Wk 2 - Day 6 - seeking understanding of Mary

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The First Reading (JER 17:5-10) for today’s Mass reminds us:

…More tortuous than all else is the human heart,
beyond remedy; who can understand it?
I, the LORD, alone probe the mind
and test the heart,
To reward everyone according to his ways,
according to the merit of his deeds.

What a comfort then for us today to be seeking to understand Mary’s Immaculate Heart, that we may grow more like her who is so united to God! We know that we could never plumb the depths of her Faith, Hope and Charity, nor all the virtues she practiced on earth, but it is the Holy Spirit who reveals to those who humbly ask and seek and knock on the door – it is to those whom He gives grace.

Saints like St. Louis de Montfort were given graces not for themselves alone but to share with all God’s Holy Church. St. Louis knew from his own experience how God answers humble and persevering prayer and so he wrote to encourage us:

1. The Holy Spirit speaking through the Fathers of the Church, also calls our Lady the Eastern Gate, through which the High Priest, Jesus Christ, enters and goes out into the world. Through this gate he entered the world the first time and through this same gate he will come the second time.

The Holy Spirit also calls her the Sanctuary of the Divinity, the Resting-Place of the Holy Spirit, the Throne of God, the City of God, the Altar of God, the Temple of God, the World of God. All these titles and expressions of praise are very real when related to the different wonders the Almighty worked in her and the graces which he bestowed on her. What wealth and what glory! What a joy and a privilege for us to enter and dwell in Mary, in whom almighty God has set up the throne of his supreme glory!

Let us humbly continue asking the Holy Spirit to give us the grace of understanding Mary more:

Litany of the Holy Spirit HERE
Ave Maris Stella HERE
Five Decades of the Most Holy Rosary

 

[patricius79]

Our Mother is the Altar of God. I love that.

 

[Polycarp1]

For a long time I had trouble with how much love and honour to give to Mary. But then I prayed “Lord let me love and honour your mother as much as you do, no more, no less” .

 

[MariaChristi]

Our Mother is the Altar of God. I love that.

Yes, dear brother, me too!

Especially at the Consecration of Mass and I am with Mary on Calvary, I try to offer myself with her, and in her, as she united her offering of herself with Jesus. In praying the Mysteries of the Rosary also we can see in all that Mary suffered – her heart being like an altar on which God received the offering of herself in union with Jesus. Thanks for your reply.

 

[MariaChristi]

For a long time I had trouble with how much love and honour to give to Mary. But then I prayed “Lord let me love and honour your mother as much as you do, no more, no less” .

Dear Polycarp,

Yes, the Lord surely wants us to be conformed to the Image of Jesus, especially in the perfection of Charity. It is no easy task to persevere in loving all whom God created as He loves. Mary for me is an “easy” one to love. And I find that she daily helps me to love all those whom God brings into my life, just as she learned from Jesus how to love in this world.

The Gospel of Luke especially points out that Mary pondered in her heart all that Jesus said and did. Mary saw and heard Jesus, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Mary lived the Truth she heard and saw. May the Holy Spirit enable us to do the same. Thanks for your reply, and for your love of Jesus and Mary.

 

[patricius79]

Yes, dear brother, me too!

Especially at the Consecration of Mass and I am with Mary on Calvary, I try to offer myself with her, and in her, as she united her offering of herself with Jesus. In praying the Mysteries of the Rosary also we can see in all that Mary suffered – her heart being like an altar on which God received the offering of herself in union with Jesus. Thanks for your reply.

Thanks for your affirmation dear Sister MariaChristi,

Beautiful. Was it St. Bernard–a Doctor of the Church–who said that Mary herself was also on the Cross with Jesus Christ? Of course, he doesn’t mean physically. But I think the Holy Spirit can help us understand the spiritual truth here.