Baptism of the Lord by Saint John the Baptist
As I was praying and reflecting on the 1st luminous mystery of the Holy Rosary: Our Lord's baptism by Saint John the Baptist, suddenly I was taken into deeper reflection and found my soul praising and exalting the Lord like King David: "Praise the Lord, my soul! All my being, praise His Holy Name! Praise the Lord, my soul, and do not forget how kind He is. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He keeps me from the grave and blesses me with love and mercy. He fills my life with good things, so that I stay young and strong like an eagle." (Ps 103:1-5)
Taking a stroll in the park, my mind composed its own gratitude for the Lord as it expressed:
Thank you Lord for the gift of my eyes so that I can see your gloriously beautiful arts on the earth. It seems that I can see something that others cannot see. But importantly, I can see your Presence and celestial beings in the holy places. "Why are we so sad? Why do we blame God? Evils abound in the world so that the world will fail to seduce us into loving it."(Saint Augustine)
Thank you Lord for the gift of my ears. You make me deaf so that I can exceedingly appreciate hearing the praise of Your Holy Name, O Most Holy Trinity! We are what we eat but our souls are what we hear. My Savior God, how great Thou Art! I never forget that day when You spoke unto my ears: You are My wonderful child!"
Thank you Lord for the gift of my nose so that I can smell the fragrance in my prayers with the intercession of My Beloved Mother Mary. I would never forget that exact magnificent scent when You received me into Your Bosom as You poured Thy Holy Spirit upon me after pouring Holy Water upon me. "When our hands have touched spices, they give fragrances to all they handle. Let us make our prayers pass through the hands of the Blessed Virgin. She will make them fragrant." (Saint John Vianney)
Thank you Lord for the gift of my tongue. It was once poisonous like a viper but You have brought it to humility that it speaks so softly so that it can preserve me from misfortune of offending Thee and my neighbours, and is only reserved for Your Ears as it sings the praise and glory of Your Holy Name. "Conquering the tongue is better than fasting on bread and water!!" (Saint John of the Cross)
Thank you Lord for the gift of my sense. Through my instincts and gut feelings, You called me and brought me to Your True Holy Catholic Church, which You set up two thousands years ago. I can still feel Your Holy Presence in the Holy Church even today.
Thank you Lord for the gift of my hands so that they can make beautiful artworks of Thee, my God. I almost lost my hand in an accident but You preserved it so as to show me that You are still preserving my true vocation in difficult times. O Lord my God, give me the graces to draw more and more sacred inspirations.
Thank you Lord for the gift of my heart. It was once defiled by the pride and lust. But You have made it humbly transforming into a heart of great love like Christ alike. You also made it as Your Holy Throne where I can feel Your Presence deeper within, and as the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Oh, let every beating of my heart would proclaim the praise and glory of Your Holy Name! My heart told me that it was so glad to burden my body with the cross and beg me to follow Lord Jesus. "Humility is the true appreciation of one's gifts." (Saint Teresa of Avila) "There is something in humility that strangely exalts the heart." (Saint Augustine) "Almost all of us love according to our own taste; very few of us know how to love according to the will of God." (Saint Francis de Sales)
Thank you Lord for the gift of my feet so that they can hasten bringing my body to the Holy Church where I can witness the miracles at the Holy Mass, and adore Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament everyday. O Holy Spirit, teach me how to follow Thee in the footsteps of Lord Jesus! "Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet Him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith... Let our adoration never ceases." (Blessed Pope John II) "Do you realize that Jesus is there in the Tabernacle expressly for you, for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart." (Saint Therese of Lisieux)
Thank you Lord for the gift of my stubborn faith in Thee, for I know that You will never fail me as I have seen Thy manifested signs of love throughout my life. O My Sweet Jesus, teach me how to become a saint after Thee. My dearly Blessed Mother Mary, teach me also. My Holy Guardian Angel, help me too. "God wishes everyone to be a saint, but in accordance with their own state of life - the religious as religious, the person in the world as a person in the world, the priest as a priest, a married person as a married person, a soldier as a soldier, and so on for every other way of life." (Saint Alphonsus: Practice of the love of God 8:10) "In order to be saints, you have to seriously want to be one. Saint Thomas Aquinas assures us that holiness is nothing else but a resolution made, the heroic act of a soul that surrenders to God. And he adds: spontaneously we love God, we run towards Him, we get close to Him, we possess Him. Our willingness is important because it changes us into the image of God and likens us to Him! The decision to be holy is very dear one. Renunciation, temptations, struggles, persecutions, and all kinds of sacrifices are what surround the soul that has opted for holiness." (Blessed Mother Teresa)
