Mary TV Daily Reflection 8/5/2011

August 5, 2011

The Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome

First Friday

Our Lady's Birthday (according to the visionaries)

Mosaic of the Birth of Christ

This mosaic is a copy of part of the 13th-century mosaics in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome.

 

Dear Family of Mary!

"Dear children! Give thanks with me to the Most High for my presence with you. My heart is joyful watching the love and joy in the living of my messages. Many of you have responded, but I wait for, and seek, all the hearts that have fallen asleep to awaken from the sleep of unbelief. Little children, draw even closer to my Immaculate Heart so that I can lead all of you toward eternity. Thank you for having responded to my call." (June 25, 2011)

 

Our Lady's message of June 25 really expresses her motherly heart. She gives thanks to God for being present with us. She rejoices at the love and joy we experience by living her messages. And she shares with us her desire that all her children would have that same joy and love, by drawing near to her heart. These are the same sentiments that Our Lady expressed about her birthday all those years ago, in 1984. She confided to the visionaries that she the present she desired for her 2000th birthday was conversion for her children. "She said that to 'console' her, her son Jesus would present her with 'a special gift' of many conversions throughout the world." (According to Fr. Pelletier's book, The Queen of Peace Visits Medjugorje.)

 

Fr. Pelletier reported that it was Ivan who received the information about Our Lady's birthday. Milona Van Habsburg - De-Rambures remembers it differently. She wrote me this quick note about her memory of August 5, 1984:

 

"Dearest Cathy - It is lovely to read all the different elements and experiences of that August. It was my second visit to Medjugorje after the first which had turned my life around completely. This time many members of my family had come on pilgrimage also. They had sent me out to see how I would look when I came back and they were shaken by the change which had taken place in me. I was obviously totally unaware, just life was new.
 

"We did the 3 days of fasting, and I remember Father Tomoslav Vlasic dressed in gold. The atmosphere in the church was thick with Heaven. I do not find words, except perhaps the people of God in the Desert, with the Cloud and the Fire, and God's Glory present. We had a sense of awe and wonder. I saw no external signs whatsoever around that day, but boy, inside the work was being done.
 

"I remember the story slightly differently. I remember that Jelena was the one who brought the message about the original birthday being the 5th. Father Slavko, if I remember right, told me that the fathers [priests] asked the "big" visionaries what to do about Jelena's words, and Our Lady gave the answer to do what Jelena had said. (Now, as you know, the language barrier and the many different witnesses, accounts may vary.) In any case, it is full of grace, and Cathy, aren't we privileged to be part of this????? We need to witness ..."

 

I love Milona's words, "The atmosphere in the church was thick with Heaven." This is such a good way to describe what it feels like in Medjugorje, especially on special days like Our Lady's birthday. Thick with Heaven! And her reference to the experience of the Israelites who followed Moses into the desert is perfect! In fact, the first reading for today is exactly that. Moses admonishes the people for not being grateful to God for all He had done for them, and reminds them of God's presence with them in the Cloud and the Fire. Here is some of it:

"Moses said to the people: 'Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? All this you were allowed to see that you might know the Lord is God and there is no other. Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you; on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard him speaking out of the fire. For love of your fathers he chose their descendants and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power, driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you, so as to bring you in and to make their land your heritage, as it is today. This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other. You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you forever'." (Deuteronomy 4:32-40)

 

We might say today, "Ask this, did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever receive the Mother of God and experience the peace of heaven that she brings to them every day for 30 years? Did it ever happen that millions of people were converted and brought back to intimacy with her Son, Jesus, one at a time, in a tiny village in Bosnia? Has it ever been known that thousands of young people would gather, year after year, for a festival in honor of the Lord, drawn together by the invitation of the Mother of God? Have thousands been renewed by Confession, fasting, and prayer of the Rosary in any other place?

 

All this has happened because Medjugorje is thick with Heaven, filled with the love of God through the presence of Mary! And today we celebrate the birthday of our Mother, now aged 2027!

 

We thank you, Mother for coming to us, for loving us, for calling us, and for interceding for us. We say 'yes' to you, and we love you!  We pray for your children who do not yet know the love of God or your love.  May they also enter into the joy of Heaven! 

 

Happy Birthday, Mother Mary!

In Jesus and Mary!
Cathy Nolan

PS. BIG NEWS!! Check our web page! Christina Georgotas is in Medjugorje for the Youth Festival, and she is sending us short videos of the events there. She is doing a great job!! You will especially love the video of Mirjana's apparition on August 2. Christina did an awesome job of capturing the encounter. Check it out at www.marytv.tv on our home page, on the first video window.

 

Thank you, Christina for doing such an exceptional job of reporting on the Festival! Bravo!

 

Posted via email from deaconjohn's posterous