MOTHER OF GOOD COUNSEL

Our Lady is invoked as the "Mother of Good Counsel", as she who knows how to give good advice or counsel: that is, which is useful and appropriate to the person who is asking for it.

 

The world if full of "counsellors"; all the mass-media, all the radio and television broadcasts, advertising and propaganda of every kind, ranging from political to economic to entertainment, do nothing but dish out advice and suggestions which are always paraded as being entirely to the benefit of the receiver.  And in this way mankind is becoming a uniform mass, trapped in the net of advice and recommendations that standardizes all individuals, assembling them according to a single predetermined model.

Precisely because it is so rich in means and methods of communication our modern world, which is easily lets itself be conditioned, is unable to use these "counsels" as points of departure, as seeds to germinate and grow, but instead lets itself get boxed up, only to take the form of the various containers.  This is the reason why nowadays it is rare to hear anyone asking for advice openly and seriously, with the honest intention of facing up to someone, of confronting the opinions of those others who are considered capable of understanding and opening new paths for our journey in life.

 

Nowadays, everyone thinks they are capable of "looking after" themselves, without the help of other people, not least out of fear of finding themselves confronted by unwelcome insights, uncomfortable discoveries and of having to judge as bad that which one had previously accepted as good.

 

Indeed, what often occurs is that seeking advice turns into seeking approval, feeling understood and supported in one's choices means having a greater sense of security and being able to rest with one's conscience supported by other's opinions.  Thus we live in a world devoid of brave enterprises, without new colours, lacking personalities who act as a kind of yeast in the masses, making others think.

 

Haplessly, the Catholic world, too, often runs the risk of letting itself get dragged into customs consolidated over the centuries, or into choices imposed by someone, a so-called "charismatic" figure, consequently becoming passive and repetitive, anonymous and thus sterile, without any testimony to the appearance of the Spirit.

 

Devotion to Our Lady can be an antidote to this disease and can lead instead to a disposition in which we wish for "advice" in which we face up to a word that in some way shakes us out of our laziness and opens up new perspectives.

 

It is Holy Mary herself who offers her life, her faith, her obedience to God, her courage, as so much advice and so many suggestions for those who really want to found their lives on the faith and become genuine followers of Christ.

 

Mary is the mother who gives good counsel when she bids us accept the annunciation coming from God, His will expressed both in the Scared Word and in the liturgical gesture and the progression of everyday things.  She is the mother bidding us to start moving and helping those in need, even thought this may not be easy and there may be a thousand excuses for avoiding it.  Mary is the mother counselling us to pay attention to what is happening and to know how to point out what is necessary when it occurs, when there begins to be a lack of the nectar of generosity, of service, of faith, of mutual understanding.

 

She is the mother who, under the cross, received the task of accepting within her fertile womb the human race, redeemed by the death of her Son: her counsel is to collaborate in a redemption which takes place in blood and always demands a brave participation.

If we ask Mary for her counsel we can certainly find in ourselves the traces of our own personal. Vocation, marked by God Himself to make us His own children, the witnesses of His love.

 

Mary Mother of Good Counsel, pray for us that we may become capable of seeking, hearing and putting into practice the advice we receive.

 

(by don Giorgio, Basadonna, from “The Shrine of the Holy House,” May/Aug 1995 Issue)

 

   

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St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do you, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Copyright © 2002 Saint Michael Center for the Blessed Virgin Mary

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