Serving the High Plains

Thinking of ‘Our Blessed Mother Mary,’ the cause of our joy

Guest Columnist

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms; to those still with us, to the soon-to-be moms, and to those smiling down from above. As I write this column, I’m thinking about the greatest mom of all, Our Blessed Mother Mary.

Before I tell you why I feel this way, I want to wish my own mom, Maria Enriqueta “Katie” Rodriguez a happy Mother’s Day. My mom has always been there for me during life’s most agonizing and most cheerful moments, just as I have tried to be for my daughter, Laura. I am grateful to still have my mom. She turned 73 last month. Nevertheless, Mom can’t be with me 24-7, 365 days a year. And that is when I turn to Super Mom. That is the name I’ve given to The Virgin Mary, to Our Blessed Mother who is affectionately known as Our Lady of Guadalupe in this hemisphere.

Mary has been called the “cause of our joy” because with no Mary, there is no Jesus. I do not idolize her but regard her as our Queen Mother.

When I was growing up, and still to this day, my sisters and I tend to go to Mom when it comes to matters of the heart. When it comes to even bigger matters of the heart, though, I present them to Mother Mary because I believe just as she told Jesus, “They have no wine” at the wedding of Cana and instructed the apostles to “do as he (Jesus) says.” I believe she is our head waitress who knows when we need water turned into wine, too. She can make the matter known to the main man and then instructs us to “do as he tells us.”

When Mary spoke to Saint Juan Diego near Mexico City almost 500 years ago, she said, “Am I not your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the fountain of your joy?” Jesus, of course, is our joy. Mary is the cause or fountain of our joy. And likewise, just as every new life is a bundle of joy, moms are the cause of that joy.

Helena Rodriguez is a Portales native. Contact her at: [email protected]