Saturday of the First Week of Lent
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
SATURDAY, March 12th Mt. 5:43-48 “I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.”
It is not easy to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. But there is someone who can obtain for us that grace and much more, Mary our life, our sweetness and our hope! Let us then obey Mary’s one request, pray the Rosary daily! (Our Lady of Fatima)
OUR LADY—UNDOER OF KNOTS by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
One of the Marian devotions that is growing stronger is that of OUR LADY, UNDOER OF KNOTS. In fact, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has devotion to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots.
BASIC CONCEPT. The basic idea in this Marian devotion could not be more simple. All of us have had experiences in our lives where we were working with a thread, a string, or even a rope and we hit a snag: there was a knot in the thread, string, or rope. Consequently, we could not move forward until the knot was undone. Usually women have a knack for being able to untie those knots better than men—at least that is true in my case. Mom could untie and undo the knot in the thread quicker than I could! Our lives constantly involve knots of one kind or another. It is hard to go through a day without being entangled in some form of knot. If this knot is not undone, it becomes more entangled and difficult to undo. On the contrary, as soon as the knot is untied and undone, there is a real sense of relief; we can breathe more easily and peace is restored to our heart, mind, and soul.
Therefore, in this short chapter we would like to present some typical knots that many of us encounter in our daily walk of life. With the knowledge of these knots, we would invite all not to ignore the knots but try to untie them. However, do not try to untie the knots with your own hands and fingers; rather, place the knots in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the true Undoer of Knots, and trust that the knots will be undone and you will experience the peace that you are desiring so much in your life.
WHAT TYPES OF KNOTS??? Actually, what we term knots can come in any shape or form, and in any time, place, culture, or circumstance. This being said, we would like to mention just a few. However, it is our hope, that as we grow in knowledge, love, and devotion to Mary who is the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church, as well as our loving Mother, we will start to form the habit of not staying knotted up in our lives, but rather go to Mary, Undoer of Knots, to unknot our complicated lives.
1. FAMILY KNOTS. All of us struggle in our relationships in dealing with people on a daily basis, especially members of our own family. A cold relationship between a husband and wife, problems with alcoholism, past unfaithfulness, indifference in communication. These are thorny knots that we should bring to Our Lady and ask for her intercession. As Jesus turned water into wine at the Wedding Feast of Cana through Mary’s intercession, so through her intercession there can be a breakthrough in a family knot.
2. SON/DAUGHTER WITH PROBLEMS. Most parents have some form of problem with one or more of their children. Well, instead of worrying and even giving into despair, why not give these children to Mary and beg Mary to help them with their struggles? Mary is Mother of the holy as well as the unholy; Mary is Mother of the obedient children as well as the Prodigal sons and daughters. Open up and tell Mary what is in your heart about these lost sheep of your flock. The Mother of the Good Shepherd will not abandon those sheep.
3. HEALTH ISSUES. As a result of Original Sin, sooner or later something goes wrong with our health; the possible sicknesses and diseases are countless. However, it must be said that if we keep our problems to ourselves, especially with respect to our health, then interiorly we suffer more and can fall into depression. Why not give your whole self, and that includes your bodily ailments, to Mary, who is also known as Health of the Sick? On many occasions, Our Lady has interceded to heal incurable sicknesses and diseases—especially in Lourdes, France. Nonetheless, even if the sickness is not healed immediately or never healed, you will know that there is a loving and tender Mother at your side to console you, comfort you, and support you in the physical cross that you must bear. When Our Lady intervenes with her powerful maternal presence, the cross becomes much lighter. For that reason, we cry out to Mary as “Our life, our sweetness, and our hope.” (from the Hail Holy Queen prayer)
5. FEARS, UNCERTAINTIES, ANXIETIES. In this world many, possibly even you, experience on a daily basis some form of fear, anxiety, doubt, uncertainty, stress, etc. These fears are like ghosts that come out of the closet to haunt us. If we do not come to terms with these often unreal ghosts, then we can go through life being almost paralyzed with unwarranted fears. This will prevent us from living our lives to the fullest extent possible, cultivating our talents, and growing on a human and a supernatural plane. A little child who is absorbed and inundated with fears runs to their Mother for safety and security. So should we run and seek refuge in Mary, our loving and tender Mother, as well as the UNDOER OF KNOTS!!!
In conclusion, we all have many knots in our family life, social life, professional life, moral life and life in general. Let us not keep these knots to ourselves, but rather let us place them in Mary’s hands and she will undo the knots, and as such we will experience the true freedom of the sons and daughters of God, and the true freedom of the sons and daughters of Mary, the true UNDOER OF KNOTS!!!
