Tuesday, July 27, 2010

All Beginnings Have a Yes

How rare it is to find a valiant woman! It is perhaps necessarily so, since Scripture says that they are more precious that pearl and diamonds. Let us however work to train a few. For in this century we must no longer count on men to preserve the faith. The grain of faith that will be saved will hide itself among women. A woman cannot remain neutral in the world. She too is set for the fall and resurrection of many. How different are God’s thoughts from ours!

Between women and God is often arranged the eternal salvation of husbands and sons. But for this she must be valiant. Strong to uphold purity of life. Strong to keep inviolate the treasure of faith. Strong in every battle of life. Great-souled in the face of calamity, persecution and death. And remember, sorrow is the training ground of strong souls. ~  St. Madeline Sophie Barat (1779-1865)                                                                                                  

As women we are called to bring life into the world. And though not all are called to be mothers, we are all called to spiritual motherhood. Our call is to bring Christ into a world that so desperately needs Him, to be a healing balm in a wounded world that has seemed to have lost its way. Where can the valiant woman be found if she cannot be found among us?

All beginnings have a yes. If we are to carry out our call and bring Christ into the world, we must say yes, much like our Blessed Mother said her yes to the angel Gabriel. We must turn away from the spirit of the world, and all that it tries to convince us, and turn toward the spirit of Christ. As St. Madeline Sophie Barat says, “A woman cannot remain neutral in the world”. The time for women to take a stand for Christ is now.

My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
Because he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid;
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
And his mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of his mercy
Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.

10 comments:

Bethany Hudson said...

Oh, I love this quotation from St. Madeline Sophie--she is my daughter's patron saint. I have never found a book of her writings, though. Where did you find this one?

Unknown said...

So beautiful and so true.I think as women, no matter our state in life, we need to reminded of this. I love the quote. Thank you for sharing this.
God bless!

Daily Grace said...

Bethany,

Thank you for visiting my blog. The writings here on St. Madeline Sophie Barat were taken from the "Women of Grace Study Guide." I have copied a link for your browser.

http://www.lhla.org/womenofgrace/index.html

God bless

Daily Grace said...

Thank you Karinann, these writings spoke volumes to me too.

God bless

Anne said...

"All beginnings have a yes" That is such a simple,yet profound statement, and what would we be if we never found the courage to say Yes?

The quote from Madeline Sophie Barat is wonderful!

Mary N. said...

What a beautiful post on what being a strong woman REALLY means! Mother Mary is the perfect role model for all women. It's amazing to realize that the salvation of the world came through this humble woman's yes to God.

I'll have to check out that link, too.

Thank you for the kind comment you left on my blog, DG :)

Lisa notes... said...

"All beginnings have a yes." That statement struck me as very profound, too. Thank you for sharing the inspiration today.

kam said...

Amen, Sister in Christ.

Victor S E Moubarak said...

God bless you Daily Grace.

Solid Rock or Sinking Sand said...

I really enjoyed reading the posts on your blog. I would like to invite you to come over to my blog and check it out. God's blessings. Lloyd