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The poor widow's offering
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As Jesus watched at the entrance of
the Temple the money being thrown into the treasure-box, He did not pay so much
attention to the rich and their large sums that they threw in. Indeed they
wanted to be seen and applauded for their abundance given ostentatiously.
Then a poor widow threw a few small
coins in the treasure box barely amounting to anything! This was the person
that Jesus looked at with great love and approval. Why? Not for the economic
substance of her offering—it was barely anything. Rather, Jesus read the depths
of her heart. She was giving generously all that she had to live on.
The message is the following. Man can see and judge from mere appearances.
But Jesus reads the inner movements of the human heart. What often is worthy of praise in the eyes of
the world, Jesus despises. On the
contrary, what the world deems as insignificant, Jesus highly approves and
praises.
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St. Therese doing the ordinary |
St. Therese and her Little Way can be
our way and the way and path to holiness! Holiness does not depend simply on
the greatness of the action, but rather on the intensity of love that
accompanies the action.
In other words the secret to holiness
is on a daily basis trying to do the ordinary things of daily life with
extraordinary love. That is the key! So
much so that St Therese was known to say:
“Pick up a pin for the love of God and you can save a soul.” Picking up a pin, physically speaking is no
big deal! However, if this action is
done in the Presence of God, for the intention of pleasing God and with great
purity of intention, then indeed, it has infinite value in the eyes of God.
Most of us are not involved in
monumental and monolithic activities that will make the front page of the New
York Times or the Wall Street Journal. On the contrary, many of our actions are
the most ordinary and mundane. But they can have infinite value if we know the
secret of offering it up to God.
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A Mom doing it with joy and love |
A HOMEMAKER’S ACTIVITIES. Most of the normal activities of a homemaker
do not make the Newspaper or the 6:00 p.m. news. Sweeping the floor, taking out the garbage,
buying, preparing, serving meals and then after cleaning pots, and pans and
dishes—all of these are the glorious routine of thousands of home-makers and
Moms.
If the Mom does this all with an
attitude of complaining, with a scowl on her face and playing out the role of
the poor victim, then her merit in the eyes of God is reduced to almost
nothing.
However, if this Mom rises in the
morning offering her day to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
willingly offers everything she does to please God, to sanctify her family and to save souls, then
her action has great value.
What can be of infinite value for the
sanctification of the daily actions are two specific intentions and actions. Do
our actions through the powerful intercession of Mary, “God’s masterpiece of
creation” and uniting our actions to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
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St. Louis and his love for Mary |
First, the importance of going to
Jesus through the intercession of Mary.
Mary is the short-cut to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. St. Louis de Montfort paints this image. A
poor man wants to give a bruised apple to the King. No way will the poor man have access to the
King; much less will the King receive the apple, especially a bruised apple.
However, if the poor man knows the Queen and the Queen has a real affection for
this poor man. Then the Queen can take the apple, clean it, polish it, and
place it on a golden platter, next to a beautiful rose. The King, loving the Queen, receives the
apple most willingly; not because of the quality of the apple but because of
the person who gave him the apple, his lovely bride the Queen.
Therefore for us it must be the same!
Our actions are like the apple. In and of themselves our actions are often
tainted and spoiled by our enormous self-love and egotism. However, if we can
give ourselves and our actions to Jesus through the hands and heart of the
Queen, then the King--- Jesus who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords—will not
refuse it. In other words, Mary can help
to ennoble and sanctify our smallest actions.
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Holy Mass as Sacrifice: returns us to Calvary |
Second, we must unite our actions and
intentions with Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Every Holy Mass that is offered has infinite
value. Why? For the simple but profound reason that Jesus is offering Himself
as Victim of expiation to the Father.
The Father looks at His Son and says: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” The Father can
deny His Son nothing!
Now how is this translated from the
mystical into the practical? Not too complicated! Go to Mass, but arrive early
before Mass has started. Give yourself at least a good 15 minutes.
Now open up your heart to the fullest
with an infinite trust in Jesus, His love for the Father, His love for you and
His love for the entire world. In opening your heart place all that you were,
are, and will be on the altar before Mass has even started. Your day and your
activities—place them now all on the altar, everything absolutely
everything—hold nothing back! Your cooking, cleaning, your battle with your
teenage son, your struggle with your husband, your fear of the future and
insecurities in the present, your slight headache and clouded mind!
The key is that you want to place all
on the altar even before Mass has started. You are offering yourself and all
that you have been, are and all that you will be offering to the Lord in the
course of the day. Every minute detail of who you are what you are about, what
you would desire for yourself and your family has an infinite importance for
Jesus. Nothing escapes the loving eye of Jesus. He knows even the numbers of
the hairs on your head and when one falls to the ground! The Lord Jesus indeed
cares for the whole world but for each and every one of us individually.
Then when Mass is being offered,
especially during the Consecration of His Body and Blood, all that you have
placed on the altar is being lifted on high to the Majestic Throne of the
Eternal Father who sees you but in His beloved Son in whom He is well-pleased.
To this Son He can deny nothing.
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St. Padre Pio's Mass |
Then, even more important, receive
Holy Communion into the depths of your soul. If your are well-disposed with a
burning heart filled with love for the Lord Jesus then there will be an
explosion of graces. Your small actions
will have infinite value because your smallest of actions have been offered to
the Eternal Father through the loving Heart of Jesus.
In sum, let us learn the art of
sanctity. It is not so much in the greatness of the action, but in the purity
of intention. However of paramount importance is learning to offer ourselves to
God through the pure and Immaculate heart of Mary and through Jesus the
spotless Victim offered to God the Father in the most Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass.