When Jesus was about to die on the cross at Calvary, there stood John the Apostle and His mother, Mary, and two other women.  Jesus addressed John and Mary in John 19:26-27, by saying, "...Woman, behold your son!"  Then He said to John, "Behold your mother!"  And it is said that the Apostle, John took Mary into his home from that moment on to care for her. 

This exchange is very significant.  Jesus is making it known that Mary is the mother of John, and in essence, the mother of us all.  In turn, He tells John to consider Mary his mother.  Catholics are taught from the moment we learn our catechism, that Mary is not only the Mother of God, but our mother too.  She is the most important person in Jesus' life and He loves her beyond all understanding.  He wants us to love her that way too.

Non-Catholics have operated under a misconception that Catholics worship Mary.  That is not the case.  We honor her and the role she played in our salvation history.  Mary's consent to carry the Messiah so He could come into our world and save us is no light matter!  She was and continues to be a hero in our faith and a role-model for us all.

Her fervent desire is to bring everyone to her son.   In John 2:5, Mary attends the wedding at Cana with Jesus and the wine runs out.  She asks her son to help in the matter and He listens to His mother.  She then tells the servants, "Do whatever He tells you."  And Jesus uses that occasion to turn water into wine for the wedding feast...His first miracle!

Mary continues to go to her son on our behalf, as she did at the Cana wedding and He listens to her.  She wants us to do whatever He tells us to do.  She is our mother and a priceless treasure.  Let us appreciate and honor her, as her son does.  I love you, Mary.  Pray for me and for the world!

The Stations of the Cross is said to have started because the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, wanted to devoutly pray the path that her son traveled to Calvary.  This devotion may be prayed all year round,  but it is of special focus for Catholics during Lent, (the 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Easter).  Because Christ died on Good Friday, Fridays in Lent are held as the day people gather to pray the Stations together. 

The ideal situation would be to travel to the Holy Land and mark Christ's actual path, but since most Catholics around the world would have difficulty traveling to the Holy Land, the Stations of the Cross are situated in Catholic churches to commemorate this tradition.    If one has an impediment to visiting  a Catholic church, it is acceptable to piously read and meditate upon the passion and death of our Lord for one half-hour, wherever you may be. 

When I pray this Way of the Cross, I find myself especially moved at the Station where Christ is taken down from the cross and His body is laid into His mother's arms.  As a mother myself, I can't help but cry at the thought of what it must have been like to hold your dead child in your arms.  How horrible!  The sacrifice our Savior did for us and the pain and suffering He endured shows us how immensely loved we are.  Thank you, Jesus, for your selfless gift and for teaching us how to give of ourselves to the fullest. 

f you aren't Catholic, you probably have no idea about Purgatory.  As a matter of fact, if you ARE Catholic, you may be in the same boat.  Purgatory is not a made-up notion.  It is biblical.  Because God is perfect, we must be perfect to enter Heaven.  See REVELATION 21:27:  "...nothing unclean will enter it (heaven)."  Therefore,  to enter Heaven at the time of our death, we must die in a state of perfect grace.  That is hard to do.   

When someone sins, they can be forgiven, but they still must make reparation for the sin.  For instance, if you broke your neighbor's window with a baseball, your neighbor can forgive you if you say you are sorry.  However, you still must replace the window because of your actions.  In the same way, God forgives our sins, but we still have to repair the damage our sins have caused to our souls.  The way we repair, or make reparation for our sins, is Purgatory. 

There are several Bible passages relating to Purgatory: 1 Peter 4:6; 1 Cor 3:15; 2 Maccabees 12:44-46 and 2 Tim 1:16-18.  The main points to be remembered are that Purgatory is not a second chance place for souls who die in an unrepented state of mortal sin.  It is a place of purification and reparation.  Anyone in Purgatory will one day be in Heaven.  Once the remnants of sin have been purged from their souls, they will enter Heaven perfect, as God is perfect.

So, Purgatory is God's merciful gift to us.  We rejoice in knowing that God wants us in Heaven as much as we want to be there with Him.  We must strive in this life to rid our attachments to sin and die in as perfect a state of grace as possible.  But, the good news is, we have Purgatory to assist us on our way to our heavenly reward.