(11) Jesus Son of Mary
WHEN our Lord came upon earth, He might have created a
fresh body for Himself out of nothing—or He might have formed a body for
Himself out of the earth, as He formed Adam. But He preferred to be born, as
other men are born, of a human mother. Why did He do so? He did so to put
honour on all those earthly relations and connections which are ours by nature;
and to teach us that, though He has begun a new creation, He does not wish us
to cast off the old creation, as far as it is not sinful. Hence it is our duty
to love and honour our parents, to be affectionate to our brothers, sisters,
friends, husbands, wives, not only not less, but even more, than it was man's
duty before our Lord came on earth. As we become better Christians, more
consistent and zealous servants of Jesus, we shall become only more and more
anxious for the good of all around us—our kindred, our friends, our
acquaintances, our neighbours, our superiors, our inferiors, our masters, our
employers. And this we shall do from the recollection how our Lord loved His
Mother. He loves her still in heaven with a special love. He refuses her
nothing. We then on earth must feel a tender solicitude for all our relations,
all our friends, all whom we know or have dealings with. And moreover, we must
love not only those who love {201} us, but those who hate us or injure us, that
we may imitate Him, who not only was loving to His Mother, but even suffered
Judas, the traitor, to kiss Him, and prayed for His murderers on the cross.
Let us pray God for our relations, friends, well wishers,
and enemies, living and dead.
O Jesus, son of Mary, whom Mary followed to the Cross when
Thy disciples fled, and who didst bear her tenderly in mind in the midst of Thy
sufferings, even in Thy last words, who didst commit her to Thy best beloved
disciple, saying to her, "Woman, behold thy son," and to him,
"Behold thy Mother," we, after Thy pattern, would pray for all who
are near and dear to us, and we beg Thy grace to do so continually. We beg Thee
to bring them all into the light of Thy truth, or to keep them in Thy truth if
they already know it, and to keep them in a state of grace, and to give them
the gift of perseverance. We thus pray for our parents, for our fathers and our
mothers, for our children, for every one of them, for our brothers and sisters,
for every one of our brothers, for every one of our sisters, for our cousins
and all our kindred, for our friends, and our father's friends, for all our old
friends, for our dear and intimate friends, for our teachers, for our pupils,
for our masters and employers, for our servants or subordinates, for our
associates and work-fellows, for our neighbours, for our superiors and rulers;
for those who wish us well, for those who wish us ill; for our enemies; for our
{202} rivals; for our injurers and for our slanderers. And not only for the
living, but for the dead, who have died in the grace of God, that He may
shorten their time of expiation, and admit them into His presence above. {203}
Above from: Newman Reader - Meditations
*We continue to Pray to Bl. John Henry Newman for the intention of an Irish Ordinariate. Prayer to Bl. John Henry above right on sidebar of this blog. His Memorial is tomorrow 9th October.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please be respectful in your comments. Thank you.