February 21, 2012
St. Peter Damian
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! Today I invite you to prayer. Let prayer be life for you. A family cannot say that it is in peace if it does not pray. Therefore, let your morning begin with morning prayer, and the evening end with thanksgiving. Little children, I am with you, and I love you and I bless you and I wish for every one of you to be in my embrace. You cannot be in my embrace if you are not ready to pray every day. Thank you for having responded to my call."(August 25, 1995)
In today's Gospel, Jesus speaks with his disciples about His future, His death and resurrection. But they don't get it. They are more worried about who would be the "greatest" among them in the future. So Jesus says, "'If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.' Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, 'Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.'" (Mk 9: 35b-37)
What struck me in this passage was this: "Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it..." Jesus put His arms around the child. He didn't just point at the child from a distance, or set it in the middle of the disciples as an object. He put His arms around the child. He embraced the child. He related to the child in a familiar, loving, and gentle manner.
I felt as I read this line, that Jesus wanted us all to know that we are children and He longs to put His arms around each one of us, to embrace us during these days. We are the little ones that He identifies with, and to whom the Kingdom is given. This Lent, Jesus wants to put His arms around each of us and love us. This Lent is a time for us to surrender to His care and let Him embrace us, through prayer. Jesus wants to hold us in His arms, and help us prepare for heaven.
Our Lady said in this message of August 25, 1995, that she also longs to embrace each of us: "Little children, I am with you, and I love you and I bless you and I wish for every one of you to be in my embrace." Calling us her "little children", Mother Mary tells us she longs to hold us in her arms, just as Jesus held the little child in the Gospel. She loves us, is with us and blesses us, and she ardently longs to embrace us. This loving desire amazes me! She really loves us, just like her Son. They both love us as their own children!
But there is a problem. Being embraced by Jesus and Mary is not automatic. We have to cooperate."You cannot be in my embrace if you are not ready to pray every day." We have all seen children who do not want to be held. They wriggle their way out of the arms of the parents, squirming until they are released. They cannot be embraced unless they say "yes". Our prayer is our "yes" to our loving Mother and our Savior. Prayer is our act of entering into their embraces. We need their loving arms around us in these days, these difficult days. If all they are asking is for our "yes" to their embrace this Lent, what is stopping us? Let's enter Lent with the joy of prayer, the joy of being loved by Jesus and Mary!
God bless you all this Fat Tuesday!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2012
St. Peter Damian
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! Today I invite you to prayer. Let prayer be life for you. A family cannot say that it is in peace if it does not pray. Therefore, let your morning begin with morning prayer, and the evening end with thanksgiving. Little children, I am with you, and I love you and I bless you and I wish for every one of you to be in my embrace. You cannot be in my embrace if you are not ready to pray every day. Thank you for having responded to my call."(August 25, 1995)
In today's Gospel, Jesus speaks with his disciples about His future, His death and resurrection. But they don't get it. They are more worried about who would be the "greatest" among them in the future. So Jesus says, "'If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.' Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, 'Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.'" (Mk 9: 35b-37)
What struck me in this passage was this: "Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it..." Jesus put His arms around the child. He didn't just point at the child from a distance, or set it in the middle of the disciples as an object. He put His arms around the child. He embraced the child. He related to the child in a familiar, loving, and gentle manner.
I felt as I read this line, that Jesus wanted us all to know that we are children and He longs to put His arms around each one of us, to embrace us during these days. We are the little ones that He identifies with, and to whom the Kingdom is given. This Lent, Jesus wants to put His arms around each of us and love us. This Lent is a time for us to surrender to His care and let Him embrace us, through prayer. Jesus wants to hold us in His arms, and help us prepare for heaven.
Our Lady said in this message of August 25, 1995, that she also longs to embrace each of us: "Little children, I am with you, and I love you and I bless you and I wish for every one of you to be in my embrace." Calling us her "little children", Mother Mary tells us she longs to hold us in her arms, just as Jesus held the little child in the Gospel. She loves us, is with us and blesses us, and she ardently longs to embrace us. This loving desire amazes me! She really loves us, just like her Son. They both love us as their own children!
But there is a problem. Being embraced by Jesus and Mary is not automatic. We have to cooperate."You cannot be in my embrace if you are not ready to pray every day." We have all seen children who do not want to be held. They wriggle their way out of the arms of the parents, squirming until they are released. They cannot be embraced unless they say "yes". Our prayer is our "yes" to our loving Mother and our Savior. Prayer is our act of entering into their embraces. We need their loving arms around us in these days, these difficult days. If all they are asking is for our "yes" to their embrace this Lent, what is stopping us? Let's enter Lent with the joy of prayer, the joy of being loved by Jesus and Mary!
God bless you all this Fat Tuesday!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2012
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