I’m sort of a wimp about not knowing where I am.  For the most part, I don’t go anywhere I’m not immediately familiar with.  The GPS on my phone is helpful, but even Siri can’t always figure her way around Washington, D.C. and its suburbs.

Take for example the first time I went in to the city for a weekly appointment.  I had my phone.  I sort of knew where I was going.  But I got lost anyway, ended up twenty minutes late for the appointment, and had a cranky, it’s-almost-naptime-toddler to contend with to boot.

They have food trucks in the city.  What I want to know is, where is the wine?

 Mary, Comfort of the Afflicted

Mary knew a thing or two about wine.  Look at the wedding at Cana.  Mary saw the party’s hosts standing on the verge of embarrassment.  She recognized their need, sympathized with them, and took action, prompting her son to address it.

Mary also knows a thing or two about us.  Just as she stepped in to comfort the afflicted hosts of the wedding at Cana, she steps in to assist us in even the smallest challenges.  She is rightly called Comfort of the Afflicted; she rushes to our aid, intercedes for us, and consoles our weary hearts.

It is in Mary’s consolation that we find her guidance as well.  She always points toward Christ, a compass for the lost and lonely.  Her very existence serves to bring Christ to each of us, as through the Father gave us his only son.

We need only ask for her intercession.

Family activities

• Write a letter to Mary, asking her guidance in your daily lives.
• Find images and icons of Mary as comforter and print them.  Post them in a prominent place in your home.
• Devote family prayer time to thanksgiving for God’s gift of Mary as intercessor.

Family prayer

Mary, Comfort of the Afflicted, you long to bring us to your son.  Be our compass in our daily struggles and bring us ever closer to Christ.

This post is part of the Write31 Days challenge.  To read the other posts in the series, click here.