In this month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Katharine Drexel Parish Council of Catholic Women hosted their annual Mary & Me Conference in Cape Coral Oct. 12, 2205.
The discussion, presented by Rose Marie Talbot-Babey, Director of Religious Education at St. Katharine Drexel, focused on Our Blessed Mother’s role as the Mother of God and the Church in a talk entitled “The Many Faces of Mary … Leading Us to Her Son.”
Talbot-Babey spoke about the different situations Mary faced throughout her life. Prior to the talk, participants were asked to select an image of Mary that had meaning to them; these included the Nativity, the Presentation, the Visitation with Elizabeth, the crucifixion and more.
Each image showed Mary in different situations and shows her with different expressions, from wonder at the appearance of the Angel Gabriel, or the joy while meeting with Elizabeth, to the deep sorrow of seeing her Son on the Cross, or holding Jesus in her arms after His death.
Talbot-Babey encouraged those present to reflect on the images and “Faces of Mary” and ask themselves: How do you relate that image to an experience or event in your life when you truly got to know Our Lady or you felt that Our Lady wanted to get to know you? Have you had that experience? Would you like to have that experience?
Importantly, Talbot-Babey said Mary is always presented as a natural woman who is having all different kinds of emotions.
“It is not any different than what is going on with us depending upon what we are going through in our lives,” she said. “Are there opportunities and times when we are approached or feel God is asking us to do something, but we are not sure about the ‘yes.’ Instead of having a fiat like Our Lady, in saying ‘Yes, I trust you, even though I’m not quite sure what this is going to look like in the end.’ Our Lady can help us respond to the Lord with our own ‘Yes.’”
Having a relationship with Our Lady is very powerful, and this does not undermine Jesus, because “why wouldn’t we want someone like that in our corner. She is a powerhouse along with her Son. They are not on equal standing, but make no mistake, she is a great ‘nudger’ when we need her Son to be doing something for us. For those who are mothers and grandmothers, you know there isn’t anything you would not do for them.”
Similarly, Talbot-Babey said we can approach Our Lady when going through difficult times and not feeling the presence of Jesus in our lives.
“We need to ask Our Lady, ‘I want to be like you. I want to be able to say ‘Yes’ to your Son. I want to surrender myself to your Son, and allow Him to direct my life, in whatever way it goes,’” Talbot-Babey said. “When someone really does that; when they truly surrendered to Jesus! He gets it done. Even if it was in a way that wasn’t expected.”
After the presentation, Talbot-Babey fielded questions about Our Lady and the best ways to pray to her, while still honoring the Lord.
“When we honor Our Lady, Jesus’ heart swells with joy,” she said. “Whenever we approach Mary, we are always directed to the Lord. She can show us the way.”
