Saturday, January 17, 2009

A Most Beautiful Prayer :-)


“Whatever God forsees to be my lot, I know that He cannot refuse Himself to anyone who loves Him and seeks for Him with His whole heart. I will embrace Him with my love; and if He does not bless me, I will still cling to Him so closely that He will be unable to go without me. If I can do nothing else, at least I will hide myself in His wounds, and taking up my dwelling there, it will be in Himself alone that He will find me.”

That’s a LOVELY prayer
But the saint actually continues:

If my Redeemer rejects me on account of my sins, and drives me from His Sacred Feet, I will cast myself at those of His beloved Mother Mary, and there I will remain prostrate until She has obtained my forgiveness; for this Mother of Mercy knows not, and has never known, how to do otherwise than compassionate the miserable, and comply with the desires of the most destitute who fly to her for succor; and therefore if not by duty, at least by compassion, She will engage Her Son to pardon me.*

Hmmmmmmm
…is it appropriate to
kind of go to Jesus thru Mary?
Well I think so:


“When all the wine provided for the celebration had been served and they had run out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him: “They have no wine.” Jesus replied, “Woman, what concern is that to you and me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2: 3)
Hmmmm
Pardon my saying this but it looks like Jesus is not toooo keen to help out! ;-)

Yet Mary insists!


“However His mother said to the servants,
“Do whatever He tells you.”

(Jn 2:5)

LOL I think Jesus might have given Mary that “Mom?!?!?!?!” look!
But did He honour her? You bet He did!

“Nearby were six stone water jars meant for the ritual washing as practiced by the Jews; each jar could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them to the brim. Then Jesus said, “Now draw some out and take it to the steward.” So they did.


The steward tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing from where it had come; for only the servants who had drawn the water knew. So, he called the bridegroom to tell him, everyone serves the best wine first and when people have drunk enough he serves that which is ordinary. Instead you have kept the best wine until the end.” (John 2: 6-11)


Mary insisted.
Jesus honored!
As a result NOT ONLY did the rest of the Wedding feast go smoothly yet more importantly

“He let His glory appear

and His disciples believed in Him.”
(John 2:11)


Jesus loves His mom!
And Mary brings us close to Jesus!

“Do whatever He tells you”
(John 2:5)


These are the very last words that Mary is reported to have said in the Gospels. That is, so to speak, Mary’s Will. :-)

Mary does not take Jesus’ place.
She brings us closer to Jesus :-)


This is a beautiful song repeating this Truth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ppCQ_iISc




*Prayer by St Bonaventure, taken from "Hail Holy Queen! An Explanation of the Salve Regina" by St. Alphonsus Liguori. (TAN Publications)

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

We have seen the rising of his star in the east… (Matt 2:2)

As the Church celebrates the feast of the wise men who sought Christ, I came across this beautiful version of the song “Angels We Have Heard On High” (sung by Josh Groban)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LplviWAMU1g&feature=related
Probably, many of us have heard it, but I truly doubt there’s another version so lovely… (in other words what are you doing reading this!? ...go hear it first!! ;-)
------


It's climax …if you ask me anyway… would be these lines:

“Come to Betlehem and see!
Christ who’s birth the angels sing!
Come adore on bended knee!
Christ the Lord, the newborn King!!!”

It makes me wonder:
…is that the invitation which the wise men heard in their hearts when they saw the star?!
-----

We read in the Holy Bible:
"Nations will come to your light
and kings to the brightness of your dawn."
(Is 60:3)

"A flood of camels will cover you,
caravans from Midian and Ephah.
Those from Sheba will come,
bringing with them gold and incense,
all singing in praise of Yahweh."
(Is 60: 6)

"The kings of Tarshish and the islands
render Him tribute,
the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts,
all kings bow down to Him,
and all nations serve Him."
(Ps 72:10-11)
Basically the summary would be:

"they are all gathered and come to you,
your sons from afar,
your daughters tenderly carried."
(Is 60:4)
-----

“Where is the newborn
king of the Jews?
We saw the rising of
his star in the east
and have come to honor him.”
(Matt 2:2)

Huh? Let me get this straight: so they’ve left their lands, their homes, their goods and whatever else they had …just to see this newborn baby? …and to give him gifts?? …and to worship him?!?! …WOW!!!!!!!

What’s even more "wow" about it is that Jesus seems to have been saying “Come follow me” since AT LEAST day one of His birth!!!!! (if that was not so the Magi wouldn’t have gone!)

YET the greatest “wow” about it all is that this invitation is still being made! And people everywhere are constantly responding to it!!! :-)
----------
We have come to Worship!

*This was the theme for the Youth of the Church during the period of 2002-2005 where over 1million youth gathered, together with over 600 bishops and cardinals and the Holy Father to celebrate the summit of it all - Holy Mass at Cologne! :-)

-----

The event is replayed on a daily basis:

The wise still seek.

The wise choose to follow.

But best of all

The wise do and will continue to

worship God forever! :-)

…that’s why I am thankful 2 b Catholic :-)

------------

Here’s a beautifully sung question

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EM7FaOc3Zk&feature=PlayList&p=5126134CF442F54B&playnext=1&index=6

and here’s what makes an awesomely wonderful and true reply

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ4tEFPuhYI

----------------

* source: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/XX-World-Youth-Day

If you're pro-life you GOT TO do this!

If you're pro-life you GOT TO do this!
Click the picture to go to the page and to like it: your like counts!