God is always watching over us!
(c)Pawel Maria Wysocki 2002
J.M.J.
April 22, 2013
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! These days you have been experiencing how Satan is working. I am always with you, and don't you be afraid of temptations because God is always watching over us. Also I have given myself to you and I sympathize with you even in the smallest temptation. Thank you for having responded to my call." (July 19, 1984)
From very early on in
the apparitions, the visionaries and villagers of Medjugorje experienced
the activity of the enemy. Our Lady was very honest with them about the
tactics of the enemy. She wanted them to understand the spiritual
battle they were entering by responding to her call. They were becoming a
living connection for Our Lady with her children on earth, and
therefore Satan would try very hard to knock that connection out.
Tactically, they were very important to Our Lady's plan and therefore
very important targets for the enemy.
Satan has to work
through temptation. He has to trick us into following him through
temptations. He uses all kinds of tactics, discouragement, fear,
self-concern, doubt, anger, resentment, unforgiveness, mistrust, envy,
pride, avarice....on and on. Temptations can make us unpeaceful, but
they cannot hurt us, if we stay close to God.
Our Lady told the
visionaries and the villagers not to fear temptation, because God was
watching over them, and she, too, was very near to them. She had given
herself to them! Extraordinary! Mother Mary had given herself to them!
That gift of self was expressed by Our Lady's very real presence in
Medjugorje, something we experience today when we go there. She has
given herself to us! She is with us in a very real way, and this is a
great protection for us all.
And she sympathized
with them, even in the smallest temptations. This closeness and total
understanding from Our Lady was a great gift and strength. Why? We
always think that our temptations are private, something we have to deal
with by ourselves. We feel ashamed of them, as if they somehow define
us. But knowing that Our Lady could sympathize with those being tempted
meant that she had also been tempted in the same way, she knew what they
were going through. She is one of us! She was and is the key person in
God's plan to reconnect with mankind, so she had always been in Satan's
sights, just as the visionaries and villagers were in 1984.
Our Lady's sympathy is
powerful! Knowing that she understands how hard it is to withstand
temptation gives us renewed strength and resolve. Having Our Lady as a
confidant changes everything. We are not alone with our temptations. We
are not isolated and subject to the abuse of the enemy in time of
temptation. We have Our Lady with us to strengthen us and help us stand
firm and choose God's will.
St. Faustina wrote about temptation and her experience of God's help when she was tempted in her Diary:
(1086)
Although the temptations are strong, a whole wave of doubts beats
against my soul, and discouragement stands by, ready to enter into the
act, the Lord, however, strengthens my will, against which all the
attempts of the enemy are shattered as if against a rock. I see how many
actual graces God grants me; these support me ceaselessly. I am very
weak, and I attribute everything solely to the grace of God.
St. Faustina
experienced the help of God in her temptations. He strengthened her
will, making it rock solid in the face of all the enemy could throw at
her. I believe that we can also experience that help, through Our Lady's
presence in our lives and her sympathy, through her intercession and
God's gifts of actual grace. We can be strong as a rock, unmovable, with
God's help.
Thank you, Mother
Mary, for actually giving yourself to us, for sympathizing with us in
our temptations, and for praying for and with us when we are tempted.
With your help, and God's strength, we too can remain firm, living in
God's plan for us and helping you to connect all of God's children to
Him again.
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.