“The first thing which kindles ardor in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater than the Mother of God? What more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose?”

                           ~St. Ambrose of Milan

For Reflection:

What has Mary taught me in the “course” of this past year? What lesson is she “kindling” in me now? What lesson would I like her to teach me in this coming year?
I will formulate a request to her and add it to my list of resolutions.

In Conversation With God Vol 1 Advent/Christmas
Francis Fernandez-Carvajal
Pb 387 pgs
The Christmas Season                              29 December
35. MAKING A MORE JUST                                 WORLD
35.1 The duty of Christians to                  create a more just and more            human society.

On different occasions He makes it clear that he does not want to be a political Messiah nor a liberator from the yoke of Rome. He came to give us the freedom of the sons of God: freedom from the sins we had committed, which had reduced us to a state of slavery.  He came to give us freedom from eternal death, another consequence of sin; freedom from the dominion of the devil, since man could now overcome sin with the help of grace.  And finally, He gave us freedom from life according to the flesh, which is opposed to supernatural life:  The freedom brought by Christ through the Holy Spirit has restored to us the capacity, of which sin had deprived us, of loving God above all and of remaining in contact with Him.