“The more I meditate on Christian prayer, the more I find that it is essentially a preparation to receive God’s grace and the kingdom which is coming. When my prayer is sincere, I ardently desire the coming of the Lord and I receive the Holy Spirit—that most sublime gift of the Father. The gift of the Father’s love is the kingdom of heaven, and to receive the kingdom is to be forgiven, on the condition that we know how to forgive our own brothers and sisters.” –Venerable Francis Xavier Nguyên Văn Thuân (+ 2002)
Intention: Lord, please bless us with a President and Justice Department which are non-partisan in their actions. I thank You God ahead of time for this.
Monday: Quantum Leap
1st Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation
Scripture:
In the lifetime of those kings the God of heaven will set up
a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to
another people; rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms
and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever.
—Daniel 2:44
Reflection:
When the angel came to Mary, it was like a quantum leap
forward in human evolution, inserted into a previously grim
world experience. The angel announced a new Kingdom that
would never end. Human evil has been transformed little by
little ever since, into human virtue.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, no matter what I may have done that was sinful in
my past, help me to come to Your forgiveness with repentance,
but also with determination and assurance, and bestow upon
me Your compassion, which endures forever. Amen.
Monday: Merciful
2nd Joyful Mystery: The Visitation
Scripture:
Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful.
—Luke 6:36
Reflection:
Mercy lives in Mary and in her Divine Babe, which we can see
reflected in her merciful action at the visitation of Elizabeth.
Mary’s charity was a divine connection between God and the
human race.
Prayer:
Heart of Jesus, Fountain of Life and Holiness, thank You for
Your forgiveness. Please give me Your love, to become more
merciful toward others and myself. Amen.
Monday: Visit the Imprisoned
3rd Joyful Mystery: The Nativity
Scripture:
Then the king will say to those on his right, “Come, you who
are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. For I was… in prison and
you visited me.”
—Matthew 25:34–36
Reflection:
For humanity, which was caged in its sin, Jesus’s birth was
one of the labors of mercy that He talked about in Matthew
25: visiting the imprisoned. We were imprisoned in our sins
before Jesus came. With God incarnate visiting us, we came
to experience His love and forgiveness in a way that we could
never have fathomed, had He not come down to meet us in
the flesh.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, without You I can do nothing. Break me out of
the jail of sin and death, and give me the grace to follow You.
Amen.
Monday: See You in Me
4th Joyful Mystery: The Presentation in the Temple
Scripture:
As to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will
be clean for you.
—Luke 11:41
Reflection:
Just as Jesus’s parents presented Him to the temple in an act of
mercy, we participate in this hallowed action by offering our
acts of mercy to the underprivileged and destitute. Just as we
have received Jesus, we should give back to Him—in the faces
of the poor.
Prayer:
Lord, Our Lover, give me the ability to present every charity
that I give to others as a representation of Yourself. Let them
see only You in me. Amen.
Monday: Comfort of His Presence
5th Joyful Mystery: The Finding of
the Child Jesus in the Temple
Scripture:
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work
or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor
was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the
field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,
will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
—Matthew 6:28–30
Reflection:
As St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary anxiously searched
for Jesus, they were afflicted with the loss of His comforting
presence.
Prayer:
Dear Holy Spirit, as I seek Jesus every day, remind me to reach
out to others in kindness, who may be afflicted and seeking
Him too (whether they realize it or not). Amen.
