When Christ multiplied the loaves and fish to feed a vast throng, he asked the apostles to bring the loaves and fish to him and to distribute them to the people. Today too, he wants to feed the people of our generation, who are hungry for his word, and he needs us to help him. In this meditation we use texts of Scripture and of St Josemaria Escriva to consider how:
Like the apostles, we need to be docile in carrying out what Our Lord is asking of us
Our Lady, the Handmaid of the Lord, was docile to God and brought the Word of God into the world.
We will be more useful in this work if we are very united to Christ through our spiritual life and we are humble
We should ask God throughout the day what he is expecting from us
If we are docile, God will multiply our efforts, as he did with the apostles
When the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary in the Annunciation, he invited her to welcome the Son of God into her womb and into the world. She said yes and our redemption was at hand. In this meditation we ponder this great event as related by St Luke and consider that:
Because of the original sin of our first parents, mankind was in need of redemption and only God could bring it about.
God asked Mary ‘s consent so that our Redeemer could take flesh in her womb
Because Mary was a virgin her son would be truly the Son of God
Our Lord’s first miracle at the wedding feast of Cana has much to teach us. In this meditation we use texts of St Josemaria, Tertullian and St John Vianney to consider some of these lessons:
The annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel telling out Holy Mother the good news of her being chosen to be the mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
On the feast of the Annunciation we celebrate Mary’s yes to God, which brought the Son of God into the world and our redemption near at hand. It was a momentous moment in the history of salvation and it all depended on the response of a young girl. In this meditation we consider:
Why we needed to be redeemed and why God chose this way to bring it about
The call of Mary and Joseph from all eternity to fulfil their roles
The eminent virtues of Mary and Joseph
The significance of the angel’s message to Mary
A prayer to Mary by St Bernard calling upon her to say yes
Mary’s response and our own promptness and saying yes to God