"Hail full of grace." Pope Francis said: “Before calling her ‘Mary’, the angel calls her “full of grace”, and thus reveals the new name that God has given her and which is more becoming to her than the name given to her by her parents.”

Pope John Paul II: “From the moment of conception, in fact, her soul was filled with every blessing, enabling her to live in outstanding holiness throughout her earthly life. Mary's face reflects the mysterious face of the Father. The infinite tenderness of God-Love is revealed in the maternal features of Jesus' Mother.”

Because of her being full of grace throughout her life, she had a special relationship with God. She was the beloved daughter of the Father, uniquely chosen by him among all other women to be the future Mother of his Son and the spouse of the Holy Spirit.

St. Augustine said it this way. “The world being unworthy to receive the Son of God directly from the hands of the Father, He gave his Son to Mary for the world to receive Him from her…God the Father imparted to Mary his fruit-fullness, as far as a mere creature was capable of receiving it, to enable her to bring forth his Son and all the members of his Mystical Body.”

 

Christmas Novena Prayers

Opening Prayer

O Lord, Word of God, You, whose glory is complete, came to us in perfect humility as a child in the womb. Your love for us and humility is unsurpassed and brings us to our knees in prayer and worship.

Your incarnation forever changed the world.

All Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning is now and forever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

December 17

O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge!

December 18

O Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power!

December 19

O Root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay!

December 20

O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!

December 21

O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.

December 22

O King of all nations and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!

December 23

O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God!

Concluding Prayer every Day

Let us pray:

Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment at which the Son of God was born of a most pure Virgin, at a stable at midnight in Bethlehem. I implore you, Lord, to hear my prayers and grant my desires.

(Mention request(s) here)

We offer this prayer to you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit through the intercession of Mary and St. Joseph. Amen.

 

The Psalmist said: “In the anguish of my heart I groaned aloud.” What is that inner groan?   It is the desire of the heart. Again the Psalmist says: “All my desire is before you.” What is the central desire of the heart? Is it not to fulfill our purpose for existence? We were created out of love by God that we might share in his eternal life. The deepest desire of our heart is to see and be with God. St Augustine captured this when he said: “Lord, our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

 

St Augustine says in another place: “Yet there is an interior kind of prayer without ceasing, namely, the desire of the heart. Whatever else you may be doing, if you but fix your desire on God’s Sabbath rest, your prayer will be ceaseless. Therefore, if you wish to pray without ceasing, do not cease to desire.”

 

Don’t let that desire diminish. Don’t let the lure of sin extinguish the flame of desire for God. Become more conscious of this desire and cry out interiorly more loudly: “Lord, I want to see you and be with you more than anything else.”

 Recently, Pope Francis gave a teaching on the need to be vigilant, not only in regards awaiting the coming of the Lord in glory, but also in regards to our heart.  The Evil One seeks to enter into our hearts through our thoughts. If we don't take captive our thoughts, as St Paul warns, then these thoughts will make us captive, leading  us into sin. Thus, we need to always be vigilant to the subtle ways the Evil One comes against us. He knows our weaknesses and vulnerabilities, better than we do. The temptations he throws at us are not the problem. If we are not vigilant, we will fall for the temptation. But if we are vigilant, we can ward off the temptations and reman in union with God. Ask for the grace of vigilance each day.

 

Homily Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A

 

Reading 1: The Kingdom of Judea was being attacked by a foreign nation. The King and all the people were afraid. He is contemplating aligning himself with another king to defend Jerusalem.

 

God sends the prophet Isaiah to the king to tell him not to be afraid but put his trust in God who will defend him and defeat the enemy’s army without the king having to do anything. Ahaz was not convinced, even though exteriorly he says he doesn’t want to put God to the test. So Isaiah told him to ask for a sign. But the king was afraid to. But Isaiah said the Lord will give you a sign: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, who will be named Emmanuel, meaning God is with you.

 

As promised, God delivered his people from their attackers. The initial fulfillment was that the future king Hezekiah was conceived at this time and his mother was unmarried. The fuller meaning was yet to be fulfilled. As we have heard in the Gospel, it is the prophecy that God made to David concerning a future king from his line and that his throne will be everlasting. Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Emmanuel. God was with the people of the Old Covenant and with the coming of Jesus, our Savior, is with us today. He is a God who is with us in the present moment.

 

Gospel: As Ahaz was disturbed by the attack upon his nation, so Joseph was disturbed by the realization that Mary, his betrothed was with child, but not his. As a righteous man, he could not condone or cover up what he thought was infidelity. At the same time, because he loved Mary and wanted to protect her from the scorn and shame of what people would say, he chose to divorce her by a letter. This was allowed by the Law without stating the reason.

 

But God had another plan to protect Mary, who was still a virgin and had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit the Savior of the world.

 

In a dream an angel appears to Joseph and reveals the true identity and mission of the child. Matthew then connects this revelation to Joseph with the prophecy of Isaiah to Ahaz. “A Virgin shall conceive and the child shall be known as Emmanuel.”

 

Joseph believed in the message of the angel in his dream. In contrast to Ahaz, Joseph was not afraid to do what the Lord told him. He loved God and he loved Mary. He wanted to do what was right and just in the sight of God.  Joseph submitted to God’s plan for him: to protect Mary and the child, to provide for her and the child, to trust in God, laying down his plans and embracing God’s plans. Joseph’s life would not be easy. He would have to make many sacrifices.

 

Reading 2: Ahaz was called to stand firm in faith, trusting his life and that of the people to God. Paul emphasized the mystery of the person of Jesus, Son of God in power and descendant of David in the flesh. One person but two natures: Divine and human. He also points to the prophets of old by proclaiming the Good News of God’s love in the person, life and deeds of Jesus.

 

Paul was called to be an apostle, one who belonged to Jesus and is sent out to proclaim the same Good News to others. We too the beloved of God by birth and by rebirth in baptism. We too belong to Christ because he redeemed from eternal alienation from God through his death and resurrection and he immersed me in the waters of baptism. We too are sent out to witness to others. We witness our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We witness by showing sincere love to others, truly wishing them a blessed Christmas.

                                                                              

 A common experience that many people, including the saints, have is dryness in prayer. The tendency is to give up, which is the wrong choice. God allows us to have aridity in prayer as a test of our desire and love for him. If God is expected to always answer our prayers quickly, then can become callous in our relationship. We presume on his generous grace, as if we deserve it on our own merits. If relationship with God is that essential in our life, what are we willing to endure for it? Persevering in our times of dryness prepares our heart for the more that God has for us. He is always faithful and in times of dryness we are expressing our faithfulness to him.

 In today's readings, Jesus tells the parable of the father who told one son to do something and he said "yes" but did not do it. Then the father told a second son the same thing. He initially said "No", but repented and did the will of the father. Doing the will of God is a central message in the Scriptures. It was at the  heart of Jesus' relationship with the Father. "I have come to do the will of him who sent me." It is a key part of the prayer he taught his disciples. "Thy will be done."  The issue for God is not that we say "No" initially, but that we realize our sin, repent and then do the will of God.  Doing the will of God is a daily challenge in our lives.  It is a test to see if, after all that God has done for us, we will truly make him first in our lives by doing what he asks of us. This includes what we really don't want. Jesus did not want to suffer the cruel death of crucifixion. "Father, take away this cup. Not my will but yours be done." We pray for the grace to be obedient to God even in those crosses we find too hard to bear.