To Walk in Mary’s Feet

If there is a grace that we need to ask the Lord this week, it is this: to have feet that walk.

That is, to have feet like those of the Blessed Virgin Mary who “traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah” (Lk 1:39) upon learning that her cousin Elizabeth “has also conceived a son in her old age” (Lk 1:36). The Blessed Mother must have thought that Elizabeth would need some assistance and, even without being asked, she volunteered to do so.

That is, to have the same feet of the Blessed Virgin Mary who approached her son Jesus at a wedding in Cana, casually informed him that “they have no wine” and, in doing so, even got rebuked, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:3-4). The Blessed Mother must have worried about the newly-married couple and, without being prodded to do so, urged her son to do something – to the great amazement of everyone, in particular, the headwaiter who praised the bridegroom for having “kept the good wine until now” (Jn 2:10).

That is, to possess the same feet of the Blessed Virgin Mary who walked with her son Jesus in his Way of the Cross and who stood at the foot of his Cross. The Blessed Mother, certainly, must have been greatly pained over the fate of her son Jesus and so wanted to share in his pain, if not to bear his pain as well.

Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, we must have cousins who need our assistance. Then, in haste, let us help them.

Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, we must have friends who need to be saved from great embarrassment and ridicule. Then, let us find ways to make them keep their dignity intact.

Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, we must have a loved one who is suffering or who is going through unimaginable difficulties. Then, let us find time and space for them. A simple text telling him or her that we are just a text or a call away may help or may even mean so much to him or her.

Mission need not be as daunting as that of Amos prophesying in Bethel and as demanding as that of the Twelve who had to have “nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts” (Mk 6:8).

Mission can simply be responding to the needs of those around us, in particular, the Grief of our Neighbor. This is because, in the end, Love of Neighbor is responding to the Grief of our Neighbor. Our neighbor has nothing to feed her children and so we share our food with them, either through the Community Pantry or to the hungry family directly. A young neighbor has no pair of slippers or good shoes and so we ask him or her for some help in the house so that, without making it look like a dole-out, we can give him or her a little something for a pair of slippers or shoes.

In our Covid-ravaged communities, the Grief of our Neighbor are many. For Love of Neighbor, let us respond to them.

In haste. (Raynar Echano)