III Sunday of Advent.
From the embassy sent by the princes of the priests of Jerusalem to St. John the Baptist (Jn. 1,20.)
DAILY MEDITATIONS
OF THE MYSTERIES
OF OUR HOLY FAITH,
By the P. Alonso de Andrade
FROM THE COMPANY OF JESUS.
PRAYER TO BEGIN
By the sign of the Holy Cross, from our enemies delier us, Lord, our God. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
My Lord and my God: I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with deep reverence. I ask you for forgiveness of my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruit. My Mother Immaculate, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian Angel: intercede for me.
Meditation
III Sunday of Advent.
From the embassy sent by the princes of the priests of Jerusalem to St. John the Baptist (Jn. 1,20.)
He refers to the Gospel, which moved the Senate of Jerusalem from the credit and opinion that St. John had achieved through his life and preaching, they sent him to ask if it was the Messiah they were waiting for, and he replied that it was not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor any of the prophets, but the voice of God who cried out in the desert, warning everyone to prepare the way for the Lord, as Isaiah had prophesied.
POINT ONE. Consider the credit that virtue gives to those who have it, and the honor that it brings to the good, because even their greatest enemies honor and esteem them both for it and the Senate of Jerusalem to St. John, whom by his great holiness they had for Christ and for the Messiah that he had come to redeem the world. Ponder how deceived men are in seeking the vain honors of the century by human means, which are a little wind and are reached with great difficulty; and resolve very firmly to seek the true honor that is achieved through the virtue and sanctity of life, as St. John the Baptist achieved.
POINT II. Consider that the devil envious of the holiness of St. John the Baptist and of the fruit he made with his preaching and teaching in the souls, hoarsed and traced this tangle to bring him down out of vanity, offering him the highest dignity that there was in the world; and it can be believed, that if he admitted it, he would be slandered in vain and lying and proud, because Christ and Messiah became without being one; because the priests who spoke to him on behalf of the Senate, as learned, knew that St. John was from the tribe of Levi, and that Christ was to be from that of Judah, And so it could not be the Messiah: from which you must draw a great light to know and flee the cunning and ties of Satan, who always seeks your ruin, and have as enemies the honors of the world and the secular dignities that he offers you, knowing that they are the bait of the devil, to make you fall into the bond of pride and bring you down in hell.
POINT III. Consider the great humility of St. John, and how firm he was in the truth, because with so many truths and resolution he replied that he was not Christ, nor the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor any of the prophets, being able to say with truth that he was in the spirit, in the sense that Christ said it of him; before he diminished, saying that he was voice, and he became tongues in praises of the Savior: where you have much to learn and imitate, so in the contempt of honors, as in that of yourself, learning to despise you, and to honor All, and speak honorably of them, as St. John of Christ spoke.
POINT IV. Ponder how briefly these ambassadors exchanged, and turned against the Baptist, reprimanding him and denounting him because he was not Christ, in which they declared that they came more moved by envy than esteem; and know how little there is to trust in the honors that men offer, which are all deceptive, false and so brief, that they are hardly when they are not; and he asks God for grace to despise the world and seek eternal goods and their holy service, in which, as it is said, the true honor and the happiness of the soul consists, which will never end.
PRAYER TO END EVERY DAY
I thank you, my God, for the good purposes, affections and inspirations that you have communicated to me in this meditation. I ask you for help to put them to work. My Mother Immaculate, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian Angel: intercede for me.
Daily offer of works
Come Holy Spirit
Inflames our hearts
In the redeeming longings of the Heart of Christ
So that we really offer
Our people and works
In union with Him
For the redemption of the world
My Lord and my God Jesus Christ
For the Immaculate Heart of Mary
I consecrate myself to your Heart
And I offer myself with you to the Father
In your Holy Sacrifice of the altar
With my prayer and my work
Today's sufferings and joys
In reparation for our sins
And that your Kingdom may come to us.
I ask you in particular
For the Pope and his intentions,
For our Bishop and his intentions,
For our parish priest and his intentions.
Church of the Savior of Toledo at 21:00:00
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