|
|
Theme: God
is the main builder of a civilization of love among us.
The issue addressed:
The importance of prayer in life so that we may always walk in the presence
of God.
Object: To recognize the role that God occupies in our lives as our Creator and Savior, and consequently, the necessity that we have in never abandoning prayer, especially in times of trial.
Scripture readings:
Is.35:1-6.10; Ps.96 or Ps.33; Lk 10:21-24
Alleluia: Alleluia. Alleluia. Come, Flower of Jesse's stem, sign of God's love for all God's people: save us without delay! Alleluia.
Adapted reading from the Nican Mopohva ( 7:17-19.23-24):
The lady of Heaven said to Juan Diego: "Go up, my dear son the most forsaken one, to the top of the little hill. There where you saw me and where I gave you orders, you shall find that there are many different flowers; cut them, gather them, bundle them, and bring them immediately to my presence."Symbols in this context: 'Flower and Song' as means of communication with the divine, and as a means through which to know the truth. Our Lady as the symbolic expression of the maternal love of God.
Immediately Juan Diego went up the hill and when he reached the top he marveled at the fact that so many kinds of exquisite flowers of Castile had blossomed, before they were due, because in this season the frost was severe. Nor was it a place where they would grow. Then he cut them and put them together in his mantle. He then came down immediately and brought them to the lady of Heaven. She then, upon inspecting them, took them up in her own hands and again replaced them in the fold of his mantle, saying: "My dear son, the most forsaken one, these varied flowers are the proof and the sign that you are to take to the bishop. You will give them in my name that he should see in them what I want and with this he fulfill my will and my desire."
Theme developed:
God communicates God's plan of salvation through symbols appropriate to
our human nature and we relate to God through the same symbolic language.
From ancient times, God has shown a preference in communicating with
the poor, the small, the humble, the ones that society marginalizes as
unimportant, and God converts them into messengers of God. God made
a stuttering shepherd Moses a great leader through whom God liberated the
Israelites from slavery in Egypt. God converted the timid youngster
Jeremiah into a prophet of God. God chose Mary, a poor, humble and
simple young lady, the greatest among all women, to be the mother of Christ.
To people like these, God gives the reign. That is why we should not be
surprised that God chose Juan Diego, the 'most forsaken one', the son of
a crushed people to the point of extermination.
God's way of communicating with us is of a simple style that the great
wise people of this world can't understand. It is a symbolic language that
is simple and that reveals profound mysteries. With symbolic language,
all creation and salvation history become means of communication. Flowers
speak to us of the new life of spring and of the beauty of God. Music and
song unite us to God in a special way. The sun speaks to us of a God who
shines in our life, filling us with the warmth of God's love. The history
of Israel ,with its outstanding people, speaks to us of Christ and his
reign. Christ himself who dies on the cross for us is the maximum revelation
of God's love for us. The virgin Mary is the best human expression that
we have of the maternal love that God has for us. God knows well how most
of us feel close to our mother and how we communicate easily with her.
As close as this and even more, God wants to be to us.
Aztecs also understood this. For them, the only way to be able to communicate
with God was through 'Flower and Song' which meant through a symbolic or
poetic language. (Elizondo-1980: 14-15); (León-Portilla-1961/1987:128-146,
178-181). That is why the history of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
is loaded with symbolism. God spoke to the people of those days through
them, and carries on speaking to us today, on our historical pilgrimage.
The narration of Guadalupe begins with the song of birds and finishes with
the flowers that fall from the cloak of Juan Diego before the bishop. This
was a clear indication for the Aztecs that this story had a divine message
of truth.
Let us turn to God prayerfully with the confidence of the simple hearted,
and to the Virgin who helps us come closer to God. As Isaiah says, God
strengthens us, converting 'the arid desert of our lives' into the joy
of 'abundant, colorful, perfumed and beautiful flowers'. Through prayer,
the Spirit of God becomes like a spring of living waters that sprout with
happiness from the heart. Through prayer, God cures us from the paralysis
of a stagnated life, so that we can advance along the road of salvation.
God cures our spiritual blindness and deafness so that we can see and hear
God better in the trajectory of our life. We must sensitize ourselves to
hear God also when things are not doing well and God invites us to react
before it is too late.
Questions: Do we recognize the presence of God in the course of our life? Do we value the symbolic language, which even children can understand? Do we pray when things are not doing too well or do we allow ourselves to become blind in desperation? Do we stop praying when everything is going well?
Prayers of the Faithful for the Third Day of the Novena:
Let us now present to the Lord our petitions, responding: Lord, hear our prayer.
1. For our Church, that it may always open itself to the transforming
action of the Holy Spirit, and become beautiful and radiant as the Virgin,
and be then a sign of God's love in the world. Let us pray to the Lord.
2. For all leaders in the Church so that they may have the serviceable
humility of Mary and Juan Diego. Let us pray to the Lord.
3. For all of us, so that we never lack the spirit of prayer, and that
with the help of the Spirit, we may be able to discern the salvific action
of God in our lives. Let us pray to the Lord.
4. For our parish, so that we may be so transformed by the action of
the Holy Spirit, that we may be a symbol of unity, in the love of God ,for
our neighborhood. Let us pray to the Lord.
5. For all those who are going through a crisis of faith, so that they
may not loose hope and may carry on trusting in God who never abandons
us. Let us pray to the Lord.
Let us pray:
Lord God, humble and caring, a friend of the simple and poor of spirit.
You taught us, with your example, to pray especially during the most tragic
moment of your life, there in the garden of Gethsemani, before suffering
for us on the cross. Listen today to your followers, and may we never
fall aside on the road of life. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.