SPIRITUAL EXERCISES & RSV BIBLE EXTRACTS - WEEK 149
STARTS THURSDAY 2nd DECEMBER 2010
THE GLORY OF ‘MARIAN HOLINESS OF LIFE’
II. ‘MARIAN HOLINESS OF LIFE’: OUR WAY TO HEAVEN
Weekly message No. 145 (4th December 1986).
Second step: Purified from sin with Mary’s help.
“Dear children! Today I call you to prepare your hearts for these days when the Lord particularly desires to purify you from all the sins of your past. You, dear children, are not able by yourselves, therefore I am here to help you. You pray, dear children! Only that way shall you be able to recognize all the evil that is in you and surrender it to the Lord so the Lord may completely purify your hearts. Therefore, dear children, pray without ceasing and prepare your hearts in penance and fasting. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
PRACTICAL:
At the beginning of Advent prepare your heart for Christmas by a good confession.
Thursday: Do not profane sacred things
Matthew 7:6.
6“Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under foot and turn to attack you.”
Thursday: Cf. Proverbs 23:9.
9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Friday: Purified like gold and silver.
Malachi 3:3.
3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the LORD.
Friday: Cf. Proverbs 17:3.
3The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tries hearts.
Friday: Cf. Titus 2:14.
14Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
Saturday: “Blessed are the pure in heart; they shall see God.”
Matthew 5:8.
8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Saturday: Cf. Psalm 24(23):3-4.
3Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully.
Sunday: Recognizing the evils which come from our hearts.
Matthew 15:19-20.
19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."
Monday: The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, if we acknowledge our sins.
1 John 1:7-9.
7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Monday: Cf. 1 John 3:3-10.
3And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 4Every one who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous. 8He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9No one born of God commits sin; for God’s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. 10By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother.
Tuesday: Doing the works of mercy as a sign of repentance and conversion.
Luke 3:10-14.
10And the multitudes asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11And he answered them, “He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” 12Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13And he said to them, “Collect no more than is appointed you.” 14Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
Tuesday: Cf. Tobit 12:8-10.
8Prayer is good when accompanied by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with wrongdoing. It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. 9For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin. Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fullness of life; 10but those who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives.
Wednesday: Preparing a way for the Lord by repentance.
Matthew 3:1-3.
1In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
Wednesday: Cf. Joel 2:12-18.
12“Yet even now,” says the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil. 14Who knows whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, a cereal offering and a drink offering for the LORD, your God? 15Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; 16gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. 17Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare thy people, O LORD, and make not thy heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” 18Then the LORD became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.