Conversion is a Family Affair, November/December 2000
by Kari Lawler
Before my Marian consecration in February 1999, I thought I enjoyed
a good relationship with my mother. We co-owned a duplex and
lived side-by-side, and people often commented on how well we
got along. Since I became consecrated, my life, and our relationship,
have improved in several ways. First of all, I have become a
daily communicant. Second, praying the Rosary daily and meditating
on my consecration has had a profound effect on how I perceive
my mother. I am now taking great comfort in knowing that all
the times in my childhood when my mother, a single parent, struggled
to nurture me and could not help me develop my Christian faith
(she is a fallen-away Catholic), Mary was there for me, because
she is my mother, too. This knowledge has made me much more compassionate
toward my mother, and the change in my behavior has, I believe,
opened her heart. She is much more supportive of my return to
the Catholic Faith than she initially was.
For example, when I returned to Seattle from a weekend MI retreat at Marytown in July 1999, Mom was interested in hearing about the retreat. She did not make a single negative comment. At first, she was a little perplexed by my devotion to Mary, but she seems to be getting used to it! I prayerfully hope (in fact, expect) my mother to return to the Faith through the intervention of the Blessed Mother. As if all of the above wasn't wonderful enough, I actually traveled by myself all the way from Seattle to Marytown for the retreat. I had never been there before and knew no one else attending. Mary works in miraculous ways, because I, a woman of virtually no Catholic upbringing, decided to plan an entire vacation around Marytown and the retreat. And I could not have enjoyed myself more. I see this all as pure grace-the grace of conversion that comes from my Marian consecration. (For those who haven't been to Marytown, I urge you to make the trip. You won't regret it.)
Since none of you know me, you don't know how miraculous these changes are. Let me put it into perspective. I only received my First Holy Communion and Confirmation on Easter Vigil, 1998. My parents have been away from the Church since before my birth thirty years ago, and frankly, they have some bitter feelings about the Church. But since I began to wear the Miraculous Medal and became consecrated to Mary, Mom is softening, little by little. So my consecration hasn't just changed my life. I truly believe that it has changed my mother's, too. The lesson seems to be: Never underestimate the power of Our Lady to bring about reconciliation between family members, or in the case of my mother and me, an even greater bond of love.
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