maronite readings

It is obvious that a week comprises seven days: God gave us six of them on which to work and one on which to pray, take our rest and be freed from our sins… I am going to expound to you the reasons for which our tradition of keeping Sundays and abstaining from work has been transmitted to us. When the Lord entrusted the sacrament to his disciples: “He took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying: ‘Take, eat: this is my body, broken for you for the remission of sins.’ In the same way, he gave them the cup, saying: ‘Drink from it all of you: this is my blood, the blood of the New Covenant, shed for you and for many for the remission of sins. Do this in remembrance of me’” (Mt 26,26f.; 1Cor 11,24). Thus the holy day of Sunday is that on which we make a memorial of the Lord. That is why it is called “the Lord’s day”. And it is, as it were, the lord of days. In fact, before the Passion of the Lord, it was not called “the Lord’s day” but “the first day”. It was on this day that the Lord established a foundation for the resurrection, that is to say he carried out the work of creation; on this day he gave the world the firstfruits of the resurrection; on this day, as we have said, he ordained the celebration of the holy mysteries. Thus this day has become a beginning for us of every grace: the beginning of the creation of the world, the beginning of the resurrection, the beginning of the week. This day, which encloses within itself three beginnings, prefigures the primacy of the Holy Trinity.

maronite readings – rosary,team

If you want to live up to the standard set by God, you must imitate his example in whose likeness you are made. You are Christians and that very name means that “friend of man” (cf. Wsd 1,6). You must imitate the charity and love of Christ. Meditate carefully on the richness of Christ’s charity… Look at how he received those who listened to his voice. He gave them a ready pardon for their sins and in a moment he quickly freed them from those who troubled them… Let us be shepherds after the style of our Lord… Sketched out in the gospel in parables and hidden sayings, I find a man who is shepherd of a hundred sheep (Lk 15,4). When one of them left the flock and wandered off the shepherd did not stay with those who stayed grazing in the flock without wandering. On the contrary, he went off to search for the single stray. He followed it through countless valleys and ravines, climbed many difficult mountains, searched with great trouble in lonely places, until he found it. When he had found the lost sheep, far from beating it or driving it to return to the flock, he laid it on his shoulders and gently carried it back and returned it to its fellows. The Good Shepherd rejoiced more over this one that was found, than over all the others. Let us think over the hidden meaning of this parable… The whole story has a sacred meaning and it warns us not to think of any man as lost or beyond hope. We must not easily despair of those who are in danger or be slow to help them. If they stray from the path of virtue, we should lead them back and rejoice in their return and make it easy for them to rejoin the community of those who lead good and holy lives.

maronite readings – rosary,team

“His face shone like the sun” (Mt 17,2)… Covered with the cloud of the flesh, today the light that enlightens every man (Jn 1,9) has shone forth. Today it gives glory to this same flesh, displaying its glorification to the apostles so that the apostles might make it known to the world. As for you, O blessed City, you will enjoy the contemplation of this Sun forever when you “come down out of heaven, prepared by God as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21,2). Never again will this Sun set upon you; forever remaining itself, it will cause an eternal dawn to shine forth. Nevermore will this Sun be veiled with clouds but, shining forever, will give you the joy of a light that never sets. Never again will this Sun blind your eyes: it will give you the strength to look upon it, enrapturing you with its divine glory… “There shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain” (Rev 21,4) able to darken the splendour God has given you, for, as was said to John: “The old order has passed away.” This is the Sun of which the prophet speaks: “No longer shall the sun be your light by day, nor the brightness of the moon shine upon you at night. The Lord shall be your light forever” (Is 60,19). This is the everlasting light that shines for you upon the face of the Lord. You hear the Lord’s voice, you behold his radiant face and you become as the sun. For we recognise a person by his face and to recognise him is the same as being illumined by him. Here below you believe in the faith; there you will see. Here you grasp something with the mind; there you yourself will be grasped. Here you see “as in a mirror”; there you will see “face to face” (1Cor 13,12)… Then will be accomplished the prophet’s desire: “May he let his face shine upon us” (Ps 67[66],2)… You will be glad without end in that light; you will walk in that light without wearying. In that light you will see light eternal.
maronite readings – rosary,team

Is it not one of the “signs of the times” that in today’s world, despite widespread secularization, there is a widespread demand for spirituality, a demand which expresses itself in large part as a renewed need for prayer? Other religions, which are now widely present in ancient Christian lands, offer their own responses to this need, and sometimes they do so in appealing ways. But we who have received the grace of believing in Christ, the revealer of the Father and the Saviour of the world, have a duty to show to what depths the relationship with Christ can lead. The great mystical tradition of the Church of both East and West has much to say in this regard. It shows how prayer can progress, as a genuine dialogue of love, to the point of rendering the person wholly possessed by the divine Beloved, vibrating at the Spirit’s touch, resting filially within the Father’s heart. This is the lived experience of Christ’s promise: “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (Jn 14:21)… Yes, dear brothers and sisters, our Christian communities must become genuine “schools” of prayer, where the meeting with Christ is expressed not just in imploring help but also in thanksgiving, praise, adoration, contemplation, listening and ardent devotion, until the heart truly “falls in love”. Intense prayer, yes, but it does not distract us from our commitment to history: by opening our heart to the love of God it also opens it to the love of our brothers and sisters, and makes us capable of shaping history according to God’s plan.

maronite readings – rosary,team

      “I have come to set the earth on fire”; I came down from the heights of heaven and, by the mystery of my Incarnation, I made myself manifest in order to light in human hearts the fire of divine love; “and how I wish it were already blazing!”, that is to say, how I wish that it might take hold and become a flame activated by the Holy Spirit, bringing forth abundantly in acts of kindness!        Christ then reveals that he will undergo death on the cross before the fire of this love ignites in humanity. It is, indeed, the most holy Passion of Christ which merited such a great gift for humanity, and it is above all the memory of his Passion which lights a flame in faithful hearts. “I must be baptized”, in other words: “It falls to me and it is reserved to me by a divine decree to receive a baptism of blood, to bathe and plunge as if in water in my blood shed on the cross to redeem the whole world; “and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!”, in other words until my Passion is completed and I can say: “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30)
maronite readings – rosary,team

“Lord, Son of David, have pity on me!” That call is one of tremendous strength… It is a groaning that comes from an infinite depth. It goes way beyond nature, and it is the Holy Spirit himself who has to utter this groaning in us (Rom 8:26)… But Jesus told her: “My mission is only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and “It is not right to take the food of sons and daughters and throw it to the dogs.” … How could he have tried her and chased her away, pressed her even more? So what did she do, she who was so chased? She let herself be hunted down and she chased herself even deeper down than he could chased her. She took the chase to its furthest. She penetrated more deeply into the abyss. Even while lowering and humbling herself, she kept her trust and said: “It is true, Lord; but even the dogs eat the leavings that fall from their masters’ tables.” Ah! If you could also succeed in penetrating thus truly to the deepest truth, not by wise commentaries, big words, or even with your senses, but to the true depth of yourself! Neither God nor any creature would be able to trample you, to annihilate you, if you remained in the truth, in trusting humility. People could submit you to insult, scorn and rebuff, you would remain firm in perseverance, you would go still deeper, animated by total trust, and you would constantly increase your zeal even more. Everything depends on that, and the person who reaches this point succeeds. These paths, and only they, truly lead to God without any intermediary station. But few come to the point of remaining thus in such great humility, with perseverance, with total and true assurance, like that poor woman did.

maronite readings – rosary,team