Vol.5 No.19 DoM E Message
Spiritual Gift of the Week
At the Wedding Feast in Cana, Christ turned water into wine and opened the hearts of the disciples to faith through the intervention of His mother, Mary, the first among believers. May Mary’s words, “Do whatever He tells you to do,” also resonate in our hearts as we strive to obey his teachings.
Spiritual Instruction of the Week
“It is a difficult task, a heroic effort, to bring forth the thought that is in us, but we must do it, breaking our souls as we might break a sacred vase so that others may breathe the divine perfume.” (Elizabeth Leseur)
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Dear Beautiful Daughters of Mary,
“It is a difficult task, a heroic effort, to bring forth the thought that is in us, but we must do it,
breaking our souls as we might break a sacred vase so that others may breathe the divine perfume.”
(Elizabeth Leseur)
The quote above from Elizabeth Leseur is both profound and lovely. Elizabeth’s words capture the mission to which our ‘efforts’ at Daughters of Mary are directed. It conveys, in a clear and feminine way, our need to open our hearts lovingly to Jesus and mercifully to others. Elizabeth asks us to share our thoughts on Jesus with others.
Prayer, reflection, renewal—this is our mission. We pray to bring forth our thoughts. We study knowing the importance of reasoned reflection—and then—our prayer and reflection ‘break open’ all that the Spirit of God requires for our renewal. Renewal—this is a most worthy resolution for us as we enter into this 2016 Year of Mercy. It is true that one important goal of our hour together each week is to prepare for Sunday liturgy. Beyond that, and most importantly, we want to deepen our relationship with Jesus. It is our hope to meet him in the Gospel. We want to know him so that we can follow him—and love him. We want to be consoled and challenged—and also— it is our desire to become instruments of change. Christ mercifully changes us—and Christ changes others through our mercy. Our hour of prayer and reflection is positively affects our personal prayer. Our personal prayer will—in return—most surely—have a positive effect upon our hour together.
It is important dear beautiful women of faith that we share our hearts—filled with the mercy of God—with others. Recently I read in “A Well Built Faith,” that “God is not shy about revealing himself to us! —-Some of us may however need to undergo what we call a “Copernican revolution”—meaning that we need to recognize that our lives revolve around God and not the other way around. When we recognize that it’s not all about us, we begin to develop a spirit of humility.”
In prayer—we break open the ‘sacred vase’ and we meet the mercy of God. And we are changed—we ourselves become merciful. Mercy, dear beautiful daughters of Mary, is ‘the divine perfume’ that we want to share when we come together each week. During our personal prayer we prepare for Daughters of Mary. Read the upcoming Sunday gospel ahead of time. Reflect upon it—Study it—Pray it. Respond to it with all your heart. Articulate your response. Write it down if you like, and then on Tuesdays you will be prepared to share your insight.
Yes—it is difficult to speak out in a public forum—we may be afraid. But think of 1 Peter “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?… Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience…”
(3: 13-16).
Speak to Jesus in prayer. His mercy is lovely and profound. Then you will be prepared to speak about him to others—And you will do so with your own lovely mercy and with words of renewal. Each week we meet—let us prepare our hearts—prepare our words—prepare to be instruments of renewal for Daughters of Mary—for we are bearers of God’s mercy. Let us pray…
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Pope Francis has said: “I think we too are the people who, on the one hand, want to listen to Jesus, but on the other hand, at times, like to find a stick to beat others with, to condemn others. And Jesus has this message for us: mercy. I think — and I say it with humility — that this is the Lord’s most powerful message: mercy.” (March homily, 2013).
Vieni, Spirito Santo, la misericordia di Dio ci salva—
Come Holy Spirit, it is by God’s mercy that we are saved,
Deb
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