color codes

:: There seemed to be a glitch in the system last night, so I have to re-write this blog.  Holy Spirit, lead me.  Let the message you want to convey be expressed just as well today, if not better than last night. ::

September 8, 2014

Today is Mother Mary's birthday, yayyyy!  Haaaaappy birthday, Mama Mary.  Nine months ago, we celebrated the fact that you were conceived without sin.  Your parents had noooo idea, but look.  God's plan is amazing.

As I was walking out of mass at St. Charles this afternoon, I stopped by the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where many people were gathered to pray and greet you.  As I looked down, I noticed the beautiful arrangement of flowers offered to you.  There was a bouquet of red roses to my left,  a more colorful variety of flowers in the middle, but what caught my attention was the vase on the right.  I know it sounds cliche since many women of faith that I know do this, but Mother Mary speaks to me (us) through her roses.  She showers us with this simple sign that she is listening to our daily prayers.  Depending on my prayer, a different color truly answers many questions I hold in my heart.  No, I don't take these as "signs" or live my life based off of a color of a flower.  It's not a fortune cookie to be broken or a magic 8 ball to shake.  However, when deep in prayer and with eyes of faith, I know when she is communicating with me and what she is saying.  I've smelled her beautiful fragrance.  I've seen her radiant color.  The Spirit moves my heart to help me recognize when I need to pay attention to her.  She knows when and how to reach me.  Well, I also have to pay attention.

So back to the vase on the right.  It was a bouquet of white and purple roses.  Maybe they have more and more purple roses on the market, because I have been seeing them a bit more frequently, but purple is specific to me.  Upon seeing this, Mother Mary was reminding me to pray for my girlfriends and their hearts.  I prayed for their vocation and the future men in their lives.  The funny thing is, for every sister I had in mind to pray for - there was a purple rose in that vase for them.  I was hoping for one extra one for myself, but I am learning to pray for others' intentions ahead of my own.

Mother Mary is a model of true love and obedience.  Many of us pray for her intercession so we can be even a fraction of a woman that she was.  It was a deep and sincere prayer between my mother and me.  If the vase had contained a different color of flowers, I'm pretty sure my prayer intentions would have been different.  The Spirit moves in mysterious ways, and the Blessed Mother knows what we need to pray for and reminds us to pray for those intentions.  Well, at least that's how it is for me at times.  There's purpose in everything, and even the simple color scheme of a flower will help guide me in my prayer time.  Maybe in a future blog, I'll decode all the colors for you :)

What's #30daysofmystagogia?  You can refer back to my blog on "About Time" to understand the meaning behind all of this.