(Stock Photo – Canva)
By Marrick Kowalski – Youth Ministry Coordinator, Christ the King Parish Regina
I was recently at a Mass, where in the homily, the priest said something that stood out to me. “We need to empty ourselves like Mary emptied herself.” I found this intriguing because I have never thought of Mary as empty. After pondering for a while, I concluded that it was less about being empty and more about making room. Mary was not empty for the sake of being empty; Mary was empty for the sake of being filled: filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with grace, filled with love, filled with trust, filled with Jesus Himself. So, if we are to be empty like Mary, then we are also called to be filled like Mary.
What makes Catholicism different than other world religions is that Catholics don’t empty themselves for the sake of being empty; we empty ourselves to be filled with something, or rather someone, greater. Mary was physically filled with Christ as she carried Him in her womb for nine months, but she continued to be filled and to make room for the rest of her earthly life. Our call to carry Christ and to make room looks a little bit different than Mama Mary’s, but it does not mean that call is any less practical!
You may not be making physical room for a baby (or maybe you are!), but we can make physical room for an altar or prayer space in our homes. It can be filled with favourite images of Jesus or the saints, statues, written or printed-out prayers, candles, the colour for the appropriate liturgical season (purple for Advent and Lent, white or gold for Christmas and Easter, green for Ordinary Time, red for Pentecost or Holy Week,) fresh or dried flowers. Whatever draws your heart and mind to the Lord!
Mary would have cared for a home; she did the laundry, made the food, changed diapers, and cleaned the house. She would have prepared to have company, made the beds, and picked things up off the floor. Making room like Mary can be housework. Jesus calls us to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless, and visit the sick. What we do to others, we do to Him. Keeping and making a home is to make room like Mary did. It is to see the value and worth in others and yourself. Your children, roommate(s), spouse, parent(s), company, or friend(s) are children of God, and in serving them (even through seemingly mundane tasks), you serve the Lord.
Mary made room in her heart to listen and to ponder. She listened to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. She would have listened to Jesus telling her about His day. She would have listened to and spent time with family, friends, and the community. She listened (and trusted) St. Joseph. Making room can look like making time for those we love and those we struggle to love. It can be spending five minutes in prayer or boldly asking the Holy Spirit to speak loudly and clearly in our lives. It can be sitting down and catching up with a friend. It can be answering a late-night phone call from a friend in crisis. It can be creating a comfortable and welcoming space in your home or at your parish.
There are endless ways we can make room for Jesus, or empty ourselves to be filled with Jesus as Mary did. Although she walked the earth over 2000 years ago, her example of motherhood and of loving Jesus is still pertinent.
Mary, our mother, you were a mother to Christ, and you loved Him well. Please be a mother to us now and teach us how to make room for Christ in our hearts and lives and to love Him as well as you did.
Marrick currently works as the Youth Ministry Coordinator at Christ the King Parish in Regina. She spent two years serving with NET Ministries (one year in PEI, Canada and one year in Cork, Ireland), and misses being close to the ocean. When she’s not planning youth group, in the schools doing classroom visits, or running retreats, you can probably find her at a local coffee shop or at home working on her calligraphy technique.
