Immaculate Conception

An interesting insight by Peggy Noonan in her book, "John Paul the Great" regarding Jesus'mom:

"It is interesting that the countries whose Catholics love Mary most ardently, and who have by tradition been most public in that love, have tended to be those that have known intense political oppression and poverty: Poland, Ireland, Mexico, Italy, the Philippines. Why would this be? Maybe protracted trouble helps human beings admit they need as much help as they can get, and if a father, a son, and a mother are availabe, they'll take all three. Maybe in part it's that families under daily duress experience more deeply the crucial importance of women because they witness it each day, in the home, and in the form of decision making and direction. When you live close to the land, you tend to absorb a strong sense of gender, of the differentness of the sexes."

It is no accident that my husband was born on the feast day of the Immaculate Conception. It is as if she sent him straight from her hands to my own as a gift. Mother Mary, thank you for that gift.