Login 
''There can be people who are engaged uninterruptedly in the activities of Church associations and yet are not Christians. There can be people who simply live by word and sacrament alone and practice the love born of faith without ever having attended Church groups, without ever having concerned themselves with the novelties of ecclesiastical politics, without having taken part in synods and voted in them - and yet are Christians. We need, not a more human, but a more divine Church; then she will also become truly human'': Called to Communion - Understanding the Church Today by (then) Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
As dissent, theological confusion and loss of faith become more widespread, many dioceses have attempted to react by moving from the divinely inspired structure and mission of the Church in search of new ways of 'being church.' Indeed, this trend is both a source and symptom of the spreading apostasy that typifies our times. Such diocesan and parish programmes generally end with increasing levels of bureaucracy and efforts to laicize the clergy whilst clericalizing the laity. In all of this local churches become more insular and inward looking. Liturgy focuses more on us than God; catechesis collapses into personal sharing of subjective 'religious' experiences; Trinitarian prayer dissolves into vague syncretism; and any community outreach that continues lowers its horizon from the salvation of souls to purely humanitarian concerns. Thus, in gradual and often subtle stages, whole communities of the faithful move beyond Christ.Â
To counter this tendency, whilst encouraging, edifying and exhorting our readers to holiness, we wish to provide a few brief accounts of remarkable lay Catholics that we have known. In many ways these were people like you and me. They lived 'ordinary' lives in workaday settings and experienced a varied mixture of love, joy, hardship and suffering. What set these folks apart was the fact that they co-operated with grace to a high degree in order to live the kind of love born of faith which (then) Cardinal Ratzinger described so well above. These people were not involved in 'remodelling' the structures or mission of the Church. Any 'change' which they sought in the Church was more to do with the conversion of their own souls. In many ways theirs was a simple faith, but to see them was to glimpse Christ. Though disparate in their ages and social backgrounds, what they each had in common was a deep prayer life, which was nourished by the sacraments, and an acceptance of the doctrines of the Church. These elements gave shape to their lives and over time led to a tranquil acceptance of God's Will; even when that was mysterious and painful for them. How much the Church needs such lights in our times.Â
Today we will begin with Mary.
Some souls are so self-forgetful that you do not realize that they were saints until some time after their passing. This is how it was with Mary. A nurse by vocation and profession, her care for others emanated from a deep interior life in Jesus Christ and Our Lady. I only know of this from a letter she once wrote to me in a time of upheaval in my life and from some extremely prophetic words that she spoke on the night I became a Catholic. In both these instances, the depth of her spirituality and truth of her words has only struck home many years later.
Mary had a deep tranquility of soul. She was truly Christ-like. And in common with the Master, she was much misunderstood and misrepresented in her lifetime. And also like Him, she never complained of her lot.Â
Even when her husband stopped going to Mass and walked out on the family home, she embraced the Cross and offered it up for him. Mary began attending an extra Mass each weekend to try and fulfill his obligation for him. Truly vicarious suffering. Her quiet witness has much to teach in an age when the permanence of marriage is under such diabolical attack.
This good lady also once suffered an attack on another symbol of family life, when she endured a serious break-in to her home. The criminals ransacked everything. Her response was to simply tell people not to worry for her safety as she knew that Our Lady was looking after her.
At Mass Mary was deeply reverent. It was a reverence that flowed out into her loving care for others. The main recipients of her care included her patients at work, housebound parishioners and elderly priests. She dedicated a lot of her free time to ferrying the elderly in her car and fetching shopping and other errands for them.
A decade after meeting Mary, she was diagnosed with Cancer in her early 60's. Although suffering, she dedicated some of her final time on this earth to teaching the Rosary to little children. And then she faded gently from us.
When one thinks of Mary today, one thinks of Our Lady and of Jesus. Hers was the love born of faith. This is what attracts others to Christ and His Church. What a legacy. May she rest in peace. Â
