Life and Sacrifice

Luke 1: 30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. 31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus. 32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. 33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? 35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

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6 And it came to pass that when they were there, her days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger: because there was no room for them in the inn.

Sacrifice is a word our society does not accept. To the world it means weakness, lacking, impoverishness, defeat, failure... God thinks otherwise...

Luke 2: 25 And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon: and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was in him. 26 And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. 27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, 28 He also took him into his arms and blessed God and said 29 Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace: 30 Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: 32 A light to the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. 33 And his father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted. 35 And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.

And thy own soul a sword shall pierce. Those are some of the most beautiful words in Sacred Scripture. Simeon was speaking of Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, she who was Full of Grace, she who had no sin. Her heart would be pierced. In her Fiat she said yes to God and all swords that would pierce her soul. Mothers of many also accept this life of sacrifice, not for their own merit but for the greater honor and glory of God.

I met a beautiful priest, Fr. Alfonso, at Thanksgiving time and he spoke so beautifully of the large family and his joy at seeing a large family. I wanted to share a few pictures with him of beautiful families. Luke 2: 19 But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.
This is another one of my favorite verses in Sacred Scripture. Mothers have the privlige to have a great number of things to ponder in their hearts.

Luke 2: 24 And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons
No matter the sacrifice offered, great or small, all is for the greater honor and glory of God. Here the Mother of God has nothing but the smallest sacrifice to offer. Mothers are the means to the future Saints and these saints are brought about by prayer and sacrifice.

Luke 2: 40 And the child grew and waxed strong, full of wisdom: and the grace of God was in him.
May God grant the grace to families to raise their children full of strength and wisdom in the eyes of God, rather than the eyes of the world.

Luke 2: 48 And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father’s business? 50 And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them.
Even Our Lady did not fully understand the Will of God but she accepted it, she carried it as a cross upon her back and suffered for His Sake. We do not need to understand we need to trust in God even when we cannot at all see what He means. All will be revealed in time.

I place myself in the presence of Jesus, the Head of the Mystical Body, the Church, begging Him to show me how to collaborate with Him in the work of saving souls.

Divine Intimacy pg 67
When we do not understand God's Will, turn all things into a means to save souls, particularly, I might add, those who persecute us. And the large family is greatly persecuted in our society today.

Luke 2: 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. 52 And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace with God and men.
The Son of God "was subject to them". In this age of the "rights of the child", we can ponder greatly on this short little passage HE, the Son of God himself, was subject to His creatures. A child has a right to a happy home, a child has a right to see the face of God through his parents, a child has a right to know how to live a good life, a child has a right to know, love and serve God in this world, that he may be happy with God in the next. (Yeah, I think I should be the president too...)

Genesis 1: 27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.

Be Fruitful and Multiply. Notice the word *fruitful*. Fruits tend to be the things we want to get off the tree. Instead in our society, children are not considered *fruits*. We consider them fruits.

Psalm 128: 3 Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house. Thy children as olive plants, round about thy table.

Behold, I am at the feet of my Incarnate God, who has become a Child for love of me! I adore, I thank, I love!

Divine Intimacy pg 85

God Himself became a child. GOD!

Matt 5: 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called children of God.

Matt 18: 3 And said: amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matt 19: 13 Then were little children presented to Him, that He should impose hands upon them and pray. And the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said to them: Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me: for the kingdom of heaven is for such.

Be fruitful and Mulitply that the Heavens may be filled for the Greater Honor and Glory of God.