Day 4 - Nov. 25 - The gift we long to give

[MariaChristi]

Dear Bothers and Sisters,

In preparing a gift for the Christ Child, this year, I hope you do not see this as a “childish” or “sentimental” effort, for it is not intended to be that at all!

Some may remember, as I do, being a child in Catholic School learning the sweet custom of offering prayers and sacrifices as “spiritual gifts” for the Christ Child. Little children need “concrete examples” and so my third grade teacher (a very artistic nun) painted a beautiful mural in our classroom of the Christ Child in a manger. We may have copied from the blackboard into our notebooks some samples of “gifts” to get ready for Jesus. I can’t remember all her suggestions but something like: Blanket = 5 Hail Mary’s; Pillow = 5 acts of kindness. I’m not sure if she specified the number, we may have simply recorded our own numbers as we prepared our gifts.

The gift we are preparing as adults during this 33 Day journey is not so “concrete” as it is spiritual and only possible by God’s Grace. We are learning from the wisdom given to St. Louis de Montfort, how to give the “gift” of all we are and have to Jesus through Mary. It is a unique gift only we can give – no one else can give it for us, and we can only give ALL by His Grace. In truth we need to ask Him to give us His Love in order that we may love Him truly. Jesus told His first disciples: “Without Me you can do nothing”. We need to believe Him Who is Absolute Truth.

So as we set about our 4th day, let us call to mind Saint Louis’ brief direction in “True Devotion” for the first 12 days of our journey:

1. Those who desire to take up this special devotion… should spend at least twelve days in emptying themselves of the spirit of the world, which is opposed to the spirit of Jesus…

Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and hearts to see truly what the “spirit of the world is” and “how it opposes the spirit of Jesus” that we may see what needs to be emptied from ourselves. Let us pray to our Mother Mary who brought Jesus into the darkness of the world the first time and continues to bring Him into the world by the power of God’s Grace today.

By His Grace may we long to give a pure heart, with no mixture of wordly desires but a heart turned toward Him to Whom we owe everything! Please let us pray for one another, for the Church and especially for those in most need of God’s Mercy.

 

[bastetsha]

That is an interesting story about your Catholic schooling growing up. What a sweet way to “gift” the Christ Child. May all of us have the faith of the little ones and love Jesus with all our hearts, minds, and souls.

I hope today finds you well as we continue the journey of consecration (or re-consecration). May God bless you and keep all of His children safe today.

Lord Jesus, I trust In You!
May His loving will be done!
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother Most Pure, Pray For Us!

 

[MariaChristi]

Yes, I have fond memories of my Catholic schooling. It was a Dominican nun in High School who invited us to consecrate ourselves to Jesus through Mary, with St. Louis de Montfort’s “True Devotion” as our guide.

Being only 15 years old at the time, I didn’t understand all the depth of our consecration, but I now count it as one of the great graces of my life. Jesus wants us to be like children in our humility, that is, to recognize we are His creation and completely dependent on Him for both natural and supernatural life, but He also wants us to grow as He tells us in Ephesians 4: 7-16, and especially as we hear verse 15:

… living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into Him who is the head, Christ,
from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love.

This journey of 33 Days is a way in which we can begin to ask, more fervently, for all the graces we need to grow in holiness, for God’s Glory and the good of the whole Body of Christ. As one member grows we all grow.

After these 12 preliminary days St. Louis De Montfort has written a program for 3 weeks in which we pray to acquire knowledge of ourselves, a knowledge of Mary and finally a better understanding of Christ. (See Chapter 7, paragraphs 228, 229 and 230) . One day at a time, one grace at a time, God knows how to give good gifts to His Children. What a glorious journey we have begun by His Grace, – thankfully and earnestly may we continue!