[ ^Table of Contents || < Previous Section ||  Next Section || logotiny.gif (188 bytes) Home ]

Rosary Meditations
From Junior Shepherds of Christ Associate Meetings

JOYFUL MYSTERIES
DECEMBER 28, 1995

The Annunciation

  1. The Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and asked Mary to be the Mother of God.
  2. God came into this world and was born in the womb of a human person.
  3. Mary said "yes" to the angel. She always complied to the will of the Father.
  4. Mary was made the Mother of God. Under the cross, Jesus gave us His Mother. She is our Mother this day. As our heavenly Mother, she wants to lead us closer and closer to the Almighty God.
  5. Mary wants us to ask her for her protection. She wants to take care of us. She is our spiritual Mother. We ask Mary, our Mother, to put her protective mantel over us now and to protect us from all of the evil influences that are in our world that lead us away from her Son.
  6. Mary always tried to please her heavenly Father. The Father will tell us more about Himself, the more that we go to Him as a little child. We are dependent on Him for all of our needs.
  7. We see all through the lives of Jesus and Mary how They surrendered to the will of God. As we let go and let God operate in our lives, we will have peace.
  8. We try so hard so many times. It becomes difficult. We feel like saying, "What is the use?" Jesus is close to us even though we do not feel Him close to us. He is there in the most difficult battle.
  9. Jesus wants us to go to His Heart. I envision myself going into the red glowing chamber of His Heart through His pierced wound.
  10. Sometimes we feel discouraged. We see things in this world that are so ugly. We are so busy. We have so much school work. If we ask God, He will help us with all that we have to do.

The Visitation

  1. Mary went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. How many times we wish this day that we would see Mary, that we would see Jesus, that we would know for sure that He is here. He is here with us. He is alive even though we do not see Him. He is present and He is with us. It is in our faith that we will know Him more and more.
  2. During this rosary, let us ask to know more about His life and His Mother's life.
  3. Mary said, "...My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;" (Lk. 1:46-47) Let us have hearts of great joy, for He is with us at this moment.
  4. Mary said, "for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name," (Lk. 1:49) The Almighty has done great things to us. When we were baptized, we received a share in His divine life.
  5. We are human and God raises our nature to a higher level as we share in His divine life.
  6. Let us go to the tabernacle and visit with Jesus. He gives us an abundant sharing in His divine life.
  7. The world sells video games that are so violent and so exciting. Jesus comes and gives to us His peace and His love. This is what our hearts crave the love of the Almighty God. We do not need extra excitement to feel good. It is the peace and love of Jesus that satisfies our souls.
  8. We see Mary visiting her cousin, Elizabeth, and there is such joy.
  9. The world is sick in many of its ways this day. We need to go to Jesus and to the interior calmness of our hearts. We need to encounter Jesus and to be close to Him. God is the source of life.
  10. It is important to interact with others and visit with others. But we must have a quiet place in which we go and talk to Jesus.

The Birth of Jesus

  1. When we follow Jesus in this world today, many times, we will be rejected. At birth, Jesus was rejected. There was not a place for Him to lay His head. He was born in a stable.
  2. We carry out the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in our lives. When we feel rejected by others, we must remember how Jesus was rejected. He is allowing us to share in His suffering and to know Him more deeply.
  3. God so loved this world that He sent His only begotten Son. Jesus came into this world in a human baby body. The Almighty God enters this world in a little body out of greatest love for man.
  4. Many times we feel frightened and we do not know who to turn to. Jesus wants us to go to a quiet room and to talk to Him about our problems. He never leaves us. He is always with us.
  5. Jesus came into this world in such poverty and was laid in a little manger in a stable. If we meditate on Jesus in the stable and lying in the manger, we will realize more His love for us. God comes in such poverty and such humbleness into our world.
  6. We realize how much God loves His creatures, that He comes in the womb of a human person, the Virgin Mary.
  7. Do we realize that God has all the power, that He is magnificent, that He is Almighty, that He created all that exists in this world? Do we realize that He gives life to every baby that comes into this world and that He created all the trees and all the stars in the sky? This Almighty God loved us so much that He came into this world as a little helpless baby.
  8. Mary loves us more than any earthly mother loves her children and she wants to have a personal relationship with us. She wants us to know how she cares for everything that we are doing and that she wants us to talk to her and know that she is forever by our sides.
  9. Life seems so hard many times. It is then, as always, that we must go to Jesus and know that when it is hard, we are sharing in His life. He is so close to us in our struggles.
  10. We should think of Jesus telling us how much He loves us. Jesus loves each one of us individually. He loves us more than any person on this earth could love us. Jesus loves us so much that He came into this world and He died for us on the cross. We should think about this often.

The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple

  1. Jesus was taken to the Temple and was presented to His Father by Joseph and Mary.
  2. While they were there, the prophet Simeon, moved by the Holy Spirit, came to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and he told them that "Look, he is destined for the fall and for the rise of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is opposed-" (Lk. 2:34)
  3. He told Mary that "and a sword will pierce your soul too-so the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare." (Lk. 2:35)
  4. Mary wants all her little children to go to heaven someday and to be united with the Almighty God. She wants them to be so close to Him.
  5. Mary's heart was invisibly pierced with the sword. Mary, with her pure heart, is capable of great love. She loves her children more than any earthly mother can.
  6. Eve was the mother of our physical life. Mary is the Mother of our spiritual life.
  7. Mary is disrespected so much in this world today. She is looked down upon. How can we not love the Mother of God? She was conceived without sin. She conceived the Child Jesus. She is a virgin.
  8. Mary wants us to tell her how much we love her and to comfort her heart for all of the ugly things that people say about her. God wants us to respect Mary.
  9. Many people make fun of her pictures and her statues and laugh at her. She is Mary Immaculate, conceived without sin. She is ridiculed and made fun of. Let us tell Mary that we love her. This will comfort her aching heart.
  10. We see statues of Mary with her heart surrounded by thorns. These thorns are from the nasty things that are said about our Mother and the Mother of God.

Jesus Is Found in the Temple

  1. Jesus, when He was twelve years old, was taken to the Temple for the feast of the Passover. Mary and Joseph left on the caravan and Jesus was left behind.
  2. Jesus was lost in the Temple and Mary and Joseph searched for Him with their hearts sorrowing.
  3. There are many little children in this world today that are lost. They have wandered far from her Son Jesus. Mary wants us to pray for all the little children in this world.
  4. She wants us to pray the rosary. We are her little children. We learn about the lives of Jesus and Mary as we meditate on the mysteries of the rosary. We can model our actions after Their actions.
  5. Do we model our lives after our Mother Mary? Do we act with this gentleness, with this purity and kindness? Do we act like Jesus? Jesus came to this earth to save us from our sins and to show us the way to live.
  6. We must always try to act like Jesus. We must be kind. We must talk lovingly to each other. When people look at us, do they see that Jesus lives within our hearts?
  7. The Father has a plan for each one of us. He created each one of us, His special children, with talents that only we have. It is in living according to His plan that we will be the happiest little children.
  8. What is most pleasing to Him is when we surrender and try to do what He is asking us to do.
  9. He always forgives our sins. Jesus paid the price for our sins. God loves us so much and wants us to be happy and to be close to Him, to live in love with Him and with each other.
  10. Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with the fire of God's love, that we may know more and more His burning love for us.

[ ^Table of Contents || < Previous Section ||  Next Section || logotiny.gif (188 bytes) Home ]

SofC LogoCopyright © 1998 Shepherds of Christ Publications
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. For information contact Shepherds of Christ Publications
First Printing: November, 1998