Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!
Blessed art thou among women. LK 1:28
ISAIAH 9:1-7
My Soul's Beloved,
Most of us O Lord will never begin to fully grasp the magnanimity of God in raising His creatures to the dignity of sons and daughters. We are the children of Adam and Eve. We inherited their tainted nature. Concupiscence is our lot and we struggle with sin and the battle would weary and crush us had not we been re-born of water, the Holy Spirit, and with Fire.
The flower of creation is the Virgin Mother. In her is found the fullness of perfection for she is endowed by her Spouse, the Holy Spirit, with every grace and virtue. He has ravaged her with the power of His divine love - she on her part keeps her gaze ever downcast aware that all she is has been given to her. She was chosen by God to be the Ark of the Covenant and to give flesh to the Son of God when the Holy Spirit came upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. From that moment on she was one with the Father, the Son she conceived and was born of her, and the Holy Spirit. She is the promise of the inheritance that we will all receive when You come again in glory to claim all creation for Yourself and You will establish Your Lordship over all. You are the King of Kings and You, O Lord have crowned Your Mother, Mary, as Queen of heaven and earth. All her perfection flows from the goodness of God and she knows it that is why she rejoices as she extols the goodness of God and when we look through her soul we see God magnified in glory, splendor, and majesty.
For there is a child born for us,
a son given to us
and dominion is laid on his shoulders;
and this is the name they give him:
Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God,
Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace.
Wide is his dominion
in a peace that has no end,
for the throne of David
and for his royal power,
which he establishes and makes secure
in justice and integrity.
From this time onwards and for ever,
the jealous love of the Lord of Hosts will do this.
PSALM 112(113):1-8
My Soul's Beloved,
For there is a child born for us,
a son given to us
and dominion is laid on his shoulders;
and this is the name they give him:
Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God,
Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace.
Wide is his dominion
in a peace that has no end,
for the throne of David
and for his royal power,
which he establishes and makes secure
in justice and integrity.
From this time onwards and for ever,
the jealous love of the Lord of Hosts will do this.
PSALM 112(113):1-8
May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
praised be the name of the Lord!
High above all nations is the Lord,
above the heavens his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God,
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth?
From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes,
yes, with the princes of his people.
May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
LUKE 1:26-38
If there is just one thing that we remember it ought to be this - that God scorns the haughty but the little ones He raises up and lavishes with tender love.
Nazareth was held in low esteem and it was said, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' And yet it was to Nazareth that the angel Gabriel was sent by God, to fulfill the Messianic prophecies through the fiat of a lowly little virgin, Mary.
Beloved, we thank the wisdom of Holy Mother Church who at various intervals in the liturgical calendar refreshes our memory of what God has done for us and Mary's immense role in His plan of salvation and the redemption of the human race.
The greeting of the angel Gabriel sets the tone of how the whole world must view Mary for it is in sync with how God and heaven view her. ‘Rejoice, so highly favored! The Lord is with you.’ There never was a moment in Mary's life from her conception until her assumption and coronation in heaven when God was not with her. He was woven in the warp and woof of her heart, her mind, her soul, body, and spirit. From the moment she breathed her first breath she breathed the breath of the Holy Spirit to whom she was espoused.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God - when we honor Mary, Your Mother, we honor God. The greater our praises of Mary, the greater our understanding of what God can do if we only live as Mary did humbly and totally submissive to the will of God. She often did not understand what God was doing but did not doubt or grumble or complain instead she meditated, pondered deeply, and contemplated everything in her heart. She conversed with God and waited patiently for His plan to unfold. She knew the Scriptures, she knew every prophecy and waited with Israel for the fulfillment of the Messianic promises and when heaven revealed to her that she was chosen to conceive the God-Man - Mary said 'yes'. ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God may I too, never forget that nothing is impossible to God and that in time every one of Your promises for the children of God will be fulfilled.
No comments:
Post a Comment