You're listening to I Pray with the Gospel on the St. Jose Maria Institute podcast.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence.

I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my Father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

The Feast of Mary, the Holy Mother of God.

A reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2.

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe laying in the manger.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

But Mary kept all these things pondering them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And at the end of eight days, he was circumcised and was called Jesus, the name given by the angel.

Mary, the Holy Mother of God, is the beginning.

It just makes sense. She initiated our redemption. She opens the new year also.

Is there any better way to kick off? You have heard that a good start is half the battle.

Let's make that good start today with our lady. We are still in the Christmas season, and we are reminded of our mother keeping all the

memories of Jesus and pondering them in her immaculate heart.

Christmas is a season to focus our sights on Jesus.

There is no better way than to learn from Mary, to look at him with loving eyes of our lady.

St. John Paul too invites us to contemplate the virgin's gaze on her child.

The contemplation of Christ has a remarkable model in Mary.

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