"...how inexpressible His love for that cross!" - July 4 - "Independence Day"in the USA

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MariaChristi

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Those of us born in, or who became Citizens of, the USA, need to pray for our country celebrating “Independence Day” and to pray for all countries. Let us pray especially for the Church, founded by Christ, to set us free from the slavery of sin, and to bring His Light everywhere.

Today, we begin Chap.14 in: “The Love of Eternal Wisdom” which is titled: THE TRIUMPH OF ETERNAL WISDOM IN AND BY THE CROSS. How appropriate for us to ponder the way in which God chose to set us free!
  1. The Cross is according to my belief the greatest secret of the King (Tob 12.7) - the greatest mystery of Eternal Wisdom. How remote and how different are the thoughts and the ways of eternal Wisdom from those of even the wisest of men. (cf Is 55.8) This great God wished to redeem the world, to cast out and chain up the devils, to seal the gates of hell and open heaven to men, and give infinite glory to His eternal Father. Such was His purpose, His arduous task, His great undertaking. What means will be chosen by divine Wisdom, whose knowledge reaches from one end of the universe to the other and orders all things well? (cf Wis 8.1) His arm is almighty; at a stroke He can destroy all that is opposed to Him and do whatever He wills. By a single word He can annihilate and create. What more can I say? He has but to will and all is done.
  2. But his power is regulated by his love. He wishes to become incarnate in order to convince men of His friendship; He wishes to come down upon earth to help men to go up to heaven. So be it! It would be expected then that this Wisdom incarnate would appear glorious and triumphant, accompanied by millions and millions of angels, or at least by millions of chosen men and women. With these armies, majestic in His splendor and untouched by poverty, dishonor, humiliations and weaknesses, He will crush all His enemies and win the hearts of men by His attractiveness, His delights, His magnificence and His riches. Surely nothing less than that. But O wonder! He perceives something which is a source of scandal and horror to Jews and an object of foolishness to pagans. (cf 1 Cor 1.23) He sees a piece of vile and contemptible wood which is used to humiliate and torture the most wicked and the most wretched of men, called a gibbet, a gallows, a cross. It is upon this cross that He casts his eyes; He takes His delight in it; He cherishes it more than all that is great and resplendent in heaven and on earth. He decides that that will be the instrument of His conquests, the adornment of His royal state. He will make it the wealth and joy of His empire, the friend and spouse of His heart. O the depths of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How amazing is his choice and how sublime and incomprehensible are his ways! But how inexpressible His love for that cross! (Rom 11.33).
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Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful; kindle in us the Fire of Your Love! Jesus, we trust in You! Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us. St. Joseph, Protector of Mary and the Child Jesus, and Patron of His Holy Church, pray for us.
 
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Dear O’Scarlet and patricius,

Thank you both again for your “hearts” letting me know you read and were touched by St. Louis de Montfort’s writing on the “Triumph of Eternal Wisdom in and by the Cross” and His inexpressible love for that cross!
 
So Jesus wanted to give glory to God and save us, and he chose to do this by submitting himself to Our Lady and embracing the Cross. His Humility is beautiful.

Here is St. Lous in True Devotion to Mary:
  1. Our good Master stooped to enclose himself in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, a captive but loving slave, and to make himself subject to her for thirty years. As I said earlier, the human mind is bewildered when it reflects seriously upon this conduct of Incarnate Wisdom. He did not choose to give himself in a direct manner to the human race though he could easily have done so. He chose to come through the Virgin Mary. Thus he did not come into the world independently of others in the flower of his manhood, but he came as a frail little child dependent on the care and attention of his Mother. Consumed with the desire to give glory to God, his Father, and save the human race, he saw no better or shorter way to do so than by submitting completely to Mary.
    https://www.ewtn.com/library/Montfort/TRUEDEVO.HTM
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I believe Independence Day should be a Proper Solemnity for the United States, with the First Reading from the end of Joshua, the Second from Hebrews “those whom the Son sets free are free indeed,” and the Gospel reading from John 8.
 
Dear patricious,

Thanks so much for the beautiful quote from St. Louis de Montfort’s book, “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin”. The entire paragraph (139) in your reply, shows us how St. Louis grew by God’s Grace in such Love of Eternal Wisdom, that he was enabled by increasing faith to see more and more by faith, how he himself could follow Jesus best. St. Louis De Montfort was true to the words he wrote:
…Consumed with the desire to give glory to God, his Father, and save the human race, he saw no better or shorter way to do so than by submitting completely to Mary.
https://www.ewtn.com/library/Montfort/TRUEDEVO.HTM
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St. Louis de Montfort, like all the saints, followed Jesus, living the Truth they heard from Him. They listened carefully and prayerfully to God’s Word, – all Jesus said and did, pondering all in their hearts as Mary did.
 
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Dear mythbuster,

Thanks for your reply, and your desire to make our National Holiday, very special. Not sure if you checked the USCCB website for the options which can be used on July 4 in the USA:
USCCB » Bible » Daily Readings

July 4 - Independence Day
Independence Day
Lectionary: 594A

From the Masses for Various Needs and Occasions, II. For Civil Needs: 13. For the Nation, nos. 882-886, or 14. For Peace and Justice, no. 887-891.
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Perhaps someone else who reads this thread may know a way for you to contact whoever is in charge of the Liturgical Calendar. Not all of us are able to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass but we can always honor God in prayer, wherever we are. It is important for me each day to pray with attention and devotion to the Lord especially in the words Jesus taught us, “Our Father…” and offer Him my “Morning Offering” so that everything is offered to Him through and with Mary, in union with the Mass offered somewhere in the world. Also it helps me to listen to the daily Mass Readings and ponder them in union with the Universal Church.

Thanks again for your reply.
 
Every country, even the most powerful and richest, and every man, even the most powerful and richest, needs God and the help of His Son and to follow Him on His Cross.
I wish all nations would dedicate their own national days to God like children show everything to their parents, asking for guidance and help forward.
Lord have mercy on us all, remind us all how much we need You and show us how much You love us, please!
 
Dear Mary888,

Thanks for your reply and for the love you express for God and country. Gratitude to God is so important, as is also our gratitude to the men and women in our own country and other countries who have shown such courage in defending God’s children.

Yes, let us beg God for His Divine Mercy, through Mary our Mother in the beautiful Fatima Prayer many of us pray after each decade of the Rosary: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Draw all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Your Mercy.”

Jesus, we trust in You! Mary, Mother and Model of the Church, pray for us. St. Joseph, and St. Louis de Montfort and all the Holy Saints and Angels pray for us.
 
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Thanks – VanitasVanitatum, Mary888, and Salibi, for your “hearts” letting me know you read the words of St. Louis de Montfort and appreciated his insights, pondering the triumph of Jesus in and by the Cross.

Please let us pray for one another, for the Church, and the world that we may beg God for His Grace to embrace the Cross as Jesus did!
 
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