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YEAR 1: INVITATION TO THE LIFE OF PRAYER AND LOVE
PHASE 5: THE CALL TO LOVE - IN THE MIDST OF ADVERSITIES
(B) VICTORY OF LOVE OVER EVIL
Weekly messages No. 45 (03 January 1985):
A week of Thanksgiving.
“Dear children! These days the Lord has bestowed upon you great graces. Let this week be one of thanksgiving for all the graces which God has granted you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Daily Spiritual Exercises: Week 45
STARTING THURSDAY, 08 January 2015
1st day: Matthew 7:6. (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.
2nd day: Luke 1:46-55. (Friday)
Our Lady is thanking God for the gift of divine motherhood.
Luke 1:46-55.
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, 52 he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.”
3rd day: 1 Timothy 2:1-8. (Saturday)
Prayers and thanksgiving should be offered for everyone in union with Jesus the mediator between God and mankind.
1Timothy 2:1-8
1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. 3 This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarrelling.
4th day: Ephesians 1:3-7. (Sunday)
St. Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving for all the spiritual blessings of God through Jesus.
Ephesians 1:3-7.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. 5 He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
5th day: Colossians 3:15-17. (Monday)
Giving thanks to God for everything. Cf. Ephesians 5:19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Colossians 3:15-17.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Cf. Ephesians 5:19-20.
19 Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, 20 always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
Cf. 1 Corinthians 10:31.
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
6th day: Psalm 95:1-11. (Tuesday)
Coming into the presence of God with thanksgiving.
Psalm 95:1-11.
1 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it; for his hands formed the dry land. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would hearken to his voice! 8 Harden not your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who err in heart, and they do not regard my ways.” 11 Therefore I swore in my anger that they should not enter my rest.
7th day: 1 Corinthians 15:54-57. (Wednesday)
Thanking God the Father for the victory of Jesus over death and the power of darkness.
Cf. Colossians 3:14. St. Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57.
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55“O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Cf. Colossians: 3-14.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
SUGGESTION
Following Our Lady’s example let us express our thanks to people around us for all their work for us.