January 6
“Prayer is not one occupation among many, but is at the center
of our life in Christ.”
-St. John Paul II
For Reflection
Prayer is not optional; it is essential. How is God calling you to turn your prayer life into the breath of your existence?
January 3
“So God created man in His own image.”
-Genesis 1:26
For Reflection
What does this passage tell us about ourselves and who we were created to be? What does it tell you about all of human life?
January 2
“God is love.”
-John 4:16
For Reflection
What is love? What are its characteristics? What is the true purpose of love? Where did you see love operating in your life in 2019? How will you love more in 2020?
January 1
Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
– John 3:16
For Reflection
Why would God do such a thing even as man often stubbornly opposes His divine will? As we enter this New Year, how can you more freely accept God’s amazing gift to us, Jesus Christ? Ask Mary, Mother of God, to intercede for you to have greater receptivity to every grace and blessing that He desires to give you in this New Year and new decade.
January 2
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
Today’s Reflection:
Why would God do such a thing even as man often stubbornly opposes His divine will? As we enter this New Year, how can you more freely accept God’s amazing gift to us, Jesus Christ?
Mary Virgin and Mother
Oh, Virgin Joy of all the world art thou
In whose white, fragrant steps the countless throng
On souls elect doth follow God with song:
Creation’s Queen, whose bright and holy brow
The multitude of Saints, like stars, endow
With changeful splendors, flashing far and strong:
The Main unshadow’d by the primal wrong:
God’s Lily, chosen in His shrine to bow
All these thy glories are, and still a grace
More high, more dread, and yet more sweet and fair,
Doth bind thy royal brows, O Mary blest.
God called thee Mother; yea, His sacred face
The tender likeness of thine own doth wear.
And thou art ours – we trust Him for the rest.
-St. Elizabeth Seton
For Reflection:
Today is the Solemnity of Mother of God. What references do we see to this title of Mary in the Saint’s poem? Which touches you most deeply and why? Consider the title the Saint gives to Our Lady – Creation’s Queen. Ponder the way in which all of creation’s surrender to God is found most perfectly in Mary’s “fiat” to God. Journal your thoughts. How can you unite your “yes” to God in hers?
