Day 51: Moved With Awe (2026)

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Day 51: Moved With Awe"

Podcast: The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)
Host: Ascension
Episode Date: February 20, 2026
Episode Number: 51

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames and fellow friars reflect on the Third Joyful Mystery of the Rosary—the Nativity of Jesus. The focus is on the overwhelming gift of Christ’s birth and the deep sense of awe that arises when we truly contemplate this holy moment. Through scriptural meditation and a moving personal story, listeners are invited to encounter the Nativity anew—with hearts open to wonder and gratitude.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Scriptural Meditation: The Nativity (Luke 2:1-20)

• The episode begins with a reading of the Nativity story from Luke.
• Insight: The humble circumstances of Christ’s birth, the response of the shepherds, and Mary’s quiet contemplation are highlighted.
• “And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” (03:10)

2. The First Creche: Experiencing the Nativity

• The hosts discuss St. Francis of Assisi’s creation of the first live Nativity scene (creche).
  • Quote: “St. Francis of Assisi is attributed with creating the first ever creche scene, the first ever reenactment of the manger scene.” (03:23)
• St. Francis’s desire was to help people tangibly experience the awe and humility of the original Nativity.
• Memorable Note: The friars reflect humorously that they can’t literally recreate the creche for each listener but strive to evoke a similar spiritual experience.

3. Modern-Day Parable: The Christmas Guest

• Fr. Mark-Mary shares a touching story from their homeless shelter in the South Bronx:

  • A man named “Fitz” newly arrived from prison experiences the friars’ Christmas celebration for the first time.
  • He is initially withdrawn, simply observing the warmth, generosity, and joy around him.
  • During the gift-giving, Fitz is overwhelmed by the kindness, and is eventually found crying with gratitude.

  Quote:

  • Brother sees Fitz “seated in the very back, bent over with his elbows on his knees and his bag at his feet and his face in the palm of his hands, and you can see the movement of the shoulders…indicating that Fitz is crying.” (07:47)
  • When asked if he’s okay, Fitz replies: “It’s just too much. It’s just too much.” (08:21)

• Key Insight: Fitz’s reaction is paralleled to how we might feel before the immense, undeserved gift of Jesus in the manger.

4. Moved With Awe: The Proper Response to God’s Gift

• Fr. Mark-Mary suggests that awe and feeling “it’s just too much” is the most logical response before the wonder of the Incarnation.
  • Quote: “It is a gift so good, so undeserved, so beyond expectation. It’s just too much. And yet it’s true.” (09:10)
• He proposes that both the shepherds and Mary herself likely felt this holy, overwhelming gratitude.

5. Invitation to Prayerful Imagination

• Listeners are invited to place themselves before the manger in prayer, to look upon Jesus with awe and allow themselves to be moved by the tremendous gift He is.

  • “Ask the Lord for this holy movement of the heart, the holy grace to receive the gift being given and to be moved with awe at this gift given us that is so undeserved, but so good and so true.” (10:34)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Quote / Paraphrase | Speaker | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------| | 03:23 | “St. Francis of Assisi is attributed with creating the first ever creche scene, the first ever reenactment of the manger scene.” | Friar Francis | | 07:47 | [Describing Fitz] “Seated in the very back, bent over with his elbows on his knees and his bag at his feet and his face in the palm of his hands…” | Father Mark-Mary | | 08:21 | “‘It’s just too much. It’s just too much.’ Fitz was just overwhelmed by the goodness, overwhelmed by the gifts upon gifts…” | Father Mark-Mary | | 09:10 | “It is a gift so good, so undeserved, so beyond expectation. It’s just too much. And yet it’s true.” | Father Mark-Mary | | 10:34 | “Ask the Lord for this holy movement of the heart, the holy grace to receive the gift being given and to be moved with awe at this gift given us…” | Father Mark-Mary |

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• 00:53 — Proclamation of the Third Joyful Mystery: The Nativity from Luke’s Gospel
• 03:23 — St. Francis and the First Nativity Scene
• 04:30 — The Friars’ Christmas Party for the Homeless
• 05:11 – 08:21 — Uplifting story of Fitz, his emotional reaction, and the friars’ care
• 09:10 — Spiritual reflection on awe as the right response to God’s overwhelming goodness
• 10:22 – 12:49 — Guided prayer and closing blessing

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains a gentle, earnest, and inviting tone. The speakers use real-life examples, scripture, and spiritual tradition to create an accessible atmosphere, encouraging both contemplation and a practical response to God’s love. The language is pastoral, relatable, and reverent.

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Summary for Listeners

This episode invites you to contemplate the Nativity not as a distant event, but as a present, personal gift. Through the story of “Fitz,” a man moved to tears by generosity, Fr. Mark-Mary draws a parallel to our own hearts before Christ’s birth—a gift beyond all deserving. The hosts encourage you to approach Jesus in the manger with a sense of awe, openness, and profound gratitude:

“It’s just too much. And yet, it’s true.”

You are prompted to place yourself prayerfully at the manger, to ask for the grace to be transformed by the humility and love of Christmas. The episode ends in meditative prayer, grounding the reflections in the living tradition of the Rosary.

Transcript

[Father Mark Mary]

Foreign.

[Friar Francis]

Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and this is the Rosary in a Year podcast, where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 51.

[Brother John]

To download the prayer plan for Rosary

[Friar Francis]

in a year, visit ascensionpress.com rosary in a year or text R I Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month, and it's

[Brother John]

a great way to track your progress.

[Friar Francis]

The best place to listen to the podcast is in the Ascension app.

[Brother John]

There are special features built just for

[Friar Francis]

this podcast and also recordings of the full rosary with myself and other friars.

[Brother John]

No matter what app you're listening in,

[Friar Francis]

remember to tap, follow or subscribe for your daily notifications.

[Brother John]

The third joyful mystery is the Nativity

[Father Mark Mary]

Luke, chapter 2, verses 1 through 20

[Friar Francis]

in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.

[Brother John]

This was the first enrollment when Quirinius

[Friar Francis]

was governor of Syria, and all went to be enrolled each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

[Brother John]

And while they were there, the time

[Friar Francis]

came for her to be delivered, and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the end. And in that region there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, be not afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people. For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord, and this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying which 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. As many of you may know, St. Francis.

[Brother John]

St. Francis of Assisi is attributed with

[Friar Francis]

creating the first ever Kressh scene, the first ever reenactment of the manger scene.

[Brother John]

What St. Francis did is the day before Christmas, he had a number of

[Friar Francis]

the brothers go and find a cave

[Brother John]

and prepare it in the manner of a manger.

[Father Mark Mary]

This is called the creche.

[Friar Francis]

And so he had hay brought in

[Brother John]

and animals and all of the like. And why St. Francis did this? He wanted to experience what our lady experienced. He wanted to experience what the shepherds experienced as they came and they saw the newborn babe of Bethlehem wrapped in swaddling clothes. And unfortunately, my friends, I can't come to where you are and bring some ox and donkeys and some other barn animals and maybe a couple shepherds and some hay and build you a little or a big creche for you to experience essentially everything that St. Francis built,

[Friar Francis]

to experience, again, what Mary, Joseph, and

[Father Mark Mary]

the shepherds would have experienced.

[Brother John]

But what I think I can do is to share with you a story which may help us experience

[Father Mark Mary]

what these

[Brother John]

different people around the manger scene would have experienced at the Nativity of the Lord. As I've referenced before the friars, we have a homeless shelter in the South Bronx. And what we do for Christmas on Christmas Eve is we throw the guys a Christmas party.

[Friar Francis]

We sing Christmas carols, prepare a really

[Brother John]

special meal with the help of some of our volunteers, and then we have a couple of rooms set up on one of the floors where the guys

[Friar Francis]

can go through and pick different items they want. And for Christmas, one Christmas Eve, as

[Brother John]

the friars were, had prepared all of this and was ready for the evening

[Friar Francis]

celebration, we received a new guest for

[Father Mark Mary]

the very first time, we'll call him Fitz.

[Brother John]

And Fitz had just gotten out of

[Friar Francis]

prison, where he had been for a

[Brother John]

number of years for crimes that he had, in fact, committed. And Fitz's whole life had been difficult,

[Friar Francis]

and a lot led to him doing the bad things that he had done.

[Brother John]

And so he comes to us, and he comes to us not because he

[Friar Francis]

knew what he was getting into, just

[Brother John]

because he had been told that this is a place that he might be

[Friar Francis]

able to find a bed.

[Brother John]

So Fitz comes in and we give

[Friar Francis]

him a little orientation as we normally do, show him the room,

[Brother John]

and then we welcome him into the celebration that night. And so you can imagine his surprise, curiosity, confusion, as we're all gathered together

[Friar Francis]

in one of our recreation rooms with

[Brother John]

25, 35 of our guests of the homeless men who are staying with us, a number of friars, these guys with funny beards and gray robes who he had no experience of wearing, you know, Santa hats. And everybody's eating snacks and popcorn and treats and candy and singing Christmas carols. And guys are standing up and being goofy and we're singing the Christmas carol, the twelve days of Christmas, whatever it's called. And on each day, different guys are getting up and doing something fun and silly and. And he's taking it in, and he's not like jumping in like everybody else is. He's just observing and understandably so.

[Friar Francis]

So after we sing, you know, the

[Brother John]

carols, we go downstairs and have a really nice dinner. And again, Fitz just taking it in. And you can see him kind of

[Friar Francis]

looking around and asking these questions.

[Brother John]

And as he's eating this really, really nice meal, the. The best meal he's had in a

[Friar Francis]

number of years, you can see, if

[Brother John]

you will, him keeping these things in his heart, pondering what's happening. So finally we go up and get all together and one of the brothers

[Friar Francis]

gives a little Christmas word and shares

[Brother John]

about the donations given and how we're

[Father Mark Mary]

sharing them with them so that they

[Brother John]

can have some gifts for Christmas. And one by one, each of the guys goes through the different rooms with

[Friar Francis]

his bag and picks out the gifts that he wants.

[Brother John]

About halfway through, you know, the 30 guys Fitz goes through, and at each door he's greeted with a smile and warmth and said, hey, here's what we have, you know, here's some jackets, here's some shoes, here's some socks. Like, take whatever you want.

[Father Mark Mary]

And he goes and he picks the things he wants and he fills his bag.

[Brother John]

And as all the guys slowly start

[Friar Francis]

to reconvene again in the recreation room

[Brother John]

and they're chit chatting and talking and

[Father Mark Mary]

eating some of the snacks, one of

[Brother John]

the brothers sees Fitz seated in the very back, bent over with his elbows

[Father Mark Mary]

on his knees and his bag at his feet and his face in the palm of his hands,

[Friar Francis]

and you can

[Father Mark Mary]

see the movement of the shoulders that

[Friar Francis]

are indicating that Fitz is crying.

[Father Mark Mary]

So we don't know Fitz at all, you know, and one of the brothers kind of goes up and Sits by him and gently says, hey, Fitzgerald, is everything okay?

[Brother John]

And Fitz slowly raises his face from

[Father Mark Mary]

his hands and you can see his. His tear soaked cheeks. And he begins to shake his head and said, it's just too much. It's just too much. Fitz was just overwhelmed by the goodness, overwhelmed by the gifts upon gifts upon gifts that he had received, especially, in contrast, the life he had lived to that point.

[Brother John]

And his experience was one of being almost knocked over.

[Father Mark Mary]

It was a heavy gift.

[Brother John]

And this movement of his heart expressed

[Father Mark Mary]

through tears of like, it's just too much. And my brothers and sisters, I can't

[Brother John]

help but think that this is the

[Father Mark Mary]

most reasonable and just and logical response before the Lord's nativity, before the Kresh in the manger, and the Babe of Bethlehem. It is a gift so good, so undeserved, so beyond expectation. It's just too much. And yet it's true. And perhaps this was the movement of the hearts of the shepherds as they saw the Lord and they left with joy and wonder, like, this is unbelievable. Glory to God in the highest.

[Brother John]

It's just too good.

[Father Mark Mary]

It's just too much. And I certainly believe that Mary would have experienced some of this, not only as she held in her own arms the Messiah, king, the Babe of Bethlehem, but as she received the shepherds in the future, the magi and their gifts.

[Brother John]

So, my brothers and sisters, I invite

[Father Mark Mary]

you in prayer to place yourself before

[Friar Francis]

the manger, prayerfully in our imagination,

[Brother John]

to

[Father Mark Mary]

look upon Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, surrounded by Mary and Joseph. Perhaps you're joined by the shepherds and the magi and look at Jesus, this gift given for you. And ask the Lord for this, this holy movement of the heart, the holy grace to receive the gift being given and to be moved with awe at this gift given us that is so undeserved, but so good and so true. Let us pray. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with the blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with the Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

[Friar Francis]

Amen.

[Brother John]

My brothers and sisters, thank you so much for joining me and praying with me again today.

[Father Mark Mary]

I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow.

[Friar Francis]

Poco.

[Father Mark Mary]

Poco. Friends.