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Ave Maria Meditations

Presence of God:

I beg the Blessed Virgin Mary to allow me to enter in spirit the humble home at Nazareth, to contemplate Jesus’ most admirable life there.

Meditation:

1. On this day for the last time in the cycle of the liturgical year, the Church invites us to contemplate the mystery of Jesus’ humble, hidden life. A feeling of close intimacy and tenderness characterizes this Feast and is expressed in the liturgy of the day: “ . . . it is good for us to recall the little home at Nazareth and the humble life of those who lived there . . . . In it, Jesus learned Joseph’s humble trade, and grew in age, and was happy sharing the work of a carpenter…

Today’s liturgy particularly emphasizes one typical aspect of the humble life of this hidden God: obedience. “ Although He was the Son of God . . . He learned to obey; He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death”. From Bethlehem to Calvary obedience was His companion. The Gospel (Lk 2, 42-52) stresses this obedience of Jesus at Nazareth in words which carry for all time the strength of their first utterance, “He was subject to them.” Let us ask ourselves with St. Bernard, “Who obeyed? Whom did He obey?” The Saint replies, “God obeyed man! Yes, the God to whom the angels are subject . . . was subject to Mary, and not only to Mary, but also to Joseph. For God to obey a woman is humility without parallel…Learn then, man, to obey; learn, O earth, to be submissive. God subjected Himself to men; and do you, desiring to rule others, place yourself above your Creator?”

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Homily #111230 ( 11min) Play – On the feast of the Holy Family Fr. Angelo preaches on how the Christian life consists in following the example of Christ who came to us in a family. He compares the incarnation, with its mixture of the natural and supernatural, to the family and the sacraments of the Church, especially Holy Matrimony.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Holy Family – Feast – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: sir 3:2-6, 12-14
Resp: psa 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
2nd: col 3:12-21
Gsp: luk 2:22-40

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Homily #111210 ( 07min) Play – On this feast of Our Lady of Loreto, Fr. Bonaventure explains that the home of the Holy Family in Nazareth would become the exemplar of all family life, of the entire human family. Let us commend today all families to the love of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph, making Christ central in all our lives and families.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Our Lady of Loreto – Feast – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: 1ch 15:3-4, 15-16, 16:1-2
Resp: psa 84:3, 4, 5-6, 8, 11
Gsp: luk 1:26-38

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Ave Maria Meditations

God’s plan for the infant Christ was not our Lady’s plan for Him. What good and lovely things she had to give up in order that His will should be done in her, not hers in Him, in order that what she gave to Him should be herself.

She had made the home in Nazareth ready for Him. In her mind for the nine longing months of Advent it had been His home. Joseph had made the wooden cradle and had arranged sufficient work for the lovely months ahead. Mary had woven the blankets for the cradle and clothes for the Child. The lamp that was to bum in the darkness to light the Light of the World was set in its place.  Everything in the plan was good and must surely be pleasing to God.

Yet God altered everything! They were not to go back to Nazareth until the Child had outgrown His cradle and His first clothes. They were not to enjoy the privacy of four walls of their own; they were not to be restricted to the society of the few neighbors in the hamlet; they were not to have the security of Joseph’s steady trade. From the stable in Bethlehem they were to fly into the desert and into Egypt, there to live as foreigners and exiles among a people who were strange to them and to whom they were strange.

This happens so often, too, to those who foster the infant Christ in their souls. We like to plan the life that we shall offer to God in just the way that seems good and aesthetically right to us, to achieve holiness between four walls, with every modem convenience, undisturbed sessions of solitude, work, and prayer, and a selected number of friends on whom to exercise our charity and with whom to live, reasonably, easily, at peace.

It is difficult to imagine that a plan like this – so full of sweet order, prudence, and common sense, so harmless­ – could not be pleasing to God.  Yet God changes everything.

He sends us to where He wants to be, among those whom He wishes to be among, to do that which He wishes to do in our lives. He brings to the Bethlehem of our lives those people to whom He wishes to show the infant Christ in us, those who are to give us something for Him, just as He brought whom He would to Bethlehem: animals, angels, shepherds, and kings – unlikely people, which proves that, although there are distinctions between different kinds of men in the world, when they come into Christ’s presence there is to be no distinction, no selection. The rich and the poor, the ignorant and the learned, the laborer and the king must kneel together before the infant Christ. (more…)

Variety #106 – Fr Alessandro Apollonio ( 16min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Feast of the Holy Family and St. Steven Protomartyr.

Ave Maria!

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Homily #101226 ( 24min) Play – In today’s homily Fr. Angelo explains why the Feast of the Holy Family was instituted and talks about how the family is under attack in today’s world. “love makes a family”
Ave Maria!
Mass: Holy Family – Feast – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: sir 3:2-6, 12-14
Resp: psa 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
2nd: col 3:12-21
Gsp: mat 2:13-15, 19-23

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Ave Maria Meditations

 O Jesus, how I love to contemplate You as a Child, in the poor house at Nazareth, with Mary and Joseph! Your simple, humble life was just like that of any other child of Your age. You, the splendor of the Father, did not wish anything to distinguish You from the children of men; You, uncreated wisdom, wished to learn from Mary and Joseph, Your creatures, the ordinary little details of life.  Joseph showed You how to handle his tools and You watched Him attentively, You learned and You obeyed. Mary taught You holy hymns and recounted tales from the Sacred Scriptures ; You listened to her like a humble disciple, You who are the one true Teacher, You who are Truth itself. No one, neither Your relatives nor Your fellow townspeople, knew who You really were. Everyone believed You to be the carpenter’s son and paid no more attention to You than they would have paid to an ordinary apprentice. 

Only Mary and Joseph knew; they knew by divine revelation that You were the Son of the Most High, the Savior of the world, and yet they knew it more by faith than by experience. Your ordinary way of life concealed Your majesty and divinity from them so completely that when, without their knowledge, You remained among the doctors in the Temple, they could not understand the reason for Your unusual behavior. 

That incident, however, was an isolated one; immediately afterward, You wished to return to the hiddenness of Your most humble life. You went back with them, and were subject to them. And this, day by day, until You were thirty years old.

O most sweet Jesus, grant that I may imitate, at least to some degree, Your infinite humility! You, the Creator, were obedient to Your creatures. Teach me to bow my proud head and willingly obey my superiors. You came down from heaven to earth. Give me the grace to humble myself, to come down, once and for all, from the pedestal of my pride! How can I bear the sight of Your humility and self-effacement, O my God and my Creator, when I, who am nothingness and sin, use the gifts I have received to set myself above others, to prefer myself even to my superiors?

Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene  (Divine Intimacy)

Roving Reporter #108 – An Italian family goes to visit the home of their Mother ( 11min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Would you like to see to house in which Our Lady lived?  One of our friars in Italy had the opportunity to take a pilgrimage to the Holy House of Loreto, and this is the first of 2 videos which recount the journey and tell the story of this extraordinary shrine.  (Note: A view of the house is yet to come!  Say a prayer that the Capuchins let me into the Basilica with a video camera!)

Ave Maria!

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Lyrics–The Shepherd’s Farewell (English):

Thou must leave thy lowly dwelling,
The humble crib, the stable bare.
Babe, all mortal babes excelling,
Content our earthly lot to share.
Loving father, Loving mother,
Shelter thee with tender care!

Blessed Jesus, we implore thee
With humble love and holy fear.
In the land that lies before thee,
Forget not us who linger here!
May the shepherd’s lowly calling,
Ever to thy heart be dear!

Blest are ye beyond all measure,
Thou happy father, mother mild!
Guard ye well your heav’nly treasure,
The Prince of Peace, The Holy Child!
God go with you, God protect you,
Guide you safely through the wild!

Collection of masterpieces depicting Holy Family and adoration of the Child by Angels and Saints.

Marycast #112 ( 10min) Play – Dr. Miravalle concludes his mini-series on the messages from St Joseph in the apparitions of Our Lady of America. He covers the messages given on March 30,  1958 to Sr. Mary Ephrem. St Joseph asks that his role as Father in the Holy Family and his pure heart be honored by reciting the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary and receiving Communion on each first Wednesday of the month. This will also be a means of honoring fatherhood in general of which he is the human exemplar.

To ask questions regarding Mary, email Dr Mark Miravalle: marycast@airmaria.com

Ave Maria!

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Homily #100110 ( 09min) Play – Today we celebrate, according to the Old Calendar, the feast of the Holy Family in honor of Jesus, Joseph and Mary.  (Baptism of Our Lord according to the New Calendar.) Fr Ignatius preaches on the importance of the family and how far we have slid in regard to marriage statistics. He stresses that this loss of family life is related to lack of love, first to love God and then to love our neighbor and then he stresses the connection between love and sacrifice.
Ave Maria! Sunday after Epiphany – Feast of the Holy Family – Mass: EF, Exsultat Gaudio – Readings: 1st: col 3:12-17 – Gsp: luk 2:42-52

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Homily #091227 ( 24min) Play – Today is the Feast of the The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and Fr. Bonaventure explains that the family is the core to a culture of life and saving the family from the attacks of the author of death, the Devil, is the central battle of our day. Jesus, Mary and Joseph are the exemplars of family life both in their exulted charity to which we should strive and in regard to the assaults that they survived in the form of Herod’s attempt to destroy them. Let us encourage the entire human family to embrace this ideal of love and courage.

Ave Maria! Mass readings
1: Sir 3:2-7,12-14
R: Ps 128:1-5
2: Col 3:12-21
G: Lk 2:22-40

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One Minute Meditation

It is only the Child lying in the manger who pos­sesses the true secret of life. For this reason he asks us to welcome him, to make room for him within us, in our hearts, in our homes, in our cities, and in our societies. The words of John’s Prologue echo in our minds and hearts: “To all who received him … he gave power’ to become children of God” (1: 12).

Let us endeavor to be among those who welcome him. Before him one cannot remain indifferent. We too, dear friends, must continuously take sides. What will our response be? With what attitude will we welcome him? The simplicity of the shepherds and the seeking of the Magi who scrutinized the signs of God by means of the star come to our help. The docility of Mary and the wise prudence of Joseph serve as an example to us …

The love that Jesus, born in Bethlehem, brought into the world binds to himself in a lasting relation­ship of friendship and brotherhood all who welcome him. Saint John of the Cross says: “In giving us all, that is, his Son, in him God has now said all. Fix your eyes on him alone … and you will find in addition more than you ask and desire.”

Pope Benedict XVI

Homily #091224 ( 04min) Play – On the Vigil of Christmas (Christmas Eve) Father gives the account of the arrival of the Holy Family in Bethlehem. He notes how they are poor, chaste, docile to the will of God and full of charity. Let us imitate them and contemplate these great events.
Ave Maria! Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord – Mass: EF, Hodie Scietis – Readings: 1st: rom 1:1-6 – Gsp: mat 1:18-21

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