Message for March and April 2022
Host or designated reader/leader begins the Upper Room prayer hour by first reading this message from Fr. David:
Dear Friends in Christ:
- “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).
- “You will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
- “Woman, behold your son!” (John 19:26-27).
- “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).
- “I thirst!” (John 19:28).
- “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
- “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Luke 23:46).
These are the Last Words of Christ spoken from the Cross, and they are profound indicators of the mind of Jesus and His Divine will. Nobody will ever communicate something so profoundly inspiring from a place of death and dying, so deep or inspiring. Jesus spoke these Gospel words as a part of God’s Revelation to us, these are important words that guide us to the most important thing of all, the gift of eternal life and attaining the Kingdom. In this Upper Room we will consider word number three: “Woman, behold your son!” (John 19:26-27).
In Christ;
Fr. David
Open with Sign of Cross and pray to the Holy Spirit:
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
L: Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit, O Lord, and they shall be created.
R: And You shall renew the face of the earth
L: Let us pray – God our Father, pour out the gifts of your Holy Spirit on the world. You sent the Spirit on Your Church to begin the teaching of the Gospel; now let the Spirit continue to work in the world through the hearts of all who believe. Through Christ our Lord.
R: Amen
L: You, O lord, will open my lips.
R: And my tongue shall announce Your praise.
L: Incline unto my aid, O God.
R: O Lord, make haste to help me.
L: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
R: As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen
Please read…
2605 When the hour had come for him to fulfill the Father’s plan of love, Jesus allows a glimpse of the boundless depth of his filial prayer, not only before he freely delivered himself up (“Abba . . . not my will, but yours.”), but even in his last words on the Cross, where prayer and the gift of self are but one: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”; “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise”, “Woman, behold your son” – “Behold your mother”; “I thirst.”; “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”; “It is finished”; “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” until the “loud cry” as he expires, giving up his spirit.
What is the significance of Jesus’ words to John about Mary?
What do you think Mary thought about what Jesus was saying to John?
Although it isn’t recorded, what do you think John said to Jesus in response?
To “Behold” is a thing for contemplation not meditation. What do you think this means?
Please read…
501 Jesus is Mary’s only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: “The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother’s love.”
Why does the Blessed Virgin Mary have such power and influence in our Salvation History?
Discuss this. It’s speculative. How Mary can know our prayers and respond to them without having the qualities of God is because she is the Queen of Angels and they collaborate with her efforts. Thoughts?
How would you describe to someone (who doesn’t understand) the connection or unity that exists between Mary and Jesus? Also describe why Mary loves us?
964 Mary’s role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. “This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ’s virginal conception up to his death”; it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:
Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: “Woman, behold your son.”
Standing beneath the cross, do you think Mary wept? Discuss why or why not considering both possibilities.
“As a mother” (to all disciples) to His Disciples, to us, to the whole world… what does this motherhood look like? Explain by referencing the major private revelations (Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima).
What would you like to see or experience from Mary? No wrong answer here. If Mary could do anything within her purview what would that be?
Conclude by praying a Rosary
No Upper Room for October 2019
August 2018 Upper Room (8-18 Upper Room)