My good friend, the Dean of Bexley, the PP of Blackfen, His Hermeneuticalness, Fr Timothy Finigan, has a good post useful for our reflection:
The book of meditations which I am using at the moment looks at the person of Our Lady in relation to her dedication which is celebrated in today’s feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin. The author, relying on the doctrine of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception and her freedom from any actual sin, speculates:
“We must necessarily suppose that Mary bears patiently every annoyance caused her by others without, on her part, causing them the least pain: she excuses their defects, pardons their obvious faults, and in all circumstances shows herself tender, affable, gracious, and considerate.”
We can give the author the benefit of the doubt here in presuming that he is referring to the ordinary ups and downs of daily life, rather than to grave injustice. In the latter case, we might need to make people at least uncomfortable. Rather than quibbling over such things, we could take a lesson from Our Lady in our use of social media. (And let me acknowledge unequivocally that I need to apply this to myself.)
You should be following Fr. Finigan daily. Also, the blogger Mulier Fortis often posts photos of what is going on at Fr. Finigan’s parish.
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Very timely, excellent, especially with the holidays looming. Thanks for the meditation.
Grave injustices must be dealt with to the best of our abilities, as these not only affect ourselves, but others. On the other hand, the small, niggling annoyances of daily life can be absorbed. I have noticed in the lines in the post office, or at the shops, that people have been very patient here. I am glad to see this. Becoming angry and upset about things out of our control, like shops or banks or post offices only having one person at the counter at this time of year not only affect us but those around us. Patience and long-suffering have to be practiced.
PS may I add that the impatience and anger in social media groups, especially twitter, must be controlled. Catholics who engage in debates on comments on blogs as well should use the virtues, and always realize that ad hominems or slander undermine good teaching.
The more rational and objective one is the better.
She also spoke little (Masked Fowls, take note!).
I wonder what the world would have been like if Twitter had existed during the life of Christ.
#shepardbynight
Angels flying around in field, singing about glory. Too much noise. Can’t sleep. Star traveling too fast in sky. Watch for falling debris. Ox and ass are feeding. Had to chase away a little drummer boy. Nothing important happened, today.
The Chicken
Many thanks for the plug, Father… my stats need all the help they can get right now (work has been particularly manic, so I haven’t been blogging much of late…)
I would not consider the Lady much of a mother if She “excused my defects” and “pardoned my obvious faults” rather than correcting me no matter how much pain it causes me.
Not only the regular social media sites…but email as well.
slianewe: I agree with correcting…as the Spiritual Works of Mercy…i.e., admonish the sinner, ask of us.
The problem for me is how to do it in a loving way, rather than a scolding way. It is not easy for some of us, especially those of us who are more impatient.
The message maybe good, but the messenger…me…leaves a lot to be desired.