Third Joyful Mystery
Birth of Jesus
Spiritual Fruit: Detachment
Narrative:
Jesus is Born
1. In Bethlehem will be born He Who is to rule my people.
(Micah 5:2)
2. Joseph and Mary leave Nazareth to register in Bethlehem.
(Lk. 2:4)
3. There, Mary gives birth to the Son of God.
(Lk. 2:7)
4. Mary lays Him in a manger, because there is no room for Him in the inn.
(Lk. 2:7)
5. Angels announce to shepherds nearby: “The Savior is born.”
(Lk. 2:10,11)
6. Angels sing: “Peace to men of good will.”
(Lk. 2:14)
7. Wise men come from the East in search of Christ.
(Mt. 2:1,2)
8. Entering the house in Bethlehem, they worship Him.
(Mt. 2:11)
9. All nations serve Him.
(Ps. 72:11)
10. Those who accept Christ become children of God.
(Jn. 1:12)
Spiritual Fruit:
Detachment
1. Detachment from Worldly Things
2. Faithfulness -Trust and Loyalty to God
3. Recognising the Transient Nature of Material Things
4. Set One's Heart Entirely on Heavenly Things
5. Appreciating the Interconnectedness of Virtues
[1. Detachment from Worldly Things]
“Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through, and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal.”
- Matthew 6
“Be brave and try to detach your heart from worldly things.”
-St John Bosco
“If you purify your soul of attachment to and desire for things, you will understand them spiritually. If you deny your appetite for them, you will enjoy their truth, understanding what is certain in them.”
-St John of the Cross
“How are you to meet the swarm of foolish attachments, triflings, and undesirable inclinations which beset you? By turning sharply away, and thoroughly renouncing such vanities, flying to the Saviour’s Cross, and clasping His Crown of thorns to your heart, so that these little foxes may not spoil your vines.”
-St Frances de Sales
[2. Faithfulness (trust and loyalty to God)]
'Faithfulness comes from a place of trust and loyalty.
"Now faith is a confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1
“If they be faithful and seek no satisfaction in creatures, they pass from pure suffering to the pure love of God. But the fortunate souls who succeed thus far are very few.”
-St. Paul of the Cross
“God doesn’t ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.”
-Saint Teresa of Calcutta
“If ever you have a fit of sadness or trouble, remember that it is because you are still attached to life, or health, or some comfort, or person, or thing that you ought to forget and despise that you may desire Jesus Christ only.”
-Saint Claude de la Colombiere
[3. Recognising the Transient Nature of Material Things]
“It is a reasonable consequence, that he who runs after perishable goods should himself perish.”
-St Teresa of Avila
“Let us suppose that someone’s house or field has caught fire. The person who wanted to save himself fled without anything as soon as he noticed the fire, leaving everything in it and concerned only with his own life. But someone else thought he would take some of the goods with him, so he stayed behind to collect them; and as he was taking them the fire, which had already overwhelmed the house, caught him as well and burnt him. In this way, through his attachment to some transient thing, he was destroyed in the fire by his own free choice.”
-St. Symeon Metaphrastis
[4. Set one's Heart Entirely on Heavenly Things ]
“For true devotion must issue from the heart, and consist in the truth and substances alone of what is represented by spiritual things; all the rest is affection and attachment proceeding from imperfection; and in order that one may pass to any kind of perfection it is necessary for such desires to be killed.”
-St John of the Cross
“Many, however, gives themselves to God, but preserve still in their hearts some attachment to creatures, which prevents them from belonging entirely to God.”
-Saint Alphonsus Liguori
[5. Appreciating the Interconnectedness of Virtues]
“Humility cannot exist without love, and love cannot exist without humility. It is impossible for these virtues to exist except where there is great detachment from all created things.”
-St Teresa of Avila
“Jesus does not want us to be attached to possessions, to human honors, to creatures. He asks humility. But His love and His generosity make this detachment less difficult and less cruel to our nature. Nothing else matters to me anymore, nothing has any value for me but Jesus, no place, no thing, no person, no idea, no feeling, no honor, no suffering, nothing that can turn me away from Jesus. For me, Jesus Himself is my honor, my delight, my heart, my spirit, He whom I love, what I love, my home Heaven here on earth. Jesus is my treasure and my love and Jesus crucified is my only happiness.”
-St. Bernadette Soubirous
