DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
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Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women. LK 1:28
ACTS 1:1-14
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
After Your ascension into heaven, Mary was with the Apostles in the upper room, she lived with them. It was a tremendous consolation to have her in close proximity to them, for no one knew You as intimately as she did and they would have loved talking to her about You just as much as she would have delighted in talking about You to them and together with her, they kept all the memories of You alive.
This short passage concludes with these words, 'All these joined in continuous prayer, together with several women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.' Here we see the flowering of the nascent Church which has its beginning from a little mustard seed, as well as Mary's motherhood of this Church which is Your Body.
LUKE 1:46-55
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Mary's beautiful hymn of praise, the Magnificat, that poured out from a soul wedded to God, testifies not only to her intimate relationship with the Father, with You her Son, and the Holy Spirit, but also shines an incandescent light on her profound insight of God. This hymn, that bursts forth from a heart that cannot contain its joy, reveals all that she has come to understand from contemplating, pondering, and meditating on Him from the earliest years of her life.
There is an indescribable, effervescent, amazement of all the wonderful things that God has done for her, His little one, His handmaid, His creature, who from the moment she first drew breath lived a life of quiet surrender, humility, and obedience to God's will. She was His secret garden in which every grace, and virtue flourished. From her emanated the most delightful fragrance of holiness and purity that were God's gift to her for she was to bear His Son, she was chosen from all women to be the Mother of God, Theotokos, God-bearer. She sees all the paradoxes in the way God works which is an absolute contradiction to the way the world operates.
He takes her nothingness and makes her the most glorious of all His creatures. She will be blessed in every generation until time ceases to be. In choosing her He confounds the proud and the mighty of the world and teaches us that it is the little ones, the poor in spirit who are truly the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Her fiat has made it possible for God to establish the New Covenant of Love between Him and all the people of the world in every age. Mary had to say 'yes' before God's awesome plan of salvation could commence. No wonder the Church, cannot honor, reverence, praise, venerate and love her extravagantly enough - her children will forever try to outdo each other in their hymns of praise of her but none can love her, honor her, reverence her, and praise her more than God has done, but we will not cease trying. Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.
LUKE 1:26-38
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Over 2000 years ago God sent His angel Gabriel with a message to a young virgin who was betrothed to Joseph. She lived in Nazareth and her name was Mary. Only heaven and Mary know all the details of that divine, all-hallowed encounter.
There is only a brief, terse description of the event and the words exchanged between Mary and the Angel but her response to God's request for her to become the Mother of His Son, 'I am the handmaid of the Lord may it be done to me according to His word' has transformed the course of mankind and history forever.
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