DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
Mary is taken up to heaven;
a chorus of angels exults.
REVELATIONS 11:19,12:1-6,10
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
All the dogmas concerning Mary that all Catholics are bound to believe are doctrines that the faithful already believed for centuries. Why does the Church give Your Virgin Mother such great reverence and honor, a place high above all the angels and saints in heaven, a place at Your right hand? In doing so, the Church safeguards against any heresies concerning You. The four dogmas concerning Mary are her immaculate conception, her perpetual virginity, her glorious assumption into heaven, and the declaration of the Church that she is the Mother of God.
Beloved, I thank You for the Catholic Church who for over 2000 years has pondered the truths of our faith both in Sacred Scripture and in the rich legacy handed down to Holy Mother Church in Sacred Tradition. This Tradition, preserved by the Holy Spirit, is handed down faithfully to their successors in an unbroken line to this day and so it will be until Your triumphant return.
The Catholic Church and all those born in her believe in faith that all that the Church teaches is divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Church is not capricious in her teachings and beliefs which she carefully preserves and hands down for 'She is the pillar and bulwark of truth.'
Mary is the Woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant. Mary is the perpetual Virgin who gave birth to the Son of God. Anyone who dishonors Mary does no honor to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for she is the fairest of the fair daughters of the Father, she is the beloved Mother of the Son, and she is the most chaste spouse of the Holy Spirit. Any detraction of Mary is displeasing to God. This triumphant and glorious shout from heaven, ‘Victory and power and empire forever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ.’ Is possible because Mary said 'Yes'.
PSALM 44:10-12, 16
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Every praiseworthy women in the Old Testament is an archetype of Mary. We see her veiled in these women mentioned in Sacred Scripture as well as in the writings of the prophets and in the psalms. She is the chosen daughter of Israel, she is the Queen in gold of Ophir who stands at Your right hand. She is the Woman Warrior who made it possible for You to crush the head of Satan by her fiat and her fidelity to God from the moment of her immaculate conception.
She suffered alongside You, the lance that pierced Your Heart, pierced hers as well. She was a woman of sorrows and well acquainted with sorrow just as You were the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. It is right and fitting that she who was fashioned by God be the epitome of beauty in every way and crowned her with every virtue and grace is raised to stand at Your right hand. Mary is the gift given to us with Your dying breath and all who receive Your Mother into their heart and home receive a treasure.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-26
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The truth can be heard in silence, in contemplation, in meditation, in the unwavering gaze of deep love between God and the children of God. For over 2000 years the Apostles, Church Fathers, hermits, monks, priests, and devout holy men and women have communed with the Holy Spirit, received the Word as Food and Drink, and permitted the Holy Spirit to give them an understanding of hidden things not mentioned explicitly but are implicit and illumined by His light, grace, and wisdom.
Your glorious resurrection from the dead is the first-fruit that all who are grafted into Your Body will also receive when we fall asleep in the sleep of death. Why is it so hard to understand that the privilege accorded to Elijah who was taken up into heaven would not also be granted to Mary, Your Mother?
Death is the fruit of sin. You entered into our death in order that we may receive the fruit of Your redemption and Mary, being preserved from sin from the moment of her conception, had no reason to suffer this death and decay. She was the first to merit the fruit that all who belong to You will taste when You return again in glory.
LUKE 1:39-56
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
There is so much we learn about Mary through the Gospel of St. Luke. Everything that he has narrated about her, the words he uses to describe events gives us a glorious image, a beautiful illustration of a perfect disciple.
After the annunciation, St. Luke tells us that Mary set out as quickly as she could to the hill country of Judah to visit her cousin Elizabeth. She did not procrastinate, she was not vainglorious, she knew that her cousin would need her help, would rejoice in having her relative with her and they could both share the joy of the gift of life they both had received miraculously.
Elizabeth's greeting to Mary is one that will echo through the ages by all who read this Gospel and by all who pray to Mary, honoring her as the Mother of God and our Mother. ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?
The baby in the womb of his mother was not to be left out in this splendid moment of grace when, through the power of the Holy Spirit, he recognizes that he is in the presence of God as his mother testifies, 'For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’
Mary's beautiful canticle of praise is one that is sung, prayed, meditated on every day from the rising of the sun to its setting for it is one of joyous acknowledgment of the work of God, and the goodness and graciousness of God to the poor and the humble.
When we get inflated by a false sense of pride and entitlement let us recall how God deals with His little ones and that every good and perfect gift is granted not because we merit it but through His will and bounty alone.
Mary is taken up to heaven;
a chorus of angels exults.
REVELATIONS 11:19,12:1-6,10
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
All the dogmas concerning Mary that all Catholics are bound to believe are doctrines that the faithful already believed for centuries. Why does the Church give Your Virgin Mother such great reverence and honor, a place high above all the angels and saints in heaven, a place at Your right hand? In doing so, the Church safeguards against any heresies concerning You. The four dogmas concerning Mary are her immaculate conception, her perpetual virginity, her glorious assumption into heaven, and the declaration of the Church that she is the Mother of God.
Beloved, I thank You for the Catholic Church who for over 2000 years has pondered the truths of our faith both in Sacred Scripture and in the rich legacy handed down to Holy Mother Church in Sacred Tradition. This Tradition, preserved by the Holy Spirit, is handed down faithfully to their successors in an unbroken line to this day and so it will be until Your triumphant return.
The Catholic Church and all those born in her believe in faith that all that the Church teaches is divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Church is not capricious in her teachings and beliefs which she carefully preserves and hands down for 'She is the pillar and bulwark of truth.'
Mary is the Woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant. Mary is the perpetual Virgin who gave birth to the Son of God. Anyone who dishonors Mary does no honor to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for she is the fairest of the fair daughters of the Father, she is the beloved Mother of the Son, and she is the most chaste spouse of the Holy Spirit. Any detraction of Mary is displeasing to God. This triumphant and glorious shout from heaven, ‘Victory and power and empire forever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ.’ Is possible because Mary said 'Yes'.
PSALM 44:10-12, 16
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Every praiseworthy women in the Old Testament is an archetype of Mary. We see her veiled in these women mentioned in Sacred Scripture as well as in the writings of the prophets and in the psalms. She is the chosen daughter of Israel, she is the Queen in gold of Ophir who stands at Your right hand. She is the Woman Warrior who made it possible for You to crush the head of Satan by her fiat and her fidelity to God from the moment of her immaculate conception.
She suffered alongside You, the lance that pierced Your Heart, pierced hers as well. She was a woman of sorrows and well acquainted with sorrow just as You were the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. It is right and fitting that she who was fashioned by God be the epitome of beauty in every way and crowned her with every virtue and grace is raised to stand at Your right hand. Mary is the gift given to us with Your dying breath and all who receive Your Mother into their heart and home receive a treasure.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-26
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The truth can be heard in silence, in contemplation, in meditation, in the unwavering gaze of deep love between God and the children of God. For over 2000 years the Apostles, Church Fathers, hermits, monks, priests, and devout holy men and women have communed with the Holy Spirit, received the Word as Food and Drink, and permitted the Holy Spirit to give them an understanding of hidden things not mentioned explicitly but are implicit and illumined by His light, grace, and wisdom.
Your glorious resurrection from the dead is the first-fruit that all who are grafted into Your Body will also receive when we fall asleep in the sleep of death. Why is it so hard to understand that the privilege accorded to Elijah who was taken up into heaven would not also be granted to Mary, Your Mother?
Death is the fruit of sin. You entered into our death in order that we may receive the fruit of Your redemption and Mary, being preserved from sin from the moment of her conception, had no reason to suffer this death and decay. She was the first to merit the fruit that all who belong to You will taste when You return again in glory.
LUKE 1:39-56
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
There is so much we learn about Mary through the Gospel of St. Luke. Everything that he has narrated about her, the words he uses to describe events gives us a glorious image, a beautiful illustration of a perfect disciple.
After the annunciation, St. Luke tells us that Mary set out as quickly as she could to the hill country of Judah to visit her cousin Elizabeth. She did not procrastinate, she was not vainglorious, she knew that her cousin would need her help, would rejoice in having her relative with her and they could both share the joy of the gift of life they both had received miraculously.
Elizabeth's greeting to Mary is one that will echo through the ages by all who read this Gospel and by all who pray to Mary, honoring her as the Mother of God and our Mother. ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?
The baby in the womb of his mother was not to be left out in this splendid moment of grace when, through the power of the Holy Spirit, he recognizes that he is in the presence of God as his mother testifies, 'For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’
Mary's beautiful canticle of praise is one that is sung, prayed, meditated on every day from the rising of the sun to its setting for it is one of joyous acknowledgment of the work of God, and the goodness and graciousness of God to the poor and the humble.
When we get inflated by a false sense of pride and entitlement let us recall how God deals with His little ones and that every good and perfect gift is granted not because we merit it but through His will and bounty alone.
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