maronite readings

“Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Ps 132,1). After Andrew had remained with Jesus (Jn 1,39) and had learned what he did learn, he did not keep his treasure concealed for himself, but hastened to run quickly to his brother Simon Peter to share with him the good things that he had received. Consider what he told his brother: “We have found the Messiah (which interpreted is Christ)” (Jn 1,41). Do you perceive, in these words, the fruit of what he had learned in such a short time? It shows, at once, the authority of the Teacher who taught his disciples, and their own enthusiasm and will to learn from him since the very beginning. Indeed Andrew’s eagerness, his zeal in wanting to spread immediately such a good news, supposes a soul who was longing to see the accomplishment of the many prophecies concerning Christ. It is a mark of brotherly kindness, of loving kinship, of genuine good will: to hasten to stretch out a helping hand to one another in spiritual matters…”We have found the Messiah”, he says; not any messiah, but “the Messiah”, the one Christ they were awaiting.

maronite readings – rosary,team

Now when we have received our Lord and have him in our body, let us not then let him alone, getting us forth about other things, looking no more unto him, but let all our business be about him. Let us by devout prayer talk to him, by devout meditation talk with him. Let us say with the prophet: ‘I will hear what our Lord will speak within me’ (Ps 85[84], 9). For surely, if we… attend unto him, he will not fail with good in­spirations to speak such things to us, within us, as shall serve to the great spiritual comfort and profit of our soul. Let us then be both Martha and also Mary. And, therefore, let us with Martha provide that all our inward business may be pertaining to him, in making cheer to him, and to his company for his sake: that is to say, to poor folk, of whom he takes every one not only for his disciple, but also as for himself. For himself said: “What you have done to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to myself” (Mt 25,40)… Let us en­deavour ourself to keep him still, and let us say with his two disciples that were going to the castle of Emmaus: “Tarry with us, good Lord” (Lk 24,29). And then shall we be sure that he will not go from us but if we unkindly put him from us.
maronite readings – rosary,team

Mary’s Magnificat—a portrait, so to speak, of her soul—is entirely woven from threads of Holy Scripture, threads drawn from the Word of God. Here we see how completely at home Mary is with the Word of God, with ease she moves in and out of it. She speaks and thinks with the Word of God; the Word of God becomes her word, and her word issues from the Word of God. Here we see how her thoughts are attuned to the thoughts of God, how her will is one with the will of God. Since Mary is completely imbued with the Word of God, she is able to become the Mother of the Word Incarnate. Finally, Mary is a woman who loves. How could it be otherwise? As a believer who in faith thinks with God’s thoughts and wills with God’s will, she cannot fail to be a woman who loves. We sense this in her quiet gestures, as recounted by the infancy narratives in the Gospel. We see it in the delicacy with which she recognizes the need of the spouses at Cana and makes it known to Jesus. We see it in the humility with which she recedes into the background during Jesus’ public life, knowing that the Son must establish a new family and that the Mother’s hour will come only with the Cross… At the hour of Pentecost, it will be the disciples who gather around her as they wait for the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).
maronite readings – rosary,team

Mary is blessed, as her cousin Elizabeth has said to her, not simply because God has looked on her, but because she believed. Her faith is the most beautiful of the fruits of divine goodness. But it required the inexpressible art of the Holy Spirit to take place in her if such greatness of soul was to be united to such humility in the intimacy of her virginal heart. Mary’s humility and greatness of soul, like her virginity and fruitfulness, are like two stars shining on each other. For, in Mary, the depth of her humility does not in the least retract from the generosity of her soul, and vice versa. Even though Mary had so lowly an estimate of herself, she was no less generous in her faith in the promise made her by the angel because of it. She, who looked upon herself entirely as a poor and insignificant servant, in no way doubted herself to be called to this incomprehensible mystery, this tremendous union, this unfathomable secret. And she believed instantly that she was truly about to become the mother of God-made-man. It is God’s grace that produces this marvel in the hearts of the elect; humility does not make them fearful and timorous any more than their generosity of soul makes them proud. To the contrary, where the saints are concerned, these two virtues reinforce one another. Greatness of soul not only does not open the door to any pride, but it is this above all that allows it to penetrate the mystery of humility even further. Indeed, those who are the most generous in their service of God are also the most penetrated by the fear of the Lord and the most grateful for the gifts they have received. Similarly, when it is a question of humility, no trace of cowardice insinuates into the soul. The less someone is accustomed to presume on his own strength, even in the smallest things, the more he entrusts himself to the power of God, even in the greatest.
maronite readings – rosary,team