Magnify 90 is a journey into the desert of spirituality and asceticism.
Why did God create me? This question is foundational to finding joy in this life. In our broken human nature, we struggle to figure out the way to use the gifts around us while not letting them consume us. Often, our happiness gets tangled up in our search for physical comfort, emotional connection, or comparative equations. Transcendent happiness is the only happiness that isn’t dependent on something or someone else—it’s only dependent on our relationship with God. This is why so many spiritual mothers and fathers went into the desert for a time: to contemplate God, to figure out God’s plan for their life, and to prayerfully consider Jesus’ call to “Come, Follow Me.”
How do we detach from the worldly culture so that we can feel true freedom in being disciples of Jesus? It’s a very daunting task, especially in the global society of today. Our incarnate bodies are meant to experience that Goodness in creation, not to create a false goodness. Do we trust God to faithfully draw us close to Him?
His True Presence in the Eucharist is the source and summit of a life of grace. Yet, we aren’t called to stay in the Adoration chapel every minute of every day. We are called to go out into the world and be the witnesses of the Good News (Mark 16:15). Can we see Him in all that we encounter? Have we cultivated a prayer life that is unceasing?
Despite our various cultures and differing daily tasks, all women suffer temptations, of various degrees and forms. We are tempted by human approval and desire for attention; by comfort found in homes, clothes, and meals; by beauty’s vanity or physique; by our to-do lists for perfectionism within maintaining a home or career or both. We may also be tempted with despair, anxiety, and addictions to things that fill our body or mind, yet leave our soul empty. Magnify 90 contains mortifications to bring these afflictions to the surface, and then meet them head on by surrendering control.
Going to “the desert” is a choice. Do we choose to leave space to be still? Do we find God in the silence, in the brokenness, in the emptiness? Do we find JOY in the love we get and give? Do we find JOY despite our sufferings, both voluntary and involuntary?
This Magnify 90 journey asks us to foster a deep relationship with God and others. We can’t let the current culture of the modern world continue to negatively influence our relationship with God. We must live in the world, this is very true, but we are called to be a light for the world, beacons of hope, a city on a hill! Let us link arms as desert sisters, and set the world ablaze with Christ’s Light by being the saints we were created to be!
Auspice Maria
➤ Luke 1: 46-47
And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
Kaylene on the Amplify show discussing Magnify 90 from a more secular perspective for Emily’s non Catholic listeners
Why Women shouldn’t do Exodus 90
Men and women are complementary partners. We don’t seek to be opposed to each other, nor the same as each other. We strive for the perfect union as Adam & Eve had before the fall; and this helps us both strive for the perfect union with God. We have one human nature, yet two unique identities as man and woman.
Exodus 90 gives men a way to root out attachments while fostering brotherhood that promotes them being spiritual leaders, that is, Christ to their (future/current) family/parish. Magnify 90 seeks to foster the complementary nature that God intended for men and women. If women want a more-perfect freedom, we must complement our male counterparts—not seek to meld into one identity. Catholic women want equality and affirmation of our own dignity, not to take on the dignity of men. This is good! We are equal in dignity, so if we want to support men doing Exodus 90, the best thing we can do is find our own way to practice asceticism.
Complementary Nature of men and Women
“In the face of these currents of thought, the Church, enlightened by faith in Jesus Christ, speaks instead of active collaboration between the sexes precisely in the recognition of the difference between man and woman… In this perspective, that which is called “femininity” is more than simply an attribute of the female sex. The word designates indeed the fundamental human capacity to live for the other and because of the other… The proper condition of the male-female relationship cannot be a kind of mistrustful and defensive opposition. Their relationship needs to be lived in peace and in the happiness of shared love.” – Pope Benedict XVI
“It was right for the woman to be made from a rib of man. First, to signify the social union of man and woman, for the woman should neither "use authority over man," and so she was not made from his head; nor was it right for her to be subject to man's contempt as his slave, and so she was not made from his feet.” – St. Thomas Aquinas
“What makes the program unique in my estimation is having a different woman saint (“feminine genius”) assigned to each week and drawing the meditations largely from their lives and writings, as well as Scripture and the Catechism. Overall, I have a very positive impression of the book and the “Magnify 90” program. ”