Monday, July 21, 2008

Meditation for July 22, Mary Magalen

If there is any day when points of meditation are useless, is it not today? How many scenes of the Gospel present themselves to me--and all with marked emphasis on one outstanding lesson: eagerness to remain at the feet of Our Lord!

Each time that I see Mary Magdalen in the Gospel, after her conversion, I find her at the feet of the Savior.

She is at the feet of the Savior at the home of Simon, the Pharisee.

She is at the feet of the Savior at Bethany while Martha at­tends to the household duties.

She is at the feet of the Savior beneath the Cross.

She is at the feet of the Savior at the sepulchre after the Resur­rection.

Thus she gives me four models of contemplation:
Repentant contemplation
Adoring contemplation
Compassionating contemplation
Blissful contemplation
I can choose the model which best suits me according to my state of soul or the attraction of grace.

Do I, like Mary Magdalen, seek out this sacred place at the feet of Jesus? In other words do I thirst for prayer, for divine contact with the adorable Master, hoping for nothing more than to rest my head, through life, against His knees?

O Mary Magdalen, great Saint who manifests so well to me the wealth of your heart and the riches of the Heart of Jesus, teach me to repent as you did; to adore as you did; to compassionate as you did; and to unite myself, as you did, to my Risen Lord. Make of me, even though my vocation requires the union of activity with prayer, a soul of prayer; make of me in the strongest sense of the word a contemplative.
_________________
Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)

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