THE WORLD'S FIRST LOVE
Today I would like to share a little reading from The World’s First Love, a beautiful book about the Blessed Virgin Mary written by Blessed Fulton J. Sheen.
On September 24, 2026, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was beatified by the Catholic Church in St. Louis, Missouri. He is now known as Blessed Fulton J. Sheen.
Our copy of this book is especially dear to us because Fulton Sheen himself signed it. Inside the front cover he wrote, “God love you,” and then signed his name.
Before God made the world, He already knew what His creation would be.
An artist sees a picture in his mind before he paints it. A builder has a plan before he begins to build. And before God created the world, He had His own beautiful plan.
In that plan was a woman.
Mary.
God knew her before she was born. He knew the home where she would live, the prayers she would pray, and the quiet life she would lead. And He knew that one day He would ask her to become the Mother of His Son.
Long before the angel Gabriel came to Mary, God had prepared her for this wonderful calling. She was not chosen because she was rich or powerful. She was chosen because she belonged completely to God.
Mary was humble. She was pure. And she trusted God.
Then came the day when the angel appeared to her. Gabriel told Mary that God had chosen her to become the Mother of Jesus.
Mary did not understand everything that would happen. She did not know all the joys or all the sorrows that were waiting for her.
But she trusted God.
And Mary said yes.
That little yes changed the world.
Through Mary’s yes, Jesus came to us. The Son of God became a little Child and entered the world through a mother.
This tells us something beautiful about God. He could have come into the world in any way He wished. But He chose to come through Mary.
He chose to have a mother.
Jesus received His human life from her. She carried Him close to her heart. She held Him in her arms. She fed Him and cared for Him. She watched Him grow.
And Jesus loved her as a son loves his mother.
That is why Mary can never be separated from the story of Jesus.
Whenever we come close to Mary, she does not keep us for herself. She leads us to her Son.
She always leads us to Jesus.
There is something else that is beautiful to remember.
Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Mary already loved Him.
Before the shepherds came, before the Wise Men followed the star, before anyone in the world had seen the face of Jesus, Mary loved Him.
She carried Him beneath her heart. She waited for Him. She prayed.
And she loved Him.
In that beautiful sense, Mary was the world’s first love for Jesus.
And Jesus loved her.
That love between Jesus and His Mother began quietly, hidden from the world. But through them, God’s love would reach every nation and every generation.
It would even reach us.
So when we think of Mary, we should never stop with Mary. We should let her take us by the hand and bring us closer to Jesus.
We can ask her to teach us to trust Him as she did, to love Him as she did, and to say yes to God even when we cannot see what lies ahead.
Blessed Fulton Sheen loved the Blessed Mother deeply. He understood that Mary always leads us to her Son.
Dear Blessed Mother,
Help me to love Jesus.
Teach me to trust Him with a simple heart.
And when God asks something of me, help me to answer as you did:
Yes.
Take my hand, dear Mary, and always lead me to your Son.
Amen.
About This Reading
The World’s First Love is Fulton J. Sheen’s beautiful meditation on the Blessed Virgin Mary and her place in the life of Christ. This reading has been shortened and retold in Kathy’s clear, gentle words.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was beatified on September 24, 2026, and is now known as Blessed Fulton J. Sheen. This recording was prepared from a treasured copy of The World’s First Love personally signed by Fulton Sheen with the words, “God love you.”
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