June 5
Our Lady of the Roads
St.
Boniface, Bishop and Martyr
Today’s Gospel: Mark 12:35-37
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| Photo created by Google AI Image Creator. |
Jesus asked the crowd a question nobody
expected.
Everyone knew the Messiah was coming.
Everyone had an opinion about who He would be. So, Jesus stood up in the Temple
and asked, " Whose son is the Messiah exactly? The son of David? Then why does
David himself call him Lord?
The crowd went silent. Nobody had an
answer.
Sometimes the most important truths don't
arrive the way we expect them to. They show up quietly. On a road nobody
planned to take. In a form nobody recognized.
St. Boniface knew that road well. He left
the comfort and safety of his English monastery at an age when most men were
settling down and walked straight into the heart of pagan Germany. Nobody sent
for him. Nobody was waiting. He just went because God said go. At 75 years old
he was still on the road, still planting the faith in new soil, when they
ambushed and killed him. They found him with a book of the Gospels held over
his head. Still going. Still carrying what mattered most.
I spent years behind the wheel of a 75-foot
tractor-trailer, 80,000 pounds loaded, 13 and a half feet tall, rolling across
46 states. I couldn't just stop and go to Mass. I couldn't leave the truck. I
couldn't do much of anything except drive and deliver and do it all over again.
For two weeks at a stretch, I was out there alone with the road. What I brought
with me was my rosary-making kit, my supplies, and my phone to stay connected
with the members of my rosary ministry every single night. We prayed together
across the miles. Those nightly connections were everything. And somewhere
along the way through those shared prayers and that ministry and Our Lady's
quiet maneuvering, she introduced me to Kenia. You could almost say Our Lady
played matchmaker. She has never been subtle about getting people exactly where
she wants them.
Our Lady of the Roads has been venerated
for centuries by travelers who understood that no road is ever taken alone. She
goes with you. Every mile. Every state. Every dark stretch of highway at 2 in
the morning when the radio cuts out and it's just you and the road and the
beads in your hand.
Something to sit with today:
Who has Our Lady quietly
maneuvered into your life, possibly a new friend, and have you ever stopped to
thank her? Has this newfound friendship sparked a spiritual excitement in your
life?
Isn’t it amazing how having
sisters and brothers in Christ in our lives can help lead us to a much deeper
relationship with our Lord and our Lady?
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely
shared.
