Years ago, I heard someone propose a new Marian devotion: Our Lady, Tier of Knots. Surprisingly, there is more to this proposal than a mere play on the traditional devotion to Our Lady, Untier of Knots. We should indeed do well to ask our Blessed Mother for help untying the problems in our lives. And yet we may consider an entirely different kind of knot, one that we should do well to have more of in our lives—commitment.
Giving our word in commitment is the unbreakable bond between what we say and reality. To become the honest person we all wish to be, we must keep our word, recognizing that it is measured by a truth external to ourselves. When seen in this light, honesty is something bold and daring. Commitment is the very knot that binds us immovably to the truth, not to restrict our freedom but to secure us as we scale the heights of virtue amidst the unforeseen snares and temptations along the ascent.
This is fundamental for any Christian. Christ is Truth, and by keeping the truth of our word, we keep the Truth of the Word in us (John 14:6, 8:31–32). When others can trust us unshakably, then truly our ‘yes’ means ‘yes’ and our ‘no’ means ‘no’ (Matt 5:37). This is no less challenging than the other high demands of discipleship given to us at the Sermon on the Mount. The challenge of commitment confronts us not only when considering grand vows, such as marriage or religious life, but even in daily trivialities. In a world of instant communication, we can hold off committing to a friend’s invitation until the last possible moment. And even if we have given our word to attend a certain event at a certain time, how often do we consider punctuality as a manifestation of our honesty? The purely human response in the face of such a challenge is complacency or retreat. On the one hand, we despair of perfection and settle for a mediocre degree of honesty. On the other hand, we acknowledge the importance of a promise fulfilled but simply avoid committing ourselves to anything.
We all fall short of the ideal, but Christ calls us to perfection (Matt 5:48). But there’s good news—Christ gives us the grace to become the saint he has called us to be. Just as we pray for his grace and ask for the saints’ intercessions for other virtues, let us not fail to ask for the grace to be bold in making commitments and resolute in keeping them. On this day, which traditionally celebrates the betrothal of St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us invoke Our Lady, Tier of Knots, so that we may have the courage to tie up the loose ends of our life and keep them resolutely bound in truth. Our Lady, Tier of Knots, pray for us that it may be done to us according to God’s word. Pray for us, that may we act according to our own word given to others. Pray for us that the Word and the Truth may dwell in us as it did in you. Through her prayers, merits, and example, may we be set free to give ourselves freely and truly to God and our neighbor, “in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
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Image: Lawrence Lew, Betrothal of the Virgin Mary & St Joseph (Used with permission)
