Sadly, we’ve gotten used to the sight of refugees fleeing war torn counties in places like Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan, but what startles many people is the sight of refugees fleeing a cultural milieu not so different from our own.
The sight of mothers pushing strollers and children wheeling suitcases along paved streets is alarmingly familiar. As one friend said, “If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere.”
As a baby boomer, all I know about world wars is what I’ve read or heard. I have no real-life experience, and yet, suddenly the ravages of war inflicted on a country that values democratic principles are no longer relegated to the annals of history.
As war machines on both sides escalate, and scenes of death and destruction overwhelm our sensibilities, the words of St. Pope John Paul II that “There are no winners in war” should bring us all to our knees.
With the renewal of the consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Catholics remain hopeful that our Blessed Mother’s pleas for prayer and fasting will turn hearts to God so that peace may reign once and for all.
Quite often, I hear people say prayer is the only effective weapon against evil, and yet, I fear that in turning to Mary, we relinquish part of our responsibility. What I mean is that prayer is only part of what Mary asks us to do. She has repeatedly added the injunction to fast as well as pray the rosary daily.
In pondering her words, I’ve come to realize that the reason we are to fast is so that our hearts will be purified. Fasting has always been an important part of the purification process.
Consider that fasting was one of the first mandates that Adam and Eve received in the Garden of Eden. Fasting from the tree of good and evil was about obedience to the will of God, which should always come before doing what we want.
St. John of the Cross, a doctor of the Church, wrote, “God cannot fill an occupied heart,” meaning that if we give into every sensory pleasure available to us, our heart remains filled with temporal and material satisfaction to the point that there is little room for God.
In essence, we’ve made ourselves and creature comforts the gods we turn to as we attempt to fill the hole in our heart that only God can fill. Although we eventually learn that all sensory pleasures are fleeting, our reliance on other gods has consequences. T
hey blur our spiritual senses so that God is no longer the center of our life but is relegated to a place where we invoke his name when it is convenient or when we want God to do something for us or for the people we love. So it can happen that foolish hearts that have grown cold presume to expect God will respond to their prayers.
Consider that it took more than 400 years for God to respond to the cry of the Israelites. Appearing to Moses in the burning bush, God said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them” (Ex 3:7-8a). Similarly, it took more than 2,000 years from the time God called Abraham until he sent his son as Redeemer.
“But when the affections, desires and true love of the spotless Virgin, whom God had fashioned as the new Eve, could be contained no longer, her soul cried out in union with the will of God, ‘The time is fulfilled’” (Mk 1:15).
We know from the angel’s greeting that Mary was full of grace. She was virgin, which meant that not only her physical womb was empty, but her heart was empty of anything that would keep her soul from being filled with God.
Judeo-Christian history teaches us that God responds to the pleas of his people at the opportune time, but because Mary is full of grace, he responds to her without reservation. And so, we might ask: Am I willing to obey Mary’s request to pray the rosary daily and fast in its many forms for the conversion of Russia and for peace in our world?
Let’s pray that all respond with a resounding “yes” because when we unite our efforts with the sufferings of Jesus in solidarity with all who are traveling the road to Calvary, the peace of God will reign.
Barbara Hughes is an author, retreat facilitator and spiritual guide. She lives in Virginia Beach and can be reached at [email protected].