"Here Am I, the Lord's Servant"

"...Desire and reformation of life are human factors: God's advent through grace is intrinsically divine. Here Mary is the sublime model. She desired the kingdom of God and based her life on the words: 'I am the handmaid of the Lord'...


Her example must be our perpetual goal on earth. We must ever be ready and willing to receive the kingdom of God within ourselves as opportunities present themselves. Baptism was our first Christmas, and every Eucharistic Sacrifice is Christmas repeated. The feasts of the Church's liturgical year are days of grace, days of the kingdom of God. Maintain a calm, reverent, and recollected attitude so as not to disturb God's holy stirrings within you.


Thus let us approach Christmas spiritually."


(Fr. Pius Parsch, The Church's Year of Grace, Vol. 1)