ROSARY MEDITATIONS
FEBRUARY 1, 1995
THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES
The Annunciation
- The Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and asked her to be the mother of Jesus.
- Mary always complied with the Will of the Father. She said, "…let it happen to
me as you have said." (Lk 1:38)
- Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Word became flesh.
- There was always great intimacy between Jesus and His mother. From the first moment of
conception she felt the life of Jesus, Son of God, grow within her womb.
- The child Jesus is with us this day. He is in our brothers. He is in our children. If
the child Jesus were here and we were to hold Him, to talk to and be with Him, we would
treat Him with such joy and such kindness! Jesus is in our brothers. Jesus is in our
children. Jesus is here this day. Do we treat our brothers, our children, one another,
with the same kindness that we would the child Jesus?
- The invisible Jesus was inside of Mary's womb. He was there in His divinity and His
humanity. He was God from the first moment of conception. The invisible Jesus remains with
us today in the tabernacle. He is present there in His divinity and humanity. We do not
see Him, but He is no less present in the tabernacle than the day Mary carried Him in her
womb.
- God is Love! He calls out to us to come to Him, to be close to Him. He truly waits for
us in the tabernacle. He is a prisoner awaiting those He loves, the precious souls. So
many forget Him day after day while He, the Son of God, waits and waits to share His love
with the precious souls that He came to this earth to save.
- He calls out to us, "Do you not have one hour to watch with Me, the Son of God? I,
God, Who came to this earth and was born a human for love of you! I call out to you this
day. Take Me seriously! I am truly here, no less present than on the day that Mary carried
Me in her womb, and I wait for you with a Heart that is overflowing with divine love and
divine life. Can you say no to this divine love that I want to outpour to you?"
- It was in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary that the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus was
formed. Jesus took on our human nature out of great love for us.
- Jesus was carried in Mary's womb. Her womb was a temple to hold the precious Child. She
is the Mother of God!
Song between decades: Ave, ave, ave, Maria. Ave, ave,
ave, Maria.
The Visitation
- The angel had told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth had conceived a child. Mary made haste
to the hill country to visit her.
- Upon Mary's arrival at Elizabeth's house, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and
cried out with a loud voice, "Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is
the fruit of your womb." (Lk 1:42)
- "Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?" (Lk 1:43)
Usually the servant goes to the master. But Mary, with the Almighty God within her womb,
went to visit Elizabeth.
- Jesus waits for us this day. He is God and He waits in the tabernacle for us to come and
be with Him. He comes to us in the Eucharist. He is the Almighty God and He waits for mere
humans to come and share His love.
- We receive so much love from God! The Father loved us so much that He sent His only
begotten Son into this world so that we might be saved. Jesus waits this very day for us
to come and be with Him. It is out of great love that the Master waits for us.
- When Mary and Jesus arrived at Elizabeth's house, the child in Elizabeth's womb leapt
for joy. John, who was to announce the good news that Jesus had come to this earth, even
before his birth leapt with joy in the womb of his mother at the presence of Jesus in
Mary's womb.
- Should we not leap for joy? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, waits
for us this day, no less present than the day He was carried in Mary's womb to the home of
her cousin Elizabeth. We take His presence so lightly! We do not see, so we do not realize
that God, in His humanity and divinity, is truly present in the tabernacle and waiting for
us this very day.
- Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out, with a loud voice, her Magnificat:
"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my
Saviour!" (Lk 1:46,47)
- "…because he has looked on the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now
onwards all generations will call me blessed." (Lk 1:48)
- "…for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name."
Song between decades: Ave, ave, ave Maria....
The Birth of Jesus
- The Father bridges the gap between divinity and humanity in the person of Jesus Christ.
- Jesus came into this world. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father, equal in
every way to the Father, came into this world as a little baby, a helpless little baby. If
we realized the true majesty of God, if we saw Him in all His majesty, we could not even
stand to look at Him. But Jesus, clothed in flesh, comes as a helpless little baby, born
in a little crib in a stable in Bethlehem!
- Do we realize the immense love that the Father has for us that He sent His only begotten
Son into this world as a human in the person of Jesus Christ?
- Jesus, a divine Person, unites His human nature and His divine nature in His Person.
- Who are we that God loves us so much that He would take on a human nature!
- We become brothers of God!
- He comes, the Son of God, in such quiet and such poverty! There is not a roll of drums
or a blare of trumpets. He comes in such quiet and a star shines on Him. Is this not how
it is when we receive Him in the Eucharist? We ascend the altar. There is not a roll of
drums. There is not a blare of trumpets. Quietly we approach the altar and we truly
receive God! He comes to us and enters our body in such love! Who are we that God remains
with us this day in such love and comes to us to be so closely united to us!?
- We see the consecrated Host. But within the consecrated Host is truly God, in His
divinity and His humanity.
- We look for those things that are visible. But are not the true treasures found in those
things that are invisible? The reality is that this is God's world! We see the things in
front of our face and we do not realize how the world of Jesus and Mary truly is. We do
not realize how they are with us this very day. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, remains with
us this day in His divinity and humanity in the Eucharist. We are surrounded by His
presence in one another. He dwells and lives in each one of us when we are in the state of
grace. In every blade of grass, the life that is there comes from God. Yet we are so
blind! We see so little! Holy Spirit, open up our eyes. Where we are blind, let us see.
Let us see more and more the invisible world. Let us know more and more the presence of
God as it is all around us. Help us to see Jesus in each other. Help us to be more aware
of Jesus Christ, who is truly present with us in the tabernacle.
- Open our eyes to see beyond what is visible, Lord. Holy Spirit, help us to see beyond
the consecrated Host and see Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Song between decades: Ave, ave, ave, Maria...
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
- The Holy Spirit told Simeon that he would not die until He saw the child of God. The
Holy Spirit led Him into the Temple. Jesus, Mary and Joseph came to the Temple and the old
man was overjoyed at the sight of the child Jesus. He held Him with such joy in his arms
and said that now he was ready to die for he had seen God.
- Holy Spirit, enkindle in us the fire of Your love so we may see more clearly Jesus
Christ, Who is with us this very day. So that we may see that He is God and, out of great
love for each one of us, remains with us, waits for us, longs for us, and wants us to open
our hearts wide so that He may enter in. Remove the blinders from our eyes, dear Holy
Spirit, and lead us ever closer to intimacy with Jesus Christ, our beloved Savior.
- Song: Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest, and in our hearts take up Thy rest. Come
with Thy grace and heavenly aid to fill the hearts which Thou hast made, to fill the
hearts which Thou hast made.
- Simeon told Joseph and Mary of the great sufferings that Mary and Jesus would have to
undergo and he said to Mary, "…and a sword will pierce your soul too." (Lk
2:35)
- Think of how it would be for Mary to look at her small child Jesus and know that He
would experience great suffering. From this point on a sword pierced Mary's Heart. Each
time that she beheld her child she remembered the prophecy of Simeon and she suffered.
- And how Mary suffered! The swords that pierced her Heart so many times through Jesus'
life! The sword that pierced her Heart on the way to Calvary as she peered into the eyes
of her beloved Son, that gaze that shows to us the great intimacy between the Son and His
mother, that Heart that knew her Son so well!
- Her Heart was pierced with a sword as she stood beneath His cross and watched Him suffer
in such anguish for three agonizing hours. The precious Child that she had held in her
arms in the Temple when Simeon told her, "…and a sword will pierce your soul
too." (Lk 2:35)
- Song: I rocked Him as a baby, I fed Him as a child. I heard Him call my name out
in the night. I helped Him take His first step, and I cried when I heard His first words.
I wish they all could see through a mother's eyes.
- Mary, just as you presented the child Jesus in your arms in the temple, tuck us into the
Heart of Jesus and present us to our loving Father so that we may be ever closer and
closer to the Heart of Jesus and the Father. And lead us closer to your beloved Spouse,
the Holy Spirit.
- Holy Spirit, the more we unite with Mary, our mother, transform us more and more into
the image of Jesus and lead us ever closer to the Father.
Song between decades: Ave, ave, ave, Maria…
The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
- When Jesus was twelve years old, He was taken up to the Temple for the feast of
Passover.
- When it was over, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem but the child Jesus remained there.
- They had gone a day's journey before they realized that the child Jesus had been left
behind.
- With great sorrow in their hearts they returned and searched for the child Jesus.
- They found Him in the temple where He was teaching the doctors.
- Jesus, as you taught the doctors in the temple, teach us Your divine truths. Holy
Spirit, open our hearts so that we may more and more receive Your gifts to know, love and
understand God so that we might grow in greater love and knowledge of our beloved God!
- And the Holy Spirit came upon them and filled their hearts full of wisdom and knowledge
and joy to know more and more the divine truths that the Savior came to give us. His ever
burning Heart remains with us this day, this Heart that wants to give to us such love,
such life! He imparts this life to us abundantly in the Eucharist whereby He feeds our
life. When we come to the Eucharist, He outpours this life, this life of grace. He wants
to give us His very life, His Body, His Blood, to nurture and feed our life, and we balk!
We stumble. We wander around and complain! And this good God, Who came to this earth and
was born a human, gave His flesh and blood and died for us and rose on the third day to
give us His life, remains with us this day with His very own flesh and blood to feed this
life! He gives us His Word to feed us and we take it so lightly! He calls out ever so
gently in His tender voice and with His burning Heart. He calls out to us and says,
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest!" But
in our blindness we turn away and we do not realize the true treasure that is here! This
is the Son of God Who remains with us this day, truly present, the same as the day He was
in the Temple, the same as the day He hung on the cross, the same as the day He rose from
the tomb and ascended into heaven! And He calls out in a gentle voice, with a burning
Heart, "My dear children, I long for your love. Open up your hearts to Me. I am the
Son of God! I have all the power! You cannot in your foolish ways do anything without
Me!"
- Song: I come to you with greatest love. I am your loving Savior. I am your God, I
died for you. I come to you this day.
- Dear Mary, if we ever lose our way from the Most Sacred Heart of your Son, lead us back
quickly.
Song: O burning Heart, O Love divine. How sweet You are to me. I see the Host, I
know You are here to love and care for me
- Song: Give me Your Heart, O Jesus. Give me a heart like Yours. Teach me to love
You with this new heart. Oh, I know little of how to love You. Create in me, O precious
Savior, this loving heart!
Copyright © 1996 Shepherds of Christ.
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Revised: August, 1997
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