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Mark Mary with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day four. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a year, visit ascensionpress.com rosary in a year or text RIY to 3, 3, 6, 777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to podcasts in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full rosary with myself and other friars. Today and tomorrow we're going to look at what it means to pray in relationship to Mary as we use the Litany of the Sacred Heart to aid our encounter with Jesus in our contemplation of his face. We're going to turn to the Litany of Loretto as a source of inspiration for a prayer with Mary. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the Litany of Loretto is a litany dedicated to the Blessed Mother, with a list of prayers invoking a wide range of Marian titles. Today we're going to pray with Mary as the mirror of justice. The prophet Malachi, in chapter four, verse two, he writes this but for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. Sun. Here, for clarification is spelled S U N the sun of Righteousness or the Son of Justice. Same word, just different translation. It's a title for God most specifically, most accurately, it is the title for Jesus the Savior. Mary the Immaculate Virgin is the mirror of justice or the mirror of righteousness, because in her perfect purity she perfectly reflects the light, the truth, and the love that radiates from the sun of righteousness. Mary's not the source of light, but she perfectly reflects the light. And as the prophet Malachi prophesied, there will be healing in its wings. So too there is healing in the face of Mary, the all beautiful one. Now that we've laid a bit of the groundwork and introduced the title, let's just pivot for a quick moment here. I want you, the listener, to know that I am keenly aware that Jesus suffered a great deal in his earthly life, most specifically in his public ministry. Yes, Jesus faced the harsh elements of the desert, where he experienced cold and hunger. He was misunderstood, slandered, and Betrayed, he experienced abandonment, most specifically during his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane while Peter, James and John were fast asleep while he was undergoing his agony. And of course, Jesus suffered the most terrible of sufferings during his passion. In total, this is all 100% true. And it's also 100% true that Jesus tells us that we, his disciples need to pick up our cross daily and follow him wherever the Father's will leads. This is all 100% true. This is all fact. What's also fact is often overlooked, or at least not emphasized is, however, is that Jesus also had approximately 30 years living in Nazareth with the most intimate and privileged relationship with Mary, his mother. For three decades he lived in the most beautiful relationship with his most beautiful and loving mother. It was in Nazareth that in a particular way, Mary mirrored to Jesus the love that God the Father had of him. Right long before the baptism of Jesus. Where the heavens were rent and at the banks of the Jordan, the Father's voice proclaimed publicly, this is my beloved son. Mary's words, her countenance, her motherly embrace. They never ceased speaking this truth, reflecting this light in the privacy of their home in Nazareth for 30 years. Like whatever Jesus was doing, what was mirrored back to him is, you are beloved. And yes, this was true of Mary's love of him. But Mary was also an icon, a mirror communicating to Jesus the Father's love of him. And this love would follow him then as he would eventually enter into the dangers of his public ministry. And as we know, this love would follow him even to the cross where Mary stood at his feet, never ceasing to mirror to Jesus, you are my beloved son. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine, she received a letter from her 14 year old son on Mother's day. And in the note it said, your voice sounds like home. I love everything about this. I love the 14 year old boy writing this to his mom. Like, your voice sounds like home. I think it's just so moving and it's an incredible description of a mother's voice and a mother's love. My friends, this is true of Jesus and Mary. To Jesus, Mary's voice sounds like home. And so no matter where his travels would take him, if Mary was there and he heard her voice, you could say he was taken back home from the cross. Jesus looked at Mary and said, mother, behold your son. And he looked at St. John and said, behold your mother. And the Gospel of John says, and from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. My friends, this is the specific invitation today, and I propose the most perfect way for us to understand authentic and healthy and like vibrant, marrying devotion, it's simply to take Mary into your home. As John and Mary shared life together after Jesus resurrection, his ascension, like Mary wasn't just like a statue, right? She wasn't just a wallflower. She wasn't just a quiet, passive presence in the home of John. She's a living, breathing, loving mother. They talked, they shared their lives. John did nice things to honor her. Mary was active in his life. She comforted him, gave him counsel, taught him to pray, encouraged him when life was difficult. In all of this, as Mary looked upon John as when she looked upon Jesus, she mirrored the Father's love. You are my beloved son. You, John, you are beloved son. And Mary, according to God's plan, I think so beautiful. She doesn't just mirror, mirror this light like she mothers it. So there's this particular tenderness of God for us that we experience through her, like it's mirrored through her, but it's also mothered as it comes to us from him, but through her. And as Mary and John would share their lives together, like eventually for John as well, Mary's voice began to sound like home. This is the relationship with Mary, the mirror of justice that we are all invited to. If I can just put some flesh on it by sharing a quick story. A few years ago I was in the South Bronx at the post office and I was waiting in line, I had to mail something. And in front of me was a, a teeny, tiny Guatemalan mother with her probably 15, 16 year old son. He was just this little guy, poor guy, man, he was in the height of teenage angst and he had like a hat on pulled real low and his hair was really kind of disheveled and his, his clothing was all ragged and he had his headphones in and he was, you could just tell, man, this guy, poor guy. For him, life was difficult. And the mother was a Catholic and she was just a really beautiful, light soul. And we struck up a great conversation. What they were doing is they were, they were getting ready, they're going to go travel back to Guatemala. So the son needed to take some passport photos. And as he's standing with, you know, in front of the backdrop with the cameras in front of him, he takes off his hat and he's just like, he's just kind of a mess. His hair is all over the place. No smile, nothing. He's just struggling. What was so striking is that in front of all of us, his mom just began to, like, rejoice in him. Oh, isn't he so handsome? My beautiful boy. And all of us at first were like, I don't know if we're looking at the same young man, my friend, but right. The thing was this. Like, this mother, she wasn't blind to. She wasn't ignorant to his hair being disheveled or his clothes being out of place and his kind of angsty face. But this mother, she. She saw her son at, like, a deeper level. She saw more than we saw. Even in the midst of his struggle.