handle, albeit if reversely, the body of Christ physically or sacramentally. And so we come to Sauron number 10, bearing Jesus in the tomb, John 19, 38 to 42. She has never clung to him and she will not do that now. Part of him will always be with her and part of her has died with him. It's relentless to know how time just simply marches on when you are in grief. But the Sabbath is near and she doesn't know how he'll be buried or where he'll be buried. She relinquishes her right to choose his grave or even to prepare his body for burial. God provides through Joseph a veramethia, a disciple who has special permission from Pilate to entomb Jesus in his newly hewn tomb. It's unused, just as Mary's womb had been completely unused. Nicodemus has 100 pounds of spices to prepare the body quickly. At birth, Mary had wrapped him in swatling clothes and laid him in a manger, but now others administer spices and wrap him in the linen shroud. And I'm sure she does anything she can to help, but then the stone is rolled in place, sealing him away from her, from them, and even Mary has to walk away from her precious son. These sorrows are not just thrust on Mary, she continues to embrace them. She wills God's will and she has so much to ponder in silence and sorrow. Mary's faith didn't keep her from suffering, but it enables her not to be bitter or resentful. Her grief was real and her faith, hope, love, and joy were just as real. And Father Cesario says, quote, Mary is bereft but not without hope, end quote. And that leads to joy number eight, the resurrection. Have you ever asked why Mary wasn't at the tomb? Fair wondered that. She's the only one who knew he wasn't there. He predicted to the disciples in her hearing that he would be raised from the dead on the third day, but no one seemed to remember that. No one seemed to actually believe that was possible, except I believe his mother did. That did not spare her the grief of having him die and watching him die, but I believe she wasn't at the tomb because she knew he was coming back. And I believe that he would have revealed himself to her. I believe she alone believes Jesus' words about the resurrection. And to me, this is the fullest expression of what Elizabeth had said. Blessed is she who believed. She still had to walk by faith. She still had to wait the three days, right? But she believes with God all things are possible. Now there's no mention of Jesus appearing to his blessed mother, but many scholars believe that was his first appearance. And she's an instrument of grace to everyone who abandoned Jesus when he went to the cross. In contrast to the grief of his death, I believe her joy had to be immense. She remains with the disciples whom she has forgiven. She's in the upper room with them receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit as Jesus' first disciple and his best disciple. And she shows all of them and all of us how to love Jesus to the end. She extends her spiritual motherhood beyond the beloved disciple to every one of us as beloved disciples. And that leads to the ninth and 10th joyful mysteries, the assumption of our mother into heaven and the coronation of Mary as queen of heaven. Mary's body, which was a living tabernacle for our Lord, we believe was assumed into heaven. And this is why when St. John is taken in the book of Revelation up into the heavens to witness the heavenly liturgy on the Lord's day, he hears that the Ark of the Covenant is there. And when he turns, what he does not see is the golden box that Israel identified as the Ark of the Covenant. What he identifies in Revelation 12 verse one is a woman clothed with the stars, with the moon under her feet. It's a physical woman. She has a body, she has a head, she has feet. And that's part of why we believe that she was physically assumed into heaven, that she is in a sense a down payment on our resurrection. And then as you read on through the passage, this was a challenge actually to me personally. Someone said, well, is Mary your spiritual mother? And I said, well, I hadn't converted yet. And I'm like, that's a stretch. She's probably a good disciple for me to follow. And he said, no, no, she's your spiritual mother. And I said, okay, why do you say that? And he said, get your Bible. And I did. And he said, turn to Revelation 12 verse 17. And it's the passage where the evil one who has been attacking her then turns to attack her children to those who, oh, why should I have this memorized? I can't hear you. Say it louder. Say it louder. Those who keep the commandments and bear testimony to Jesus. Thank you. I just needed you to be a little louder. Yes. And so he said, so do you keep the commandments? And I said, well, I certainly try. And do you bear testimony to Jesus? And I said, yes. And he said, okay, then she's your mom. I admit it. I was like, all right. Okay. But of course, acknowledging in your mind that she's your spiritual mother and really developing that relationship where you're asking her to come close to your heart to lead, to guide, to direct you toward her son. That's a whole nother step. And that's what I'm really seeking for my relationship with Mary. And just as King Solomon elevated Mary as queen, sorry, as his mother, as queen mother in the Old Testament. So Jesus as the son of David, we believe, has enthroned his mother at his right hand. And so we ask the Lord to give us the grace to, excuse me, to truly receive her as our spiritual mother and asking her to intercede that we will be those beloved disciples who will follow Jesus wherever he leads and trusting our marriages to him and trusting our children to him. Asking for those graces that she won in her consent to be then active in our lives so that we will give honor and glory to her son which will bring great joy to her heart. Let me close in a quick word of prayer. Most gracious Lord, I thank you so much that you have given us this gift of Mary. We thank you for her heart for you, her love for you, her service to you. Please help us to truly be beloved disciples and taking Mary into our hearts. We pray this in the precious name of Jesus, amen. God bless you.