Other Preparation Plans
Traditional 12 days + 3 weeks plan
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An alternative plan
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Preparation for Total Consecration
'Alive to God'
Introduction
The child's face told the story, even if his mother had said nothing, as they left the superstore. 'How can you have anything' she said, 'if you don't spend anything?' He had gone into the shop with his pocket-money, but with so much choice on offer, he could not make up his mind what to buy. Because he could not make a decision and give, he left empty-handed and disappointed.
Baptism matters
Saint Louis Marie de Montfort devoted himself to encouraging people to give themselves to God as they had promised in their baptism. Take your baptism seriously, he preached. 'Does anyone fulfil the promises of baptism faithfully?' (TD 127). He thought not, in the main because of 'our habitual forgetfulness of the promises and responsibilities of baptism. Scarcely anyone makes a personal ratification of the contract made with God through his or her sponsors' (TD 127). Promises made for us as infants need to be personally accepted as we become adults.
To do this we need to know both our Lord and ourselves. How marked are we by the realisation that our Lord Jesus Christ lived, died and was buried, and rose from a grave to be with us today?
Does that really enlighten us, 'so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life' (Rom. 6:4).
Is there a freshness to life as we walk now in the presence and power of our risen Lord? Is this a live reality?
How well do we know ourselves? To know something of our strengths and weaknesses is necessary for sensible everyday living. Unless we know something of our Lord and ourselves, therefore, our Christian life may be rather unreal.
Think about it
In preparing then to give life to the promises made at baptism on our behalf, Saint Louis Marie suggests that we give time to discover their meaning. Take four weeks, he advises, to consider our Lord and ourselves in the light of -
- the spirit of the world,
- self-knowledge
- knowledge of our Lady,
- knowledge of our Lord.
A week can be given to each, but treat this programme as a tool, not a strait-jacket. Use whatever helps. The dominant note in these reflections is encouragement to live-in the wonder of the presence of our risen Lord. The risen, present Jesus is their centre. Everything is subordinate to, and illumined by this. Baptism is the entry to such a life, and a living faith is the way to its realisation.
At the end of this time we may wish to consecrate ourselves to Jesus through Mary, as Montfort advises, 'simply because it is a way of reaching Jesus perfectly, loving him tenderly, and serving him faithfully' (TD 62). Mary helps us to know ourselves and our Lord.
As Pope Paul VI said, 'Mary is above all the example of that worship that consists in making one's life an offering to God. This is an ancient and ever new doctrine that each individual can hear again' (Marialis Cultus, 21).
Mary's care
If baptism has given us a treasure, experience shows that it is carried in a very frail vessel. We need help to keep it safe. 'To be ... wiser than Solomon we should place in Mary's care all that we possess and the treasure of treasures, Jesus Christ, that she may keep him for us. We are surrounded by too many experienced enemies, ... and we have had too many sad experiences. Let us be distrustful of our own wisdom and fervour' (LEW 221).
Our Lady gives us now, as she has always given, 'the treasure of treasures, Jesus Christ'. One with her through baptism in her Son, we can savour this treasure too.
Pope John Paul II, speaking 'not only of the doctrine of faith, but also of the life of faith', reflected in authentic Marian spirituality, recalls 'among the many witnesses and teachers of this spirituality, the figure of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, who proposes consecration to Christ through the hands of Mary, as an effective means for Christians to live faithfully their baptismal commitments' (Redemptoris Mater 48). Perhaps these pages can encourage us to do that.
Daily pattern
Each day of preparation will centre on:
- a parable
- a short reflection
- a prayer
- a quotation from Saint Louis.
Parables are often assumed to be for those people who are too simple to think deeply. This is so wrong. They are an insight into the mind of Jesus. If I glimpse what they say, I come to share something of what Jesus saw. They help root us in Christ through the Gospel. To try to understand God and life through their comparisons and examples, is mainstream living.
So, for example, suppose we listen to a parable saying: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field' (Mt. 12:44).
1) Relax with the story or comparison. Really listen to it. What is it trying to say? What is the basic image? - A treasure unexpectedly found.
2) Stay with the image of 'a treasure found'. Give it time to colour your mind. Imagine what such a 'find' is like.
3) Ask two questions of the parable: What glimpse do I have of God or Jesus? What glimpse am I given of myself?
To invite a parable to challenge me to think within the framework of those two questions is to be in the mainstream of gospel enquiry.
Speaking Now
Let the parable speak, and try to listen. Try not to dominate. Let the basic image hold you. Do not think of it only as an evocative story of yesterday. Receive it from the risen Christ, speaking now through the Spirit from the heart of the Church. The same Holy Spirit who first gave those words life enlivens them still today. They carry the presence and power of our risen Lord. The parables offer a channel to the mind of Christ.
Thinking about 'a treasure found' in the context of the parable, I might ask myself, 'Is Jesus my Lord the discovered treasure? Is he the attraction inviting me into the riches of God'?
As regards a glimpse of myself, do I treasure my faith? Do I know the joy of discovery? Do I still expect to be surprised? How much does my faith cost me? Do I know people who reflect the parable?
One question is enough. Allow the image of 'a treasure found' to lead me where it will.
The reflection, prayer and quotation given for each day are meant as a help towards this.
My grateful thanks to the Montfortian community in India, and to the Sisters of Mercy community in Burnley, where these thoughts were first introduced.
Abbreviations used
| TD | True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin |
| SM | The Secret of Mary |
| LEW | The Love of Eternal Wisdom |
| FC | Letter to the Friends of the Cross |
| PM | Prayer for Missionaries |
| RM | Letter to the Friends of the CrossRule of the Missionary Priests |
| LCM | Letter to the Members of the Company of Mary |
| SR | Secret of the Rosary |
| L | Letters |
