Good Morning,
Morning Devotions led by Seminarian Tiffany Sweeting of Christ Church Cathedral, Nassau, Bahamas. Please share if you can. Thank you 🙏🏼
Anglican Diocese of The Bahamas & The Turks & Caicos
Morning Devotions led by Seminarian Tiffany Sweeting
(Organ playing) # Tell out why so # # The greatness of the Lord # # And the world # # As He till I sleep # # Iniquence # # There to be # # A promise for His One # # In God my signal # # Shall my heart rejoice # # Tell out why so # # The greatness of His Name # # They know His # # And the leaders of us # # From His mercy show # # The greatness of His Name # # His glory # # May the Lord # # Behold # Morning devotions for Thursday, the 15th of August, 2024. Morning devotions are brought to you by the Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas, Tucks and Caicas Islands. My name is Tiffany Sweeting, a member of Christchurch Cathedral, and a seminarian at Quadranton College. Today, in our church's calendar, we celebrate the enunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let us pray. O God, who has taken to thyself the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the incarnate Son, grant that we, who have been redeemed by His blood, may share with her the glory of thine eternal kingdom through the same by Son Jesus Christ, O Lord, who liveth and reignth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our gospel reading for today comes from Luke chapter 1, verse 46 through 55. And Mary said, "And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked with favour on His release of unto him. Surely, for now on, all generations will call me blessed. For the mighty one has done great things for me, and holy is His name. His mercy is on those who fare Him, from generation to generation. He has showed strength with His arm. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich empty away. He has helped His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy, according to the promise He made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his descendants forever." The Word of the Lord. Our meditation for this morning reflects on the enunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And in the words of our gospel for this morning, we hear the words of the Magnificat, which is very familiar to all of us as it comes from our form of even prayer. And this morning, when we look at the Magnificat, it springs from the heart of Mary while she is carrying the Savior in her womb. It should resound the hearts of the faithful when they receive Jesus Christ, the Lord, in Holy Communion. And as we heard in our Psalm on Sunday past, Psalm 34, verse 1, "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall ever be in my mouth. And that should be the cry of all Christians, all the faithful, that when they receive the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, at Holy Communion, we should always bless the Lord, just as Mary did when Elizabeth announced to her that she is carrying the Son." The Magnificat is a message of hope focusing upon those who receive God's word and cast themselves upon the mighty one for his arm to deliver them. The Magnificat, as we hear, is the song of the Virgin Mary after Elizabeth is telling her that she is going to give birth to God's Son. This is the story, as we heard in our reading this morning. It is also known as the Song of Mary, the Magnificat. In Latin, mean magnify, saying how great God is. And in our Psalm on Sunday, we hear that, "I will glory in the Lord, let the humble hair and rejoice, proclaim the greatness of the Lord with me. Let us exalt His name together." The angel of the Lord encompasses those who fare him and he will deliver them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy are they who trust in Him. And like Mary, when we look at the Magnificat, we see four points that we can take away from this wonderful story. We see the divine message. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary with a message from God, announcing that she would conceive and bear a son. Who would be the Son of God? This news was beyond human comprehension, and yet Mary accepted the unwavering faith. Just as Mary received the divine message with humility and trust, we too are called to open our hearts to God's will in our lives, even when it seems impossible or challenging. Secondly, Mary's faith. Mary responds to the angel's message with one of complete surrender and submission to God's plan. Her simple yet profound words, "Behold, I am the hand made of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word." Exemplifies a deep trust in God's providence. Mary's faith teaches us the importance of saying yes to God's call, even when we may not fully understand the path ahead. Thirdly, we see Mary's trusting in God's timing. The enunciation reminds us that God works in his own time according to his perfect plan. Mary's willingness to embrace God's timing and trust in his fullness serves as a powerful example for us to patiently wait upon God's unfolding of his will in our lives. Let us remember that God's timing is always perfect, and his promise never fails. Lastly, the mother of God. Through the enunciation, Mary was chosen to be the mother of God bearing the saviour of the world in her womb. This extraordinary privilege was accompanied by great sacrifice, great responsibility. And as we honor Mary as the mother of God, let us also reflect on our own call to bear Christ in our hearts and to share his love with the world to our words and our actions. The enunciation of Mary invites us to embrace God's plan for our lives with faith, with trust and obedience. Like Mary, we may be open to God's voice speaking the depths of our hearts and resounding yes to his will. As we reflect on the enunciation, let us seek to imitate Mary's unwavering faith and profound love for God, so that we may become vessels of his grace and instruments of his peace in the world. May the example of the Virgin Mary inspire us to live our lives in accordance with God's will, trusting in his providence and surrendering ourselves completely to his love. Amen. Let us pray, almighty God, Father of all mercies, we unworthy servants give you most humble and hearty thanks for all your goodness and lovingkindness to us and to all people. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life, and above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace and for the hope of glory. And give us, we pray, such a sense of all mercies that our hearts may be unfriendly thankful and that we show forth your praise not only with our lips but with our lives by giving up of ourselves to your service and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to home and with home in the unity of the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Thank you for listening, and if this devotion has been a blessing to you, we encourage you to share it with your family and friends. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] (upbeat music)