All signs of wisdom and knowledge were hidden from the moment of his Incarnation. As Jesus grew up, he allowed a greater wisdom and perfection in his whole conduct. Thus, he appeared to progress like other men whose intellectual development depends on age and experience.
Jesus advanced in grace with God. He practised acts of virtue which were greater, more arduous, more generous, more perfect in their nature. The virtues he practised in his cradle, were developed to a higher degree in his hidden life, higher still in his public life, and to a heroic degree in his last moments.
His advance in grace and virtuous acts attracted the respect of men and the approval of his heavenly Father. In every sense his eminent acts of virtue were exalted by the purest intention and most ardent love.
How did Jesus continually advance in perfection and merit? By leading unnoticed, a domestic life; by doing what men who live with their families generally do.
His example in perfection before God and before men, proved in his own person, inspire us to act similarly in the most ordinary circumstances of daily life.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp77-9
To willingly correspond with God’s grace
Much glory is given to God by a soul who freely decides to accept his grace instead of rejecting it! How pleasing to God is the one who, with God’s help, is determined to give fruits of holiness instead of remaining lukewarm. How the saints pleased him! How much glory Our Lady gave him during her time on earth.
God could have created us without any freedom, so that we would give glory to him in the same way that the animals and plants do when they glorify him by their existence. They move according to their instincts, subjected to demands of internal or external stimuli. We could have been made like even more-perfect animals, but without any freedom.
God ‘wanted to create us free’ so that, out of love, we might want and choose to acknowledge our dependence on him; to be able to echo freely Our Blessed Mother’s free assent with her ‘Fiat!’ Making ourselves slaves of God for love makes up, to God, for all the offences others do him through wrong use of their freedom.
Let us enjoy sowing, “each according to his opportunity, ability, charism and ministry” (cf 1 Cor 3:10); “all who sow and reap (cf John 4:37), plant and water, should be one (cf 1 Cor 3:8), so that ‘working together for the same end in a free and orderly manner’ they might devote their powers to the building up of the Church.” (Second Vatican Council, “Ad gentes”, 28)
Ref: Cf Francis Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 3:136-7
The struggle goes on
God’s kingdom has its beginning in the history of creation including man. At the summit of this long history stands Christ. “The reign of God is at hand.” (Mk 1:15) He spoke of it from the beginning of his messianic teaching and he perseveringly, tirelessly, announced this Kingdom to the chosen people.
Conversion is necessary for being able to regain the full truth of the Kingdom of God. After all, He gave His life for that truth ... Good Friday closed with a controversy over God’s Kingdom.
On the Day of the Resurrection the truth of Christ’s words was confirmed, ... that God’s Kingdom has come to us, the Truth of the whole of His messianic mission.
The struggle between the kingdom of the evil spirit and the Kingdom of God has not ceased. It has only entered upon a new stage, the definitive stage, when the struggle goes on in ever new generations of human history. Do we really have to demonstrate that this struggle continues in our day as well? Yes. Indeed, it develops together with human history in single peoples and nations.
It goes on in each of us. And, by following the history, including our contemporary history, we can also define in what way the kingdom of the malign spirit is not divided; but seeks unity of action in the world and, by various ways, tries to have its effects upon man, on groups, on families, on society. As at the beginning, so also now, it stakes its program on human liberty ... on man’s apparently unlimited liberty.
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions”, 1994, p139
A pledge of love to the Mother of God
In the school of the ‘living Rosary’, we learn to join sacrifice to prayer: there we are taught to concern ourselves mainly with the matters that concern the Lord. In the ‘Sorrowful Mysteries’ we learn that it is impossible to be a true Christian, and aim for perfection, without spiritually climbing Calvary with Jesus and Mary; and meekly accepting suffering and the crosses that the Lord allows us to bear.
To succeed in this noble undertaking we must fight sin ceaselessly and continuously purify our souls of all sins we have committed. Through meditating on the ‘Glorious Mysteries’ we can be united with the risen Christ, ardent in our hearts and purified of every stain of sin, so we may carry out his will, in expectation of praising him, for ever.
Reciting the ‘Rosary’ in this way, we will advance in virtue and be increasingly fervent, knowing that we are in the school of holiness. ... Make your lives, therefore, an effort to win over others, a generous gift of Apostolate. Pray, too, for the conversion of those who are, unfortunately, far from the grace of God; and petition Our Lady that she may obtain for the Church itself from her divine Son these great goals.
Through your faith in the bosom of your families, and among your contemporaries, spread this form of prayer. The Pope exhorts you to do so by force of example and also with that persistence which is proper to your age. Jesus is with you. Our Lady is with you. They will hear you and ensure peace in your families and in the world.
Ref: cf “The Private Prayers of Pope John Paul II”, 2002, p57
Optional Memorial: St Blaise, bishop and martyr. (4th century). He enjoyed widespread veneration in the Eastern and Western Churches due to many cures attributed to him. According to tradition, he was Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia and martyred under Licinius (320-324). (Fr James Socias, et al [Eds], “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1474).
Intercessor for those who are suffering from throat infections, is one of the most popular saints in the Middle Ages. It is said that during the persecution of Christians by Licinius, the governor of Cappadocia imprisoned the bishop in a cave outside Sebaste and that wild beasts came to him to be cured. A mother once came to him for the cure of her son who was choking on a fish bone stuck in his throat. The bishop saved the boy with a prayer and the sign of the cross. ... In many churches, two blessed candles are tied or held together in the form of St Andrews cross and applied to the throat as the priest pronounces invocation to St Blaise to protect the individual against diseases of the throat. He is also invoked in cases of hemorrhage and ulcers. (Cf “Happiness is ... J.O.S.E.P.H.”, by Rev Fr Jose M Dimaculangan, St Joseph Family Apostolate, 1995)
• Our Lady of Seidaneida, Damascus. From this picture, which was painted on wood, inexhaustible oil exuded, whatever quantity was taken. The virtue of this oil was so great, that it healed even the infidels themselves. — Arnold, Abbot of Lubec cited by Baronius, ann. 870, and by Spon danus, ann. 1203. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Seidaneida (near Damascus). (www.divine will.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Seidaneida / Saidenaida. Damascus, Syria. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
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