Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Marian Thoughts –24 May – Pope Francis – The Fifth Luminous Mystery: The Institution of the Eucharist

Marian Thoughts – 24 May – ‘Mary’s Month’ – Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter, C

Mini Series – Pope Francis and the Holy Rosary

“Throughout her life, Mary did everything that the Church is asked to do in perennial memory of Christ.   In her faith, we learn to open our hearts to obey God, in her self-denial, we see the importance of tending to the needs of others, in her tears, we find the strength to console those experiencing pain.   In each of these moments, Mary expresses the wealth of divine mercy that reaches out to all in their daily needs.”
Pope Francis – 9 October 2016

The Fifth Luminous Mystery: The Institution of the Eucharist

“It is in the Lord, who gave His life for us on the cross, that we will always find that unconditional love which sees our lives as something good and always gives us the chance to start again.
In the Eucharist, Divine Mercy reveals itself in a special way.   Celebrating the greatest mysteries of our faith, we touch the source of mercy.
The Eucharist is flavoured with Jesus’ words and deeds, the taste of His Passion, the fragrance of His Spirit.   When we receive it, our hearts are overcome with the certainty of Jesus’ love. (18 June 2017)
Let us pray that frequent participation in the Holy Mass would expand our hearts, enrich our strength and enable us to give ourselves to our neighbours.”

Pope Francis
WYD 2016

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Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, The TRANSFIGURATION

Marian Thoughts –23 May – Pope Francis – The Fourth Luminous Mystery: The Transfiguration

Marian Thoughts – 23 May – ‘Mary’s Month’ – Thursday of the fifth Week of Easter, C

Mini Series – Pope Francis and the Holy Rosary

“Mary helps us to understand what it means to be a disciple of Christ.   Eternally chosen to be his Mother, she learned to become his disciple.   Her first act was to listen to God.”

Pope Francis 9 October 2016

The Fourth Luminous Mystery: The Transfiguration

“The Transfiguration helps the disciples and also us, to understand that Christ’s Passion is a mystery of suffering but it’s especially a gift of infinite love on Jesus’ part.   The event of Jesus, who is transfigured on the mountain, makes us also understand better His Resurrection.   To understand the mystery of the cross it’s necessary to know in anticipation, that He that that suffers and is glorified, is not only a man but the Son of God, who has saved us, with His faithful love to death. Thus the Father renews His Messianic declaration on the Son, already made on the banks of the Jordan after the Baptism and He exhorts: “listen to Him!” (v. 7).

The disciples are called to follow the Master with confidence and hope, despite His death – Jesus’ divinity must manifest itself precisely on the cross, precisely in His dying “in that way,” so much so that the evangelist Mark puts on the centurion’s mouth the profession of faith:  “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (15:39).

We now turn in prayer to the Virgin Mary, the human creature transfigured interiorly by the grace of Christ.   We entrust ourselves confidentially to her maternal help, to continue the … journey with faith and generosity.”

Pope Francis

Angelus 25 February 2018

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Posted in MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Marian Thoughts –20 May – Pope Francis – The First Luminous Mystery: The Baptism of the Lord

Marian Thoughts – 20 May – ‘Mary’s Month’ – Monday of the fifth Week of Easter, C

Mini Series – Pope Francis and the Holy Rosary

“Mary helps us to understand what it means to be a disciple of Christ.  Eternally chosen to be his Mother, she learned to become His disciple.   Her first act was to listen to God. She obeyed the message of the Angel and opened her heart to receive the mystery of divine motherhood.   She followed Jesus, listening to every word that issued from His lips (cf. Mk 3:31-35).   She kept all those things in her heart (cf. Lk 2:19) and became the living memory of the signs worked by God’s Son to awaken our faith.   But is not enough simply to listen.  That is certainly, the first step but listening, then, needs to be translated into concrete action.   The disciple truly puts his life at the service of the Gospel.”…Pope Francis (9 October 2016)

The First Luminous Mystery

The Baptism of the Lord

“We then understand the great humility of Jesus, the One who had not sinned, in lining up with the penitents, mingled among them to be baptised in the waters of the river.   In doing so, He manifested what we celebrated at Christmas – the availability of Jesus to immerse Himself in the river of humanity, to take upon Himself the shortcomings and weaknesses of humanity, to share our desire to be free and to overcome everything that separates us from God and makes us strangers to our brothers and sisters.  Just like in Bethlehem, along the banks of the River Jordan, God keeps His promise, to take charge of the fate of human beings and Jesus is the tangible and definitive sign.”

Pope Francis (Angelus – 7 January 2018)

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Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Marian Thoughts – 18 May – Pope Francis – The Fifth Joyful Mystery: The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

Marian Thoughts – 18 May – ‘Mary’s Month’ – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter, C

Mini Series – Pope Francis and the Holy Rosary

“Praying the rosary does not remove us from the problems of life. On the contrary, it demands that we immerse ourselves in the history of each day, so as to grasp the signs of Christ’s presence in our midst. Whenever we contemplate an event, a mystery of the life of Christ, we are asked to reflect on how God comes into our own lives, so as to be able to welcome Him and follow Him.”
Pope Francis

The Fifth Joyful Mystery:

The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

The Holy Family had gone to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover but on the return voyage, Mary and Joseph discovered that Jesus, who was only twelve years old, was not in the caravan.
They searched for Jesus for three days, finally finding Him in the Temple amid the doctors of the law.
When they found Jesus, the Gospel says, “they were astonished” and Mary expressed her concern to Jesus, saying, “Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
In the Holy Family, astonishment never failed!
To feel astonishment is the opposite of taking everything for granted… It means opening ourselves to others.
This attitude is important for mending compromised relationships and curing the open wounds within the family.
The anxiety felt by Mary and Joseph, shows the centrality of Jesus in the Holy Family. And so we see, why the family of Nazareth is holy – because it was centred on Jesus, all the attention and care of Joseph revolved around Him.
The anxiety felt by Mary and Joseph, when Jesus was lost for three days, should also be our anxiety, when we are far from Jesus, when we forget Jesus, going without prayer, without reading the Gospel for several days.
Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the Temple and we too, should seek Jesus in the house of God – and especially, in the Liturgy, where we have the living experience of Jesus, in His Word and in the Eucharist, from which we receive the strength to face the difficulties of each day….
Pope Francis 2018

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Posted in CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MARIAN DEVOTIONS, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The NATIVITY of JESUS

Marian Thoughts – 16 May – Pope Francis – The Third Joyful Mystery: The Nativity

Marian Thoughts – 16 May – ‘Mary’s Month’ – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter, C

Mini Series – Pope Francis and the Holy Rosary

“The month of May is dedicated to Our Lady
and it is “fitting” to start the habit of a daily rosary now.”
Pope Francis

The Third Joyful Mystery – The Nativity

“Mary and Joseph had to leave their people, their home and their land and to undertake a journey in order to be registered in the census.
This was no comfortable or easy journey for a young couple about to have a child – they had to leave their land.
At heart, they were full of hope and expectation because of the child about to be born, yet their steps were weighed down by the uncertainties and dangers that attend those, who have to leave their home behind.
They they found themselves, having to face perhaps, the most difficult thing of all. They arrived in Bethlehem and experienced that, it was a land that was not expecting them. A land, whee there was no place for them.   And there, where everything was a challenge, May gave us Emmanuel.   The Son of God, had to be born in a stable because His own had no room for Him. “He came to what was his own and his own people did not accept him” (Jn 1:11).
That night, the One who had no place to be born, is proclaimed to those who had no place at the table or in the streets of the city.   The shepherds are the first to hear this Good News.   By reason of their work, they were men and women forced to live on the edges of society.   Their state of life and the places they had to stay, prevented them from observing all the ritual prescriptions of religious purification, as a result, they wee considered unclean.   Their skin, their clothing, their smell, their way of speaking, their origin, all betrayed them.   Everything about them generated mistrust. They were men and women to be kept at a distance, to be feared.   They were considered pagans among the believers, sinners among the just, foreigners among the citizens. Yet, to them – pagans, sinners and foreigners – the angel says:  “Do not be afraid – for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for the people, to you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Lk 2:10-11)”

Pope Francis

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