July 4, 2011
St. Elizabeth of Portugal
Independence Day (USA) Dear Family of Mary! "Dear children; today I call you to a difficult and painful step for your unity with my Son. I call you to complete admission and confession of sins, to purification. An impure heart cannot be in my Son and with my Son. An impure heart cannot give the fruit of love and unity. An impure heart cannot do correct and just things; it is not an example of the beauty of God's love to those who surround it and to those who have not come to know that love. You, my children, are gathering around me full of enthusiasm, desire and expectations, and I implore the Good Father to, through the Holy Spirit, put my Son - faith, into your purified hearts. My children, obey me, set out with me." (July 2, 2011) Amazingly, I discovered that the readings in the Office for Sunday (14th week of Ordinary Time - July 3, 2011) happen to be about the very same topic that Our Lady spoke of in her message for July 2! They are all about purification of the heart. Our Lady and her Spouse, the Holy Spirit, are always working together. We shouldn't be surprised! Our Lady calls us to "complete admission and confession of sins, to purification". The readings illustrate the need for admission and confession of sins in a beautiful way. The first reading is from 2 Samuel 12. After King David had committed adultery with the wife of Uriah and subsequently had Uriah killed in battle to cover it up, Nathan came to David with a word from the Lord. Nathan told the story of a poor man who had one ewe lamb and the rich man who had many sheep. The rich man took the poor man's sheep for a feast rather than use one of his own sheep. David became angry with this rich man. But then Nathan revealed that King David was the rich man and Uriah the poor man. King David realized that his sin was unmasked, that he had committed a terrible crime. He repented and put himself in the hands of God. It is a moving story. How could someone so anointed by God commit such a crime? But don't we all recognize ourselves in King David? Somehow in the heat of the moment, we all fall short of God's goodness. We choose to do what we do not want to do. We sin. And after we sin, we often shove that sin into the recesses of our hearts and cover it over with excuses and forgetfulness. Like King David, we need help in uncovering those hidden memories of sin so that we can face them and renounce them, asking forgiveness of the Lord whom we have offended. Our Lady is acting like Nathan for us today. In her message she is trying to jolt our memories and prod us to dive deeply in to our hearts to uncover our sins and seek forgiveness and freedom through Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The second reading of the Office is from St. Augustine. He wrote: "I acknowledge my transgression, says David. If I admit my fault, then you will pardon it. Let us never assume that if we live good lives we will be without sin; our lives should be praised only when we continue to beg for pardon. But men are hopeless creatures, and the less they concentrate on their own sins, the more interested they become in the sins of other. They seek to criticize, not to correct. Unable to excuse themselves, they are ready to accuse others. This was not the way that David showed us how to pray and make amends to God, when he said: I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me. He did not concentrate on other's sins; he turned his thoughts upon himself. He did not merely stroke the surface, but he plunged inside and went deep down within himself. He did not spare Himself, and therefore, was not impudent in asking to be spared." (Sermon 19, 2-3: CCL 41, 252-254) Through the help of Nathan, David became aware of his sin and immediately owned it, and repented. He did not make excuses. He did not find anyone else to blame. He dove into the depth of his heart and uncovered his sin. This is what Our Lady wants us to do too. It may be that if we do not know our sins, we need to look at the things that make us the most judgmental of others. The very things we abhor in our neighbor may be the things that we are guilty of. We also can ask the Lord to send someone, like a spiritual director or friend, who will jog our memories and help us to uncover our deeply submerged sins, so that we can be free of them. Our Lady seems serious in this message. She, like Nathan, has been sent by God to confront us in our sinfulness, not to condemn us but to help us to be freed from all sin. Just as David listened to Nathan, we should listen to her. God has sent her to us. Her presence and her words are a great grace for us. May we respond to her words of correction and choose life! In Jesus and Mary!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2011 |
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