Tag Archives: sacrifice

The spiritual Olympics

Spirirtual olympics

Athletes go through a rigorous training regime in order to achieve their goal of winning a medal in the Olympic games. Our goal is much higher: eternal life with God in heaven. We too need a training regime. In this meditation we use texts of Scripture, especially of St Paul, and of saints like Augustine, Bernard and Josemaria, to consider how, like athletes, we need:

  • A goal
  • Determination to reach the goal
  • Sacrifice and self-control
  • A training program: a plan of life
  • A coach: a spiritual director
  • Ability to keep going when we encounter failures and disappointments
  • Someone to heal our injuries: a priest
  • Effort to follow the rules: the moral law
  • Time-outs to rest and reconsider our plan: retreats and recollections
  • Determination to finish the face and receive the prize

The first Christmas gift

Christmas is a time for giving gifts. The wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus, but the first Christmas gift was Jesus himself, a gift from the Father to all of mankind. In this meditation we use texts of Scripture to consider how we can live Advent like Our Lady and St Joseph, the shepherds and the wise men, to show our gratitude to Jesus by:

  • Growing in our life of prayer in all its forms, especially through meditation on the Scripture passages that refer to Christ’s birth
  • Living a life of sacrifice, as has been traditional in Advent, to clean out the stable of our soul and make it welcome to receive Jesus
  • Giving of ourselves to those around us, for what we do to them we do to Jesus
  • Preparing well for four comings of Jesus: at Christmas 2000 years ago, at the end of time, everyday when he comes into our life in different ways, and when he comes to call us to eternal life with him.

Mary, model of charity

The Second Vatican Council called Our Lady “model of the virtues”. In this meditation we use texts from the New Testament to consider how Mary teaches us various aspects of the virtue of charity:

  • In the Annunciation, her love for God moves her to say yes and to bring the God who is Love into the world
  • In the Visitation to Elizabeth, Mary forgets herself and spends three months helping her aging relative prepare for the birth of John the Baptist
  • In Bethlehem, she contemplates Love in human form
  • At Cana, she is sensitive to the wedding couple and asks Jesus to help them
  • At Calvary, she sacrifices herself to accompany Jesus on the Cross
  • In the Upper Room, she prays with and for the apostles as they await the coming of the Holy Spirit

Meditation “As I have loved you”

Christ gave us a new commandment to love one another as he has loved us. It is not always easy to do this but it is very important to try, so that we spread the love of Christ in the world. In this meditation we consider various ways we can do this:

  • Spirit of service
  • Sacrifice
  • Compassion
  • Affection
  • Love for our “enemies”
  • Forgiveness