The Holy Trinity makes His mercies flow abundantly through the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is Our Most Gracious Advocate in Heaven, as we say in the “Hail, Holy Queen” prayer of the Rosary.
The mystery of the intercession of Mary—the fruit of the fifth Glorious Mystery—is not understood or accepted by most Christian Protestant brothers—although some of them pray discreetly the Rosary.
This month of May to outreach them and explain the beauty of the Most Holy Virgin Mary. Let’s hand them a Holy Rosary and gently make them see why this meditation and prayer will dramatically improve their spiritual, emotional, and even day-to-day health.
If you lack the words, ask for the assistance of the Holy Spirit.
The Rosary of the Virgin Mary is one of the best gifts you can deliver this Season.
Temptation
The dominant culture in our society sees nothing wrong with temptation. Evil spirits even rejoice and encourage us to go this road down. It’s said that falling is justified given all struggles we face. But the truth is that we separate from Christ and deviate from our path of holiness. Joy is lost and Heaven gets more distant.
Pride and Arrogance
Pride, arrogance, is the deadliest, “birth mother” of all sins. And if we add ignorance of the eternal truths, we have the most dangerous cocktail. None of us is free from committing any kind of sin. After all, we are wounded by the original sin. We do not judge neighbors, and we are not better than others.
It troubles us to see that a number of our loved ones, friends, and neighbors invert reality because of a lack of humility, gratitude, and knowledge. Pride is delusional. It arrogates to oneself the merits of another and attributes the status of God.
Humility is a remedy for pride. And the wisdom that comes down from the Holy Spirit is the antidote to unbelief and ignorance.
Let’s invoke Our Blessed Mother in Heaven to grant us these virtues.
We understand that we are all on the mission of saving souls. Therefore we should diagnose reality from a Christian and Marian perspective. How —- Saints and sages have always said that uprooting pride begins with humility. That’s the way to tell the truth about Jesus Christ and ourselves.
Friends, today’s Gospel tells the story of the rich man and the poor man, Lazarus, at his gate. (LUKE 16:19–31?)
God is not pleased with this kind of economic inequality, and he burns with passion to set things right. Even though it makes us uncomfortable—and God knows it does, especially those of us who live in the most affluent society in the world—we can’t avoid it because it’s everywhere in the Bible.
St. Thomas Aquinas says, “We must distinguish between ownership and the use of property.” We have a right to ownership, through our hard work or inheritance. Fair enough. But with regard to the use of those things, then, says Thomas, we must always be concerned for the common good and not our own.
That’s an extraordinarily powerful claim, though it’s stated in rather sober language. Yes, you have a right to property, to ownership, but when and how you use what you own, that is always a matter of the common good, which especially includes Lazarus at your gate: whoever is suffering and in need.
Reflect: Make a list of how you use your property for the common good. Try to add to that list before Easter.
The Lord talks about almsgiving. He explains how not being generous with the poor has very bad consequences. The Lord took care of the poor when he died. But upon death it is too late to transform the callous heart of the rich man.
And the Lord speaks out of experience. A man with a callous heart will not repent even if he sees a great miracle. We all had a callous heart at one point in our lives. The service to others we do in the retreat is to help a few to see that it was so.
Reading Friday April 30
Jn 14:1-6
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way.”
Thomas said to him,
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
