Week 2, Day 3
Daily Prayer
The Angelus
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with thee;
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary, etc.
V. And the Word was made Flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, etc.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
LET US PRAY
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Mary, Mother of Christ
Scripture reading from the Gospel of Luke 2:7-19 – The Nativity
Imagine yourself in the stable watching Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus. Then angels start singing, and the shepherds come by to see the newborn king. The stable probably smells, it is cold, and yet there is peace.
Keeping God’s Word
In the Annunciation, God shares a secret with Mary. That secret was that He was sending His Son into the world to redeem the world, to save the world. How special Mary must have felt being entrusted with such a beautiful secret. When God shares a secret it is a bit different than when we share one with our friends: God’s secrets can transform the world!
Mary kept this secret safe for thirty years. She knew her son was the savior, but she couldn’t tell anyone. Probably not many people would have believed her anyway. In fact, very few people believed Jesus when he told them he was the Messiah. According to sacred scripture, Mary did not even tell Joseph her secret (but an angel did, and only then did Joseph take Mary into his home).
Has anyone ever told you a secret that was really important? How did that make you feel?
We must be like a child, completely trusting in our heavenly Father in order to receive this gift which is now given to the entire world. Many people who met Jesus in person were not able to receive this gift because their faith was not childlike. Not much has changed today; many reject the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because they think they know better, or they consider themselves to be too wise to believe in a God they cannot see.
How can you share God’s secret with the world? Jesus is Lord and He loves us, He died, He rose from the dead, and He lives forever.
How does it make you feel when someone you love doesn’t accept the secret when you tell him or her?
What responsibility do we have since we have been told this secret? We are to share this Good News with everyone we meet.
Daily Pious Practice Reminder
- Choose a verse from the Bible to read and think about each day.
Closing Prayer
Eternal and All-Powerful Father, you are the source of our very being, the source of our whole lives. Only in you do we find our home; only in you do we find our true selves. Grant that, like the Virgin Mary, we may enter more and more deeply into a true contemplation of the gift of love you give us in your beloved Son. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Mary Mother of Christ
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