FRIDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

King of the peoples
and cornerstone of the Church,
come and save man,
whom you made from the dust of the earth.

1 SAMUEL 1:24-28 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

What a consolation it is to know that our children are Yours as well - in truth they are Yours first.

Hannah shed many bitter tears and prayed with longing that God would open her womb and bless her. He heard her prayers and gave her a son who was her delight but she did not cling to him. Having received him with joy she gave him back to God. She teaches us that children are God's gifts to us and are ours only for a season. We are charged with the responsibility to nurture them not only physically but spiritually as well and then entrust them to the Father.

Lord, God, look with pity and compassion on parents who have received the great gift of a child or children from You but have failed in raising them up as well as we ought to have done. We hand them over to You today, in Your great kindness O Lord,  receive them and do for them what we neglected to do. Fill them with grace, grant them the gift of conversion and repentance, and restore them once again as fruitful members in the mystical body of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM - 1 SAMUEL 2:1,4-8 ©

My heart exults in the Lord.

I find my strength in my God;
my mouth laughs at my enemies
as I rejoice in your saving help.

The bows of the mighty are broken,

but the weak are clothed with strength.
Those with plenty must labour for bread,
but the hungry need work no more.
The childless wife has children now
but the fruitful wife bears no more.

It is the Lord who gives life and death,

he brings men to the grave and back;
it is the Lord who gives poverty and riches.
He brings men low and raises them on high.

He lifts up the lowly from the dust,

from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes
to give him a glorious throne.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
on them he has set the world.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

LUKE 1:46-56 ©

My Soul's Beloved, 

The Church recalls Mary's hymn of praise constantly in her liturgy - it reveals the beauty of her soul and her receptivity to God's Word in Sacred Scripture. From the Magnificat, it is clear that the Word of God formed the woof and weave of her life. She lived the Word, she breathed the Word, she contemplated the Word from the moment of her conception. Filled with every grace and virtue of the Holy Spirit she mirrored perfectly the God whom she loved and adored with passion. 

She lived under the gaze of the Almighty who fashioned her with exceeding care. Conceived free from original sin and never desiring anything but the will of God in all things, she remains the Woman par excellence. The New Eve. Mary acknowledged that God is her Savior for she, like the rest of mankind, was redeemed, before the work of salvation wrought by her Son that would save all mankind, (for with God who is outside time, all things are possible). She is the template for all of us who are God's children. She is what we can and must aspire to be however imperfectly, when we allow God complete autonomy over our lives. 

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for teaching us to call Your Father our Abba as well. Thank You for giving us Your Mother to be ours as well. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit that makes a life of grace and virtue possible - for on our own we can do nothing and remain miserable, sinful wretches. Thank You for redeeming us and making us adopted children of God. Keep us safe from the enemy until we are home with You eternally.