Day 6: The Sacrifice of Isaac
Read The Jesse Tree pp. 23-25. Hang ornament (bundle of sticks).
Abraham offers Isaac to God as a sacrifice.
Scripture reference: Genesis 22:1-19
Comment: Abraham had to undergo this great trial of faith. By faith, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. But God stopped Abraham before he could complete the sacrifice and provided a ram instead. Mary was also asked by God to sacrifice her Son. She followed Him down the Via Dolorosa (the Way of Sorrows) to the hill of Golgotha and to the Cross. Unlike Abraham, Mary was not spared the death of her Son, but watched as He was crucified. In her sorrow, Mary's faith never faltered. She united her will to God's perfect Will.
Related Title: Mary, Mother of Sorrows
The Virgin Mary, who believed in the word of the Lord, did not lose her faith in God when she saw her Son rejected, abused and crucified. Rather she remained beside Jesus, suffering and praying, until the end. And she saw the radiant dawn of His Resurrection. Let us learn from her to witness to our faith with a life of humble service, ready to personally pay the price of staying faithful to the Gospel of love and truth, certain that nothing that we do will be lost.
— Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus - September 13, 2009 taken from Women for Faith & Family – www.wf-f.org
O Blessed Virgin Mary, Immaculate Mother of God, who didst endure a martyrdom of love and grief, beholding the sufferings and sorrows of Jesus! Thou didst co-operate in the benefit of my redemption by thy innumerable afflictions and by offering to the Eternal Father His only-begotten Son as a holocaust and victim of propitiation for my sins. I thank thee for the unspeakable love which led thee to deprive thyself of the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus, true God and true Man, to save me, a sinner. Oh! make use of the unfailing intercession of thy sorrows with the Father and the Son. that I may steadfastly amend my life and never again crucify my loving Redeemer by new sins; and that, persevering till death in His grace, I may obtain eternal life through the merits of His Cross and Passion. Amen.
Mother of love, of sorrow, and of mercy, pray for us.
A meditation on Mary, Mother of Sorrows can be found here. Read more on this devotion at Women for Faith and Family.
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