 (c)MaryMatasso, 2011 Outdoor Altar at St. James |
| May 2, 2012 Saint Athanasius
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! Also today I am calling you to prayer, and may your heart, little children, open towards God as a flower opens towards the warmth of the sun. I am with you and I intercede for all of you. Thank you for having responded to my call." (April 25, 2012)
St. Peter Chrysologus wrote about opening our heart to God in a very beautiful way. As you read his words think of Our Lady's analogy of the flower and the sun:
Paul says: I appeal to you by the mercy of God to present your bodies as a sacrifice, living and holy. The prophet said the same thing: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but you have prepared a body for me. Each of us is called to be both a sacrifice to God and his priest. Do not forfeit what divine authority confers on you. Put on the garment of holiness, gird yourself with the belt of chastity. Let Christ be your helmet, let the cross on your forehead be your unfailing protection. Your breastplate should be the knowledge of God that he himself has given you. Keep burning continually the sweet-smelling incense of prayer. Take up the sword of the Spirit. Let your heart be an altar. Then, with full confidence in God, present your body for sacrifice. God desires not death, but faith; God thirsts not for blood, but for self-surrender; God is appeased not by slaughter, but by the offering of your free will. (St. Peter Chrysologus, Office - Tuesday, 4th week of Easter, second reading).
Like the flower that turns towards the sun, our heart can turn toward God, open up, and reveal the altar within. On that altar, we can present to God our free will. That free will is our only possession, the only thing that is rightfully ours. By giving God our will, our free will, we say "yes" to His lordship, to His kingship in our lives. He takes over as the one we listen to, the one we follow. That is all He wants. And why does He want it? So that He can protect us, bless us, lead us towards Heaven, make us happy on this earth, and fill us with His abundant life. Like the flower that is made fruitful by turning towards the sun, we become fruitful by turning towards the Lord, and offering Him full control in our lives. Our heart is the altar, our free will is the offering, our eternal life is the result.
All the other things St. Peter Chrysologus mentions in that paragraph are the gifts Jesus has given to us to help us turn our hearts to the Father. The garment of holiness is really Jesus, Himself. He forgives us, washes us clean and clothes us in Himself. The belt of chastity is Jesus' gift of self-control, self-mastery, which makes us strong in choosing the good. The helmet is also Jesus, who guards our minds from the enemy's lies. The cross on our forehead marks us as His. The breastplate is very important. It is the knowledge of who God really is, of who we really are, and how much we need the Lord. It is the gift of humility- knowing ourselves as creatures in need of our Creator. The incense is our prayer. As Our Lady has asked, we need to pray continually. That is the mechanism of turning. And the Sword of the Spirit gives us the power to cut ourselves loose from the evil one, through our choices for God. In all these things, we are made ready to open our hearts to the Father, to prepare the altar and make the sacrifice. These things prepare us for our oblation of love, the gift of ourselves to God.
Our Lady is with us to help us. She is our example, our intercessor, our guide, our teacher, and our strength. In this great battle, it is our free will that is being contended. To whom will we surrender? To whom will we be joined? We will serve the Lord!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2012 |
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