by Fr. Victor Pérez, Spiritual Director of the Houston Senatus
So many people don’t have security, they live so afraid of everything, and they’re on their own. We have Our Blessed Mother, and we have Mary taking care of us. We need to always remember that, and be grateful to her – show her love. Sometimes bring a flower to an image of her. And St. Joseph is a spiritual father to us, so we are taken care of. And of course, Our Lord Jesus, we’re closer to Him through Mary.
The more we give our whole mind and our heart to Mary, the more the light of Christ will shine in our heart and our mind. So she helps fill us with grace – she forms Christ in us. As
St. Louis de Montfort said, it’s like she’s a mold, that when the Holy Spirit forms us into her, when we give ourselves to her, it’s like she’s the mold of Christ, so the Holy Spirit comes into us and forms us into the Person of Jesus to be more like Him.
And the Gospel today, “You’re the light of the world and the salt of the earth.” We have to be the
light of
the world, so that means that we shouldn’t try to be like the world. A lot of us try to be like the world, and we want to just be like everyone else and fit in. We’re called to be the
light to the world.
Pope John Paul II said, “Be not afraid.” Be not afraid to live our faith, so we go with Mary, living our faith in God. Remembering that God exists, God made us, He’s always present, and Christ is the Light of the world, and we bring that light. But for that, we have to be like Mary, perfectly receive the light, and reflect light. She helps us to be more imbued, permeated with the light of Jesus.
Also to be the salt of the earth. Salt preserves meat from rotting. You put ham in a bunch of salt, and it becomes really good cured ham. We have to be salt of the earth, meaning – influencing the culture. So many Christians, we leave our faith just to our groups, or to our Mass, but we’re supposed to be sent. Mass means you’re sent. We have to bring our faith to the world. If all Catholics did that, it would be a different world today. So many people hide our faith.
Jesus said, “Do not let your light be hidden like under a bushel basket, but place it on a table. So through our good works, through our prayer, sticking up for what’s right and bringing our faith into the world with Mary, who is a model of faith. May we consecrate ourselves to her.
The Holy Spirit Conference flyer says, “The Miracle of the Might Legion as prophesied by St. Louis Marie de Montfort over 300 years ago”, and it talks about “the mighty legion of brave and valiant soldiers of Jesus and Mary, of both sexes, to fight the devil, the world, and corrupt nature in those more than ever perilous times that are to come.” We have to be prepared, and be that legion by consecrating ourselves to Mary and letting our hearts be more like hers by our “Yes” to God. Amen.