{"id":200,"date":"2018-03-07T04:00:53","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T08:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/?p=200"},"modified":"2018-03-12T18:23:26","modified_gmt":"2018-03-12T22:23:26","slug":"emptying-ourselves-day-1-dependence-on-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/spiritual-practices\/marian-consecration\/emptying-ourselves-day-1-dependence-on-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Emptying Ourselves Day 1 – Dependence on God"},"content":{"rendered":"

First Part – Emptying ourselves of the spirit of the world<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the consequences of original sin is that we have been tainted by a spirit of the world. That spirit of independence, self-sufficiency, and grasping at control is very much with us. We need to see it intellectually as far as we are able. For this we seek the wisdom God gave us through one of the greatest teachers of our time, Pope Benedict XVI. This will help to expose the taint of original sin that has invaded our thinking. We also need the grace to turn away from it. For this we must pray earnestly. Some other forms of self-sacrifice will help us well. In this regard we can target those areas that further the spirit of the world. Intellectually we would do well to fast from content on media that propagates the lies\u2014TV, Facebook, Netflix, secular news sources and other forms social media reinforce the thinking that is poisoned by original sin. We can also cut back on those things and activities we turn to as a substitute for prayer. That could include comfort food, alcohol, shopping, romance novels, over-exercising, excessive work, or others. Some self-knowledge is important here and also consultation with a close spiritual friend or spiritual director.<\/p>\n

Day 1 – Dependence on God<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Reading from the Book of Genesis:<\/p>\n

Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, \u201cDid God say, \u2018You shall not eat of any tree of the garden\u2019?\u201d And the woman said to the serpent, \u201cWe may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, \u2018You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.\u2019\u00a0\u201d But the serpent said to the woman, \u201cYou will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.\u201d So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.\u00a0Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 3:1-7)<\/p>\n

From Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s homily for the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 2005:<\/p>\n

If we set ourselves with the believing and praying Church to listen to this text, then we can begin to understand what original sin, inherited sin, is and also what the protection against this inherited sin is, what redemption is.<\/p>\n

What picture does this passage show us? The human being does not trust God. Tempted by the serpent, he harbours the suspicion that in the end, God takes something away from his life, that God is a rival who curtails our freedom and that we will be fully human only when we have cast him aside; in brief, that only in this way can we fully achieve our freedom.<\/p>\n

The human being lives in the suspicion that God’s love creates a dependence and that he must rid himself of this dependency if he is to be fully himself. Man does not want to receive his existence and the fullness of his life from God.<\/p>\n

He himself wants to obtain from the tree of knowledge the power to shape the world, to make himself a god, raising himself to God’s level, and to overcome death and darkness with his own efforts. He does not want to rely on love that to him seems untrustworthy; he relies solely on his own knowledge since it confers power upon him. Rather than on love, he sets his sights on power, with which he desires to take his own life autonomously in hand. And in doing so, he trusts in deceit rather than in truth and thereby sinks with his life into emptiness, into death.<\/p>\n

Love is not dependence but a gift that makes us live. The freedom of a human being is the freedom of a limited being, and therefore is itself limited. We can possess it only as a shared freedom, in the communion of freedom:\u00a0 only if we live in the right way, with one another and for one another, can freedom develop.<\/p>\n

We live in the right way if we live in accordance with the truth of our being, and that is, in accordance with God’s will. For God’s will is not a law for the human being imposed from the outside and that constrains him, but the intrinsic measure of his nature, a measure that is engraved within him and makes him the image of God, hence, a free creature.<\/p>\n

If we live in opposition to love and against the truth – in opposition to God – then we destroy one another and destroy the world. Then we do not find life but act in the interests of death. All this is recounted with immortal images in the history of the original fall of man and the expulsion of man from the earthly Paradise.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Reflection:
\n<\/strong>Where can you see this thinking in your own life? In what ways are you suspicious of love? Unwilling to ask for help? Rebellious against God\u2019s law? Do you fear that God wants to take something away from you? Are you willing to rely on Him for everything? In what ways do you seek a security in your own control?<\/p>\n

A baby in the womb is so radically dependent on the mother, but also so perfectly provided for. God has given us in Mary and in the Church a Mother who wants to provide for everything as she forms us in her womb into another Christ.<\/p>\n

Prayers: <\/a><\/p>\n

Veni Sancte Spiritus<\/p>\n

Ave Maris Stella or Sub Tuum Praesidium<\/p>\n

Litany of Penance or Radiating Christ<\/p>\n

Prayer of Entrustment to the Womb of Mary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First Part – Emptying ourselves of the spirit of the world One of the consequences of original sin is that we have been tainted by a spirit of the world. That spirit of independence, self-sufficiency, and grasping at control is very much with us. We need to see it intellectually as far as we are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[49],"tags":[12,38,40],"class_list":["post-200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marian-consecration","tag-mary","tag-pope-benedict-xvi","tag-prayer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/song-of-the-angels-edited-darkened-2.jpg?fit=821%2C1200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bfMR-3e","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":206,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/spiritual-practices\/marian-consecration\/emptying-ourselves-day-4-god-hears-our-cry\/","url_meta":{"origin":200,"position":0},"title":"Emptying ourselves Day 4 – God hears our cry","author":"fatherboniface@gmail.com","date":"March 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Day 4 - God hears our cry A Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans: I do not understand my own actions. 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