Continuing to ponder the Interior Life of Jesus and Mary

[MariaChristi]

This morning, in the book The Interior Life of Jesus and Maryby Fr. Grou, SJ, I began Chapter 19 on “The Temptations of Christ” which is very appropriate liturgically, since we are hearing of the Public Life of Christ during the Sundays of “Ordinary Time”. Yesterday we heard the Gospel of Luke in which he wrote of Jesus, after being tempted in the desert, returning to Galilee and his rejection at Nazareth. The Gospel section read at Mass ended with people in the synagogue looking intently at Jesus after He, having read from Isaiah 61, then said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” How important it is to slow down, prayerfully pondering Scripture, and also works of the saints and spiritual writers such as Fr. Grou, SJ

Just looking at the opening of Chap. 19, Fr. Grou wrote:

Immediately after his baptism, “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (St. Matt. iv. 1). The connection between the circumstances here narrated is particularly worthy of observation. It was by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost that Jesus was led or, according to the expression of St. Mark, driven into the desert, there to be tempted by the devil. It appears strange that the Son of God should have submitted to the humiliation of being tempted by Satan ; yet that temptation had been ordained by his Father, it was in obedience to his Father’s will that he endured it ; and he himself, as God, willed that as man temptation should beset him.

I was struck by the fact that it was the Spirit who led Jesus into the Desert, and it was the Spirit who descended upon Him as a dove in His Baptism. In yesterday’s Gospel the first words from Isaiah 61 which Jesus read were: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me…” (Is 61-1)

How very important the Holy Spirit is in the life of every follower of Christ! In pondering Mary our Mother during the Gospels read for the previous two Sundays, i.e. the Wedding at Cana and the Baptism of Jesus, along with yesterday’s Gospel, I was aware of her attention to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit in her own heart, as she watched Jesus and listened to his every word. How truly Mary is Mother and Model for all of us! The Holy Trinity indwelled Mary from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception, yet the Holy Spirit also overshadowed her in the Incarnation for Jesus to be conceived in her womb. The Holy Spirit descended upon her in a special way at Pentecost that she and those gathered in the upper room after the Ascension would have the power to carry on the mission of Jesus.

We have been given the indwelling Presence of the Trinity at Baptism, we were baptized by water and the Holy Spirit. We were confirmed in our Baptism by the Sacrament of Confirmation to proclaim the good news as members of His Body, and yet I do not think many Catholics today are aware of the Holy Spirit and His work within us. I’m grateful to be reading and pondering with Fr. Gou, the mysteries of the Interior Life of Jesus and Mary. As we approach the liturgical Season of Lent with Ash Wednesday, next month on Feb. 10, I hope also to begin a series of threads on the 33 Day Preparation for Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary during Feb, to conclude on March 25 the Feast of Incarnation/Annunciation.

Perhaps others are interested in joining in this renewal of Total Consecration or to pray that Consecration for the first time. It can be life-changing. St. Louis de Montfort calls this Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary a perfect renewal of our Baptism. As followers of Christ we are called to “ongoing Conversion”. Today on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, let us begin a new day of grace!