A Lenten Journey with Mary, from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.

“His mother treasured all these things in her heart.“ Luke 2:51

During Advent, we took a journey with Mary. Our journey began in Nazareth, when the angel appeared to Mary, and announced that she would be the mother of the Son of God. We then walked with her to Ein Karem to visit her cousin Elizabeth. We were with her when Joseph learned that she was with child. We were guests at their wedding. And our journey finished in Bethlehem where we witnessed the Nativity.

Many of you told me that you wished that the journey had continued beyond Bethlehem. You wanted to be with Mary when the Magi arrived at the stable. You wished you had been with Mary when she presented the infant Jesus to God in the Temple. You wanted to know how she felt when she was not able to return to Nazareth and instead had to flight into Egypt. I have good news for you. We will continue our journey with Mary during Lent. This Lent, you are invited to take a peek at the second part of Mary’s Journal: A Lenten Journey with Mary, from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. 

I must be honest that when God entrusted me with this mission, I resisted. “I did this during Advent because I had all the time in the world,” I told Him. “You know how hectic life is for me during Lent. I’m at the peak of tax season, and I barely have time to breathe.” But after I finished writing chapter 21 of “the project”, I felt like a hypocrite turning my back on God’s call. If He is calling me, in the midst of my busy life, to look beyond my busy-ness and finish Mama Mary’s journal, who am I to say “NO?” I know that He will open the time for me to do so, even if He has to wake me up at three in the morning.

This journal will cover the 33 years of Jesus’ life. I do not know at this point if I will share every single day during the 40-day Lenten Journey. All I can promise is to pick certain important events of Jesus’ life, and share those pages from Mary’s journal. It may be 25 pages or it may be 40 pages. I will place myself in God’s hands and allow the Holy Spirit to lead the way.

If you signed up to receive the meditations by email during Advent, you do not need to sign up again. But if you didn’t, and you would like to receive the meditations by email, sign up directly on the blog’s web version (it doesn’t work on the phone view). Input your email address where it says “Receive New Posts by Email.” This will then take you to a form where you have to mark that you are not a robot, and hit “complete subscription request.” You will then receive an email from “Feedburner Email Subscriptions.” If you don’t receive it, look in your junk folder. You must follow the link in order to activate the email subscription. Once you see the message: “Email Subscription Confirmed,” you are signed up and you should start receiving the meditations on Ash Wednesday, February 26th. The meditations may not be daily like they were during Advent, but hopefully you should receive one every two or three days.

I wish it to be understood, that all I will write on this journey is a product of my imagination, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and with the help of the references that I mention below. My words are limited and my mind is too small to be able to fully comprehend what Mary experienced from the Birth of Jesus until His Death and Resurrection. I place myself in God’s hands and I will let Him reveal some of Mary’s experiences to us.

References for this Journey:

1. New American Standard Bible (NASB)
2. The Mystical City of God: A Popular Abridgement of the Divine History and Live of the Virgin Mother of God by Venerable Mary of Agreda
3. The World’s First Love: Mary, Mother of God by Fulton J. Sheen
4. Las Palabras Calladas: Diario de Maria de Nazaret by Pedro Miguel Lamet 
5. My Soul Magnifies the Lord: A Scriptural Journey with Mary by Jeanne Kun