I am frightened by the load i bear. Help me be strong.

This weekend, Catholics all over the world celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mass at my church was simply beautiful. Singing with cheerful hearts and with conviction makes all the difference. And when June sang the psalm i composed with such reverence, i could only thank God for giving me this gift of music which i treasure with all my heart.
I'm a little too overwhelmed (seems like this is my favourite word to describe mass these days. Well, it sure is apt.) right now to say more but everything just made sense. I'll leave you with the reflection i prepared for the congregation before mass, inspired by Amy Grant's Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song) which i listened to about 8 times this morning.

Lord, we thank you for the gift of Mary, our Mother- a woman specially chosen by you to bring your son into the world.

It couldn't have been easy for her, being visited by an angel who revealed that she, a virgin, would bear a child, a son, who would be Son of God. But her faithfulness allowed her to surrender herself to God's plan, even if she couldn't understand it fully.

Lord, let us remember Mary's holiness, courage, strength, faithfulness and trust in You, her God. Let her be our role model as we live our lives, not merely as ordinary people, but as Your people, as Christians.

Just as Mary received her strength from you, let us too look to you for strength when we feel too weary to go on.

Just as Mary's faith enabled her to trust you even when she was feeling frightened, let us too take concrete steps to develop our faith lives- by reading scripture, by praying with family and friends and most importantly, by believeing that our faith will see us through troubling, doubting and frightening times.

Lord, let us offer up ourselves to the mercy of Your plan, as Mary did.

And then help us be strong.

Amen.