‘Like the believers... shine by their diversity and the uniqueness, while being united by the same devotion’

For Catholics who have for years heard Mary’s first words in the Gospel of Luke as the defining moment of her life, it may seem the Pope is flipping the script on the Lord’s mother.

I have never had an easy devotion to Mother Mary. For most of my life it has felt rather contrived. There are a few possible reasons. Growing up in a bookish household meant that spiritual and intellectual pursuits were closely intertwined and many of the expressions of Marian piety were viewed as populist pablum. My mother is a convert and is naturally suspicious of anything smacking of folk religion. My father kept a Rosary in the drawer of his bedside table, but the placement was strategic. He once explained to me that the counting of the beads was a useful sleep aid.

It has been a month since the war in Ukraine began. Devastating stories and images have been shared on the news daily ever since.

Friday, March 25 marks the 35th anniversary of the publication of Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Mother of the Redeemer in 1987. One might ask, “Why should I care about such an anniversary?” However, the Church does care about it, asking herself how the anniversary of a teaching document might speak to us in the light of changed circumstances. The anniversary, if we attend to it, renews the grace of the original event.

Dennis Girard considers the Canada54 Novena from Jan. 6 to Feb. 28 an “ice bridge” moment for the Marian Devotional Movement.

One can never have enough good guidance in this tumultuous world. Intercession through the Mother of God is never in vain.

ST. ALBERT, Alta. -- Cecile Kimak and Phyllis Pawluk are close. 

They share everything, including a devotion to the Virgin Mary that continues to help the Edmonton-area sisters survive life’s most gut-wrenching problems, from health troubles to family break-ups and even an abusive relationship. 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Adult converts to Catholicism regularly cite three things about Catholicism that they find attractive: the sacrament of confession, the pope and devotion to Mary, said New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.

"Those three things, guess what, were kind of de-emphasized" after the Second Vatican Council, the cardinal said Oct. 15 during a brief meeting with English-speaking reporters at the world Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization.

In his formal talk to the synod, Cardinal Dolan had said that a renewed appreciation for the sacrament of reconciliation is essential for the church's new evangelization.

He told reporters that "it seemed to be a truism after the Second Vatican Council that the council did away with the sacrament of penance, which, of course, is not true."

Instead of renewing the sacrament as the council wanted, he said, "we just gave up and we said, 'Well, that ain't going over,' so we stopped trying."

The interesting thing, Cardinal Dolan said, is that the sacrament of reconciliation actually is something attractive to many people, especially the young.

"They will often say that the church seems impersonal to them, a little faceless nameless," he said. "Well, boy, you can't find a more personal sacrament than penance. I mean this is one on one."

Cardinal Dolan said he never understood the desire to expand use of so-called general absolution, which the Vatican has severely restricted, because it was like "a drive-in carwash" and highly impersonal.

"There is nothing more personal" than going to confession one-on-one, "actually articulating sins and hearing an unworthy ambassador of Jesus say you are forgiven," the cardinal said.