Sanctification and Evangelization of Labor

The work of Jesus began during the wedding feast in Canna, when at the behest of His Blessed Mother He changed water into wine for the wedding guests.

Today’s Gospel marks the announcement of Jesus work and his embarking from his native land, for as we are told, a prophet is not welcomed in his own homeland.

We are also remined or work in both the Gospel the epistle and the homily. Work brings sanctity – separation. To work has its roots in the original sin of Adam and Eve and sets us apart as Christians and separates us from the world. When I say the world, I am not referring to the poor those who cannot or do not work, for their work, the poor, is to give us the opportunity to show compassion and gives our own work new meaning when we know the fruits of our labor are shared.

Jesus shared his labor and fruits first with the 12 and then all of those who followed him. They were hungry and He fed them they were sick and He healed them, they are many more ways for us to sanctify ourselves through work as described in the Christian way of life in Matt 25:31-46.

As the life of St. rose who’s feast we celebrate today we are reminded that our work encompassed in our respective vocations and jobs is that of sanctification and evangelization. We are separated from the wealthy, who do not work and the dignity of our labor whatever that may be is to be a lesson in evangelizing them.

St. Joseph was not known for being an owner but revered for being a worker. As men and women of God St. Joseph and Jesus our models of evangelization and sanctification through labor.

Copyright 2017 Fred Celio

Should not St. Therese of Lisieux have been the patron saint of the 60s and 70s.

Inspired by St Theses of Lisieux Every act is about God, the consciousness of this and action are what build saints.

St. Therese didn’t set the world on fire when she was alive. She isn’t credited with any miracles during her lifetime. She lived a simple unassuming life, dedicating all the “little things” of her daily existence to the glory of God. She tried always to do the loving things that would please God and benefit His children. She had a child’s bold confidence in God’s love. (St. Therese Lisieux - http://blog.littleflower.org/prayers/pearls-of-wisdom/everyday-sainthood/)

Right now, I am eating some organic chips with flax seed and drinking an organic green tea. Small things, what do they have to do with God? The body is the container of the soul, I must care for it from that perspective. In this country, it's fashionable to eat any old thing, and believe me I've done. 100% of ground beef contains fecal matter, some corporations are including rice shaped pieces of plastic to increase the weight and thus the price of their product. What exactly is a Cheeto? Why do our processed foods need artificial flavoring and coloring? Could it be that no one would ingest them if the saw and tasted like what they are? What exactly is artificial coloring? What exactly is artificial flavoring?

The US economy is driven by consumer spending. We can change things simply be eating in a fashion that protects and nurtures our bodies and does no harm.

While so many are consumed by bigger, faster, better, and more, myself included, is this attitude in the direction of God. God sees the small things done with great love are these the loving components of our accelerated life in the twenty-first Century?

Is choosing to live off the grid motivated by love of God?

Each small thing that we do can be contained within itself or a component of a larger action the leads into the next small component. Is it Possible to do each and every one of these out of love for God?

I am sitting ins a Starbuck’s listening to the music of the day, it is filled with people some coming some going, is it filled with love of God? I must be or the very building would crumble.

Am I showing the love of God, or should I get up and work through the room shaking hands with everyone looking to their eyes.

Do these people know that one day this music will be as old as “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.”

How do you explain Beatlemania to someone who did not experience it? Should not St. Therese Lisieux have been the patron saint of the 60s and 70s. Did she pray for Janis Joplin.

How do you explain Jesus Christ to someone who has not experienced Him?

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
searching for fine pearls.
When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.

Small actions done with great love.

http://blog.littleflower.org/prayers/pearls-of-wisdom/everyday-sainthood/

Easter in Chatsworth 2017

"For they did not yet understand that scripture that He had to rise from the dead."  It is Easter Sunday -- Resurrection Day 2017. I waited around this house where i live in a communal living situation for a house meeting, instead of my usual Sunday of attending 8 AM Mass at St. Catherine of Sienna  parish in Reseda California, where i am Eucharistic minister at Mass and as a member of the legion of Mary to bring communion to one we tend to on Sundays.

The meeting never occurred. So I attended Mass at St. Mel's parish at 1:15. then I had my Easter meal of Pancakes, eggs, and bacon at a local Restaurant.
Before and after Mass I was in a heated text discussion with Eileen regarding politics, the intelligence community, and north Korea. She is afraid. We are on opposite sides of part of the discussion.
Jesus rose from the dead, and we celebrate that truth today. How is it possible that He a man could do this -- He is God. He is fully God and fully human. A mystery that is meditative to contemplate. What does it mean fully God and fully human -- not half and half not maturing into nirvana, but since birth fully God and fully human. contemplating such things frees me from the earthly the temporal and allows me to focus on things above. This is what we are extolled to do this day and all days as a Christian.
In addition to missing my commissioned usual Sunday calling, yesterday was a party at the house, after I returned from a reading service and the men's group at St. Mel's. At the party were to cakes in the shape of a penis. And I knew i could not live here anymore.
The phallus is a pagan symbol from Greek mythology. It is a symbol of fertility . Father forgive them they know not what  they do. I cannot be around such things, and yet this is Chatsworth famous for pornographic films.
I must keep my eyes focused above, my mind under the will of Christ.
Meekness comes to mind. Meekness is not timidity. Meekness has been discribed to me as like a horse who has been broken. All the strength and power remains it is just under the guidance and obedience to the rider. I choose to be meek under Jesus.
To whom shall we go Lord You have the words of eternal life.

It is the Mark of a True Christian to Love Our Enemies

What does it mean to hate the sin, but love the sinner. This is a hard teaching; who can understand it. Yet with God all things are possible.

As Catholics we are hated by all. Now where is this more evident than in the political realm.

Those on the left hate us, because we are pro-life, and although we do not condemn homosexuals, we are not ready to raise the practice of homosexuality to normalcy.

Those on the right hate us for the same reasons -- we are pro-life all of life. Certainly of the conceived, but also of those who are already born. They also hate us because although we do not sanction homosexual acts, we love the homosexual.

And we love the poor and the immigrant.

And how do we show our love, by standing up for them.

Many Catholics cannot stand up for the homosexual, lest we be seen as sanctioning their activity.  Yet, none of us are without sin, and none of us have actually witnessed their sin.

Is Caitlin Jenner a sinner? Sick? Misguided? Confused?

What is sin? For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent." CC 1857

Does the homosexual know he/she is committing sin? The abolitionist? The Catholic politician who supports choice? The Christian politician who opposes choice, and yet votes against supporting the born?

Who am I to say? Am I Jesus? Do I know, can I see a persons heart? Can I read their mind?

It is hard to love my enemies, and who are my enemies, save those who have sinned against me. But what of those who have not sinned against me personally, but whom I judge for having sinned against God. 

If I love people, I have no time to love them -- St. Theresa of Calcutta.

Who am I to judge? -- Pope Francis I

I consider myself to be a member of Democrats for Life of America http://www.democratsforlife.org/. I am pro-life for the whole life. 

To love my enemies, do I sit quietly while fellow Catholics vote for abortion and it's expansion, or, hold strong to the belief, one which I once held -- it is not up to me. for me now this view which once made so much sense and seemed perfectly right and justified seems so foreign. There is a child in the womb at conception, a child which is entitled to all the rights I have -- life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The child in the womb's mother and father is also entitled to these rights, but our rule of law encompasses the idea that we are not entitled to excersize our rights at the expense of another's. Even in the womb the child is entitled to the same rights of the mother. who is the enemy in this situation, who is the enemy that I must love, in order to be a follower of Christ and have my soul saved for eternity.

Do I deny my love to the abortionist, to the parents of and aborted child. Do I deny my love to myself, for insisting that my then wife abort our child? Do I let myself off the hook, by holding fast to the lie that it was ultimately her choice? And how do I mend this sin? 

Ultimately do I deny my love to others, because they have sinned in the same way I have?

Do I deny my love to the self described homosexual, even though I have never witnessed their activity? To the poor? To the homeless? The convicted murderer, whether guilty or not? Do I deny my love to the child molester, because I was molested? I find justification for this in Mathew 18. Do I deny my love to those who insist on stopping abortion, but excersize no political responsibility for caring for the poor?

In the end to I justify my behavior, because of the sins of others, or will I be judged by my love even to those I feel enmity for? Or will I be judged by my love for them, my charity to them?

Is there evil int he world. Most assuredly there is. I publish a website http://www.stmichaelgodsknight.com, the basis of which is explaining my faith, but love triumphs over faith. For in the end in the final analysis, when I am judged by Jesus without a lawyer, will it be righteousness upon which i will be judged, or the extent of the love in my heart. There is evil in the world, Jesus testified to this when he saw Lucifer being cast from the sky. He and his follows roam the earth looking and tempting souls to be devoured. Will I be judged by righteousness, or the love in my heart?

Do I love that person in the oval office, with whom I disagree, and judge on a daily basis? How do I fight for righteousness and justice, with a heart containing only love? How do I follow Christ?

Is my heart sick, full of righteousness, justification, justice and judgement, so that the love is overshadowed.

Did I love even my own family, when I pursued employment and material success, rather than time with them? Did I spend my time disciplining and judging them and not loving them? Do I fool my self my justifying my duty to provide ahead of by love for them, confusing provision with love? Do I delude myself with the false justification that discipline is really a form of love?. 

As I approach cancer surgery, these are the questions I wrestle with, as wrestling with the devil until I tire and give in to love of all, including those who perpetrated me, in who's face I refuse to see Christ.

Will the man in the oval office allow my surgery? Does this uncertainty illicit love in my heart or bitterness and judgement? 

From the words of St. Teresa of Calcutta, I hear that there is not room in my heart for love and judgment. 

The Way of Love

13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

.  

http://www.fredcelio.com

http://stmichaelgodsknight.blogspot.com/2015/02/an-abused-childs-prayer.html

http://stmichaelgodsknight.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-daily-prayer-that-never-fails-and.html

Today's Mass Readings; Yesterday's News

Today's Mass Readings; Yesterday's News

Today we heard readings about humility and relying on God for our needs, as well as, the Gospel message from the sermon on the mount. Being meek and poor in spirit we align ourselves under Jesus. In our own country, we saw just yesterday the meek and the humble in the form of refugees, held back from safety, by the cruelty of the powerful and prideful. this action not only reflects the theme of today’s readings but also the power of God to stand for the humble, and humble the prideful, as the order to ban refugees was struck down. The Pope has spoken on the relationship between Christianity and support for those fleeing oppression.

Pope Francis: You can’t defend Christianity by being ‘against refugees and other religions’

Today we heard readings about humility and relying on God for our needs, as well as, the Gospel message from the sermon on the mount. Being meek and poor in spirit we align ourselves under Jesus. In our own country, we saw just yesterday the meek and the humble in the form of refugees, held back from safety, by the cruelty of the powerful and prideful. this action not only reflects the theme of today’s readings but also the power of God to stand for the humble, and humble the prideful, as the order to ban refugees was struck down. The Pope has spoken on the relationship between Christianity and support for those fleeing oppression.

http://www.stmichaelgodsknight.com/

http://www.fredcelio.com

Today we celebrate the feast of the immaculate conception, of the mother of God -- The ark of the new covenant. The original Ark, portrayed in the film the raiders of the lost ark, contained manna used to feed the Jews on their travels seeking the promised land, the tablets given to mosses... containing the 10 commandments, and Aaron's rod, which spotted and began to grow before the very eyes of Pharaoh during the captivity of the Jews.


Today is a day of reflection on the power and foresight of God, as we celebrate this great miracle, which is the begging of our freedom as Catholics.


What better day to reflect on the voiceless victims of abortion. 


The Supreme Court Holding in Roe v. Wade can be seen as spiritual decline. One may also see it as the starting point for the rhetoric of victim blaming?


An innocent victim in the womb is blamed for making life uncomfortable, unprofitable, an annoyance, an interference, a burden, a threat to feminist values, and female health. As with all forms of victim blaming this type of thinking is designed to absolve one from sin, by holding the innocent victim accountable, as if doing so somehow absolves makes the actions of others reasonable. In God's eyes all have equal value, and none are burdensome.  


If we are truly a free country based on unalienable rights, these must be extended to all from conception to natural death.


Victim blaming has become fashionable in some circles, many very powerful. We blame victims for their poverty, their disabilities, their old age, their homelessness, we even blame victims for their incarceration and execution with or without a trail and due process. 


You say you believe in civil rights and equality for all. Life begins at conception, and the rights we hold dear begin, once a human being is conceived.

Civil Rights to the Conceived NOW!


One would expect no less from a society, that does not value the conceived as human beings. From their the downward spiral begins. The moment we start to categorize human life in an artificial hierarchy, is the moment we sin by blaming those on the rung lower than us on any ladder for being lower than us. This is not in line with Catholic social teaching, which reflects Jesus, the mind of God.


In God's eyes their are no ladders nor rungs, there is no one to blame, save ourselves for not helping a brother or sister up, help to bring them out of the womb; alive and kicking, and anyone else who we may perceive to be beneath us. 



Luke 16:19-31Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

19 There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen; and feasted sumptuously every day.

20 And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores,

21 Desiring to be filled with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, and no one did give him; moreover the dogs came, and licked his sores.

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died: and he was buried in hell.

23 And lifting up his eyes when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom:

24 And he cried, and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue: for I am tormented in this flame.

25 And Abraham said to him: Son, remember that thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and likewise Lazareth evil things, but now he is comforted; and thou art tormented.

26 And besides all this, between us and you, there is fixed a great chaos: so that they who would pass from hence to you, cannot, nor from thence come hither.

27 And he said: Then, father, I beseech thee, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren,

28 That he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torments.

29 And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

30 But he said: No, father Abraham: but if one went to them from the dead, they will do penance.

31 And he said to him: If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise again from the dead.
Without due reflection, these days it has become fashionable to blame the victims of poverty, incarceration, refugees, the disabled, the mentally Ill, and victims of Sexual abuse in favor of clergy perpetrators. 



Matthew 25:31-46Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

31 And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty.

32 And all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.

34 Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

35 For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in:

36 Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me.

37 Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee?

39 Or when did we see thee sick or in prison, and came to thee?

40 And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.

41 Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.

42 For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink.

43 I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you covered me not: sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.

44 Then they also shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee?

45 Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me.

46 And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.
Matt 25:31-46 is quite clear. We blame the homeless and look the other way, for they are invisible. Often Angels take the form of the homeless, and we walk by as if we do not even see them and miss a conversation, with perhaps St. Michael himself. 

What better way for an angel to move about the world unnoticed than to take the form of a homeless person. 
How quickly we look away from stories in the news and justify, when African American males, innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, are executed without trial while in police custody, on camera or after body cams mysteriously turn off.
And what of those incarcerated, justly or unjustly. Innocent victims, in ever increasing numbers are being released from our prisons, after having served time for crimes they did not commit. 30% of the time our criminal justice system imposes the death penalty on innocent inmates.
Mary Was Full Of Grace And Fully Free
"Mary was free from original sin and from internal temptations but not from external temptations. Even Jesus himself was tempted. So just as Adam and Eve sinned, Mary also could have sinned - since in fact she was fully free."
(In the Arms of Mary, pg. 151)
How would our blessed mother be received by your parish, if she were to walk in to Mass this Sunday. She a young unmarried woman carrying a bastard child. A young woman who heard voices and saw visions of angels. 
Advent is not only a time when we wait for the baby Jesus, it is a time to reflect on how we see and treat others. 
Are we ready?
Are we Worthy of the baby Jesus.
Pax Christi
Copyright Fred Celio 12/08/2016 

Genuine Humanity

John 3:8New International Version (NIV)

8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Question

I just get up in the morning and take it from there. Im usually quite happy as long as im not hormonal or anxious. Its unrealistic to think you can be blissful all the time. Thats just daft. But there are programs and some kinds of new age beliefs systems that promise this kind of stuff. Well it works well if thats your belief system and things are going good in your life but when life takes a turn these kinds of belief systems are disastrous because the person blames themselves.

Response

I understand what you are saying and can empathize, although I always awaken with anxiety, even when things are going well, this is a product of my abuse/trauma experiences, which occurred at night and left me with no memory but the anxiety I the morning. I think that anxiety is an indicator of repression as is depression. I think though to be an authentic human being I must experience all emotions as the occur. I do not believe in negative emotions putting a value judgement on an emotion to me is like comparing a healthy redwood with a healthy eucalyptus. One may prefer one to the other; this preference may even change on different days , but the fact is they are and the can be appreciated. With emotions this is this time taken to appreciate the existence of a tree is called processing. While admiring a tree may be a luxury for some, processing emotions is a necessity of genuine humanity. Watching the waves of the sea is the best analogy I have found for describing the play of emotions within a human being. They are many and different and ebb and flow as they well they crest and valley as they will. To not notice this sea of emotions within us and react appropriately is to not be fully human. I think the goal of must new age religions, and I have found them to be mostly variations of Hinduism invite us to sea the ocean while ignoring the waves. Additionally, this is onr of the fundamental flaws of cognitive psychology v. constructivism. Pax Christi

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Page 72 Chapter 12 section one  from the handbook Legio Mariae
THE EXTERNAL AIMS OF THE
LEGION
1. THE ACTUAL WORK IN HANDS
The Legion aims not at the doing of any particular work,
but has as a primary object the making of its members holy.
For the attainment of this it relies, in the first place, upon its
members’ attendance at its various meetings, into which
prayer and devotion are so wound and woven as to give their
complexion to all the proceedings. But then the Legion seeks
to develop that holiness in a specific way, to give it the
character of apostleship, to heat it white hot so that it must
diffuse itself. This diffusion is not simply a utilisation of
developed force, but (by a sort of reaction) is a necessary part
of the development of that force. For the apostolic spirit is
best developed by the apostolate. Therefore, the Legion also
imposes on each member, as an essential obligation, the
weekly performance of some active work prescribed by the
praesidium. The work proceeds from the meeting as an act of
obedience to it, and, subject to the exceptions later indicated,
the praesidium can approve of any active work as satisfying
the member’s weekly obligation. In practice, however, the
Legion outlook would require the directing of the workobligation
towards actual needs, and among the latter,
towards the gravest. For that intensity of zeal which the
72 SCHEME OF THE LEGION CHAPTER 11
Legion strives to generate in its members requires a worthy
objective. Trivial work will react unfavourably upon it, so that
hearts that were ready to spend themselves for souls, and to
return love for the Christ-Love, and effort and sacrifice for his
labours and death, end by settling down to pettiness and
lukewarmness.
“Not so easily was I remade as made. He spoke and all things were
made. But while he made me simply and at once by a word, he has in
the remaking of me said many words, and worked wonders and suffered much." Saint Bernard

 Allocutio
The primary object of the legion is making the members Holy. For me this accrues from the love we put into the very basics of attending the meetings and performing assignments.  

The Catholic Church is my home. The other homes I have are subordinate to the parish and the presidium and other parishes. 

The Catholic Church is also the mystical body of Christ, and as such I have a part. The legion is a part of the mystical body and keeps my connected.  I believe, and I believe it has been said in the handbook that we are the heart that draws souls to Christ through Mary.  So as legionaries we are the heart of the mystical body.  

What does this mean?

We must meet, and through our work, blood is pumped through the rest of the body.
We are love in action.  This is no more evident than in our meetings and our home to home visitations.

I think it is important that all of our works for the legion be done as the heart, from love for this is Mary.  

St. John the Evangelist said that God is love. Mary after having been overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and then receiving God in her body and carrying Him,  as shelter, as mother is the epitome of love. The love that as blood flows from the heart. 

For me this is difficult to relate to personally. This love of mother and Son. For I never had a mother's love, until Mary. She is my mother.

I remember mentioning this to father Paul once, as we sat in the front pew before bible study,  how can Jesus take my pain and experience with him, to the cross.   In his humanity He had a family of perfection not of abuse. He, Jesus, does not, in his humanity, have my experience. He had a perfect family. Mine was abusive -- sexually, physically, emotionally, and through neglect. He was loved. Those people had me for a different reason. Father Paul sat quietly and listened. 

I came to the conclusion though that in His divinity Christ took all my pain as well. 

As with Christ even our works must been done from the heart with love, even as Christ showed love from the cross. 

The presidium is the heart of the parish. Our deeds are the acts of love from Mary to the parish. This deeds we do are the flow of the heart of the mystical body of Christ where Mary resides.  . 

The deeds of the legion are the love of Mary from the heart of the mystical body as the life blood of that body.  

Something I learned this week that I wanted to share. It is a message of being prepared. As a mother as my true mother I am always prepared for her. She is always there. There is not much I have to do to prepare for her at the weekly presidium meeting. Do the readings and the assignment and show up. I would like to be punctual and yet I am not always. As my mother she knows this about me. I would like to be at every meeting and yet I am not always able. . As she pointed out to me at Mass this week, she is always there. The responsibilities of the world, and I am a human being living in the world even though I am not of the world, often times demand preparation. 

A few weeks ago, I was preparing for a job interview, and I debated whether or not I should be excused from the presidium meeting.  I decided it was more important to go. This while not a mistake most likely caused me to lose that opportunity. I would have been better prepared had I stayed and prepared for the interview.  Neither choice was wrong. But the guilt that drove me to the presidium meeting was. As she said to me at Mass when I questioned her about this very simply, I am always here for you, the opportunities in the world come and go. The world's opportunities open and shut. What she said was that she was always there and waiting as a mother and there is no need to guilt myself into a meeting or a deed, for that is duty not love. That is from criticism for which there is no room in the heart of the mystical body.  Deeds are done from love not of duty or fear or guilt. 

Mary as Jesus and the Holy Spirit and Our Father are always there always with me. My Holy family my real family Jesus Mary and Joseph are always there for me. I do not need to guilt myself for their love. They love me. I can take time and prepare for an opportunity the world has to offer for me to use my talents in union with Mary.  She and the Holy Family are with me and love me whether I am at the meeting weekly or preparing for an opportunity the world has to offer.

I am a lay person consecrated to Mary since 2008 I remember when Father Paul signed my book indicating I had complete the consecration work of St. Louis de Montfort. As a lay person she is with me in everyday life and is a part of those opportunities and responsibilities of a lay person in the world. She was with me whether I stayed home form the presidium meeting or attended. The difference is motivated by guilt I was blessed by attending the presidium meeting but may have missed an important blessing of the lay life

The point is that she is always with me and for me wherever I am, and would have been just as satisfied had I stayed home and prepared for the interview. It was I who was judging myself.

I think there is a truth here that applies to our deeds of service for legion. That they be done from the heart and from love and not from a sense of duty or guilt if we do not do them. 

Mary is my mother, Jesus my Brother and my God, St. Joseph is my father they are my family and they are pleased to bless me with opportunity -- these are the deeds of  the legionary.