Today Eastern Orthodox & Catholic churches celebrate the Feast of the Dormition honoring the faithfulness of Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, whose ‘yes’ to Angel Gabriel brought Light into our world.  As she ran to Elizabeth to share her Good News (‘nothing is impossible with God‘…) & shared her famous Magnificat (“God, Who is Mighty has done Great Things for me..“) & stood at the foot of the Cross, may her example continue to strengthen our faith, turning our maybes into a Big Yes for God, that God may continue to do great things in & through us… (especially as Mercy, Grace, Joy & Love in this whacked out world!)

I took this photo while living in Bethlehem awhile ago. ‘Twas such blessing to regularly pray at the Church of the Nativity (only a mile from my apartment!) & to see Muslim women in their hijab praying with Christian women at this Church (the Islamic faith recognizes the Virgin Birth of Jesus.) 

I usually didn’t tote my camera to Church, but taking international visitors around to our Bethlehem-based projects I would sometimes make a quick stop at the Church for prayers (always a good thing!) & captured these clouds somehow without realizing it until the film came back (this, in the days before digital cameras.)

Kinda cool, don’t ya think??  A reminder of Mary’s Magnificat…

“Indeed, ‘God… has done great things in me…’  Our Mother’s whole heart is manifested in the words of the Magnificat.  They are her spiritual testament.  Each of us has to look at his and her own life with the eyes of Mary – what He did in her, He did for us, and therefore did it as in us.  Mary’s words give us a new outlook of life.  The outlook of an excellent & persevering faith.  A faith which is the light of daily life.  Of days sometimes tranquil but often stormy & difficult.  A faith, which, finally, lightens up the darkness in each one of us…”  Pope John Paul II

A blessed Feast Day to all….

grace, peace & Great Things

Virginia :  )

p.s. for my Evangelical/Protestant buddies (who get kinda freaked out by Catholic/ Orthodox veneration of Mary, who leads us Catholics into a deeper relationship with Jesus & helps get His attention for us…)

You know, Jesus is so busy fielding your prayers that He gets help from His Mother & friends for ours. Kinda like how we ask each other to pray for something big?  So we Catholics ask Jesus, of course, for help… but we also ask His Mother to ask Him for us … whatever, it’s all a faith thing, but the bottom line: Mary rocks with faith we all need!

Yes – to God.  Yes – to Jesus. Yes – through trials. Yes – through tribulations.

Yes – to the The Impossible.

Yes, Yes, Yes, YES TO GOD.  amen.

… p.s. 2 … if you’re looking for some cool music for this Feast Day, check out my earlier blog of Paul Shwartz State of Grace II, a modern version of Mary’s Magnificat

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