The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 98: An Abyss of Love

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

Aided by a meditation from St. Catherine of Siena’s Dialogue, we reflect on the profound gift of the Eucharist. Jesus tells each and every one of us how deeply he loves us as he says,  ”I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you,” a love we partake of each time we approach the Eucharist. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Institution of the Eucharist and we will be praying one decade of the Rosary. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

I'm Father Mark Mary with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast where through prayer and meditation the rosary brings us deeper into 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 98. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a year, visit AscensionPress.com forward slash rosary in a year or text R-I-Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to 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's special features built just for this podcast and also recordings with the full rosary. On behalf of myself and the whole team here at Ascension, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's helped support this podcast financially. Your support 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. Till we meditate upon and pray with the fifth, a limitless mystery, the institution of the Eucharist enriched by a writing from Saint Catherine of Siena and her work entitled

Dialogue. A little background on our author, our Saint today Saint Catherine of Siena. Saint Catherine of Siena was born in the year 1347 and died in the year 1380. She was a third order Dominican, which allowed her to take on some of the formation, the practices of the Dominicans without entering a cloister, the cloistered convent. At the age of 21, she had a profound mystical experience, which she referred to as her mystical marriage to Christ. Following this, she would go on to spend her life serving the poor and the afflicted, exhorting people to love God with their whole hearts, minds, and strength, and even became involved in influencing, in a major way, world affairs and leaders, including the Holy Father

at the time. Her work entitled Dialogue, which we'll read from today, discusses the spiritual life in the form of a conversation or conversations between God and her own soul. St. Catherine of Siena is a doctor of the church. She doesn't have like a doctor nickname like some of the saints, but you will probably recognize one of her most famous quotes, which is, be who God meant you to be, and you will set the whole world on fire.

The point of emphasis for our meditation today will be from the words of her dialogue, because I love you so much. Now our reading, and this reading begins with God speaking to the soul to St. Catherine. where you are pilgrims and travelers, so that you may have refreshment and not forget the benefit of the blood. See then how straightly you are constrained and obliged to render me love, because I love you so much. And being the supreme and eternal goodness, deserve your love." The end of the reading. Thanks be to God.

In our dialogue, God says to Catherine these words, the abyss of my loving desire for your salvation. The definition of an abyss is a bottomless pit. It is an immeasurably deep gulf, pit. It is an immeasurably deep gulf, bottomless, immeasurable. And for God, like, what is this abyss? What is this bottomless pit filled with? It's filled with loving desire for your salvation. In a lot of ways, this type of love, it's hard to really grasp, to really like wrap our heads around. Probably the closest icon to an abyss of love is the love a parent has for their child. I've come across this type of love a number of times. I'm sure many of the listeners as parents themselves have experienced this love for

themselves. And this is, this is the type of love that, you know, a good mom, a good dad has for their child. Like, and to be honest, I'm kind of tiptoeing around like how deep and how much to break this open because it is so intense and it's so deep. And for many parents who are listening here, there is, there's love for their children, but also there's some pain or experiences of loss that I don't want to unnecessarily like bring to the surface.

But this is a love. It's like so intense. It's so profound. It's this abyss of love and immeasurable love, we could say. An unquenchable love. And this, this is the genre of love that God has for us, a love that is unquenchable, bottomless, immeasurable. And how does this love, this love of God, which will do anything and everything for our salvation, how does it respond to our state? How does it respond to our need?

How does it respond to our state? How does it respond to our need? By giving us the most holy Eucharist. During Luke's last supper narrative, this language is used, right? Jesus says, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Like we could read here, I have longed with an abyss of love and desire for your salvation to eat this Passover with you. My brothers and sisters, let us be reminded of this truth today. The Most Holy Eucharist is a gift given to us

from the depths of the heart of God. From the loving abyss of the heart of God. From the loving abyss of the heart of God, a heart which burns with love for you and for your salvation. And to be honest, I'm going to go ahead and invite you to let your any experience of indifference here to like be pricked a bit by this reminder to allow it to be burned a bit by this gift of fire and love. In response, if there's need for it, like let us repent of any ways in which we may have been ungrateful

or irreverent or indifferent to this most profound of gifts. If this has been our situation at all towards God, particularly towards the Eucharist, let us take this opportunity to remember again, to be reminded again of the loving gift of the Most Holy Eucharist. And as we conclude today by praying our decade of the Most Holy Rosary,

let us go ahead and place ourselves in our imagination before the Most Holy Eucharist. Or perhaps you want to place yourself at the table at the Last Supper and look at Jesus in the eyes. And look at Jesus in the eyes. And see Him looking at you. See His eyes filled with longing and desire. And hear Him say from the depths, from the depths, from the abyss of his love, I love you so much. Hold his gaze and reply.

Thank you, Jesus. I love you too. Remaining in this place, remaining in this dialogue, let us conclude today by praying a decade of the Most Holy Rosary. Now with Mary, let us pray in the name of the Father, 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. 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 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 for joining me and praying with me today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. Poco Poco, friends. God bless you all.