José Romero, LC
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Christ, our King.
Thy Kingdom come!
Preparatory prayer (to put me in the presence of God)
Lord, give me the grace to listen to you today.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 1:26-38
At that time, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man of the seed of David, named Joseph. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you. When she heard these words, she was greatly troubled and wondered what such a greeting meant. The angel said to her, ”Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You will conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus; he will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I remain a virgin?” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will descend upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the Holy One who is to be born of you will be called the Son of God. Behold your kinswoman Elizabeth, who, in spite of her old age, has conceived a son, and she who was called barren is already in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible with God”. Mary answered, “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let what you have said to me be fulfilled in me”. And the angel withdrew from her presence.
Word of the Lord.
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
How many times during the day do we say yes or no to God? How many times do we say yes when we really mean no? What is the difference between my yes and Mary's yes?
Mary's yes is not simply a yes to God's will; it is not a submissive yes to Almighty God. Mary's yes is an act of love for God. It is a yes that brings about God's presence in her, because it is a yes of total surrender, a yes to Love.
Because one does not love the will of God, but one loves only God and that love for Him makes us want His will. Our Mother is a slave of the Lord, not because she was submissive but because she loved. Only a free and real love for God is what will lead us to be slaves of love.
We, as children of Mary, have inherited this slavery to the master; we do not love the things that God gives us or the things that he does not give us, but we love God. A love that must be free and real, a love that pushes our soul to make our yes an act of love.
Let us say a yes to our Lord, a yes of love. A yes that causes the presence of God in our being, a yes that welcomes the God who wants to be born in us.
«Mary's “yes” opens the door to Jesus“ ”yes“: ”I come to do your will“. And this ”yes“ goes with Jesus throughout his life, up to the cross: ”Take this cup away from me, Father, but your will be done“. It is in Jesus Christ that, as Paul says to the Corinthians, we find God's ”yes“: He is the ”yes“. Today is a beautiful day to thank the Lord for having taught us this way of ”yes“, and also to think about our life. All of us, every day, have to say ”yes“ or ”no“, and to think if we always say ”yes“ or many times we hide, with our heads down, like Adam and Eve, in order not to say ”no“, pretending not to understand ”what God asks“. Today is the feast of ”yes»".
(Cf Homily of H.H. Francis, April 4, 2016, in Santa Marta).
Dialogue with Christ
This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare yourself to talk with much love with the One who loves you.
Purpose
Propose a personal one. The one that involves the most love in response to the Beloved... or, if you believe that this is what God is asking of you, live what is suggested below.
I will say “yes” to all the good that I am asked to do today, conscious of the love that I will put into everything.
Farewell
We thank you, Lord, for all your benefits, you who live and reign forever and ever.
Amen.
Christ, our King!
Thy Kingdom come!
Most prudent Virgin, Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pray for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
