To fulfill your spiritual
mission, Jesus must be the center of your life. This can happen through prayer.
We are praying for the grace of
a holy and intimate prayer time.
The Perfect Woman
"Were we to present... the image of the purely developed character of
spouse and mother as it should be according to her natural vocation, we must
gaze upon the Virgin Mary. In the center of her life stands her son. She awaits
His birth in blissful expectation; she watches over His childhood; near or far,
indeed wherever He wishes, she follows Him in His ways; she holds the crucified
body in her arms; she carries out the will of the departed. But not as her
action does she do all this; she is in this the Handmaid of the Lord; she
fulfills that to which God has called her"
St. Edith Stein
Dear Lord,
As Mary's Son and Redeemer, You stood in the center of her life. And she gave
everything for love of You. Nothing was too great for her -- no pain, no joy, no
contradiction, not even Calvary. much holds me back from this open gift of
surrender. Perhaps it is because I have not yet placed You in the center of my
life. Perhaps it is because I am still too selfish and aware of my own desires.
Perhaps it is because my relationship with You needs to be strengthened through
prayer. Help me to overcome all that separates me from You. Like Mary, I desire
to be a handmaid of the Lord, fulfilling all to which you call me. Amen.
Scripture Passage for Meditation:
But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. (Luke
2:19). Revised Standard Version
Daily Reflection:
· Jesus is the center of Mary's life. Is He the center of your life? Answer
this question by picturing your life as a circle. Is Jesus in the center? If
not, how close is He to the center? Is He in the circle at all? Use the circles
below to illustrate where Jesus currently is in your life and where you would
like Him to be. Place and name what else fills your life's circle and where it
should be.
· What can I do to make Jesus the center of my life? Which one strategy am I
willing to implement now?
· What is the benefit of daily prayer? How does daily prayer help in the
relationship with Jesus? Read paragraph 2744 (CCC) in the Appendix.
· Luke 2:19 says that Mary pondered in her heart all of her life's
circumstances. This is another way of saying that Mary brought everything in her
life to prayer. To what extent do I ponder my daily situations in prayer? How
can doing so help me come to a deeper understanding of God's activity in my
life? Do I believe He is "in all things" even the difficult events of
my life?
