the article that made me clean up my room

Frank Duff :):)

a random Monday morning..In a peaceful morning without tutorial, I was moved to read my Maria Legionis. In the first page, an article "Perfection for Mary" was found, written by Frank Duff, the founder of Legion of Mary. After I finished reading the article, somehow I felt an urge to clean up my room (fyi,my room was super messy for few months already)  :)

Interestingly, constantly seeking for perfection is the characteristic of every good workman. Frank Duff gave the example of Michelangelo who said that trifles make perfection but that perfection is no trifle. However, what is our motive of perfection? Frank Duff said that our motive must be all Christian doctrine and "we should have a notion of the different Divine Persons, of the Mystical Body, of Our Lady's Office of Motherhood."

Well, I'm not good in summarizing article. Let's just read some quotes that struck me the most.

"If we say 'Mary' we never exclude Jesus. It would be a mentally impossible operation for the Catholic to imagine Mary as apart from Jesus."

When I read this line, I challenged myself, "How to describe Mother Mary without mentioning Jesus??" First thing that came to my mine was the basic question, "Who is Mary?" and we will answer, "Mother of Jesus." There's no way we can separate Mary from Jesus. Even when we want to explain how Mother Mary is conceived without sin, we will explain how Mother Mary is also saved by Jesus. Remember the analogy of saving someone who will die when they jump to the pool coz he can't swim? Even though at the end he is not sunk in the pool, we still say that "He is saved." The same thing happened to Mother Mary. Jesus also saved her. It's impossible to imagine Mary as apart from Jesus. Even when Catholics pray Hail Mary, we say
1. "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you amongst women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus"
2. "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death."

"Would Mary in her home throw things about like a schoolboy? Some of us leave things after us like the poltergeists are supposed to do. the artist would give his extra touches because he judged them to be necessary steps towards his goal of perfection."

This line reminds me of those school days when my mom would never ever let me touch my computer before  I took shower (Like what I'm doing now), when my mom would never ever let me ENTER her bedroom before I changed and washed my foot and hands after going out, when my mom would remind me and my brother to take out our lunchbox from our school bags. This line also reminds me on my Thai painting, how I want to make every line perfect.
I think Frank Duff is correct. Striving for perfection, especially for Mary, is not childish. A little extra thing that we do for perfection for Mary is not childish, but it "turns on spiritual energy, which makes the work lighter. it's like adding sugar to something bitter, making it palatable; or like injecting oil into groaning machinery... All of us, like that bird, need wings to realise our destiny. That monotonous succession of movements can weigh heavily on the mind so that sometimes we face life with a sense of desperation. Either we conquer the routine, or it overcomes us."

Frank Duff suggested a formula "Perfection for Mary". He said, "this little symbolic procedure is of importance. It is extra. That outward gesture is the necessary occasional reminder of our motive and objective." I realized that Our Church has a lot of treasures in prayer. This line reminds me of Pope Benedict's answer on 'how to pray'. Morning Offering, Angelus Prayer, the Vespers, so on and so forth are really treasures of prayer. Making sign of cross reminds me of my identity as a Christian and of Christ's suffering and victory. When I'm scared, when I'm nervous, before I dance, before I do my presentation, before my exam, this 'outward gesture' reminds me that God is with me, God never leaves me. The Sacramentals that Our Church has are also special gifts and reminder for us. Outward gesture, symbolic, prayers in the book or prayer card, are not routines. Even when I feel dry and I don't feel anything when I do or say it, I know one thing, I remember God when I do it. I know I'm struggling and I can't do it alone, I need God's grace and He's always here.. with me.. Even if I fall and God will raise me up..