BEADS OF JOY 08-15-16
“Blessed Are You Among Women”
©2016 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
My Friends,
Luke 1:39-56 (Blessed Are You
Among Women)
“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."
“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."
And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever." And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.”
Reflection:
Today’s Gospel is one for all of us to celebrate. All of us can say and proclaim those first words of Mary, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” Mary’s example is the truest and purest example for us to follow; without a doubt she knows and believes fully in the promises of God. How strong do you believe His promises? Mary faced some horrific obstacles in her life and if caught in the eyes of those who would have judged her in her time, she could have been stoned to death. But she trusted in God fully with such incredible Joy. The Holy Spirit was most certainly present in her life no doubt.
Do you turn to the Holy Spirit for guidance and direction and strength? The presence of the Holy Spirit is brought to life in today’s gospel. But let us keep in mind in all our lives the Holy Spirit can keep our faith alive also; no obstacle, no trial, nothing can compromise our faith if we allow the Holy Spirit to be our guide, our GPS to Jesus if you will. Does that make sense? The purpose of the Holy Spirit is just like that of a GPS. If we go off course, what does a GPS always do? …It gets us back on track to get us to our destination. The Holy Spirit does the same. The Holy Spirit constantly leads us to Jesus; doing all it can to show us the way to His Will. We must Trust in Jesus and know that the Holy Spirit is our Helper helping us, to guide us to our Lord.
Here’s a tid-bit some may not know. You know the ministry I started back in 1983? This very ministry, “Beads of Joy Rosary Ministry” Well, I didn’t come up with any master plan and I never ever came up with any business plan and I never ever came up with a way to make money or a living out it ever; this my dear precious sisters and brothers has always been fully and completely guided by the Holy Spirit, an act of love and devotion to my Lord. I pray a lot and I know sometimes, none of these choices makes sense. Especially the recent one, “Quitting FB”. Well that was a prayer choice I prayed about for over a year and attempted twice, then finally after one entire month of daily signs I knew the Holy Spirit was telling me the ministry MUST evolve into a different direction in a different way. So here we are and honestly the traffic worldwide on the blog is still incredible. The ministry will continue to grow, just in a different way now.
LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!
Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
