(c)Mary TV 2013
Pray always!
J.M.J.
May 13, 2013
Our Lady of Fatima
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! Today I thank you for all the sacrifices you have offered me these days. Little children, I invite you to open yourselves to me and to decide for conversion. Your hearts, little children, are still not completely open to me and therefore, I invite you again to open to prayer so that in prayer the Holy Spirit will help you, that your hearts become of flesh and not of stone. Little children, thank you for having responded to my call and for having decided to walk with me toward holiness." (June 25, 1996)
Day 4 of our Novena to the Holy Spirit!!
On this beautiful day
on which we remember Our Lady of Fatima (May 13), and the great work of
conversion she began in Portugal with the three children, I want to
quote Sr. Lucia. In her book, "'Calls' from the Message of Fatima",
Sr. Lucia shares her deep insights into the call of Our Lady to us. She
speaks about what Our Lady began in Fatima. But everything she says
finds resonance with Medjugorje. She speaks about the call to prayer and
her words add meaning to this message from 1996 in which Our Lady
called us to open to prayer so that in prayer the Holy Spirit will help
us, that our hearts will become of flesh and not of stone!
The
sixth call of the Message - Pray, pray very much!...Our prayer can be
predominantly vocal, that is addressed to God in words, either those
that well up spontaneously from our heart or using existing formulas
such as, for example, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory be to the
Father, the Creed and many other such prayers that are used in the
Sacred Liturgy...
Then
there is another kind of prayer which we must offer to God together with
our vocal prayer: it is the prayer of our work, of the performance of
all the duties in our state in life in a spirit of humble submission to
God, because it was He who imposed on us the law of work. We must do it
with love and fidelity to God and to our neighbor; in this way, our
everyday occupations, however seemingly insignificant, when offered to
God will be a prayer of praise, thanksgiving, repentance and petition.
Like Tobit, to whom the angel said: "And so, when you and your
daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I brought a reminder of your prayer before
the Holy One; and when you buried the dead, I was likewise present with
you. When you did not hesitate to rise and leave your dinner in order
to go and lay out the dead, your good deed was not hidden from me, but I
was with you." (Tb. 12: 12-13)
This
passage of Sacred Scripture tells us how we are to use the time that God
gives us in our lives: part of it must be devoted to prayer, another
part to performing the duties of our state in life and the rest in doing
good to others for the love of God. There are twenty-four hours in
every day; we are doing nothing special if we set aside a few minutes of
each day for our encounter with God.
In
carrying out our everyday tasks, we must endeavor to be aware of God's
presence; call to mind that God and our Angel Guardian are close to us,
see what we are doing, and in what frame of mind we are doing it. Hence,
we must sanctify our work, our rest, our meals, our wholesome
entertainments, as if they were an ongoing prayer. Knowing that God is
present, it is enough to call Him to mind and from time to time say a
few words to Him: whether of love - I love you, Lord! - or of thanksgiving - Thank you, Lord for all your benefits -, or of petition - Lord, help me to be faithful to You; forgive me my sins, my ingratitude, my coldness, my failure to understand, my backsliding - or of praise - I
bless you Lord, for your greatness, for your goodness, for your wisdom,
for your power, for your mercy, for your justice, for you love.
This intimate and familiar converse with God transforms our work and our
daily occupations into a true and abiding life of prayer, making us
more pleasing to God and bringing down upon us extra special graces and
blessings.
And
we can't say that we have no time for this kind of prayer, because it is
precisely the time that we are using in order to do our work. Like a
wife working alongside her husband, chatting quietly and intimately with
him, telling him how much she appreciates all he does for the family,
praising his knowledge and experience, encouraging him in his work,
asking him for his help and advice, telling him about her worries and
desires. Or like children who show their father everything, tell their
father everything, and expect everything from him. Like a mother
bringing up her children, who always has something to say to them even
when they, either because they are very small, or because they are not
paying attention, cannot understand her. God, however, always
understands what we say, always listens to us, always sees us and always
pays attention to us! (Sr. Lucia of Jesus of the Immaculate Heart. "'Calls' from the Message of Fatima" p. 94-95)
Surely we can all
enter into these two kinds of prayer, no matter our state in life! And
in this sweet converse with God, our hearts will become of flesh and not
of stone! The Holy Spirit will enter in, as we speak with Him during
the course of our regular day, and inspire us with all His gifts!
Let's pray together the Pentecost Sequence, the prayer we will pray on Pentecost Sunday.
It reflects this wonderfully human aspect of prayer, the fact that God
is present to us in all our daily needs and activities, ready to help us
on our journey home.
Pentecost Sunday Sequence
Come, O Holy Spirit, come!
From Your bright and blissful Home,
Rays of healing light impart.
Come, Father of the poor,
Light of ev'ry human heart.
You of all consolers best,
You of all consolers best,
Of the soul most kindly Guest,
Quick'ning courage do bestow.
In hard labor You are rest,
In hard labor You are rest,
In the heat You refresh best,
And solace give in our woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
O most blessed Light divine,
Let Your radiance in us shine,
Nothing right by him is wrought,
When he spurns Your gracious Will.
Cleanse our souls from sinful stain,
Cleanse our souls from sinful stain,
Lave our dryness with Your rain,
Heal our wounds and mend our way.
Bend the stubborn heart and will,
Bend the stubborn heart and will,
Melt the frozen, warm the chill,
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful who in You,
On the faithful who in You,
Trust with childlike piety,
Deign Your sevenfold gift to send.
Give them virtue's rich increase,
Give them virtue's rich increase,
Saving grace to die in peace,
Give them joys that never end. Amen. Alleluia.
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2013
PS. Tonight is another wonderful "Fruit of Medjugorje" Show! 8:00 pm EDT!! Don't miss it!
PPS. Here is a link to the traditional Novena to the Holy Spirit:
"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!"
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