INSTRUCTION: OUR LADY AND THE M. C. FAMILY.

From now on, you will be their Mother. As the young Church gathered
around Our Lady in the Cenacle to receive the outpouring of the oly !pirit of
the promise"# so our young !ociety gathers around Our Lady n !rayer to
receive the promised outpouring of the life$giving waters of %esus& !pirit ' the
Ho"y S!rt o# $od%s Thrst. !he is the Mother to whom %esus entrusts the
!ociety as we stand with her ne(t to the Cross of is )assion in the poor. *t is
she who opens our hearts to understand and res!ond to the words e spea+s
to us there, * -hirst." And it is she who urges and leads us in witnessing to is
-hirst before the world. Our Lady s nt&ate"y 'onne'ted to the entre
!ro'ess o# our ds'o(erng) satatng and !ro'"a&ng the Thrst o# *esus.
-he mystery of her role in the revelation of .od&s -hirst began already at
her Conception, continued throughout her life on this earth, and carries on even
to this day in heaven. *n her *mmaculate Conception, she became the perfect
&rror and (esse" of the -rinity&s -hirst. *n her Annunciation, and for the nine
months that she carried the /ternal 0ord within her, she came to e(perience as
no other human creature the de!th o# $od%s Thrst to +e ,th us. *n giving
%esus birth, she +rought $od%s thrst nto the ,or"d. On Calvary, she was the
#rst &e&+er o# the Chur'h to hear and open her soul to is cry of -hirst. *t
was is -hirst 1manifested in is )assion and pierced eart2 that became the
sword that pierced her soul" 1as )aul reminds us, any word of .od is alive and
active, and sharper than a two$edged sword" ' how much more these greatest of
words, * -hirst"2. *t was there on Calvary that she became the 0oman" of
.enesis, the 3ew /ve, Mother of all the living" 14isciple, behold your Mother"2.
!he would be the one to nurture the Thrst o# Her Son n St. *ohn and the
#rst ds'!"es. !he would be there to protect it, to purify it, to sustain it.
3ote the important connection %esus imself has made between the g#t
o# Our Lady as Mother, and the g#t o# Hs Thrst: e proclaims the -rinity&s
-hirst for man+ind on"y a#ter providing us with the 0oman" who would care for
and nourish that -hirst within us. !he would protect it by crushing the head of
the !erpent" 1who had first tempted humanity to re5ect the -hirst of .od and turn
its human thirst inward on itself, resulting in sin and death2. -he first /ve brought
humanity to re5ect .od&s -hirst# the Ne, E(e ,as to +rng hu&anty to a''e!t
t. And so, %ohn tells us, immediately after giving us the gift of is mother 1%n.
67,892, e gives us the revelation of is -hirst 1%n. 67,8:2. -he two gifts are
forever 'onne'ted and nterde!endent, 0hat .od has 5oined together let no
man put asunder." -he early Church understood this connection from the start#
for the first disciples returned to the Cenacle after the Ascension and gathered
around Our Lady in prayer. As it was she on Calvary who has prepared the
Church 1represented by !t. %ohn2 for the re(e"aton of .od&s -hirst, so it would
be she on )entecost to prepare the disciples 1both then and now2 for the
'o&&un'aton of .od&s -hirst in the outpouring of the oly !pirit, the !pirit of
Love.
To Our Lady has +een entrusted ths entre ,or- o# !re!arng the
Ne, Israe" #or the .ne, ,ne/ o# $od%s Thrst 13ew wine in new s+ins" ' wine
in the Old -estament was always a symbol of the gift of .od&s se"#0re(e"aton,
wine in the 3ew -estament becomes symbolic of the #u""ness of revelation. *t is
especially a symbol of the 1"ood o# *esus and the Ho"y S!rt ' for the new
wine of .od&s -hirst is revealed in the ;lood of the )assion and communicated in
the oly !pirit. Our Lady, in her role of preparing this revelation, is present at
both Calvary and )entecost, and has gathered the disciples around her.2 *t
should be safe to say that, *f Mother, who is only a disciple, had her great
e(perience of .od&s -hirst on the train to 4ar5eeling 1an e(perience which
constituted a +ind of Annunciation" for her and her future mission2, then all the
more surely Our Lady must have had her great and o(er,he"&ng e2!eren'e
o# $od%s Thrst at her Annun'aton. More than 5ust an announcement, it was
the e(perience of how much .od thirsted to love us, and be with us to receive
our love. And if Mother&s e(perience was so great as to become a fire within her
' how much more so was Our Lady&s e(perience a #u"" g#t of that fire which
%esus had come 1into her womb2 to bring to the earth.
-hat fire was is !pirit of -hirsting Love that was to fill her, the oly !pirit
shall overshadow you ..." As that e(perience urged Mother to satiate %esus&
-hirst and ma+e it +nown, how much &ore so for Our Lady 1-he love of Christ
urges us ..."2. Must not her constant prayer have been, from that Annunciation
day forward, a pleading with the Father to share ,th the ,ho"e ,or"d the
Living -hirst within her< After is birth, what a longing and sense of
responsibility she must have felt ' to care in every way for im who was the
living channel of the Father&s immeasurable Love. Can we not imagine, in their
thirty years of intimacy and sharing, that %esus would surely have opened is
eart to her, and spo+en clearly and ardently of the Father&s -*=!- which e
had come to reveal to the world< As e finally began is public ministry, how
she must have waited for the moment when e would proclaim the -hirst of
>ahweh before all of *srael. Already at Cana, as e made is first public
appearance with is disciples, she would beg for this new wine" of 5oyful
revelation. !he and %esus both understood the significance and the symbolism
of Cana $ and only in the light of the fullness of her re?uest can we understand
%esus& negative answer, and solve the apparent contradiction between is
answer and the wor+ing of is first miracle.
Let us be assured that indeed Our Lady was as+ing %esus to re(ea"
H&se"# #u""y. !he +new the biblical imagery of the wedding between .od and
*srael, and this wedding at Cana must have seemed the perfect setting to reveal
the depth and reality of the love contained in that image, fulfilled in her !on and
is *nfinite -hirst. !he wanted im to do there what the prophets had always
done in ma5or moments of revelation ' to s!ea- .od&s word and at the same
time to a't t out n sy&+o" 1symbolically changing water of the Old Covenant&s
revelation, to the wine of the new gospel revelation ' .od is Love," a Thrstng
Love2. %esus understands this immediately 1how often she must have spo+en to
im before of her desire that e reveal to the whole world what she had +nown
of im in her womb2, and so e responds that is hour" has not yet come 1not"
meaning the hour for miracles. *n %ohn&s gospel, %esus& hour" always refers to
is crucifi(ion2. !he could not +now that the Father had reserved the full
revelation of is glory to another wedding feast" ' that of Calvary, the real
wedding of .od and humanity, the real revelation and satiation of both .od&s
-hirst and man&s ' of which Cana was but the symbol and foreshadowing.
And so, at her pleading, yet fully in +eeping with the Father&s plan, %esus
wor+ed is #rst miracle, by giving the symbol of that which would be is "ast
word of revelation ' the real new wine" to be given in is words from the cross.
-his #u"" re(e"aton o# Hs Thrst could only be contained in the #u"" e2!resson
o# Hs "o(e on Calvary. As the steward prophetically spo+e, e would yet save
the best wine for last." -his was the hour not of fulfillment, but of
foreshadowings# and so %esus gladly gave answer to part of her re?uest by
giving the symbol of ,ater 'hanged to ,ne #or the ,eddng. -he rest of her
prayer e would answer when this same wedding scene would be re$enacted on
Calvary 1with all the same elements, %esus revealing is glory," Mary the
Mother of %esus was there" along with a few disciples, the real wedding"
between .od and man2.
Let us move on to Calvary then, to the hour" of fulfillment. Our Lady was
there ahead of the disciples, as at Cana. !he had followed closely along the
0ay of the Cross, in sorrow and prayer. !he pleads for the Apostles ' were
none of them to witness is glory," a glory infinitely beyond what they had seen
in symbol at Cana< Finally, touched by grace, %ohn 1who had run away 5ust li+e
the others, who had fled from .od&s -hirst in .ethsemane 5ust li+e Adam and
/ve in another .arden2 recogni@ing his wea+ness, made his way to Our Lady
through the 5eering crowd along the Aia 4olorosa. *n her he found a love, a
strength, a serenity that surpassed and would sustain his own, a heart to open
his own to the words he alone among the -welve would hear. Our Lady brought
%ohn, the disciple," to en'ounter and e2!eren'e the Thrst o# *esus, as she
does for every disciple.
It s her ro"e and dgnty to +rng together the Thrst o# $od and &an
' as she did first of all in her womb, as she did for %ohn on Calvary, as she did for
the disciples at )entecost, and as she will for each of us in our daily living of
those same mysteries 1%esus& birth in our life, our contact with is passion in the
/ucharist and the poor, and receiving the gift of is !pirit2. !he is the garden
enclosed," the new /den for our meeting with .od&s -hirst, the wedding place of
.od and man in %esus.
;ut this wor+ of Our Lady&s intercession and preparation for the gift of
.od&s -hirst continued 1and continues2 well beyond Calvary. !urely she was the
one to relate to the early Church, gathered around her in prayer, the great words
of her !on, * -hirst." !he was the one to prepare them for the Living 0aters at
)entecost. !he who shared with %ohn at /phesus her understanding of the
words they both heard on Calvary, who communicated to him the fire and
urgency those words had impressed on her soul, she who urged him to write
them down for the Church. -he very sight of Our Lady, who had ta+en him into
her heart at Calvary and whom he had in turn ta+en unto his own" at /phesus,
must have been a constant reminder of the very ne(t words of %esus, spo+en
after the gift of is Mother. -o hear im say, ;ehold your Mother," was to hear
her say, ;ehold is -hirst."
After her Assumption, her role of intercession was magnified and
empowered immeasurably. As %esus had ascended to the Father&s right hand,
living ever to intercede for us"# so Our Lady has 5oined im there, to see is
glory" 1the radiance of the -rinity&s -hirst shining on the face of %esus"2 as she
did at Calvary, and there 1as before2 to intercede the outpouring of is -hirst on
the Church and the world. As %esus at is Ascension was given all power and
authority in heaven and on earth," so too Our Lady in the glory of her Coronation
would receive a share n Hs !o,er and authorty o(er the ,ho"e o# hu&anty
1as before, standing with im in the glory" of Calvary she was given to share in
is power and authority over %ohn2. *t is not a power or authority to be served,
but to serve ' to ser(e the &ystery o# *esus% Thrst n the Chur'h and the
,or"d.
As the world began to drift yet further away from her !on in recent
generations, she would again intercede, not 5ust for grace and conversion, but as
she had at Cana, for some e(traordinary intervention to reveal the depth of is
-hirsting but forgotten love for man. !ince the new wine that had begun to flow
at Cana was about to run out" in men&s hearts, she pleaded for us once again,
reminding im that they have no wine" for the wedding. And again e
answered. -hough the hour" to glorify %esus& -hirst in the Church had not come,
e deigned to prepare the way as at Cana, by giving first the symbol of is
-hirsting Love ' the revelation of the !acred eart. And as at Cana the Church
saw is glory and put its faith in im." ;ut as the first disciples, so man+ind
would soon begin to abandon im, each going his own way and leaving Me
alone" ' alone in is un+nown and unsatiated -hirst. * loo+ed, * sought for love,
and * found none" 1)s. B7,8C2. As )ope %ohn )aul ** would declare of this
generation, 3ever has man+ind in all its history so totally and systematically
re5ected .od as it has today."
Again Our Lady pleaded, and the Lord granted the Church not only the
symbol, but the full revelation which this symbol represents, * -hirst" ' the
#u""ness o# d(ne "o(e 'ontaned n the Heart o# *esus. At Our Lady&s
pleading the MC !ociety was born" ' born through Mother, born in all our human
poverty, yet born to +e *esus% (o'e !ro'"a&ng n the ,or"d: .I THIRST./
;ut we cannot be voice to what we have not ourselves first heard with our ears
and seen with our eyes, which we have beheld and our hands have touched" '
the &ystery o# *esus% Thrst #or us. *n our wea+ness and wandering ' in this
urgent hour" of re5ection all about us ' let us do as !t. %ohn, let us find Our Lady.
!he will bring us faithfully to our own particular Calvaries, where we will come
close enough to %esus in the glory of is )assion to hear and touch and behold
is -hirst, close enough to satiate im and tell of is -hirst to a thirsting world.
!he will bring us close enough to is passion in the /ucharist, in our community,
in the poor, and in the poverty of our hearts, to allow our souls to be pierced," as
hers was, by the sword of is -hirst. !tabat Mater" ' it is she alone who will
teach us to persevere at the cross, our station +eeping."
D Cana and Calvary were the alpha and omega of %esus& public ministry, of
is wor+ of revelation of the Father&s -hirst, and they are the two places specially
mar+ed by our Lady&s presence. -he gospel gives a sense of her staying," her
watching in vigil at both these occasions. -hey must be the two stations" of the
MC !ociety as well, with Our Lady at Cana 1in intercession2 and Calvary 1in
contemplation and service2.
*n view of her intimate connection to the mystery of %esus& -hirst, it should
be clear that Our Lady was to be )atroness of the MC !ociety. 0ithout Our
Lady, we would be as !t. %ohn, alone on .ood Friday. 0ithout the fidelity she
gave !t. %ohn, the Church would never have heard the words, * -hirst"# and
without the fidelity she gives us, the world will never hear those words, * -hirst,"
today.
;ut why do we loo+ especially to her I&&a'u"ate Heart< 0ould not the
mystery of her visitation have been more fitting to celebrate as our !ociety
Feast< On the surface, perhaps it could seem so. ;ut what is the essence of
the MC charism< As mother insists, it is not so much a particular wor+, but rather
a particular s!rt in which that wor+ is done, that constitutes the essence of our
!ociety. *t is not so much what is e(terior as what is nteror that ma+es us MCs.
*f this is what the oly !pirit has shown us as central in our vocation, then this is
what we are to see+ as central in her who is patroness of our vocation. 0hile
other Marian feasts celebrate some isolated event in the unfolding of her life, her
I&&a'u"ate Heart !onts to her nterorty# not to some one thing she did 1as
the Aisitation2, but to the spirit with which she lived every moment of her life, to
the love she put into everything she did, from Conception to Assumption and
beyond. Love and interiority are the foundation of the MC charism# this is why
the oly !pirit has given us as our inheritance the feast that celebrates Our
Lady&s love and interiority ' the feast of her *mmaculate eart.
*n her *mmaculate eart we see the reflection of everything we are to be
as MCs. er eart is the sy&+o" o# her satatng o# the Trnty%s Thrst #or
"o(e ' which is our whole vocation. I# the Heart o# *esus s the sy&+o" o#
$od%s Thrst #or us) then the Heart o# Our Lady s the sy&+o" o# her thrst
#or $od. -his pure thirst for .od is what Mother calls undivided love" ' the goal
of our MC life. *t is this und(ded "o(e we honor in Our Lady&s *mmaculate
eart 1*mmaculate E Fndivided G eart E Love2. *t is a symbol and model of our
vocation to love 1to which we bind ourselves by our fourth vow of charity2 and to
be love in the Church. -he role of the Church is an e(tension of the role of Our
Lady# she is its type" and prefigurement. And so the MC !ociety can say,
paraphrasing !t. -herese, * have found my vocation, in the eart of the Church
1and in the eart of Our Lady2, * will be love ..." -he vocation to satiate, the
vocation to love, esta+"shes us n a s!e'a" re"atonsh! to the heart o# the
Chur'h) and to the Heart o# Our Lady. *t is our same MC vocation to love that
we see lived out in Our Lady&s humble ministrations# in her loving presence from
Aisitation to ;ethlehem, from /gypt to 3a@areth, from Cana to Calvary, from the
Cenacle to /phesus, and from the Assumption to the present.
*n this she is a model for the whole Church, but in a particular way for
those ' such as !t. -herese, Mother, and our !ociety ' who have been called to
represent, and witness publicly to the vocation to love in the name of the Church.
-he Church itself has placed the MC !ociety in the heart of the Church ... to be
love," and in the eart of Our Lady. 0e are to give witness to her eart&s
response to %esus& -hirst not only by our vocation, but by our ser('e, by our
living out the little way" through the hu&+"e ,or-s" of the MC !ociety ' which
are to be as a re#"e'ton o# her Heart n the ,or"d today. *n as much as it is
d(ne gra'e that moves our love in action," our humble wor+s reflect the
thirsting love of %esus. ;ut in as much as we are creatures see-ng to
'oo!erate ,th gra'e, our service also reflects Our Lady%s res!onse to gra'e.
-he components of our vocation ' the e2!eren'e o# *esus% Thrst) the
(o'aton to "o(e, and the ."tt"e ,ay/ o# hu&+"e ,or-s 1which have their
contemporary witness in !t. -herese and Mother2 in reality find their #rst and
dee!est sour'e in the *mmaculate eart of Mary. 10hat was implicitly present
as a seed, model, and source in Our Lady, was to be made e(plicit in !t.
-herese, and even more so in Mother, once the Father&s hour" had come to
raise up this gift which e had first hidden in the eart of Our Lady2.
Once we accept the mystery of her eart 1her response of pure thirst for
.od2 as the primary source for our call, we can then begin to loo+ to her as a
model for all the aspects of our spirit and life. *n er we see the first grace$filled
stirrings of what Mother would later e(perience as the !pirit of the !ociety"
1since they shared a similar initial grace that brought forth this !pirit ' the
encounter with %esus& -hirst, for Our Lady in the Annunciation, and for Mother in
her own annunciation" grace on the train to 4ar5eeling2. 0e contemplate her
trust 1;lessed is she who trusted that the Lord&s words to her would be
fulfilled"2, her surrender 1;e it done unto me according to your word"2, and her
3oy 1My spirit re5oices in .od my !avior"2, especially her 5oy as g#t to others '
what Mother calls .'heer#u"ness/ ' 1-he moment your greeting sounded in my
ears, the child in my womb leaped for 5oy"2.
0e contemplate her as a model of !o(erty o# s!rt 1e has loo+ed on is
servant in her lowliness"2# of hu&"ty 1her silence before %oseph2# of !o(erty
1;ethlehem, /gypt, and 3a@areth2# of thoughtfulness 1Cana2# and of going in
haste" 1Aisitation2. 0e contemplate her !onderng the &ystery o# *esus%
Thrst 1Annunciation and Calvary2# satatng H& 1throughout all her life2#
witnessing to Hs Thrst 1Cana, Calvary, )entecost, and /phesus2# and
continuing in heaven to !"ead #or Hs Thrst to +e -no,n 1the sending of !t.
Margaret Mary, !t. -herese, Mother, and the birth of our MC !ociety2.
;ut Our Lady is not a distant model who has to be imitated from afar. !he
is first of all a !resen'e in our life, even as she was for !t. %ohn ' a presence we
are to have 'on#den'e n, and re'ourse to, in all our needs. !he is there
present to intercede for us an understanding of her !on&s -hirst, to share ,th
us her o,n e2!eren'e o# Hs Thrst 1in union of spirit with her in the =osary2,
to protect us in our wanderings and lead us bac+ to fidelity and generosity. !he
will bring us to stand with her 5u(ta crucem," by the cross" of %esus& passion in
the world. -here she continues her vigil and mission until the end of time, and
there the Lord continues to declare, for those who have ears to hear" ' I
THIRST."
*n the Father&s plan a"" of the disciples of %esus were called to love the
Lord 1)eter, do you love Me<"2 and preach is gospel, and thus satiate is
-hirst for their love and for souls. ;ut is was given to %ohn as his !art'u"ar
&sson to be the ,tness o# *esus% Thrst ,thn the ear"y Chur'h. -o be so,
it was essential that he first came face to face with the mystery of .od&s -hirst.
;ut for that encounter it was necessary that he '"ng to Our Lady ' cling to her
both in his ds'o(ery of %esus& -hirst on Calvary, and in his ,tnessng to is
-hirst as he wrote and preached in /phesus 1this discovery gained at Our Lady&s
side on .ood Friday, and deepened at her side throughout the rest of his life,
e(plains why the theme and symbols of .od&s -hirst to love and be loved run
throughout his gospel, his letters and his Apocalypse2.
As the disciples, the whole Church is called to satiate .od&s -hirst for man
and man&s thirst for .od. ;ut as !t. %ohn, our !ociety has been given the
!art'u"ar &sson, among the other congregations and charisms raised up by
the oly !pirit, to be the ,tnesses o# *esus% Thrst ,thn the Chur'h and the
world. -o do so, it is necessary that we first come face to face every day with the
mystery of %esus& -hirst for us. ;ut for that, t s ne'essary that ,e too '"ng to
Our Lady ' both in our discovering %esus& -hirst with her in prayer, and in
witnessing to is -hirst with her in our wor+. Cana and Calvary would not have
been the same for the disciples had Our Lady not been there. Our Cana
1prayerGspousal love2 and Calvary 1serviceGredemptive love2 will not be the same,
will not be all they are intended to be in the Father&s plan, if Our Lady is not
included.
0hat does it mean to cling to Our Lady< 0hat did it come to mean for !t.
%ohn< *f, as Mother says, we cling to %esus" by personal covenant of religious
consecration, then similarly, we cling to Our Lady by a !ersona" 'o(enant of
consecration. -his was the +ind of covenant" %esus himself established
between is Mother and !t. %ohn on Calvary, !he will be your Mother, you will
be her son" 1an echo of the covenant relationship between >ahweh and *srael,
>ou will be My people and * will be your .od"2. As *srael&s covenant made of
them a people consecrated to the Lord, and peculiarly is own," so our
covenant relationship with Our Lady is a +ind of consecration by which we entrust
ourselves and our mission entirely to her and become thereby peculiarly her
own."
-his covenant and consecration is not merely a pious formality. *t is more
than 5ust a legal act. *srael&s covenant resulted in >ahweh&s becoming their
/mmanuel, who shared is life with them. !t. %ohn&s covenant with Our Lady
resulted in ta+ing her unto his own" in /phesus, where she shared her "#e ,th
h&. Consecration to Our Lady is not a matter of words, it is rather a covenant of
life shared with her in the service of her !on&s -hirst. -here is one ?uestion we
can as+ ourselves that will always cover all the aspects of our covenant$
consecration with Our Lady, A& I "(ng to the #u"" the &ystery o# E!hesus<
Only to the e(tent that we are, will our consecration be effective, will it become a
true covenant of life as %esus intends it to be. And only when e sees that
covenant accepted and established in our hearts 1as !t. %ohn on Calvary2 will e
entrust to us the secrets of is -hirst 1;ehold your Mother" ... * -hirst"2. On"y to
the e2tent ,e "(e the &ystery o# E!hesus) ,"" ,e +e a+"e to +rng #orth
#ro& that E!hesus e2!eren'e ,hat *ohn dd: the #rut o# ,tnessng to
*esus% Thrst +e#ore the Chur'h and the ,or"d. Let us recall once more that
she, as model of the Church, is the wedding place between .od and man ' for it
is she who !re!ares 1Cana2, asssts 1Calvary2, and nourshes 1/phesus2, the
communion between the -hirst of .od and the thirst of humanity.
-o live our covenant with her, to live our own /phesus, means first of all
that we ta-e her unto our o,n" as a presence in our daily lives# and secondly
that we g(e her .!o,er and authorty/ over ourselves and all that belongs to
us, that she may be free to e(ercise her part in this covenant, that of Mother" '
actively nurturing %esus& -hirst within us. ;oth of these elements are not 5ust
ideas or attitudes, but !art o# da"y "#e in all its concreteness and detail. %ust as
the basic covenant between .od and *srael too+ the form of promises and
prescriptions 1that spelled out the duties and rights of both parties2, so our basic
consecration covenant with Our Lady needs to ta-e s!e'#' #or& as well. -he
oly !pirit will guide each one in choosing the terms of their covenant in
complete freedom, so in this same spirit of freedom we offer the following
suggestions.
EPHESUS COVENANT
Moved by an ardent desire to live in the closest union with you possible in
this life, so as to more surely and fully arrive at union with your !on, and with you
to penetrate the mystery of is -hirst# * hereby pledge to live the spirit and terms
of the following covenant of consideration as faithfully and generously as * am
able with your help.
Her Dutes My Dutes
62 .ift of her spirit and heart 62 -otal gift of all * have and am
82 )ossess, protect H transform me 82 -otal dependence on her
I2 *nspire, guide, enlighten me I2 4ocile surrender to her spirit
J2 !hare her e(perience of %esus& -hirst J2 Faithfulness to prayer
K2 Full responsibility for my sanctification K2 Absolute trust in her intercession
B2 Full responsibility for all that befalls me B2 Accept all as coming from her hand
92 !hare with me her spirit and virtues 92 *mitate her spirit
:2 )rovide for all my spiritual and material needs :2 Constant recourse to her
72 !hare with me her spiritual fecundity 72 Apostolic @eal
6C2 Fnion with her eart in time and eternity lC2 =emembrance of her presence
662 Fse me to satiate her !on to the full 662 !mall things with great love"
682 )urify me and my actions# present them to the Lord 682 !elf$denial
6I2 *ntercede gift of undivided love 6I2 )urity of intention
Her Rghts My Rghts
62 =ight to dispose of me, my prayers, merits 62 =ight to dispose of her intercession
and energies. and graces for herself and
others.
82 =ight to total freedom in and around me, 82 =ight to enter her eart, to share
to do as she pleases in all things. her interior life, in time and eternity.
As *srael&s covenant was founded on the great commandment," so our
covenant with Our Lady is based on her one great 'o&&and&ent to us,
from which everything flows, Do ,hate(er He te""s you" ... 1!he
encourages us to hear is words of invitation, to !re!are our soul for is
coming, she a,a-ens us to is presence, and en'ourages us to +e"e(e n
Hs Thrst #or us2. As on Calvary, so even beforehand at Cana there was a
close connection between Our Lady&s presence and the revelation of %esus&
-hirst. *t is only after her nter(enton with her !on and her en'ourage&ent
to the stewards, that %esus reveals is glory." As she intercedes this grace
for us with the Lord 1they have no wine"2, she encourages us to believe and
heed is invitation, to +e"e(e He ,"" ,or- ths &ra'"e o# gra'e #or us ' to
bring us into the mystery of is -hirst, 14o whatever e tells you"2. %esus&
invitation is always the same ' to fill the stone water 5ars 1the earthen
vessels" of our hearts2, to fill them with the water" of our human love. e
wants us to fill our hearts with all the human love that is within us, and then to
draw it out and bring it to im" ' that He &ay 'hange our hu&an thrst
nto thrst #or $od# that e may taste o# t" to satiate is -hirst for our love,
and finally share t with all those e has invited to the wedding feast, the
poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame 1L+. 6J,862 ' all those in whom e
continues the mystery of is )assion and -hirst. And it is Our Lady ,ho
ntates ths ,ho"e !ro'ess ' she sees and +nows our need, she
intercedes the grace and prepares us for it by her one covenant command,
4o whatever e will tell you ..." because e is going to reveal is -hirst for
you, and transform your human thirst by is grace.
-he *mmaculate eart of Mary, which has become our inheritance as
MCs, and the covenant %esus has forged between her and us from the Cross,
are one of the greatest gifts and guarantees of is -hirst for us. e invites us
to discover, to satiate, and to proclaim is -hirst in the world ' yet we +now
all too well our wea+ness and nothingness and sin, and the seeming
impossibility of answering this sacred call. >et as e invited )eter to wal+
across the waters" to im ' something humanly impossible ' He !ro(ded
4eter ,th the unseen gra'e to ans,er that n(taton, for nothing is
impossible with .od." And as e invites us to step out of the boat" of our
human wea+ness, and despite the storm of doubts that assail us, to enter the
mystery of is -hirst and be its witnesses in the Church# He !ro(des us
,th the unseen gra'e o# Our Lady%s !resen'e) and the hdden strength
o# our 'o(enant ,th her to ena+"e us to satate Hs Thrst to the #u"".
Ths s our 3oy, now and in eternity ... and we can now clearly see how she is
the 'ause of that 5oy.
Let us ta+e her unto our own" ' in Cana, Calvary, and /phesus.
4isciple, behold your mother," that together with her you may hear im
say and repeat to the world, .I THIRST 5/