Weekly Prayer Guidelines: December 7- 12, 2020

Mary, Source of our Hope ​

Week II
December 7- 12, 2020

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Theme: MARY, PROPHET OF HOPE AND JOY
 
General Objective: To imitate the woman who received, nourished, shared and give flesh to the Word in her Life. Mother of Verbum Dei, source of our hope and joy.
 
Specific objective: To learn from our Mother Mary how to live our faith in hope. 

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Monday
(St. Ambrose)

Luke 5:17-20
One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was with him for healing. And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set [him] in his presence. But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith, he said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.” 
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Where does my faith in Him brings me to live?

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Tuesday
(Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Luke 1:31-38
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived[m] a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. 

IMVDMFa#65.4
Her presence will accompany our laborious missionary days, which will be sustained by a living and proven faith and by the joy of a redeeming love.  She fosters in our VDMFa the sense of her spiritual and apostolic fruitfulness, forming Jesus in us and in our brothers and sisters.
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In what way Mary can teach me to put more my trust in God and let Him use my life for His purpose?

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Wednesday
(St. Juan Diego, Hermit)

Ephesians 1:11-12
In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,  so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.

Pope Francis Catechesis on Hope
Mary appears in the Gospels as a silent woman, who often does not understand all that is happening around her, but who contemplates each word and each event in her heart. In this disposition there is a beautiful sample of Mary’s psychology: she is not a woman who is depressed by the uncertainties of life, especially when nothing seems to be going the right way. Nor is she a woman who protests violently, who curses life’s fate, which often shows us a hostile face. She is instead a woman who listens: do not forget that there is always a great connection between hope and listening, and Mary is a woman who listens. Mary welcomes life as it is conveyed to us, with its happy days, but also with its tragedies that we would rather not have met. Until Mary’s supreme night, when her Son is nailed to the wood of the cross…We are not orphans: we have a Mother in heaven who is the Holy Mother of God. Because she teaches us the virtue of waiting, even when everything seems to lack meaning: she is ever confident in the mystery of God, even when he seems to have eclipsed himself due to the evil of the world. In the most difficult moments, may Mary, the Mother that Jesus gave to all of us, always support our steps, may she always say to our hearts: “Arise! Look forward, look to the horizon”, because she is the Mother of Hope.
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What am I invited to learn more from Mary especially in my advent journey?

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Thursday
(St. Miltiades)

John 19:25-27
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. 
 
How do I take Mary in my journey of faith? In what aspect of my life is she having a special part or role to play?​

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Friday
(St. Damasus)

Acts 1: 14
​All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. 
 
In what way am I being helped by Mary especially in my life of prayer?

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Saturday
(Our Lady of Guadalupe)

Romans 5:5
Hope does not disappoint us. and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. 
 
Lk 1:39-42
​In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 
 
How can I step out of my comfort zone and lead others to encounter and know His loving presence?

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3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT
(Gaudete Sunday)

​First Sunday: Isaiah 61:1-2a,10-11
Resp. Psalm: Lk.1:46-54
2nd Reading: 1 Thes 5:16-24
Gospel: John 1:6-8, 19-28