祈禱的榜樣 Prayer Series VI

祈禱的榜樣（路11:27-28）

聖母瑪利亞真是有福，不單是因為她懷孕過、哺育過天主子，而且她聽了天主的話而遵行！聖母瑪利亞堪稱是完美的門徒，是所有信徒的完美榜樣。她的秘訣是甚麼？

固然，天主給她特殊的恩寵，使她始胎無染原罪，不受罪惡的污染。這不是我輩凡夫俗子可以奢望的！但她對天主聖神的完全開放，是我們可以效法的。

1. 她沒有堅持自己高尚的志向，放棄了守貞服事天主，願意接受懷孕哺育天主子的艱巨任務（路1:34）。她憑甚麼可以承擔這沉重的使命呢？除了倚靠聖神的力量，還有別的嗎？
2. 她對近人的愛心，是毋庸置疑的。且看她得知年老的表姊依撒伯爾懷了孕，便急速往山區去看顧她（1:39）。這份急速，突顯了聖神的催促（谷1:12）和聖母的順從回應！
3. 她承受自己的局限，對於不明白的事物，並不勉強去明白。她祇謙遜地「默存心中，反覆思想」（2:19; 2:51），讓聖神潛移默化她！後來，在加納婚宴上，她為主人家缺了酒而求耶穌出手（若2:3），成為福音所到之處的佳話。這並不單是因為她的愛心，而是她指示僕人聽從耶穌的吩咐（2:5）！可見聖神多年來潛移默化的效果！
4. 最後，聖母能堅持到十家架下，領受天主聖子交託給她的「教會之母」任務（19:26）。並在耶穌基督升天後，默默地陪伴著教會，履行她「教會之母」的神聖使命，貫通天地，在五旬節，讓聖神再次沛降人間，誕生了教會！

聖母瑪利亞，充滿聖神的妳，確實是有福的！
聖神啊！願照天父的意願，成就於我們身上吧！亞孟。
生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：Wikipedia

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Prayer Series VI (Luke 11:27-28)

Our Lady is truly blessed, not only because she carried the Son of God in her womb and nursed Him at her breasts, but also because she hears the word of God and observes it! The Blessed Virgin is a perfect disciple and an immaculate exemplar. What's her secret?
Of course, God grants her special privileges so that she has been immaculate since conception and immune from the contamination of sins. We mere mortals dare not to dream about it! But her total openness to God is something we may follow.

1. She does not insist on her noble cause. She forsakes her ambition to serve God in chastity and is willing to talk up the Herculean burden to bear and nurse the Son of God (Luke 1:34). With what is she able to bear such a heavy burden? What else but the strength from the Holy Spirit?
2. Her charity towards the needy is indisputable. Just see how she set out and travelled to the hill country in haste once she had known that her aged cousin Elizabeth was pregnant (1:39) This haste is indicative of the drive of the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:12) and her prompt response!
3. She took upon herself her limitations. For things she could not understand, she did not force herself to understand. She humbly "kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart" (2:19; 2:51) and let the Holy Spirit transform her! Later, in the wedding feast at Cana, she took the initiative to ask for Jesus' help when the wine ran short (John 2:3). Her act is immortalized not only because of her charity, but also because she instructed the servers to do whatever Jesus told them (2:5) ! Here we see the effect of the Holy Spirit's transformative work!
4. The Blessed Virgin persisted till Calvery where she was commissioned to take up the role to be the Mother of the Church (19:26). After Jesus' ascension, she quietly stayed with the disciples to discharge her role as the Mother of the Church. She became the channel through which the Holy Spirit descended to give birth to the Church on Pentecost!

Ave Maria, Spiritus Sancto plena!
Holy Spirit, be it unto us according to the Father's will. Amen.