Have you ever sent an e-mail or a text and then get a response that indicates somehow the intended audience misinterpreted the meaning of your written words? Have you ever written an e-mail or text that purposefully left interpretation of your words open to the intended reader? We don’t get much in sacred scripture about our Mother Mary but the few sayings that were captured in the written word are some of our most beloved and cherished in our Catholic faith. The words of a girl turning into a woman in one moment gives us a lifetime of contemplation about how we respond to God’s call to holiness. Me? Am I really worthy enough to be called holy? Uhm…well it does go on to say “nothing is impossible with God” (Lk 1:37) so there seems to be hope for all of us!
 
Confession: I did not feel close to Mary growing up. My experiences of faith were based in the communal life of the parish but not necessarily the standard sacramentals  such as praying the rosary and memorizing rote prayers and faith knowledge in order to receive sacraments. I lived for the experience of liturgy and I thrived in the social environment of the parish community. Our family was never alone. We always had places to go and people to see or people to come over. My parents made us an uber-Catholic family but with four wild children, sitting us down to pray the rosary was apparently not a battle she was willing to fight.