MARIAN READINGS: MAY DEVOTION Day 4. MARY'S FAMILY: TRINITY ON EARTH I welcome you to today Marian reading, we shall be reflecting on Mary's family: Trinity on Earth. Anyone who is familiar with Trinitarian theology knows, there are numerous analogies that have been proposed over the centuries to help give us insight into the inexpressible mystery of the Trinity. One of such analogies is the Holy Family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. The Holy Family is an earthly image of the Blessed Trinity. Salvation arrives by way of the Holy Family. The household of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph became a “home away from home” for the eternal Son of God. It was an outpost of heaven, an image of the Trinity in the world. “We may say,” said Saint Francis de Sales, “that the Holy Family was a Trinity on earth which in a certain way represented the Blessed Trinity itself.” Jesus is, of course, the Son common to both “families.” Joseph, in his relationship with Jesus, was an earthly image of the heavenly Father. Mary, who conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, became the very image of the Spirit in the world. So God took his place in a human family–and invited you and me to find our place as well. He made a home for us in the Church, “a people,” said Saint Cyprian in the third century, “made one with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Hence, as there is in the Blessed Trinity essentially one God in three Persons, so the Holy family is consisting of three persons, namely, Joseph, Mary, and Christ... This family was then, as it were, a heaven upon earth..." "It is only natural that the Church rejoice as one who contemplates the modest home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The purpose of this title is to invite us to appreciate Mary's role in accompanying us on our return to the Trinity, while acknowledging Her Son as our sole Mediator with the Father in the Spirit. Mary will be seen as she is: a creature preeminently loved by the Trinity for the sending of Jesus among us as man. In fact, our view of Mary will make clearer our own identity. "Mary Beloved of the Trinity," will focus on our being in the family of the Beloved of the Trinity also. As the Creator, God’s will is providence, His plan for all things and all times. For us, as creatures, to submit to His will is to consent to be what we were made to be. Ultimately, we are all made to be with God. In the case of Mary, She so totally gave herself that she became the spouse of the Holy Spirit, giving birth to God the Son. All this was made possible by submitting to the will of the Father. The human family, in a certain sense, is an icon of the Trinity because of its interpersonal love and the fruitfulness of this love.” We are created for the sake of love. When we experience love in family life, it is heavenly, but it is still only an image of the greater glory we hope to behold in heaven. PRAYER O Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, through the pure heart of Mary, deliver every family from the hands of evil ones. Make my family the true image of the Blessed Trinity on earth, let there be love in my family, I consecrate my family to the Blessed Trinity, through Christ our Lord. Amen RESOLUTION I will pray my Rosary everyday. I will offer to our Mother Mary today: The Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. PRAYER POINTS Pray for all family facing challenges. Pray to experience love in the family Pray for grace to make your family image of the Trinity. Pray for grace to consecrate your family to God. We fly to your protection, O Holy Mother of God; Do not despise our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from every danger, O Glorious and Blessed Virgin. Holy Mary, Mother of God, your petitions are most powerful. Pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen May Almighty God bless you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thank you, Father, for the prayer points and your priestly blessing. I will try to keep those points in my mind while I pray today.