This article is part of the Marian Mondays Series, a weekly reflection on the mysteries of the rosary by Jonathan Conrad, owner and founder of The Catholic Woodworker.
From rosary making and order fulfillment to customer service and marketing, my team at The Catholic Woodworker has been working hard lately. Knowing this, I naturally want to step up to take some of the burden off them. But because they don’t want to bother me or put me out, my team hesitates to ask for my help.
This experience reminds me that, even if they wanted my help, I can’t do or be everything for them. I’m only human and, of course, I’m not the true hero; God is. Only He is capable of being all for everyone and shouldering our burdens.
Yet, how often in the midst of our daily struggles do we think to ourselves, “I don’t want to bother God with this?” Or even, “I just want to do it on my own,” thereby robbing Him of the opportunity to give us grace and blessings?
While we may shy away from letting God in, Mary, in her perfect union with Him, does the opposite. We see this clearly in the second Luminous Mystery, the Wedding Feast at Cana, when Mary learns that there is no wine left at the wedding—something that would’ve been considered a major social embarrassment at the time.
Mary goes directly to Jesus to share this news with Him and, ultimately, to surrender it to Him. Then she shows her complete trust in her Son when she instructs the servants to “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5), even though she doesn’t know what that will be herself.
In this mystery, Mary models what we should do with all our worries and concerns, even those we think are too small or insignificant: bring them to Jesus through her intercession. And when we do this, we can trust that Jesus will take care of the rest in His time.
As we pray in the Surrender Novena: O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything! Amen.
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Click to read another reflection on the Wedding Feast at Cana: Mary’s Wisdom at the Wedding at Cana