STAGE I: Our journey in life, is it a Wisdom journey? 4th MEETING

 STAGE I:  Our journey in life, is it a Wisdom journey?

 4th MEETING

TITLE OF THE MEETING: Our life journey, an adventure with Jesus Wisdom Incarnate in Mary // LET US PROCLAIM WISDOM

1. Welcome Each one share one or two flowers of the month and what he/she learned and welcomed on his/her faith journey with Mary. 

2.Theme of the meeting:

 Read texts then Group Work (2 or 3 share together)

Lk 1: 24-46 Annunciation To discover the place of Mary in the plan of Salvation, her YES of the annunciation and my yes of every day.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be    married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be” Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Jn 2: 1-11, Wedding at Cana

To discover Mary as the 1^st disciple of Wisdom, attentive to the hour of Jesus: the first sign at Cana and my attention to the signs of Jesus.

 

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus      replied. “My hour has not yet come.”  His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so, they filled them to the brim.  Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Jn 19: 25-27 Mary under the Cross

To discover Mary like a mother under the cross, how I feel as son/daughter of God, brother/sister of all. Share in big group and discover the place of Mary and how it touches my life as a Christian.

“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s   sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” 

 

 Reference Texts written by Montfort

True Devotion 1, It was through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ came into the world, and it is also through her that he must reign in the world.

 

Love of Eternal Wisdom 105 Finally, the time appointed for the      redemption of humankind arrived. Eternal Wisdom made herself a home, a dwelling worthy of herself: “Wisdom has fashioned a     dwelling place for herself” (Pr 9: 1). She created and formed the    divine Mary, in the womb of Saint Anne, with greater pleasure than she had taken in creating the universe. It is impossible to express, on the one hand, the wondrous communication that the Holy Trinity made to this lovely creature, and on the other, the fidelity with which she responded to the grace of the Creator.

 

3. Quiet prayer and reflection

Build a prayer around the Magnificat Luke 1 46-55

 

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. And my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed, for
the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his faithful love extends age after age to those who fear him. He has used the power of his arm; he has routed the arrogant of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised the lowly high. He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love -according to the promise he made to our ancestors, of his mercy to Abraham and Sarah and to his descendants forever."

 4. Time for integration : Going further

To help prepare the next encounter with the same grid. 

Grid to Re read the Experience

During the first stage of our programme, we have            discovered where we are in our journey of faith. It is good now to look at this programme, to see what we have received to nourish our journey as a Friend of Wisdom.

1. How, during this stage, have I listened to and heard the invitation from God to me? Through the sharing of the members? Through the way the group lived and the place where I found myself? (listening attentively, taking the Word, initiatives?) Through one or other of the Bible texts that spoke to me.

2. Do I want to respond to Him? What have I discovered in the relationship of Jesus with me and I with Him?

3. How can I grow in my search to know and follow Jesus wisdom? What did I discover which will help me to grow in my faith? Which attitudes of Mary help me? How can Mary help me on this journey?

4. Since the International Meeting of 2008, the Friends of Wisdom have recognised “to hear the invitation of Wisdom” as a determining element of identity. How does it strike me or question me?