who treasured the word of God
and pondered it in her heart. LK 2:19
2 CHRONICLES 24:17-25
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The punishment for the worship of pagan gods and for idolatry is eternal damnation especially for those who once worshipped the one, true God. If nations are weak, if governments collapse, if people are faced with disease and death stalks them, it is because they have deliberately and willfully turned their back to You.
We have abandoned You completely and ought not to be surprised that we are brought low by the 10 plagues of Egypt. But we know that You are the God of love, full of mercy and tender compassion and that You constantly woo us back to You. Answer the prayers of Your faithful remnant and lift the hand of oppression that weighs heavy on us and set us free. Bring us back to our senses. Grant us the wisdom to realize that without You we are nothing. We need You.
PSALM 89:4-5, 29034
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The psalmist sings in jubilation because he knows that Your love is constant, unwavering, unchangeable. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. God has made You our Covenant and it is one that will last forever..
We who belong to You, who are baptized into Your Body, who are called by Your Name, who walk in Your ways, and are guided by Your Law of Love, discover Your love is eternal and Your Word never fails.
LUKE 2:41-51
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Yesterday we celebrated Your Sacred Heart, today we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of Your Mother. Two hearts so closely entwined in love and devotion to each other it would be impossible to separate the two.
Every Catholic is privileged to receive Your Mother as our own because You desired that we have a perfect role model in this luminous creature fashioned by the Father and graced in the fullness of every virtue by the Holy Spirit. All who have the good sense to take this gift par excellence from Your hand will find in her the most tender of mothers who never fails to lead us gently, firmly, and surely to You, her beloved Son. 'Do whatever he tells you to do' is what she always says to each of her children.
You, Beloved were always God even when You were in Your Mother's womb. Fully human and fully divine. One can only imagine the distress and suffering Mary and Joseph endured when they lost You and until they found You three days later calmly talking and listening to the doctors in the temple who were astounded at Your wisdom. One can almost feel the palpable relief that surged through Mary when she found You, she was all mother, she had found her baby and for a moment she forgot that You were also God. All she wanted was to wrap her arms around You, draw You close to her heart just as much as wanted to shake You a little for the distress You caused both her and Joseph but when You responded to her gentle reproof, ‘My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’ with, 'Why were you looking for me?’ ‘Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ That was the time the sword that was always at her heart went in a little deeper. It continued to do so as she watched You grow from boy to man and accompanied You faithfully when You began Your public ministry, until the sword plunged right through it at the foot of the Cross. Until then she took comfort in the fact that You went with her and was obedient to both her and Joseph. But she kept all these things in her heart, pondered on them, contemplated and meditated on the Word made flesh who lived with her and was flesh of her flesh.
Thank You, Beloved, for the gift of Your Mother as our own.
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