Prayer Prompt before reading LK 1:46-56: Come, Holy Spirit, teach me how to pray well, interpret the Scriptures for me so that I may know the Truth about who God the Father and God the Son are so that I may know who I am.
“MY SOUL PROCLAIMS THE GREATNESS OF THE LORD; MY SPIRIT REJOICES IN GOD MY SAVIOR.” LK 1:46-56
Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through Mary and Joseph.
Today, Mary speaks the Magnificat, or the Canticle of Mary in response to Elizabeth, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb”. The prevailing theme is God has come to raise up the lowly, the poor, the sinner and has stayed true to His covenant in the Old Testament to reconcile all to Himself. Mary shows us in these words her practicing of deep contemplation in prayer to God.
She starts as all the saints do by humbly recognizing God as the source of every good with praise and thanksgiving. She thanks God for looking at her, a lowly human, to bring His Son into the world to rescue His people from slavery to sin. She includes God’s almighty power and the importance of recognizing that God comes to give love and mercy to all which every human needs. The earthly powers of wealth, pride, high positions, and material goods will never fill the gaping hole in our hearts.
We desire authentic lasting relationships, especially God’s. Last, Mary shows great service to her relative Elizabeth by staying with her in her older age to help her while she prepares to bear John the Baptist. There had to be great joy and deep prayer in Elizabeth’s home preparing for the last great prophet and the Son of God to be born. The result of a strong faith and trust in the Creator. May we strive for this same faith and trust in God as we prepare ourselves for the memorial of Christ’s birth and His Second Coming!
To end today’s reflection, I want to get a little theologically deeper. As I was contemplating in prayer this morning, “soul” and “spirit” jumped out at me in the first two lines of Mary’s prayer. I pondered whether Mary knew the difference between soul and spirit in the human person. I have been to several religious education talks and this is one that even stumped the priest at the time. So, Tom Nash, from Catholic Answers quotes the Catechism of the Catholic Church saying,
“Soul” when distinguished from “spirit” means that which gives life to a body. “Spirit” when contrasted with “soul” simply means those aspects of human life and activity that transcend our bodily limitations and so open the soul toward the supernatural life of grace. As the Church adds, “‘Spirit’ signifies that from creation man is ordered to a supernatural end and that his soul can be raised beyond all it deserves to communion with God” (no. 367).
Don’t forget, we are made for a spiritual realm on the last day. Our “Spirit” is the connection between God’s grace, his very life, and us in the sacraments, prayer, the Word. Therefore, make it a priority to work on your “Spirit” more than your flesh in this last week of Advent. Continue to bring yourself to God’s grace by reading and reflecting on the Scriptures, receiving the Eucharist daily if possible, going to confession, and spending time in silence to listen to what God wants to tell you about His Will for your life.
Today’s challenge: Surrender all to God like Mary, pray with Mary praising God, thanking Him for setting us apart in our baptism to have a great purpose and role in the life He gave us experiencing joy as we embark on God entering the world in flesh to love us and die for us. Praise and thank God each day with Mary in the rosary.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YODO (You Only Die Once; we will live again!)
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