Mary Vitamin for July 21st
Topic: Gateway to Freedom
Quote:
"Saint Bonaventure spoke of [the Blessed Virgin Mary] as 'the gateway to freedom.'"
St. Alphonsus di Liguori, Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, #26
Image by thicke via Flickr
Meditation:
"The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to 'the slavery of sin." #1733
When is a human being free? He is free when totally united to Christ. Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. But who can say with complete confidence that he has embraced every word of truth given by the Master?
"And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna." Mark 9:45
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it." Mark 8:34-5
"But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you." Matthew 5:44
One might give up hope! But, not if we begin with the beginning. Not if we turn to the "Gateway to Freedom." Mary is the beginning, she is the gateway to freedom; she is the way God came into the world. If we turn to her as the first step toward Christ, she will usher us into the full freedom of her Son.
Resolution:
Today I will try to remember that true freedom is found in Christ although my human nature doesn't always want to embrace the Cross He offers. I will begin with Our Lady, the Gateway to Freedom, the gateway to Her son.
St. Alphonsus di Liguori wrote "In you, gentle Mother, we find the cure for all our miseries. You have been 
called 'the strength of our weakness." In you we find release from sins' stubborn grasp."
Image by Fergal OP via Flickr
Marian Vow:
"In virtue of the Marian Vow, finally, the Franciscan Tertiaries of the Immaculate have consecrated their freedom to the Immaculate, and St. Maximilian teaches all such to pray that She 'kindly not respect our free will and, whenever we might want to be free from Her immaculate hands, to restrain us, even if this might much, very much displease us ..." (SK 373)."
Marian Seraphic Pathways, Constitutions 46d
I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Thanks be to God for graces received.
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"May the Lord grant all your prayers!" (Psalm 20)
Deacon John
http://www.google.com/profiles/deaconjohn1987
Sent from Mt Dora, Florida, United States
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