Madrid, Spain, Jan 30, 2012 / 12:34 pm (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI will place a golden rose before the statue of Our Lady of Charity, the patroness of Cuba, during his March 26-28 visit to the country.
Cuban officials also said it was “foreseeable” that the Pope would meet with 86-year-old Fidel Castro, reported the Efe News Agency.
Cuba’s current president, Raul Castro, may attend the papal Mass, as Fidel did in 1998 during Blessed John Paul II’s visit.
Meanwhile, on Jan. 25, the Spanish government honored Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino of Havana with the Order of the Great Cross of Isabel the Catholic.
The ceremony took place at the residence of the Spanish ambassador to Cuba, Manuel Cacho.
Ambassador Cacho praised Cardinal Ortega for “his efforts and dedication” to the Cuban people, while Cardinal Ortega praised the legacy of the Catholic Queen Isabel of Spain.
Mother Mary said at Fatima: "My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the sure way which will lead you to God." St. Thomas Aquinas said: "The things we love tell us who we are!" With that in mind, I will try to post each day something about Our Blessed Lady, items about the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and public domain Catholic books too! I pray you enjoy my ministry! Below are two albums of pictures that I created: 1. Our grand daughter Adrianna. 2. Tears of Mary!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Pope to place golden rose before patroness of Cuba
FEAST OF SAINT JOHN BOSCO
(Mat 18:5) And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.
FEAST OF SAINT JOHN BOSCO
Born in 1815 in Turin, Italy, Don Bosco was ordained priest in 1841. He taught poor young boys about God, how to live moral lives, and basic livelihood skills. He founded the Salesian Order in 1859 to educate more neglected young boys. In 1872, together with St. Mary Mazarello, he established the Daughters of Our Lady Help of Christians to help poor and neglected young girls.
MORE: St. John (Don) Bosco
CATHOLIC REPORT: Saint John Bosco's Two Pillars Dream: Did Pope Benedict Fulfill That Dream With His Voyage Down the Rhine At The Start Of World Youth Day?
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA CABIO-ORG: Prayer
Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Various Subjects
14. I admire the mercy of God with regard to the dear departed one... Happy the soul who has quitted this miserable life where there is nothing but suffering and affliction of mind, and where our salvation is constantly endangered through sin, the greatest enemy of the soul.Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.
Mary TV January 31, 2012 reflection
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TAKE FIVE FOR FAITH: Daily renewal for busy Catholics 1/31/2012
Tuesday, January 31
FEAST OF JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST
Love and support your local child
Saint John Bosco was born in Italy in 1815 into a family of farm workers. He became a priest and a teacher, devoting his life to the care and education of abandoned and neglected children. His approach was considered novel at the time: He used love instead of the threat of punishment to shape the behavior of his students. John embraced the spirituality of Saint Francis de Sales and dedicated his work to him when he founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales (also known as the Salesians of Don Bosco). How can you support teachers and those who care for children? What are some ways you, in the spirit of John Bosco, can extend love, compassion, and respect to children, especially those most in need?TODAY’S READINGS: 2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30-19:3; Mark 5:21-43 (324)
“Jesus took the child by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum,’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise!’ ”
CONTRIBUTORS
Alice Camille, Daniel Grippo, Caroline Hopkinson, Father Larry Janowski, O.F.M., Ann O’Connor, Joel Schorn, Patrice J. Tuohy, and Sister Julie Vieira, I.H.M.
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Give your parish bulletin a boost
Buy a bulk subscription to Take Five for Faith and provide a week's worth of inspiration in your Sunday bulletin. For subscription details go to TakeFiveForFaith.com.
Promote vocationsReligious priests, brothers, sisters, nuns, and others in consecrated life as well as diocesan priests and permanent deacons are vital to the life of the church. Please invite Catholic men and women to consider a church vocation, and make these FREE vocation resources available in your parish or places of ministry:
The Crosses of Normandy, Rejected?
January 31, 2011 A.D.
A Friend of Medjugorje spoke across France in November. After the conclusion of one of his talks, a question was asked. The spontaneous response shows when one is grounded in the messages; it is as the Scriptures states, “Do not be anxious about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.” (Matthew 10:19) A Friend of Medjugorje is often persecuted, but his detractors cannot deny that the spirit of God gives him what to say. The response given to the question below should make everyone stop and reflect greatly upon their role and responsibility in changing the culture.
Question: We understand you stopped in Normandy on the way here. Can you tell us your impressions?
A Friend of Medjugorje’s response:
“As today, every opportunity when we go somewhere we always are taught by Our Lady many things. So we went to Normandy today or the beaches of Normandy to Omaha beach. In the Cemetery, and it is incredible there to me that out of 10,000 American soldiers every one of them was given one of two things – they either got a cross or they got the star of David. Out of those 10,000 soldiers, it wasn’t questioned whether they were Christian or not. They didn’t wonder if they were going to church, whether they lived a good life. We, as a culture, knew they needed the cross and most of those soldiers, even if they weren’t going to church, wouldn’t object to that.
There is one way to salvation and that is through the Cross. We don’t have to apologize for that. We, as Christians and Catholics, have vacated our position in the culture. Atheism doesn’t have the same ground to stand on as we do. France is a Catholic country. The United States is a Christian nation and we give this away. We stopped at a church today, Notre Dame of Bayeux, and the historical record said the state took this in 1905. I don’t have the mentality of how you would just allow the state to take this. This is Christianity! This is our Church! Just as we put crosses on every grave out there and didn’t ask them if they were believers or not, all non-believers need the Cross. It is because Christians are vacating and rejecting the Cross that God has allowed it to be taken from us. So this culture, that is rejecting the Cross, is going down. I encourage you. I know there are things in our town where I live in Alabama, that I don’t go see, historical things. It is our human nature not to go out there to that cemetery near you, here an hour or so away, because you know it is there. You can always go there, so you don’t go there. But go there! Pray some rosaries there. Make a spiritual retreat walking those graves and meditate on what has happened to us. They said the oldest soldier buried there is twenty-four years old! We are here because of that. But we are not here just because of that. We lived a life back then where we understood what the Cross meant. Today we don’t understand the value of the Cross and the power of the Cross. Because we vacated it, we put it down, satan has taken over. Our Lady just said on August 2, 2011, “…the evil that wants to begin to rule in this world and to destroy it…” But through Jesus, with Him, Our Lady, and us we can stop it. So we don’t have the fiber of the early Christians. We don’t have the fiber of the Christians in the forties. They could care less back then about your rejection of the Cross, if you didn’t want it on the grave out there. You’re gonna get one! Am I saying force the Cross on somebody? By no means! We have to live the Christian life in such a way that people will be embarrassed by rejecting the Cross because of our holiness. What we have lost is holiness. What swearer swore in front of Mother Teresa or cursed in front of her? Her holiness binded them! I saw President Clinton in Colorado with Pope John Paul II. John Paul was standing right here, President Clinton was standing right here. President Clinton is big time for abortion. John Paul was standing right in his presence condemning abortion and the murder of the unborn. You know what Clinton was doing? He had his hands folded, real humble, and he was shaking his head ‘yes.’ THE LIGHT BINDED THE DARKNESS! We don’t have to force the Cross on somebody. We have to live Christianity to such a degree that they won’t dare come disagreeing with us. But they have the power because we live mediocre Christianity. Our Lady said on November 25, 1997, “…Holy martyrs died witnessing: I am a Christian and love God over everything…”
Does that come across to everybody you meet by your life, your charity, your love, your forgiveness? That is what came to me today just on the beaches of Normandy, just in the cemetery. Our Lady says go into nature. There is nature there. It is creation and it will speak to you. I challenge you just to plan a trip by yourself and just go spend three or four hours out there and meditate, reflect, think. Go into these messages. There is a lot Our Lady wants for you to do. I never even dreamed I’d be doing what I do. I never dreamed the difficulties I would have to go through. But once you have fallen in love with Our Lady and work for Her, what else can you do? So don’t be measured in your response to Her. Don’t be reserved. When She asks you to consecrate yourself to Her, She owns you. You no longer own yourself. On January 1, 2001, Marija was asked by Our Lady to go to the mountain on a cold January night, and Our Lady tells her “…now that when satan is unchained, I desire you to be consecrated to My Heart and the Heart of My Son Jesus…” But did you catch what Our Lady said, because satan is unchained what your only protection is. Our Lady’s response was “now when satan…” and then She tells you what to do, “Consecrate yourself to My Heart and the Heart of My Son Jesus…”What She possesses he can’t have. She owns you. But he sure will make your life miserable. It is important to do daily consecrations. It is important to consecrate yourself to the Cross.
Valognes, France, November 18, 2011
Copyright SJP Lic. Caritas of Birmingham. Used with permission. All information contained on this site including all text, images, sound tracks, logos, including all matter which may not be viewable to the user, and all matter which, may not be, or is downloadable and/or printable, are protected under international copyright and cannot be used without permission from Caritas of Birmingham, other than non-commercial personal use and/or for positive personal promotional purposes of said material.
Monday, January 30, 2012
St. Francis Unplugged!
~senior executive producer at RealCatholicTV.com
American parishes line up for visit from seer
As Medjugorje visionary Ivan Dragicevic starts his 2012 tour of 17 public appearances in seven states before the end of April, still many more parishes have asked him to visit. New York and Minnesota both seem to make it into Ivan’s schedule for 2012, New Jersey and Connecticut could also be this year whereas California will be no earlier than 2013.
Visionary Ivan Dragicevic will have plenty of parishes to visit, even after he has finished his current tour on the American east coast that started on January 28 in Sycamore, IL. Invitations are rolling in from parishes in still more American states aside of the seven he is scheduled to visit.
Ivan’s public arrangement coordinator Ana Shawl tells The Medjugorje Web on Facebook that Ivan’s tour plan, currently ending in Georgia on April 17, may be prolonged, or more arrangements may be slotted into the existing schedule:
“After this I am still working on New York right now. I have two invitations for him right now for Minnesota. One is in Pekham and the other is in Rochester. I have I think 10 invitations from New Jersey, Connecticut and New York. They are all relatively close together so I have to see how many days I can do them in” Ana Shawl informs.
“Right now, he is going to the East Coast because they have been waiting for him for a long time.”
While invitations have also come from California and Texas, it has not been decided when Ivan will come to the two major south states. But at least California will be no earlier than next year:
“I have an invitation for Texas but I am not sure when Ivan can get there. He will probably be coming to California in 2013 because he was just there last year. He has been in California every other year I think for the past 6 years or so” Ana Shawl tells The Medjugorje Web.
Contact info, days, hours and addresses of Ivan’s scheduled talks and public apparitions can be found in the Calendar.
MOTHER OF MERCY
Image via Wikipedia
Image by /\ \/\/ /\ via Flickr
Mary TV Daily Reflection 1/30/2012
Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr
January 30, 2012
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! With joy, also today I call you to open your hearts and to listen to my call. Anew, I desire to draw you closer to my Immaculate Heart, where you will find refuge and peace. Open yourselves to prayer, until it becomes a joy for you. Through prayer, the Most High will give you an abundance of grace and you will become my extended hands in this restless world which longs for peace. Little children, with your lives witness faith and pray that faith may grow day by day in your hearts. I am with you. Thank you for having responded to my call." (January 25. 2012)
"Anew, I desire to draw you closer to my Immaculate Heart, where you will find refuge and peace." Every day as we pray our daily Rosary over the internet at www.marytv.tv , I have been feeling this desire of Our Lady (to draw us close to her heart) growing stronger and stronger. I can feel her loving presence, as we pray, pressing upon my heart, as if to communicate how very ardently she wants to reach as many people as possible through our tiny little internet Rosary. It feels like she wants to draw as many people as possible to her Immaculate Heart, where she can protect them and love them.
Image via Wikipedia
I have heard from some of the people who pray with us, and they have told me how praying the Rosary with us on line has helped to rekindle their relationship with Our Lady and has renewed the prayer of the Rosary in their families. Here is an example:
My husband, daughter and I watch the archived rosary that was said a week earlier because of time differences here in Melbourne, Australia so when we say it with you today, Sunday, it is the glorious mystery you said Sunday a week ago. We so enjoy it . You remind me of my childhood days, when dad would be busting to tell us bits of this and that and mum would just try and get dad to focus on the rosary , say it, so the kids could go to bed. It is nice because it is so natural .We especially like the intergenerational healing prayer you do at the end. This has really helped us understand the need to do this which is something I have never been exposed to until recently. Thank you so much for all you do . You have brought us back to our Lady of Medjugorje! Mary Anne.
Don't you love this! Our live Rosary is on in the middle of the night in Australia, so they watch the Sunday Rosary the next week as a recording! And, yes, we are a bit funny, Denis and I. We have such different personalities that we rub a bit on each other. But, somehow, the Rosary is said, and we join our prayer with people from all over the world! That is the amazing part. All over the world, we are connected by love for Our Lady of Medjugorje!
Being drawn into the refuge of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the answer for all the tired, aching, hurting souls in this world. She, the Mother, can guide us gently into the healing love of Jesus, when we are in her heart, because she is so close to Him. She can bring us to the Physician of our souls and carefully assist Him as He addresses all our ills, our sinful pasts, our broken hearts, our great regrets. His forgiving love can mend us and set us free. If we enter the refuge, the Heart of Mary, we will meet Jesus there and be brought back to life.
Tomorrow (Tuesday, January 31) Our Lady will draw very close to all of us who can participate in the live streaming event in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She will draw us to herself as she appears to Ivan. I believe that she can draw near to us where ever we are, even if we are not connected by internet. If we have the desire, and we pray, she will come. She longs for us. If we long for her, she will find us. But during the apparition tomorrow, she will have a special chance to find us.
Whether we pray the Rosary on line or are present for the apparition on Mary TV, go to Medjugorje, or just kneel by the side of our bed alone to pray, Our Lady will find us. Her heart longs for us and she will not rest until she has found her children and drawn them into her Immaculate Heart. Join Mary TV tomorrow for this beautiful opportunity to draw close to the refuge of Our Lady's Heart!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Cathy Nolan
Ivan Dragicevic in Kalamazoo, Michigan - Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 5:30 pm EST. www.marytv.tv
Click here for a time converter showing local times for this event:
Time Converter for Ivan's visit to Kalamazoo
Daily Rosary with Denis and Cathy Nolan - 10:00 am EST at www.marytv.tv
© Mary TV 2012
Mother Angelica Update
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This past January 3, 2012 Reverend Mother Mary Angelica celebrated her sixty-fifth anniversary of her First Holy Profession of Vows. We celebrated with Reverend Mother in quiet joy on her special day. Despite her physical limitations Reverend Mother continues to live her vocation faithfully to the edification of us all. We cannot reiterate enough how grateful we are for your prayers for her spiritual and physical wellbeing. She continues to live in the present moment with her usual spunk and vitality, which sometimes takes us by surprise. Her faithful feline companion, Mikey continues to be a source of entertainment and unpredictable antics! May God keep you in His peace always!
From The Sisters at Our Lady of the Angels
Monastery on January 30, 2012
Read more: http://origin.ewtn.com/mother_update.asp#ixzz1kx7Qiy8p
Pray for Mother Angelica
Mother Angelica is so grateful to you all for the love and prayers offered on her behalf. Click here to join with others around the world who pray for Mother's full recovery.
http://origin.ewtn.com/spiritual_bouquet/index.htmSunday, January 29, 2012
Cartoon: Saying Bedtime Prayers
This is so cute I had to post it here:
http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=b62fbed86ec27a95492233773bd28446
TAKE FIVE FOR FAITH: Daily renewal for busy Catholics 1/29/2012
Sunday, January 29
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME; CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK BEGINS
Get a complete education
Catholic schools in the United States had a rough start. Partly in response to the religious bias (not to mention anti-Catholicism) in the public schools, the first Plenary Council of Baltimore (1852) mandated that every Catholic parish establish a school. The campaign was so successful that riots ensued, incited by groups such as the Know-Nothing Society, which was committed to eliminating “foreign influence, popery, Jesuitism, and Catholicism” in all aspects of American life. We have come a long way. This year’s theme for Catholic Schools Week, “Faith, Academics, Service,” highlights the three pillars of Catholic education. How can you promote these values?TODAY’S READINGS: Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28 (71)
“A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you.”
CONTRIBUTORS
Alice Camille, Daniel Grippo, Caroline Hopkinson, Father Larry Janowski, O.F.M., Ann O’Connor, Joel Schorn, Patrice J. Tuohy, and Sister Julie Vieira, I.H.M.
Like us/follow us and post your comments on Facebook or Twitter
Please like us, follow us, and share your comments to our daily posts on our Facebook or Twitter pages. We welcome the feedback!
Give your parish bulletin a boost
Buy a bulk subscription to Take Five for Faith and provide a week's worth of inspiration in your Sunday bulletin. For subscription details go to TakeFiveForFaith.com.
Promote vocationsReligious priests, brothers, sisters, nuns, and others in consecrated life as well as diocesan priests and permanent deacons are vital to the life of the church. Please invite Catholic men and women to consider a church vocation, and make these FREE vocation resources available in your parish or places of ministry:
Citing of the Week
"What leads to the death of a church? Is it theological conflict? The critical point is likely more about apathy than conflict."
--© Bryan Froehle, 2012, Pastoral Trends, PrepareTheWord.com
This Weeks Daily Reflections On Scripture Readings
New Prayer Requests here. Be sure to leave your prayer requests as well. All who visit can pray for you and your prayer intentions. |
Jan 29, Daily Reflections On Scripture Readings That Will Nourish Your Soul
Short daily reflections have been posted for this week. Read these daily Catholic reflections on scripture readings, much like a devotional. |
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Benedict XVI on the huge crisis we face as a Church.
Wherein Fr. Z gets on his knees and begs you to act.
In his address to the Plenary meeting of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, His Holiness said this, which is merely one paragraph of his address in my rapid translation:
As we know, in vast areas of the world the Faith is in danger of being snuffed out like a flame that no longer has any sustenance. We are at a profound crisis of faith, at a loss of a religious sense that constitutes the greatest challenge for the Church of today. The renewal of the faith must therefore be the priority in the undertaking of the whole Church in our times. I hope that the Year of Faith can contribute, with the cordial collaboration of all the members of the People of God, to bring God back anew to this world and to open to men an access to the faith, to a reliance on the God who loved us to the end (cf John 13,1), in Christ Jesus, crucified and risen.
This is a huge challenge for every member of the whole Church.
I will add my view that nothing of which His Holiness spoke is going to be accomplished without a renewal of our liturgical worship.
Our identity as Catholics cannot be separated from our worship.
Benedict XVI’s provisions in Summorum Pontificum remain one of the most important acts of his pontificate.
We need more and more and more opportunities for people to experience the older, traditional form of the Roman Rite in our Latin Church parishes.
Younger priests: learn the older form. This is your Rite! Know your Rite! If you are a Latin Church priest, who are you if you don’t know your Rite? Just do it!
Lay people: band together and start requesting celebrations Holy Mass also in the Extraordinary Form. Get organized. Form a schola and start singing chant so you will be ready when the time comes. Offer to take care of all the material details. Offer to provide vestments, books, money so the priest can go get training. Start thinking about forming a group of servers, perhaps even father and son teams.
Many benefits will flow from a side by side experience of both forms of Holy Mass of the Latin Church.
Spiritual Gems - January 28
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H2Onews - Newsletter 01/28/2012 YourGoodNewsSource
Gospel for Sunday 29 january 2012
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 1:21-28.
read more: http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=224450518...
Minute With the Pope: Jan. 25, 2012
Benedict XVI dedicated his Jan. 25, 2012, catechesis to Christ's priestly prayer during the Last Supper. “The main element in Jesus' priestly prayer for His disciples,” he stated, “is His request for the future unity of those who will believe in Him. “This unity is not a worldly achievement. It derives exclusively from divine unity and comes down to us from the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit.”
read more http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=224450514...
St. Jose of Calasanz, patron saint of children
Just off one of the main streets in the historic center of Rome a saint who left a 400 year imprint on the education of children is being remembered.
read more http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=224450510...
The Tribunal of the Conscience
Within Rome's Palazzo della Cancelleria, a Church court exists to serve the consciences of the faithful. It‘s called the Apostolic Penitentiary, and it‘s located right here inside, along with the other two high courts of the Church: the Apostolic Segnatura and the Roman Rota. Though the Penitentiary is normally quite secretive, this conference was held to celebrate the opening of some of its oldest archives to scholars for study. So, you may be asking yourself, what exactly is the penitentiary?
read more http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=224450497...
2012: Celebration and responsibility for Mexico’s Catholics
Mexico has reason to celebrate this year what with Pope Benedict XVI traveling there this spring. The nation’s bishops are paving the way.
read more http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=224450482...
Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches move towards unity
The Roman Catholic Church and Oriental Orthodox Churches in the UK have welcomed an “unprecedented” move towards unity this week.
They have launched a new book entitled “Joint Statements” outlining areas of theological agreement between the two denominations.
The book was developed by the Catholic-Oriental Orthodox Regional Forum (COORF) and presented by the body’s co-chairs Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, and the Catholic Archbishop of Southwark Kevin McDonald.
Bishop Angaelos said that the areas of common faith and witness outweighed the issues that had separated them for the last 1,600 years.“It is very well for us to stand at our pulpits and preach love, but if our faithful do not see our Churches working together they see this as being quite hypocritical,” he said.
“If we, as Church leaders, as priests and pastors and shepherds in the Church cannot actually portray this, if we cannot have this relationship and the wider relationship in this room and indeed between our Churches in this land that we live in, then we will find it very difficult to stand and preach love and forgiveness and acceptance, that is why I am very happy to be part of this launch.”
Archbishop McDonald stated: “Even though in the past there were differences, they no longer justify the continued separation, and it is a call to the Churches to come together and move towards a closer communion.
“It is a good time for us to recognise that there is an international dimension to ecumenism and we all have a stake in it, we are all part of it.”
Friday, January 27, 2012
Vandalized, decapitated Jesus statue deemed a total loss
Bill Brett for The Boston Globe
The statue of Jesus in front of Blessed Mother Thresa of Calcutta Catholic Church on Columbia Road at Dorchester Avenue was vandalized during the night.
A statue of Jesus was decapitated this weekend outside a Columbia Road church named after Mother Teresa.
The Reverend Jack Ahern, of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta at St. Margaret’s church, said that when he arrived at the church early Sunday morning, he found the statue without its head and knocked partially off its stand.
“The head was to its side in multiple pieces. It’s almost like he whacked the head first, and then pushed it off its base,” Ahern said.
Ahern said the statue was originally at St. William’s church in Savin Hill, but was moved to Blessed Mother Teresa several years ago. Ahern said the statue touched, and was touched by, many.
“The statue was right by the sidewalk,” he said. “Kids and adults would walk by and touch the hand of Jesus.”
The statue is beyond repair, Ahern said. He added that the parish has not yet discussed replacing it.
Boston police said they received a call for vandalism Sunday morning and will further investigate the incident.
Mary TV Daily Reflection 1/27/2012
January 27, 2012
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! With joy, also today I call you to open your hearts and to listen to my call. Anew, I desire to draw you closer to my Immaculate Heart, where you will find refuge and peace. Open yourselves to prayer, until it becomes a joy for you. Through prayer, the Most High will give you an abundance of grace and you will become my extended hands in this restless world which longs for peace. Little children, with your lives witness faith and pray that faith may grow day by day in your hearts. I am with you. Thank you for having responded to my call." (January 25. 2012)
Our Lady gave us this message on Wednesday through Marija. What a beautiful message it is! Full of hope and joy! Our Lady has been speaking to us for over 30 years now. She has very faithfully given us monthly messages for 25 years. Each month, we receive another message to guide us through our days.
It occurred to me that one reason Our Lady has been so faithful is speaking to us through the visionaries is that she wants us to get used to her voice. She wants us to get very accustomed to the way she speaks, her tone of voice, her choice of words, the topics that are most important to her, etc. She has been letting us get to know her through her messages! One reason for this may be that she wants us to be able to recognize her "voice" so that we will not be fooled by messages that are not from her. She wants our discernment to be sharpened. If we know her voice, if we know her way of speaking, we will be less likely to be fooled by an imposter. Notice that she said in this message,"With joy, also today I call you to open your hearts and to listen to my call." She wants us to listen to her call, her voice, her words!
Just such a situation came up on Wednesday (January 25). Somehow an internet message began to circulate that purported to be from Ivan (spelled Yvan) of Medjugorje, warning us of war and sending many people into a state of alarm. Emails were flying! But it was pretty easy to see that the "voice" behind this email was not Our Lady of Medjugorje. Anna Shawl checked with Ivan about the email, and he assured her it was NOT from him. It was a fake.
And it was also interesting that it was sent out at the same time as the Monthly Message of Our Lady through Marija. I would say many people didn't even pay attention to Our Lady's regular Monthly Message for January 25, 2012, because they were so distracted by the message about war from "Yvan". And if you contrast the two messages, they are diametrically opposed. The fake email was full of fear, alarm, and panic. Our Lady of Medjugorje speaks of peace, of conversion, of prayer, of joy and of her presence with us. You can see all these things in the message of January 25, 2012.
We have been given a beautiful opportunity to get to know Our Lady, to experience her love, to hear her words and manner of speaking, to drink in her gentle, motherly ways. Let's not waste time with other messages. Our Lady is with us in Medjugorje, and she is helping us to hear her voice, so that we will be able to discern her call in the days ahead. Her call is a call to joy, a call to love, a call to hope and peace. Her call is a call to meet Jesus. Let's respond!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Cathy Nolan
© Mary TV 2012
PS. On January 31, 2012, Mary TV will travel to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to stream the evening of prayer at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, with Ivan Dragicevic. Join us at www.marytv.tv at 5:30 pm Eastern Standard Time, USA, for this live experience of Our Lady, as she appears to Ivan (at approximately 6:40 pm EST). Tell all those you love! Our Lady will bless them all, live, during her visit!