The mystical meaning which many Fathers attach to this parable, and which our Lord may have intended, is easy to discover. All mankind, fallen and bruised by the sin of Adam, raised up again, and finally cured by the Word made flesh, the Redeemer of the world.
In a more restricted sense, it is the sinner and his Saviour. All that happened to the unfortunate traveller who was robbed has its counterpart in the soul which falls, through mortal sin, into the devil’s power.
It lost everything -- its innocence, sanctifying grace, supernatural beauty which made it like the angels, its rights of divine adoption, of all its merits. It is covered besides with hideous wounds which sin has made in it. In short, having only faith without charity, it is half-dead.
Wretched I should be, if in my life I have committed even one mortal sin. Wretched, when I think of the state to which I brought mself, and in which I lived for weeks and months. Doubly wretched, in that I blinded myself to my misery, and perhaps even delighted in it.
Where should I be now, if death had surprised me then? But how did this misfortune come on me? I went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. That is, because in thought and in affection I went far away from God, from heaven, from my last end; to seek earthly goods and worldly pleasures. How I should tremble, then, for my perseverance, lest I fall into the snares the devil always sets for me.
In the good Samaritan behold the figure of Jesus, our Saviour. The Jew left half-dead was, in the eyes of the Samaritan, a stranger, a natural enemy. Moreover, a wretch reduced to a loathsome condition. Yet, on seeing him, was touched with compassion, dismounts, and succors him.
We, by sin, have become loathsome in the eyes of the Son of God. Yet, seeing our misery, he is touched with compassion, comes down from heaven, becomes our neighbor through the Incarnation, and rescues us.
All that the good Samaritan did to console and cure the traveller is but a faint image of what Christ has done for us. He poured over the wounds of our soul the wine of penitence and the oil of sanctifying grace, and he has closed them with the balm of his Precious Blood.
Then he laid us, not on a beast of burden; but upon his own shoulders, like the Good Shepherd. He carried us, not into an inn but to a house of his own; charged another with our welfare. He directed that all our wants, bodily and spiritual, should be supplied until he should return to bring us into the palace of his glory.
If we could not help feeling love and admiration for the good Samaritan in the parable, how much more should we feel for the True Samaritan who daily shows himself so good, so generous towards us! How can we show our love and gratitude?
By fervor in serving him, obedience to whoever represents him; eagerness to assist the poor in whom he lives and suffers: “I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; ... As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.” (Mt 25:35-6, 40)
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp621-3
The Holy Rosary, Prayer of the Redeemed
This month of October is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Rosary. In this month, therefore, I wish to consecrate the Angelus thought to the prayer so dear to the hearts of Catholics, so beloved by me and so much recommended by the popes, my predecessors.
The Rosary also takes on fresh perspectives and is charged with stronger and vaster intentions than in the past. It is not a question now of asking for great victories, as at Lepanto and Vienna; rather is it a question of asking Mary to provide us with valorous fighters against the spirit of error and evil, with the arms of the Gospel, ie, the Cross and God’s Word.
The Rosary prayer is man’s prayer for man. It is the prayer of human solidarity, the collegial prayer of the redeemed, reflecting the spirit and intent of the first of the Redeemed, Mary, Mother and Image of the Church. It is a prayer for all the people of the world and of history, living and dead, called to be the Body of Christ with us; and to become heirs together with Him of the glory of the Father.
When we consider the spiritual directions suggested by the Rosary, which is a simple, evangelical prayer, we find the same intentions which St Cyprian noted in the ‘Our Father’: “The Lord, master of peace and unity, did not will that we should pray individually alone. In fact, we do not say, ‘My Father, who art in heaven’. Nor do we say, ‘Give me my daily bread’. Our prayer is for all; so that, when we pray, we should not do so for one only but for the whole people, so that with all the people we are one thing.”
Ref: Cf “Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II”, pp350-51
The 15 Promises of Mary:
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all who shall recite the rosary.
3. The rosary shall be a powerful armour against hell; it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
Ref: In Rev Joseph A Viano, SSP, “Two Months with Mary”, 1984, p73
Meditations on the Litany of Loreto
‘Holy Mother of God’ -- If the prayers of the saints are very powerful with God, how great must be the power of those of Mary! The former are prayers of servants, the latter those of a mother having the force of a command with Jesus Christ. Hence, it is impossible for the Son not to grant a grace for which the Mother asks.
St Bernard therefore, exhorts us to ask for every grace which we desire from God through Mary. ‘Let us seek for grace, and seek it by Mary.’ And why? ‘Because she is a mother, and is always graciously heard.’
Ref: “The Glories of Mary”. In “Documentation Service”, V:319
Charity -- “Charity consists not so much in giving as in understanding. That’s why you should seek an excuse for your neighbor -- there are always excuses -- if yours is the duty to judge.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Way”, 463)
• Our Lady of “La Place”, at Rome. This image having fallen into a well at the house of Cardinal Copocias, in the year 1250, the water swelled up miraculously, and cast out the image, which the cardinal placed in his chapel. But Pope Innocent IV obliged him to build another on the very spot where the miracle had occurred. This chapel having been given to the Servites, they have erected a fine church, in which the well is enclosed. — Triple Couronne, n. 100. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of the Place. Rome. 1250. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Our Lady of Graces. (Italy, 1697). (www/mariedenazareth.com)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment