Dear Friend, 

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

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

Mary’s Prayer

My beloved son, I look up to you.

I remember the first time I looked into your beautiful eyes.

What joy you brought your father and me.

I remember your first steps,

 and how you would take my hand and look up to me with a smile.

Day by day, my love for you deepened.

Somehow, you eventually grew taller than I,

And you would gaze down at me with such affection.

I know you sensed my love. And I knew yours.

I remember how you would work with your dear father,

carrying wood to be used in the carpenter shop.

I was delighted to watch you learning your father’s craft.

You always gave us such joy.

I remember how you prayed with reverence and strength in your voice,

with your hands lifted to heaven.

I looked up to you, my beloved son.

I have never stopped doing so.

My dear Jesus, know I am here.

Please gaze down at me and see me standing at the foot of your cross.

I am with you in your agony.

My beloved son, I look up to you.

I see your bloodied hands lifted high on the cross.

How I long to hold your precious hands again.

I see your bloodied feet crucified.

How I long to walk with you again.

I see the wood on which you are nailed.

How I long to see you safe in the carpenter’s shop.

Oh, my Jesus,

I see your disfigured face, your swollen eyes—

My heart aches.

But I see your beauty, my son.

I see your love.

Please gaze down at me and see my love.

Oh, my beloved son, I look up to you.

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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).