If I had a penny for every time one of my children wailed, “It’s not fair!”, I’d have a lot of pennies.
I’d have even more if I included all the times I say it.
My kids don’t sleep well. It’s not fair!
I have little time to write. It’s not fair!
I can’t eat that entire carton of ice cream in one sitting. It’s not fair!
My prayer time is nonexistent. It’s not fair!
Mary, Mirror of Justice
From the outside, little in Mary’s life was fair. She lived a chaste marriage to a man several years her senior. She gave birth to a child on the floor of a barn. She traveled to Egypt on the back of a donkey when she was less than three months postpartum. She lost her son in a city when he was 12; she lost her son on a cross when he was 33.
None of it was fair. All of it was necessary. And she accepted these things willingly, to point the rest of us to her son.
Mirrors reflect what stands in front of them. In our humanity, a mirror provides the perfect glimpse of how we appear on the outside. But Mary is the Mirror of Justice. She is without the stain of sin, reflecting only the true, the good, the beautiful, and the holy. Her reflection directs our eyes away from our own concerns and toward the light of Christ.
Family Activities
- Place images of Jesus and Mary in the corner of a mirror frame
- Encourage your children to offer up their frustration for the souls in purgatory when something seems unfair
- Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet
Family Prayer
Mary, Mirror of Justice, lead us to your son. Amen.
“And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” Luke 1:47. Mary had a savior, the scriptures say. She was not sinless. She is not to be added to The Trinity. She is not God.
Of course! He was indeed, her Savior. He saved her from the stain of original sin, which we inherited from Adam and Eve. This is different from personal sin, which relates to actions and/or omissions committed during a person’s life. If you’d like to know more, this article explains the doctrine well.