maronite readings

Father Most Holy, God Almighty…, when I raise the faint light of my eyes towards the sky, how can I doubt it to be your heaven? When I contemplate the movement of the stars and their yearly cycle; when I see the Pleiades, Little Bear and Morning Star and consider how each of them shines in the watch assigned to it, then I understand, O God, that you are there in those stars beyond my understanding. When I see “the breakers of the sea” (Ps 93[92]:4) I cannot grasp the origin of their waters or even what sets their ebb and flow in motion. And yet– impenetrable though it be for me – I believe there to be a cause to these facts of which I have no knowledge and there, too, I perceive your presence. If I turn my mind towards the earth which, by means of the energy of hidden forces, decomposes all the seeds it has received in its womb, slowly causes them to germinate and multiply, then enables them to grow, I see nothing in all this that I could understand with my intellect. But even this ignorance helps me to discern you since, if I have no knowledge of the nature placed at my service, yet I understand you by the mere fact that it is there for my use. And if I turn towards my own self, this experience tells me that I do not understand myself and I wonder at you all the more in that I am a stranger to myself. Indeed, even if I am unable to comprehend them, I have an experience of the movements of my mind as it judges, of its operations, of its life. And it is to you that I owe this experience, you who have given me a share in this sensible nature, which is my joy even if its origin is beyond the grasp of my intelligence. I do not understand my own self but it is in myself that I find you and, in finding you, adore you.

maronite readings – rosary,team

Brothers and sisters, let us never lose trust in the patience and mercy of God! Let us think too of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus: their sad faces, their barren journey, their despair. But Jesus does not abandon them: he walks beside them, and not only that! Patiently he explains the Scriptures which spoke of him, and he stays to share a meal with them (Lk 24,13f.). This is God’s way of doing things: he is not impatient like us, who often want everything all at once, even in our dealings with other people. God is patient with us because he loves us, and those who love are able to understand, to hope, to inspire confidence; they do not give up, they do not burn bridges, they are able to forgive. Let us remember this in our lives as Christians: God always waits for us, even when we have left him behind! He is never far from us, and if we return to him, he is ready to embrace us. I am always struck when I reread the parable of the merciful Father (Lk 15,11f.); it impresses me because it always gives me great hope. Think of that younger son who was in the Father’s house, who was loved; and yet… he goes off,… And the Father? Had he forgotten the son? No, never… He was waiting for him every hour of every day, the son was always in his father’s heart, even though he had left him… And as soon as he sees him still far off, he runs out to meet him and embraces him with tenderness, the tenderness of God, without a word of reproach: he has returned! And that is the joy of the Father… God is always waiting for us, he never grows tired. Jesus shows us this merciful patience of God so that we can regain confidence, hope – always!

maronite readings – rosary,team

“Set me as a seal on your heart, for love is strong as death” (Sg 8,6). Love is strong as death, for the love of Christ is the death of death… The love with which we love Christ is also strong as death, for inasmuch as it is the extinction of our old life, the abolition of our vices, and an end to dead works, it is itself a sort of death. This love of ours for Christ is a sort of exchange – however unequal- of his love for us. It is a likeness of his love, patterned on its image. “He loved us first” (1Jn 4,10) and by the example of that love which he offered to us, he was made a seal for us which enables us to be conformed to his image… This is why he says, ‘Set me as a seal upon your heart’. It is as if he said, ‘Love me as I love you. Have me in your mind, your memory, your desire, your yearning, your sighing, and your sobbing. Remember, mankind, how I made you, how I put you before all other creatures, how I ennobled you with such dignity, how I crowned you with glory and honor, how I made you only a little less than the angels, how I subjected all things under your feet (Ps 8,6-7). Remember, too, not only the many things I made for you, but what harsh and undeserved things I endured for you, and see if you are not being unfair to me if you do not love me. Who loves you as I do? Who wants you to love them as I do? Who created you, if not I? Who redeemed you, if not I? Take from me, O Lord, my heart of stone. Take away my hardened heart. Take away my uncircumcised heart. Give me a new heart, a heart of flesh, a pure heart (Ez 36,26)! You who purify the heart, you who love the pure heart, possess my heart and dwell within it, enclosing it and filling it, higher than what in me is highest, more inward than my most inward part. O form of beauty and seal of sanctity, seal my heart in your image, seal my heart under your mercy, “O God of my heart, O God my portion for ever” (Ps 73[72],26).
maronite readings – rosary,team

Prayer is a heart to heart with God… Prayer that has been carried out well touches God’s heart and prompts him to answer us. When we pray, let it be our whole being that turns towards God: our thoughts, our heart… The Lord will be moved to incline towards us and come to our help… Pray and hope. Do not get upset; worrying doesn’t help. God is merciful and will hear your prayer. Prayer is our best weapon; it is the key that opens God’s heart. You need to speak to Jesus less with your lips than with your heart.
maronite readings – rosary,team

Everyone must be treated with respect, prudence and evangelical simplicity… The example of Jesus is more closely followed in the most appealing simplicity, not dissociated from the God-given prudence of wise and holy men. Wiseacres may show disrespect, if not scorn, for the simple man. But those wiseacres are of no account; even if their opinions and conduct inflict some humiliations, no notice should be taken of them at all: in the end everything ends in their defeat and confusion. The ‘simple, upright, Godfearing man’ is always the worthiest and the strongest. Naturally he must always be sustained by a wise and gracious prudence. He is a simple man who is not ashamed to profess the Gospel, even in the face of men who consider it to be nothing but weakness and childish nonsense, and to profess it entirely, on all occasions, and in the presence of all; he does not let himself be deceived or prejudiced by his fellows, nor does he lose his peace of mind, however they may treat him. The prudent man is he who knows how to keep silent about that part of the truth that it would be inopportune to declare, provided that this silence does not affect the truth he utters by gainsaying it; the man who knows how to achieve his own good purpose, choosing the most effective means of willing and doing…; who, in all circumstances, knows how to choose the middle way which presents fewer difficulties and dangers; the man who, looks to God alone, in whom he trusts, and this trust is the foundation of all he does. Simplicity contains nothing contrary to prudence, and the converse also is true. Simplicity is love: prudence is thought. Love prays: the intelligence keeps watch. ‘Watch and pray’ (Mt 26,41): a perfect harmony. Love is like the cooing dove; the active intelligence is like the snake that never falls to the ground or bruises itself, because before it glides along it first probes with its head to test the unevenness of the ground.

maronite readings – rosary,team