Day 91: Cause For Joy
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I am Father Mark Mary with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 91. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit ascensionpress.com forward slash rosary in a year or text R-I-Y to 33777.

You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month, and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to the podcast is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full rosary. No matter what app you're listening in, remember to tap follow or subscribe for your daily notifications. Today we'll be meditating upon and praying with the third joyful mystery, the Nativity, with help from a reading from St. Leo the Great.

Our excerpt will come from his sermon 21 on the Feast of the Nativity. Before getting to the writing, a little background on St. Leo the Great. He was born in the year 400, died in the year 461. He's also known as Pope St. Leo I, and he's the first of our Pope Saints to be given the title the Great.

A particular importance about the life of St. Leo is that during his pontificate, he clearly defended and defined Jesus as being one divine person with two natures. He was the Pope at the time of the Ecumenical Council, the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451, which definitively declared this, and this is super important referring to Jesus, as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages.

But yet, as regards its manhood, "begotten for us men and for our salvation of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer, one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation, the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union." This definition from the Council of Chalcedon is super, super important.

Pope St. Leo the Great is also a doctor of the church and he is referred to as the doctor of the unity of the church. The focus of our meditation is going to be on the joy. The joy that is ours is the fruit of the birth of our Savior. And here is St. Leo the Great. Our Savior, dearly beloved, was born today. Let us be glad.

For there is no proper place for sadness when we keep the birthday of the life which destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of promised eternity. No one is kept from sharing in this happiness. There is for all one common measure of joy because as our Lord, the destroyer of sin and death, finds none free from charge, so has he come to free us all.

Let the saint exult in that he draws near to victory. Let the sinner be glad in that he is invited to pardon. Let the Gentile take courage in that he is called to life. For the Son of God in the fullness of time, which the inscrutable death of the divine counsel has determined, has taken on him the nature of man.

thereby to reconcile it to its author, in order that the inventor of death, the devil, might be conquered through that nature which he had conquered. The end of the reading. Thanks be to God. My brothers and sisters, I believe that the joy of having a Savior is lost on those who have forgotten they have need of saving.

Looking at this writing of St. Leo the Great, reflecting on the nativity and the joy offered to us from the nativity, the point of our reflection and potentially for a deeper conversion of heart is this. For you, is the nativity of our Lord, the birth of our Savior, a cause for joy? Is it able to dispel sadness from your life? If you're struggling with that, we can take hope in the fact that sometimes dryness or the absence of joy is a call from God to go deeper.

to a deeper conversion. Or maybe we've been accustomed to thinking of the Nativity as a far off story that happened in ancient times, far from our current time and place. That's why this reading from St. Leo is so beautiful. St. Leo is telling us that the birth of the Savior is not some story that we're hearing that has no bearing on our lives. It's a miracle that is directly affecting you, even at this very moment. As St. Leo tells us, no one is kept from sharing in this happiness.

The nativity is not only a cause for joy for the world, but joy for you specifically. Today, let's try to rest in this joy. Because the objective reality, pointed out here by St. Leo, is that there is cause for rejoicing here. There is cause for joy. And this joy desires to cast sadness from our lives, to dispel sadness from our lives. Why have joy, right? Let the saint exult in that he draws near to victory. Let the sinner rejoice.

be glad and that he is invited to pardon. Our savior is born. The devil and death are conquered. Life and salvation are victorious. We who were condemned by our own sin, we have been freed. We who were lost have been saved. So my brothers and sisters, I'm just going to invite you in our time of prayer here and a reflection on the nativity to first of all, look at your own heart.

As we pray with nativity, as St. Leo offers us, reminds us of the subjective cause for joy, are we subjectively able to experience it? Does it move our hearts? Do we feel anything? Does it mean something to us? If yes, amen. Praise the Lord. Let's just remain there with great joy. If not, let's reflect and let's ask Jesus how our dryness can call us to a greater conversion and love for him who loves us.

Let's reflect on the fact that we have needed saving, what we needed saving from, how we were saved, and now the fruit of our salvation, eternal life in Him. Now together with Our Lady, let us pray one decade of the Most Holy Rosary, asking to receive and to experience this joy, the joy of a Savior, which dispels sadness from our hearts. In the name of the Father and of the Son.

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. All right. Thanks so much for joining me and praying with me today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. Poco a poco, friends. God bless y'all.