Dear Friend,  

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Reflection by Dianne M. Traflet, J.D., S.T.D.

“With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love.”  Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 2002.

Dear Mary,

I want to sit in your classroom and listen to your stories of Jesus.  I imagine you writing on the blackboard: “The Smile of Jesus.” 

With each story you tell us, your love for Jesus radiates; you smile as you recall all the times you gazed into the face of your son and saw his smile.  

I imagine you and Joseph intently gazing into the face of Jesus, and suddenly witnessing his first smile.  With joy, you turn to Joseph and say, “He’s smiling at you.”

I imagine years later when you see Joseph and Jesus working in the carpenter’s shop, you witness the smiles between Father and Son.  You smile, too, and say, “I love how you delight in each other’s company.”

I imagine during Jesus’ public ministry when you are introduced to his disciples, you notice Jesus’ smile as you hear him say, “Mom, I want you to meet….”  You see the smiles of his friends, and you can’t help but smile, too: “Any friend of Jesus is a friend of mine.”

Mary, please introduce me to the smile of Jesus.  Please intercede for me that I might catch the divine smile of delight, one that tells me that he truly cherishes my company.   I know that it gives your Immaculate Heart great joy that I grow in my friendship with Jesus. Mary, I will treasure the gift of Jesus’ beautiful smile, and I will happily smile back at him. Following your example, I resolve to help others experience the smile and the love of Jesus. May we all not only “contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ,” but “experience the depths of his love.” 

Thank you, Mary, for being my Mother and Teacher. 

Amen.

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Dianne M. Traflet, J.D., S.T.D., Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Administration and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, earned a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, an M.A. in Catholic Theology and Pastoral Ministry from The Institute of Advanced Studies of Catholic Doctrine, St. John's University, and an S.T.L. and an S.T.D. from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (The Angelicum), Rome. Dr. Traflet is a key leader in the Center for Diaconal Formation, and she gives numerous lectures, retreats, and days of recollection, including some specific to wives of deacons and deacon candidates. She is the author of Edith Stein: A Spiritual Portrait (Pauline Media, 2008).