DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church:
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
1 Samuel 1:24-28, 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8, Luke 1:46-56
1 Samuel 1:24-28
My Love, Beloved of my soul,
Hannah teaches us detachment and renunciation. Two very difficult virtues because the flesh desires that we cling to those we love selfishly. To truly love we must be able to let go for the greater good. In this life, all we must cling to is God and not to any created or material thing. These are hard lessons that life will teach us and the more stubbornly we cling to people and things the tougher the trials that we will have to endure until we learn these lessons.
We are all meant for God and for the Kingdom as Hannah so beautifully demonstrates. She longed for this child Samuel whom she conceived after many years of suffering and tears. He is truly a gift from God but she is prepared to give him back to God joyfully. Help me to remember Beloved, that my life belongs to You and to be truly happy I need to dedicate it to You because my life is Yours to do with as You will.
1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8
My Love, Beloved of my soul,
The Magnificat, Mary's hymn of praise when she meets her cousin Elizabeth, is the fulfilment of Hannah's song of praise to God on conceiving her son Samuel.
"My heart exults in the LORD,
my horn is exalted in my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;
I rejoice in my victory."
"The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry batten on spoil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while the mother of many languishes."
"The LORD puts to death and gives life;
he casts down to the nether world;
he raises up again.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich,
he humbles, he also exalts."
"He raises the needy from the dust;
from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage."
My Beloved, I too exult at the awesome contradictions between the Kingdom of God and the world. You are the King of Justice and the Prince of Peace.
Luke 1:46-56
My Love, Beloved of my soul,
Mary teaches us the beauty of the virtue of humility. It is truly the hallmark of the greatest among us. It is a virtue that we need to practice in order to grow in perfection. God, our Father Himself is mind-blowingly humble. He not only condescended to create us in order to share the joys of His Love and His Kingdom but when we disobeyed Him instead of just annihilating us He planned to rescue us.
You are humility itself. We learn humility from You who although being God became a human being like us in order to redeem us.
The Holy Spirit teaches us humility and He is the teacher par excellence. He deigns to live in sinful creatures making us His temple. He gently leads, encourages, and guides us on the paths that enable us to practice and grow in this most lovable of all virtues. To know that we are dust and to be exultantly grateful to God for what He has done to us beginning with Mary's 'yes' is to live with grateful hearts that overflow with thanksgiving and praise.
Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever."
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months
and then returned to her home.
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church:
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
1 Samuel 1:24-28, 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8, Luke 1:46-56
1 Samuel 1:24-28
My Love, Beloved of my soul,
Hannah teaches us detachment and renunciation. Two very difficult virtues because the flesh desires that we cling to those we love selfishly. To truly love we must be able to let go for the greater good. In this life, all we must cling to is God and not to any created or material thing. These are hard lessons that life will teach us and the more stubbornly we cling to people and things the tougher the trials that we will have to endure until we learn these lessons.
We are all meant for God and for the Kingdom as Hannah so beautifully demonstrates. She longed for this child Samuel whom she conceived after many years of suffering and tears. He is truly a gift from God but she is prepared to give him back to God joyfully. Help me to remember Beloved, that my life belongs to You and to be truly happy I need to dedicate it to You because my life is Yours to do with as You will.
1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8
My Love, Beloved of my soul,
The Magnificat, Mary's hymn of praise when she meets her cousin Elizabeth, is the fulfilment of Hannah's song of praise to God on conceiving her son Samuel.
"My heart exults in the LORD,
my horn is exalted in my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;
I rejoice in my victory."
"The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry batten on spoil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while the mother of many languishes."
"The LORD puts to death and gives life;
he casts down to the nether world;
he raises up again.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich,
he humbles, he also exalts."
"He raises the needy from the dust;
from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage."
My Beloved, I too exult at the awesome contradictions between the Kingdom of God and the world. You are the King of Justice and the Prince of Peace.
Luke 1:46-56
My Love, Beloved of my soul,
Mary teaches us the beauty of the virtue of humility. It is truly the hallmark of the greatest among us. It is a virtue that we need to practice in order to grow in perfection. God, our Father Himself is mind-blowingly humble. He not only condescended to create us in order to share the joys of His Love and His Kingdom but when we disobeyed Him instead of just annihilating us He planned to rescue us.
You are humility itself. We learn humility from You who although being God became a human being like us in order to redeem us.
The Holy Spirit teaches us humility and He is the teacher par excellence. He deigns to live in sinful creatures making us His temple. He gently leads, encourages, and guides us on the paths that enable us to practice and grow in this most lovable of all virtues. To know that we are dust and to be exultantly grateful to God for what He has done to us beginning with Mary's 'yes' is to live with grateful hearts that overflow with thanksgiving and praise.
Mary said:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever."
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months
and then returned to her home.
Genuine humility forgets self and is always in loving service of the other.
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