Mar. 1 - Day 10 - "emptying oneself of the spirit of the world which opposes the spirit of Jesus..."

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our journey of 33 Days in Preparation for Total Consecration on Mar. 25, continues today, the First Sunday of Lent and first day in the Month of March dedicated to St. Joseph, husband of Mary.

St. Louis de Montfort in writing his treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” knew, of course, we will fight until we die against the temptations of satan. We cannot completely empty ourselves of the spirit of the world in 12 days. Neverthless St. Louis begins the 33 Day Preparation with:

…“spend at least twelve days in emptying themselves of the spirit of the world, which is opposed to the spirit of Jesus”

In the Mass readings for today, we “see” by faith, and hear with the ears of our hearts in the Gospel, Jesus being tempted by satan, and how Jesus replies. We need to listen very carefully, and to ponder, prayerfully, in our hearts every word uttered by the Incarnate Son of God as he replies to the tempter:

The tempter approached and said to Him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”

Due to CAF’s word limit, I will post only the first approach of satan, but I hope all will take time today to apply today’s Gospel to our “bread for the journey”. Please let us listen to this first temptation and then go on to prayerfully ponder each temptation and response. Please note the final words of today’s Gospel:

Then the devil left Him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to Him.

Mary, our Mother and Model, pray for us! St. Joseph, protect us with your prayers, Jesus, we trust in You!

 

[hazcompat]

Lumen Gentium
Chapter VIII

1. In the public life of Jesus, Mary makes significant appearances. This is so even at the very beginning, when at the marriage feast of Cana, moved with pity, she brought about by her intercession the beginning of miracles of Jesus the Messiah.(291) In the course of her Son’s preaching she received the words whereby in extolling a kingdom beyond the calculations and bonds of flesh and blood, He declared blessed(292) those who heard and kept the word of God, as she was faithfully doing.(293) After this manner the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan,(294) grieving exceedingly with her only begotten Son, uniting herself with a maternal heart with His sacrifice, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross as a mother to His disciple with these words: “Woman, behold thy son”.(295) (11*)

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear hazcompat,

Thanks for quoting again from the Vatican II Document on the Church, “Lumen Gentium”. The words which stood out so strongly to me were these:

… the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, grieving exceedingly with her only begotten Son unto the cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, grieving exceedingly with her only begotten Son, uniting herself with a maternal heart with His sacrifice, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross as a mother to His disciple with these words: “Woman, behold thy son”.

Once more I wonder how many Catholics have ever read this or any other document from the Vatican II Council or have read any of the equally beautiful words from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, published after the Council. Too few I suspect. Nevertheless, God preserves His remnant of faithful sons and daughters of the One Church Christ founded. Let us be grateful to Him for Mary, given to us Mother and Model for the Church.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear lilypadrees and patricius,

Thank you both for your “hearts” which let us know you are continuing to appreciate God’s Holy Word, and the words given by our Lord to St. Louis de Montfort, in his treatise on “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin.”. May this Lent be a very special, holy time for all of us!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear KBS and Stephie,

Thanks for your “hearts” which are such an encouragement to me and to others on this 33 Day journey toward Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary. In pondering the Gospel for this First Sunday in Lent, it has been such a grace to “see” by the Supernatural Faith of Baptism, how truly Jesus suffered for our sake. The Gospel begins with the words:

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.

Jesus knew each of us would face temptaion just as Adam and Eve did and so He goes before us as our Way, our Truth, and our Life!