DAY 37 - MARY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS, PRAY FOR US
SET THE WORLD ABLAZE
PRAY A ROSARY
- Rosary of the Day: Sorrowful Mysteries
- Traditional 54 Day Rotation: Joyful Mysteries
Those who would like to pray with others via The Telephone Rosary, call 1-951-799-9866 daily at 6 pm Eastern.
Tuesday of the Third week of Advent
1 Corinthians, Chapter 4, Verse 21
Which do you prefer? Shall
I come to you with a rod, or with LOVE
and a gentle spirit?
Love
demands we tell it like it is. At times because God is a Father, he must
disciple those he loves. We as children, like those that are gentle with us
there are times we must be corrected. Paul tells us that if we are to be true
Christian’s we must follow the example of Christ who did not seek
self-comfort’s but sacrificed all He had for the love of us. Therefore, seek a
spiritual leader and honor the parent(s) who will challenge you. Who will not
let you be less than you can be! A good spiritual leader teaches by example.
Leadership is caught not taught.
Creditable
Leadership[1]
Creditable
leaders are not afraid and model Christ’s behaviors for all. They do this
because they know the law of the picture and people do what they see. Leaders
embody the principles they teach. Paul shows us that leadership requires the
leader to:
1.
Be
on display and open for ridicule.
2.
Be
willing to play the fool in order to model the surrendered life.
3.
Be
able to endure the mocking of others without wavering.
4.
Be
willing to sacrifice luxuries.
5.
Be
hard working without retaliating against opposition.
6.
Be
fatherly and live an exemplary life for others.
7.
Be
encouraging of others to imitate your example.
Amoris Lætitia[2]
Love Made Fruitful, Life in the wider family, Being sons and
daughters (187-190)
As
members of the family of God we need to interact with the wider family made up
of parents, aunts and uncles, cousins and even neighbors. This greater family
may have members who require assistance, or at least companionship and affection,
or consolation amid suffering. The individualism so prevalent today can lead to creating small
nests of security, where others are perceived as bothersome or a threat. Such
isolation cannot offer greater peace or happiness; rather, it drains the heart
of a family and makes its life all the more narrow. First, let us
think of our parents. Jesus told the Pharisees that abandoning one’s parents is
contrary to God’s law. We do well to remember that each of us is a son or
daughter. “Even if one becomes an adult, or an elderly person, even if one
becomes a parent, if one occupies a position of responsibility, underneath all
of this is still the identity of a child. We are all sons and daughters. And
this always brings us back to the fact that we did not give ourselves life but
that we received it. The great gift of life is the first gift that we
received.” Hence, “the fourth commandment asks children… to honor their father
and mother. This commandment comes immediately after those dealing with God
himself. Indeed, it has to do with something sacred, something divine, and
something at the basis of every other kind of human respect. The biblical
formulation of the fourth commandment goes on to say: ‘that your days may be long in the land which
the Lord your God gives you’. The virtuous bond between generations is the
guarantee of the future and is the guarantee of a truly humane society. A
society with children who do not honor parents is a society without honor… It
is a society destined to be filled with surly and greedy young people.” There is, however,
another side to the coin. As the word of God tells us, “a man leaves his father
and his mother.” This does not always happen, and a marriage is hampered by the
failure to make this necessary sacrifice and surrender. Parents must not be abandoned or ignored, but
marriage itself demands that they be “left”, so that the new home will be a
true hearth, a place of security, hope and future plans, and the couple can
truly become “one flesh.” In some marriages, one spouse keeps secrets from the
other, confiding them instead to his or her parents. As a result, the opinions
of their parents become more important
than the feelings and opinions of their spouse. This situation cannot go on for
long, and even if it takes time, both spouses need to make the effort to grow
in trust and communication. Marriage challenges husbands and wives to find new
ways of being sons and daughters.
The Mystery of Man's
Reconciliation with God[3]
Lowliness
is assured by majesty, weakness by power, mortality by eternity. To pay the
debt of our sinful state, a nature that was incapable of suffering was joined
to one that could suffer. Thus, in keeping with the healing that we needed, one
and the same mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, was able to
die in one nature, and unable to die in the other.
He
who is true God was therefore born in the complete and perfect nature of a true
man, whole in his own nature, whole in ours. By our nature we mean what the
Creator had fashioned in us from the beginning, and took to himself in order to
restore it.
For
in the Savior there was no trace of what the deceiver introduced and man, being
misled, allowed to enter. It does not follow that because he submitted to
sharing in our human weakness he therefore shared in our sins.
He
took the nature of a servant without stain of sin, enlarging our humanity
without diminishing his divinity. He emptied himself; though invisible he made
himself invisible, though Creator and Lord of all things he chose to be one of
us mortal men. Yet this was the condescension of compassion, not the loss of
omnipotence. So he who in the nature of God had created man, became in the
nature of a servant, man himself.
Thus,
the Son of God enters this lowly world. He comes down from the throne of
heaven, yet does not separate himself from the Father's glory. He is born in a
new condition, by a new birth.
He
was born in a new condition, for, invisible in his own nature, he became
visible in ours. Beyond our grasp, he chose to come within our grasp. Existing
before time began, he began to exist at a moment in time. Lord of the universe,
he hid his infinite glory and took the nature of a servant. Incapable of
suffering as God, he did not refuse to be a man, capable of suffering.
Immortal, he chose to be subject to the laws of death.
He
who is true God is also true man. There is no falsehood in this unity as long
as the lowliness of man and the preeminence of God coexist in mutual
relationship.
As
God does not change by his condescension, so man is not swallowed up by being
exalted. Each nature exercises its own activity, in communion with the other.
The Word does what is proper to the Word, the flesh fulfills what is proper to
the flesh.
One
nature is resplendent with miracles, the other falls victim to injuries. As the
Word does not lose equality with the Father's glory, so the flesh does not
leave behind the nature of our race.
One
and the same person - this must be said over and over again - is truly the Son
of God and truly the son of man. He is God in virtue of the fact that in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He is
man in virtue of the fact that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
RESPONSORY
Receive,
O Virgin Mary, the word
which
the Lord has made known to you
by
the message of the angel:
You
will conceive and give birth to a son,
both
God and man,
--and
you will be called blessed among women (alleluia).
A
virgin, you will indeed bear a son;
ever
chaste and holy, you will be
the
mother of our Savior.
--And
you will...
PRAYER
God
our Father,
your
Word became man and was born of the Virgin Mary.
May
we become more like Jesus Christ,
whom
we acknowledge as our redeemer, God and man.
We
ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one
God, for ever and ever.
Spiritual Crib[4]
A special devotion that can be performed during Advent to prepare for the coming of the Infant Savior. It can be adapted for adults and/or children and applied as is appropriate to your state in life.
· 5th day, December 15th: THE STRAW—Mortification Today the infant Jesus desires mortification from us; therefore, let us watch for opportunities with a joyful heart. Not look about when we are walking; not lean back when sitting; not warm ourselves when cold; not satisfy the taste at table; when tempted to impatience not to show it, and yield our own opinion to that of others. Today really listen to others
Daily
Devotions/Practices
·
Jesse Tree ornament: Mary: Matt.
1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38 Symbols: lily, crown of stars, pierced heart
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday
Devotion
·
Pray Day 2 of
the Novena for our Pope and Bishops
·
Tuesday:
Litany of St. Michael the Archangel
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary.
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