finding joy day two
DESCRIPTION
Prayer for the second day of the retreat Finding Joy.TRANSCRIPT
Mary of Nazareth, you lived an ordinary life in
Nazareth as a wife and mother. You spent your time
taking care of your family and interacting in
relationships with your neighbors in your village. In
those more than thirty years you experienced both
hardships and joys.
Your joy flowed from a quiet and gentle spirit that
surrendered to God’s loving, providential care in all
the circumstances of each day. This spirit gave birth
to peaceful contentment, a gift worked in your soul
by the Holy Spirit. Your deep faith, trust and love of
God flourished in a self-sacrificing life shared
with others.
Mother Mary, how did you have the strength to
bear the pain of your son Jesus in his passion and
death? Your deep inner strength assisted you in
your painful vigil on the way to Calvary and later
at the foot of the cross of Jesus — Jesus, the reck-
less and lavish lover of humankind! He loved us
sinners so much as to die for us! You shared in your
son’s suffering through compassion. You believed
and trusted. Jesus gave you to us as our Mother
and you said “Yes.” Sorrowful beyond our
understanding, you cradled your dead son’s body
in total surrender to the Father.
But then, inexpressible, unimaginable joy flooded
your whole being at the resurrection of Jesus! And
your joy no one could take from you!
Help me, dear Mother, to move toward a deeper love
and joy in my own life by offering myself in
self-sacrificing love for others. Help me also to receive
with grace and gratitude the love shown to me. This
effort to love and to respond to the needs of people
generates—calls forth—hope in myself and in the
lives of those whom God places along my path.
I pray you, Blessed Mother, “cause of our
joy” to ask the Holy Spirit to help me grow
in loving, trustful abandonment to the
Heavenly Father. Pray for me, that I may
have confidence in God in each event of
my life, each situation painful or joyous—
that I may be always thankful to God, no
matter what happens. The more I witness
to hope and the deep inner joy it generates,
the more hope multiplies! Joyful hope is
contagious! “Let us each bring joy to our
neighbor” (Romans 15:2 Community Bible).