Mary, We are Out of Wine!

MARY, WE ARE OUT OF WINE!

It seems like a lifetime ago. Two homes ago. I was the servant leader of an organized group of Catholic military women (mostly spouses of Army men) at Fort Leavenworth, KS. This was a very large and very active group.  We met weekly for fellowship, prayer, and bible study.  I remember there was an especially difficult time.  It seemed like everyone was just pressed a little tighter with worries about our soldiers, next duty assignments, looming deployments, planning moves, uprooting our children to start over (yet again), in addition to all the “normal” ankle-biters of everyday life.  In the midst of all this stress, one of the ladies (one of my longest-time and dearest friends), cried out in anguish during our group prayer time, “Mary, we are out of wine.”  I remember the tears, the emotions, and the silence as we all realized that was the perfect prayer.  

When we are pressed beyond what we think we can manage, when life crashes and rumbles around us, when we do not know how to handle one more crisis, Mamma Mary is there.  Just as she was there for the bride and groom at Cana.  She is our safe harbor.  She is our resting place.  She will intercede for us to her Son.  

“Mary, we are out of wine.” became our code for “life is really hard right now, and I need extra prayers.”  It also became a reminder that when we turn to Mary in our prayers, we are also turning to her Son. After all, the shortest path to Jesus is always through Mary.  When I left that Fort Leavenworth, my parting gift from this lovely group of women was a wine bottle charm for a bracelet I never take off. Whenever I notice the charm I remember.

So in this week that we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Mary, remember the short and simple prayer, “Mary, we are out of wine.”  Let her fill you up and give you peace.

Prayer of the Unholy

I have a confession to make:  I’m awful at prayer.  I stink at prayer time with my husband, my children, and for myself.  I don’t set aside that quiet time with God to talk to Him, get to know Him and His Will for my life.  I turn on a litany of morning podcasts from the Laudate app while I’m grading papers in the early morning hours, and usually call that good.  Fortunately, He has been so good to me, despite our lack of communication, and given me very clear “Holy Spirit Moments” when I just know this is the direction I’m supposed to go.

Oh, and I’m just full of excuses (yes, I’m an excuses girl, boo hoo!):  it’s my parents’ fault because we never grew up praying anywhere but at a meal; my father was Baptist and my mother was Catholic, so I never knew the Hail Mary until I was an adult; my kids make prayer a most “unholy” time; I’m always nursing/changing/getting a baby to sleep; my husband works retail hours, and his schedule is never the same day-to-day or week-to-week; he’s no help either because he’s not Catholic and he didn’t grow up with the habit of daily prayer either.

I’m a sanguine temperament, and we sanguines need our hands held every time we start something new.  I just don’t have that person in my life right now.  Yes…yes…I know I need to rise above the detriments of my temperament, but I’m just not there yet.  I’ve had to confess this so many times and hear my sweet priest say, “You have to make prayer time sacrosanct every day!  Just stop everything and pray at a certain time every day!”  (See above for litany of excuses why this doesn’t happen.)

However, my son was studying about prayer in his catechism this week.  There are two types of prayer, mental and vocal.  The Divine Mercy Chaplet and Rosary are vocal prayers, of course.  I started thinking about the mental prayer, though.  How many times am I doing dishes, folding laundry, or just walking around the house picking up junk and thinking in my head of the friend of a friend whose son is in the hospital, the co-worker of my husband’s who was baptized yesterday or just people in my life who I love.  I don’t know why these people will be in my mind and heart, but I’ve concluded (or maybe deluded) that just THINKING of them – not even saying mentally “Father bless them and keep them.” – is praying for them.  God knows the desires of my heart.  I hope He accepts these scraps that are my prayers; I hope Our Sweet Mother catches them before they get to His Throne and wraps them up a little nicer for me.

My biggest hope and most frequent request is for you all who are MUCH better at it to please, PLEASE pray for me!

Monday Meme: My Prayer For You

Sometimes I have so much on my mind that I can’t express it in words.  It’s all trying to come out at once, yet none comes out at all.

On one side, I’m glad that it all does not come out. There’s nothing like welcoming my husband home from work with verbal vomit.  “Hi, Honey, I am so glad you’re home!  I can’t believe that *%&$(=*#)#%...”

On the other side, I can’t keep it in as that is not healthy; it just causes stress.  I try to pray, but it’s all gibberish.  “Dear Lord, uhhhhhh . Well, ummm… blahblahblah”

It’s a good thing the Lord does not need language to understand us!!  We just need to be in His presence.  The Gospel of Matthew 6:8  tells us;  "for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."

It’s OUR human need to express our wants and needs.  It’s OUR desire to solve problems and accomplish tasks successfully.  Consequently, mothers may find it helpful to have prewritten prayers or predetermined intentions, especially when we wish to pray for someone else.  So instead of wasting moments trying to articulate our wants and needs in words, we can have a “go-to prayer” to take full advantage of those precious moments when we need to pray for ourselves or others.