Yesterday I had the privilege of spending my night at a friend’s house to help plan their upcoming wedding. It was a beautiful time seeing so much joy and hope and laughter from everyone in the room. As I was driving home, I was pondering on one of my favourite chapters from The Imitation of Mary – Chapter 8: “Choice of a State of Life.” It reads:
Mary sought God and loved Him alone from her earliest years. For this reason she drew upon herself all His blessings, and He on His part provided a suitable state of life for her so that she might carry out His plans for her.
To make the right choice of a vocation we need a conjunction of events and circumstances such as Providence ordinarily provides for faithful souls who consult God on the choice of a state of life.
Can a young man hope that God will bestow this favor on him if he meanwhile is abandoning himself to the deadly urges of his own newfound passions?
By means of her marriage to St. Joseph, God in His providence enabled Mary to gather the previous fruit of the virtues she had practiced so faithfully. If it had been left to the world to choose a husband for Mary, it would undoubtedly have chosen a rich and talented man. It would not have thought of choosing a virtuous man, a man who from childhood had lived reverently before God. That is not the way the world thinks. Self-interest and purely human considerations are the motivating forces behind most marriages. The possessions which chance bestows, rather than the blessings of grace, lead to the contracting of marriages. […]
The choice by Mary’s parents, or rather by God, fell upon Joseph, a just man (Mt. 1:19), in fact the most virtuous man then living on earth and the one most worthy to be the holy Virgin’s husband.
No marriage ever turned out more happily; never were two hearts more delighted at their union. What trials could ever disturb their peace of soul! Mary and Joseph were in the state of life God wanted for them.
Pray to the Lord, therefore, and consult Him if you are deciding on a state of life. Say to Him with the prophet: “Show me the way you want me to walk.” Live so that the Lord may see in you a fit subject for His special care.
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I am praying for all my brothers and sisters answering the call to marriage this year. Lord, please always show us the way You want us to walk. And Mama Mary, you are a beautiful example of true faithfulness and unwavering hope. And that you had no other desire in your state of life other than to be so in tune with His Will, and to fulfill your only desire of loving God through loving Jesus and St. Joseph, and all of us.
St. Joseph, pray for us. Most Holy Family, pray for us.