December Reflection
Life, with all its trials and tribulations, remains a very challenging experience for many of us. We want to go wherever it may lead us, but, there is no denying that we all have to die one day. We all have to face our own death bravely at some point in time.
We all should ponder upon this fact and begin to make preparations for the inevitable. We should not procrastinate, but rather prepare ourselves for our meeting with God. Let us look at our relationships with our God, our family and loved ones. It is said that the kind of relationship that we have with them, is the kind of relationship that we have with our God. The way we treat others is the way we treat our God.
Today, modern communication technology, makes it easier than ever to communicate through text messages, videos, and pictures. Our human relationships must be on the high nines, while prayer, on the other hand, remains the same. It is not affected by any development in modern technology and remains to be done in the old fashion way of talking with God, as it has been done in the past and will be forever. With our Bible, we put ourselves in silence and pray. We listen. Then, on Sunday, we go out and gather, as a community, to celebrate the Eucharist.
If we have properly prepared each day then, together with our family, loved ones and friends, and with our strong faith in God, we can wholeheartedly face the small deaths that daily come our way. One day, a definite time will come when we have to surrender our life back to God. With God in me, it will not be painful, and letting go will be easy.
Reflection About Our Lady
True devotion to Our Lady is not an end in itself, but it is a means, a way and an effort of love which brings us to the final goal of our existence, namely, Jesus and His Paradise. Jesus is the Beginning and the End of all things (cf. Apoc 21: 6). All things were made by Him (cf. Jn. 1:3), including the Blessed Virgin--in fact, she above all. Without Jesus, Our Lady would never have existed.
To love Our Lady, to consecrate oneself to her and belong to her without reserve means, then, to give oneself to her who is wholly directed to Jesus, to her who has been given to Jesus for an everlasting role, and who gives herself to Jesus with all those who are entrusted to her. The path of Marian devotion proceeds to Jesus with Mary and in Mary. St. Louis de Montfort rightly declares: Devotion to Our Lady consists essentially "on the gift of one's entire self to Mary, and by means of her, to Jesus, and then, in doing everything with Mary, in Mary, and through Mary."
All clients of Our Lady ought to realize the inspired words of St. Ambrose: "May Mary's soul be within you to magnify God. May Mary's spirit be within you to rejoice in the Lord."