Marist Association Daily Prayer

Let us always remember that

we are in the holy presence of God

May God continue to live in our hearts

In the name of the Father,

Son and Holy Spirit

Amen

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  • Intention of the Day
  • Today's Gospel
  • Breaking Open the Word
  • Marist Source
  • Reflection
  • Meditation
  • Call to Action
  • Closing Prayer

Intention of the Day

That the Holy Spirit will free us from our fears.
For all Marists engaged in Remar programmes.

That the Holy Spirit will free us from our fears.
For all Marists engaged in Remar programmes.

Today's Gospel. Nativity of St John the Baptist.

But his mother spoke up. 'No,' she said, 'he is to be called John.'

Luke 1: 60.
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Luke 1: 57 - 66, 80.

57 The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son;

58 and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had lavished on her his faithful love, they shared her joy.

59 Now it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,

60 but his mother spoke up. 'No,' she said, 'he is to be called John.'

61 They said to her, 'But no one in your family has that name,'

62 and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called.

63 The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they were all astonished.

64 At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God.

65 All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea.

66 All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. 'What will this child turn out to be?' they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.

80 Meanwhile the child grew up and his spirit grew strong. And he lived in the desert until the day he appeared openly to Israel.

Breaking Open The Word

We may not be marked for such a role on the stage of history, but the process of formation for the job we have been given is no less important.

Taken from: Give Us This Day
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Taken from: Give Us This Day

What, Then, Will We Be?

Can you imagine growing up as the subject of prophecy? A child under vows: the angel tells Zechariah that this child is not to drink wine or strong drink, which may mean that he was under a Nazirite vow. If so, he also would have been forbidden to cut his hair, and all of this would have marked him as different, special, or—as his peers likely thought—odd and somewhat distant.

It’s a burden for a kid to be different, even if that difference is holy. The expectations placed on John (“he will be great in the sight of the Lord”) must have weighed heavily on him. And like Jesus, John’s life was a long preparation for a brief time in the spotlight, which would end with execution. We see how John’s character had been formed when his disciples come to him reporting how Jesus is winning the baptism competition: “He must increase,” John says, “but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Long ascetic practice had whittled down his ego until he was nothing but passionate commitment to God, to the One whose revelation to Israel was his to announce.

What about us? We may not be marked for such a role on the stage of history, but the process of formation for the job we have been given is no less important. And it’s no less important that we practice the daily disciplining of our ego, so when the moments we were born for arrive, we will be ready.

Susan Pitchford. Taken from Give Us This Day.

Susan Pitchford, a sociologist at the University of Washington and Third Order Franciscan, is author of The Sacred Gaze, God in the Dark, and Following Francis: The Franciscan Way for Everyone.

That the Holy Spirit will free us from our fears.
For all Marists engaged in Remar programmes.

Marist Source

Mary comes to be at peace because of her intuition of the presence and love of God for her.

# WFR 51.

That the Holy Spirit will free us from our fears.
For all Marists engaged in Remar programmes.

To Ponder

“And they were all astonished”. When did the loving presence of God last astound you?

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Where has the Spirit drawn you in today's prayer?

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Closing Prayer

All Loving God

Cultivate in us a spirituality that flows out of Marian simplicity, humility and modesty.

Release in us wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement for your work in which we share.

Help us set our gaze on those people and places most in need of Christlife,

Impel us to respond together,

And lead us to be in communion with one another, and with you.

Like Mary, we listen for your invitation,

Like Mary, we set out joyfully and in haste to the hill country of the lives of young people,

Like Mary, we build communities in ways that are Christ-centred.

All Loving God, come and live in our hearts.

 

 Amen