Day 96: A New Love

Summary

Podcast Summary: Day 96 - A New Love

The Rosary in a Year is a transformative podcast series hosted by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR of the Franciscan Friars of Renewal. In Day 96: A New Love, released on April 6, 2025, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames delves deep into the theme of love as the foundation of the new law introduced by Jesus in His proclamation of the Kingdom. This episode guides listeners through a profound meditation on the Sermon on the Mount, enriched by insights from St. Augustine.

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1. Introduction to Day 96: A New Love

Fr. Mark-Mary Ames begins the episode by welcoming listeners and highlighting the resources available to complement their spiritual journey. He emphasizes the importance of building a daily prayer habit and forming a deeper relationship with Jesus and Mary through the Rosary.

Mary:
"In Ascension’s Rosary in a Year podcast, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR, guides listeners in a step-by-step journey that will change the way you pray – no matter where you are in your spiritual life."
(00:04)

Listeners are encouraged to download the prayer plan from ascensionpress.com/riy or text RIY to 33777. The Ascension app is recommended for its special features and full Rosary recordings. Additionally, Mary promotes the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, a book containing daily Scripture readings, saintly reflections, and sacred art.

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2. Meditation on the Proclamation of the Kingdom

The day's meditation centers on the third luminous mystery, focusing on the proclamation of the Kingdom and the call to conversion. Fr. Mark-Mary Ames introduces a reading from St. Augustine on the Sermon on the Mount, setting the stage for a deeper exploration of Jesus’ teachings.

Mary:
"We'll be meditating upon and praying with the third luminous mystery, the proclamation of the Kingdom, and the call to conversion, with help from a reading from St. Augustine from his work on the Sermon on the Mount."
(00:04)

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3. St. Augustine’s Reflection on the Sermon on the Mount

St. Augustine's reading provides a theological framework for understanding the transition from the old law to the new law brought forth by Jesus. He interprets the "mountain" as the greater precepts of righteousness, contrasting them with the lesser commandments given to the Jews.

St. Augustine (as read by Mary):
"For there were lesser ones which were given to the Jews. Yet it was one God, who, through his holy prophets and servants... gave the greater ones to a people whom it had now become suitable to set free by love."
(01:30)

St. Augustine emphasizes that Jesus’ teachings are not merely stricter rules but a higher law rooted in love, differentiating the earthly kingdom from the heavenly one.

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4. The Introduction of a New Law Through a New Love

Fr. Mark-Mary Ames and Mary discuss how Jesus introduces a new law not to impose more restrictions but to elevate the moral and spiritual standards through the power of love. This new love enables believers to naturally embody higher virtues without feeling burdened.

Mary:
"What's actually happening is this, as Jesus comes, as he's establishing his kingdom, and he's able to give us this new law because he's giving us a new love."
(04:28)

Mary uses the analogy of new parents whose lives change organically due to the profound love for their child. This transformation illustrates how a new love can lead to a natural and heartfelt adherence to the new law.

Mary:
"I have this new love, and I want to respond to this love with a greater care, a greater giving of myself, a greater generosity, a greater ability to sacrifice."
(05:30)

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5. The Role of the Holy Spirit in Enabling the New Law

The episode underscores the essential role of the Holy Spirit in empowering believers to live out the new law of love. The Holy Spirit infuses believers with the capacity to love, forgive, and act with mercy, making the observance of Jesus' teachings both achievable and heartfelt.

Mary:
"The new law is written on our hearts by God himself, by… the Holy Spirit."
(06:54)

Mark:
"Access we have to the Holy Spirit living."
(08:25)

The Holy Spirit transforms believers, allowing them to conform to Christ's example and embody His love in their daily lives.

Mark:
"No longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
(08:32)

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6. Application: Embracing the New Law through Prayer

As the discussion transitions into prayer, Fr. Mark-Mary invites listeners to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance and grace. The prayer emphasizes the desire to embody the new law of love, asking the Holy Spirit to write this law onto their hearts and to enable them to love as Jesus did.

Mary:
"What I'm going to ask you to do is to really, really beg for a grace of the Holy Spirit here. Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. Live your life in me."
(08:34)

Mark:
"Fill me with this new experience of love, so that I may be more perfectly conformed to Christ, that I may more perfectly love as Jesus himself loved."
(08:46)

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7. The Rosary: Praying Together

The episode culminates in a collective prayer of the Rosary, fostering a sense of community and shared spirituality among listeners. The prayers recited include the Our Father, multiple Hail Marys, and the Glory Be, each accompanied by the affirming response of the Franciscan Friars of Renewal.

Mark:
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..."
(09:10)

The repetitive and meditative nature of the Rosary serves to reinforce the themes discussed, grounding listeners in prayer and reflection.

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8. Conclusion and Invitation to Continue the Journey

As the episode draws to a close, Mary and Fr. Mark-Mary express gratitude for the listeners' participation and encourage them to continue their journey of prayer and meditation.

Mary:
"Thanks so much for joining me and praying with me today."
(12:16)

Mark:
"I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow."
(12:18)

Mary concludes with a blessing, affirming the communal and supportive nature of the podcast community.

Mary:
"God bless y'all."
(12:21)

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Notable Quotes

• St. Augustine on the New Law:
  "Through His Son, gave the greater ones to a people whom it had now become suitable to set free by love."
  (01:30)

• Mary on New Love and Law:
  "As Jesus comes, as he's establishing his kingdom, and he's able to give us this new law because he's giving us a new love."
  (04:28)

• Mary on the Holy Spirit:
  "The new law is written on our hearts by God himself, by… the Holy Spirit."
  (06:54)

• Mark on Living Through the Holy Spirit:
  "No longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
  (08:32)

• Mark on Prayer for Love:
  "Fill me with this new experience of love, so that I may be more perfectly conformed to Christ, that I may more perfectly love as Jesus himself loved."
  (08:46)

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Key Takeaways

• Transition from Fear to Love: The episode emphasizes the shift from the old law based on fear to a new law grounded in love, facilitated by Jesus’ teachings and the Holy Spirit’s grace.

• Empowerment through the Holy Spirit: Believers are empowered to live out the new law of love through the Holy Spirit, making higher virtues attainable.

• Natural Transformation: Using relatable analogies, Mary illustrates how a profound love can naturally lead to greater generosity, sacrifice, and a deeper commitment to living according to Jesus’ example.

• Community in Prayer: The collective recitation of the Rosary reinforces the shared journey of faith and the support system provided by the podcast community.

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Conclusion

Day 96: A New Love serves as a profound reminder of the transformative power of love in the Christian life. Through insightful reflections, theological depth, and heartfelt prayer, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames invites listeners to embrace a new love that empowers them to live out Jesus’ higher law. This episode is a beacon for those seeking to deepen their spiritual life, offering both intellectual enrichment and practical guidance for a more devoted prayer practice.

Transcript

[Mark]

Foreign.

[Mary]

Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of Renewal and this is the Rosary in the 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 96. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a year, visit ascensionpress.com rosary in a year or text RIY to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're gonna pray each month and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to the podcast is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in the Year Prayer Guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, Saint reflections, and beautiful full page images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on today. We'll be meditating upon and praying with the third luminous mystery, the proclamation of the Kingdom, and the call to conversion, with help from a reading from St. Augustine from his work on the Sermon on the Mount. And the point of emphasis of our meditation is going to be a new law for a new kingdom because of a new love. And now our reading from St. Augustine on the Sermon on the Mount, St. Augustine, who we've already introduced, known as.

[Mark]

The Doctor of Grace.

[Mary]

The beginning then of this sermon is introduced as follows. And when he saw the great multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them. If it is asked what the mountain means, it may well be understood as meaning the greater precepts of righteousness. For there were lesser ones which were given to the Jews. Yet it was one God, who, through his holy prophets and servants, according to a thoroughly arranged distribution of times, gave the lesser precepts to a people as yet required to be bound by fear, and who through His Son, gave the greater ones to a people whom it had now become suitable to set free by love. Moreover, when the lesser are given to the lesser, and the greater to the greater, they are given by him who alone knows how to present to the human race the medicine suited to the occasion. Nor is it surprising that the greater precepts are given for the kingdom of heaven, and the lesser for an earthly kingdom by that one and the same God who made heaven and earth. The end of the reading thanks be to God. All right so let's go ahead and reflect on these words of St. Augustine in the context of praying with the proclamation of the kingdom, the call to conversion. Just a reminder. So as Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom, our way to understand this, right, is that in the proclamation of the kingdom, which is being proclaimed, established by word and by deed, we have these realities happening, and we see this in all that Jesus is going to do and he's going to preach, right. And teach during his public earthly ministry, right? The Savior is saving, the divine physician is healing, the teacher is teaching, right? And what we encounter, particularly here at the Sermon on the Mount, is the lawgiver of the new kingdom is giving the new law. Let's go ahead and pull a couple of lines here from St. Augustine, right? He says this through his Son, gave the greater ones to a people whom it had now become suitable to set free by love. There's this acknowledgement that as Jesus comes, he is giving a new law and a greater law. And this makes sense again, according to St. Augustine, his own words. Nor is it surprising. The greater precepts are given for the kingdom of heaven, right? There's a new law for this new kingdom, the kingdom of heaven being given here by Jesus. And we counted this phrasing a number of times with the Lord, like you have heard it said, but I say to you, you have heard it said, but I say to you, and you have heard it said, when Jesus is doing this, like he's going to mention.

[Mark]

Sort of the old law, but then.

[Mary]

He'S saying this, but I say to you, and he's raising the bar, he's giving us the new law. And so I think it's important to understand this. It's not just that Jesus is raising the stakes, raising the bar, calling us to something higher, but everything else is left untouched. What's actually happening is this, as Jesus comes, as he's establishing his kingdom, and he's able to give us this new law because he's giving us a new love. And to use a bit of analogy, I think we see this with, like, new moms and dads all the time, is that they lived a certain way, maybe sort of the bachelor, bachelorette lifestyle. And then they become a father or they become a mother, and their whole life changes and their expectations of themselves change and their ability to live for another changes. And all of this actually happens organically and naturally, like they love to a greater degree, because this child, their own child, has been introduced to their life and they know a love they had never known before. And so the action, the change of action, I know it's not perfect, but the change of action often happens organically, not from a just, I want to do better, but it comes naturally. Like, I have this new love, and I want to respond to this love with a greater care, a greater giving of myself, a greater generosity, a greater ability to sacrifice, Right? What's happening here with Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount and many of his teachings as he's going to raise the bar, particularly in the area of mercy and forgiveness, is this is made possible because he is giving us this new love. And yes, part of this new love includes this new revelation, the new manifestation of who God is that we encounter and is made visible in Jesus Christ. We see our Savior, we see our God born in Bethlehem, we see Jesus on the cross. Certainly this part of it, like, okay, look at how he has loved us and let us respond by a greater love. But also, and even more importantly, we actually have access to a new love.

[Mark]

A new capacity through grace.

[Mary]

And we've discussed it before, but particularly with the coming of the Holy Spirit, like, the new law is written on our hearts by God himself, by this.

[Mark]

Access we have to the Holy Spirit.

[Mary]

And so the new measure, the new law of the new kingdom established by Jesus is to love like Jesus, to forgive like Jesus, to be faithful to the Father like Jesus. But all of this through the power of the Holy Spirit, through the power.

[Mark]

Of the Holy Spirit, we are brought.

[Mary]

Into the new kingdom and able to live the new law of love of the new kingdom because of the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us.

[Mark]

Now, as we conclude by praying our decade of the rosary together, what I'm.

[Mary]

Going to invite you to in particular is a new invitation to hope as we see the teaching of the Lord, particularly sometimes in the areas dealing with mercy, dealing with care for the poor, forgiveness in general, right? It can feel challenging. It can feel really hard. What I'm going to invite you to in these areas is like. And maybe you already feel the Lord inviting you to some of these areas in different relationships, et cetera. And there can be an experience of discouragement, right? Like, this is hard. That discouragement, though, it's really coming from the sense of, like, I have to do this alone. The profound grace and the profound newness of the new kingdom that Jesus established is that we have this new access.

[Mark]

To God, to the Holy Spirit living.

[Mary]

And acting through us that we ourselves, right? Can echo with St. Paul, it is.

[Mark]

No longer I who live, but Christ.

[Mary]

Who lives in me. So What I'm going to ask you.

[Mark]

To do is to really, really beg for a grace of the Holy Spirit here. Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. Live your life in me.

[Mary]

Come, Holy Spirit. Write this new law on my heart.

[Mark]

Fill me with this new experience of.

[Mary]

Love, so that I may be more perfectly conformed to Christ, that I may more perfectly love as Jesus himself loved. And now with Our lady, let us pray.

[Mark]

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

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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.

[Mary]

Forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but.

[Mark]

Deliver us from evil.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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 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.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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.

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mark]

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

[Franciscan Friars of Renewal]

Amen.

[Mary]

All right. Thanks so much for joining me and praying with me today.

[Mark]

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

[Mary]

Poke a poke. Friends. God bless y'all.