Everyone should have a Mary.

I do wish everyone had a mother as loving and selfless as I do. When Brian and the bigs were in Rome, mom stayed with me to help with Mary Alice and Riley. She could have gone on the trip with my dad and brother, but she stayed. She helped me keep my sanity and made sure we took adventures. We ate lunch at girly places and found a Harry&David with clearance dark chocolate covered popcorn. She helped me tidy the house from Christmas and made sure the laundry was empty for the return of suitcases filled to the brim with stinky socks.

In college, when I first became Catholic, Mary, the Mother of our Lord, was a complete mystery to me. I didn’t understand what the respect and awe was surrounding her. I decided to take it completely on faith. Thousands of faithful Christians who went before me loved her, and I trusted my love and understanding would grow in time.

My mother is the oldest daughter of an oldest daughter of an oldest… for seven generations. And they were all named Mary. And none of them Catholic. (I don’t know why – but I find that funny.) I was named Kathleen. I love my name. It means “pure”, something I pray to be – in my thoughts and words and actions.

I watch the Marys in my life and I know that Jesus’s heart must have burst with love for His mother.

Everyone should have a Mary in their life.

“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.” – Saint Maximilian Kolbe