Let us give ourselves to Mary to obtain the gift of detachment

Today is Saturday, the day in which we celebrate the joyful mysteries. Let us meditate on the 3rd joyful mystery, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem (Mt. 2:1-12; Lk. 2:1-20), whose fruit is the spirit of poverty.

The Holy Eucharist is the continuation of the Incarnation of Jesus. When we come to the Blessed Sacrament, we come to Bethlehem, whose name means "House of Bread". Jesus chose to be born in Bethlehem because he wanted to remain among us forever as the "living bread that came down from heaven" (Jn 6:51).

God has never ceased to glorify the Magi for traveling to honor his Son in Bethlehem. Thus, our humble visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament causes him such joy that it will be repeated throughout eternity, hastening the day when Jesus will establish his promised peace on earth.  

Our privilege to come and worship him is as great as that of Mary, Joseph, the Magi and the shepherds, for Jesus continues his Incarnation on earth. The Word becomes flesh again and dwells among us, veiled under the species of the Sacred Host. There, the same Jesus, born two thousand years ago, is truly, really, bodily and personally present for us in the Blessed Sacrament.

Let us give ourselves to Mary in order to obtain the virtue of poverty, for Mary wasn't troubled by the poor and humiliating circumstances surrounding the birth of her child, nor by the indifference of the outside world, because she found all her riches in the abundance of his love and all her treasures in his Real Presence.

Let us give ourselves to Mary, so she may teach us to detach ourselves from everything, to such an extent that Jesus in the Holy Eucharist becomes our greatest treasure, our "pearl of great value", and Christ our "immeasurable wealth" (Eph 3:8).

Let us not pay attention to the miserable condition of our soul, as Mary did not pay attention to the miserable condition of the stable. Mary is there to help us to turn away from our miseries, so we can contemplate Jesus, in whom we find our dignity and identity through his boundless love for us, in the Holy Eucharist.

Christ makes our soul eternally more beautiful with each communion and each visit we make to him in the Blessed Sacrament. Mary's whole life is summed up in one word: adoration.

Meditation contributed by the Missionaries of the Holy Eucharist