The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 110: Greater Seeks Lesser

Episode Date: April 20, 2025

God doesn’t just stay in heaven and wait for us to approach him. Instead, as reflected in the mystery of the Visitation, God comes in search of us.  Fr. Mark-Mary tells us, reading from  St. Ambrose, that not only does Mary, the mother of God, seek out Elizabeth, but she even greets her first. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Visitation and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

Hey, I'm Father Mark Murray with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast where we're through prayer and meditation. The Rosary brings us deeper into our 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 110. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit AscensionPress.com, forward slash rosaryinayear, text R-I-O-Y to 33777.

You'll get an outline of how we're gonna pray each month and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to podcasts is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary. On behalf of myself, the whole team here at Ascension, we wanted to take this opportunity

to thank everyone who's helped support this podcast financially. Your generosity is so appreciated and helps us to reach as many people as possible. If you haven't already, please consider supporting us at ascensionpress.com forward slash support. Today we will be meditating upon and praying with the second Joyful Mystery, with help from a writing with help from a writing by Saint Ambrose and his work, Commentary on the Gospel of Saint Luke. We've already had an opportunity to introduce Saint Ambrose, so let's go ahead and get into our reading.

The emphasis is going to be on the greater seeks the lesser. Now in those days, Mary arose and departed in haste to the hill country into a town in Judah, and entered into the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. It is customary that all those who believe provide reasons for their faith, and thus the angel who announced the mysteries that her faith might be bolstered by an example announced to the Virgin Mary the pregnancy of an old and barren woman, showing that God can do anything pleasing to him. When Mary heard this, not for lack of faith in the prophecy, nor uncertainty about the message, nor out of doubt for the example provided, but in the eagerness of her desire to fulfill

a pious duty, in the hastiness of joy she went to the hill country. For now, filled with God, to where would she strive with haste except to the heights? Sluggish efforts are foreign to the grace of the Holy Spirit. Learn humility. She comes as a relative to her relative, as a junior to her senior, and not only does she come, but she is even the first to greet. The superior comes to the inferior in order to help the inferior, marry to Elizabeth, Christ to John, and later, to sanctify John's baptism, the Lord came to this baptism.

The benefits of Mary's arrival and the Lord's presence are immediately apparent, for as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant in her womb leapt for joy, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Observe the distinction in choice of words. Elizabeth hears the voice first, but John is the first to be aware of grace. Elizabeth hears with a bottle of ears, but John leaps for joy at the meaning of the mystery. The end of the reading. Thanks be to God. Again, the focus is going to be on the greater seeks the lesser. It's one of my favorite stories. It's one of my go-to stories.

It's one of the most kind of formative experiences I had in religious life. My early life as a friar. I was living down in Honduras at the time and we had this big food handout that we'd do and all the friars were involved with it. And at the time I was pretty much the youngest guy there.

And there was a bunch of other friars who had been doing this for maybe 20 years longer than me And at some point during the food handout when he ever he just kind of got he got distracted He got focused on doing something else. That was at least in my judgment like not Timely and not helpful for us With the food handout that we were part of and as a young guy I just obviously kind of got frustrated. And whatever something happened, there was some sort of way in which I was carrying this on my countenance that this senior brother, he became aware

that I was frustrated with him. So at some point later on in the day, he sees me in the friary and he says, Hey bro, just, I want to apologize. Like mercy, bro. I know I got distracted and I didn't need to do it right there. And I kind of left you hanging. So I'm sorry about that. It was a really beautiful gesture.

What's funny is that it just made me think about it again. I just got actually more frustrated. So his apology like unfortunately didn't help. And whatever it is like a couple hours go by and we must have had a couple of interactions where he could tell I was still struggling So one more time he seeks me out and he's like, hey, bro, just one more time. I'm just so sorry about that today And there was something about that second apology which just totally broke me Where's like he already apologized. It was a small thing, but this senior brother this much older brother

Came to be reconciled with me. Like if you wanted to just check the box, say, hey look, I apologize if he's still angry, it's on him. Like he could have done that, but he wasn't worried about that, right? He was worried about reconciliation. He was worried about communion with me. The lesser brother, the less virtuous brother, the brother who wasn't able to receive his first apology. And so this is a very, very clear example of like a senior brother being a senior brother and a better brother being a better brother.

But this is manifest not by him distancing himself from me, but by him coming down to me as many times as needed until I was able to receive his forgiveness. I was able to receive his apology and until communion had been restored. And so the story of this brother coming to me, right, like it's a story of grace, it's a continuation of the movement of the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus. It's a story of the greater seeking the lesser. of the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus. It's a story of the greater seeking the lesser.

Which we see here in the visitation, this movement of God, this movement of Jesus, the greater one who seeks out the lesser, the greatest being God Himself. And God in his relationship towards his people, God doesn't just sit on the throne and say, hey, come to me if you can, come to me if you dare. He doesn't just say like, hey, I gave you a chance, I gave you a ton of options, a ton of resources, a ton of tries, you didn't do it. Well, that's on you. Right? Like, he doesn't just dismiss us. What does God do?

He takes the lowest place and He comes in search of us. St. Ambrose writing about the visitation, he says, The superior comes to the inferior in order to help the inferior. Married to Elizabeth, Christ to John, and later to sanctify John's baptism, the Lord came to his baptism. The story of the visitation, the story of the Annunciation, the story of Jesus' whole earthly ministry, especially his seeking out of the Holy One seeking out the unholy, like the One who is life itself seeking out the dead and the lost, the greater seeking out the lesser. Today, as we pray, let us have both a movement of praise and imitation.

Let us praise the humility of God, the Lord himself who comes in search of us and never quits seeking us. The superior one who comes seeking the inferior one again and again and again until we receive the grace offered to us. And let us in gratitude, be quick ourselves to imitate this movement of God, this movement of Jesus, this movement of the Holy Spirit that we see in the Blessed Virgin Mary at the visitation. Let us be quick ourselves to be patient

with those who are struggling around us and be quick to come to their aid with the same humility, generosity, mercy, haste, and perseverance showed in His coming down to us. Now with Mary, let us pray in the name of the Father and 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. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right. Thanks so much for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. Poco Poco, friends. God bless y'all.