A mother's helping hand
(c)Mary TV 2013.
J.M.J.
July 1, 2013
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! With joy in the heart I love you all and call you to draw closer to my Immaculate Heart so I can draw you still closer to my Son Jesus, and that He can give you His peace and love, which are nourishment for each one of you. Open yourselves, little children, to prayer - open yourselves to my love. I am your mother and cannot leave you alone in wandering and sin. You are called, little children, to be my children, my beloved children, so I can present you all to my Son. Thank you for having responded to my call." (June 25, 2013)
Again I wish to say
that I am so struck by the intensity of this message from Our Lady,
given on June 25, 2013. She is declaring her love for us, over and over
again. "With joy in the heart I love you all...open
yourselves to my love...I am your mother and cannot leave you alone in
wandering and sin...You are called, little children to be my children,
my beloved children..." Only the hardest heart could
ignore these words of love for us. But they are not just words, they are
reality! Our Lady loves us so much that she gives herself to us
completely. She is completely given to us as our mother, our friend, our
confidant, our intercessor, and our guide. She wants to be involved in
our lives in every way. Her love is real, concrete, and practical. Our
Lady wants to help us draw close to Jesus, in every day practical
realities.
This extraordinary love of Mary is described by St. Louis de Montfort in "True Devotion" in practical terms. He writes:
144. The
Blessed Virgin, mother of gentleness and mercy, never allows herself to
be surpassed in love and generosity. When she sees someone giving
himself entirely to her in order to honor and serve her, and depriving
himself of what he prizes most in order to adorn her, she gives herself
completely in a wondrous manner to him. She engulfs him in the ocean of
her graces, adorns him with her merits, supports him with her power,
enlightens him with her light, and fills him with her love. She shares
her virtues with him - her humility, faith, purity, etc. She makes up
for his failings and becomes his representative with Jesus. Just as one
who is consecrated belongs entirely to Mary, so Mary belongs entirely to
him. We can truthfully say of this perfect servant and child of Mary
what St. John in his gospel says of himself, "He took her for his own."
145. This
produces in his soul, if he is persevering, a great distrust, contempt,
and hatred of self, and a great confidence in Mary with complete
self-abandonment to her. He no longer relies on his own dispositions,
intentions, merits, virtues and good works, since he has sacrificed them
completely to Jesus through his loving Mother. He has now only one
treasury, where all his wealth is stored. That treasury is not within
himself: it is Mary. That is why he can now go to our Lord without any
servile or scrupulous fear and pray to him with great confidence. He can
also share the sentiments of the devout and learned Abbot Rupert, who,
referring to the victory which Jacob won over an angel, addressed our
Lady in these words, "O Mary, my Queen, Immaculate Mother of the
God-man, Jesus Christ, I desire to wrestle with this man, the Divine
Word, armed with your merits and not my own."
How much
stronger and more powerful are we in approaching our Lord when we are
armed with the merits and prayers of the worthy Mother of God, who, as
St. Augustine says, has conquered the Almighty by her love! (St. Louis
de Montfort. "True Devotion to Mary")
This language may be
flowery and a bit outlandish to our ears today. But what St. Louis is
saying is exactly the experience we have in Medjugorje as we live the
messages. He says that when Our Lady sees someone opening their heart to
her with childlike trust, she comes to that person with her gifts and
abilities and helps him along the way. She becomes his partner, his best
friend in his daily life.
I have been
experiencing this more and more lately myself. I have begun a simple
practice of asking Our Lady to help me with all my tasks, from cooking
dinner to shopping, to planning family parties to doing my computer
work, and on and on. I have always been industrious, but I always worked
with a certain anxiety within. I never have felt quite up to the tasks
at hand. But when I ask Our Lady to work with me, shop with me, pray
with me, think with me, I experience her very close and my mind becomes
clear and my thoughts placid. I feel her motherly expertise guiding me.
And my day becomes enjoyable and fruitful! Anxiety goes out the window.
St. Louis says "She makes up for his failings..." and I truly experience
this. My weaknesses are still there, but somehow Mother Mary fills in
the gaps, and everything is blessed!
And it is true, that
the more I rely on Mary to help me moment by moment, the more I begin to
distrust my own abilities. Not because I am dismissive of myself, but
because I realize that entrusting everything into Mary's hands is the
way to true peace and joy! Since I now realize that my own strength and
merits are not enough, I realize that "[I] now have only one treasury,
where all [my] wealth is stored. That treasury is not within [my]self:
it is Mary." Truly, the more I entrust my entire life into Mary's hands,
the more I experience the loving care of my Mother, and through it the
salvific love of my Savior, Jesus! It is the way, the only way, as
Augusto told us (see the June 28, 2013 reflection).
I believe that Our
Lady wants us to live our consecration to her in very practical terms,
not in flowery ideals. She wants us to turn to her, just as a little
child turns to her mother when she knows she needs help. Children do not
hesitate to call for their mother. We should not hesitate to call for
Mary, to ask her to be there with us in our daily duties, in our moment
by moment realities. This is when she can help us the most. And she will
tend our lives towards Jesus, gently and beautifully moving us towards
Him, towards His love and His glory. She will do it. We have only to
open our hearts to her in everything.
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2013
PS. Tonight we have another "Fruit of Medjugorje" Episode, 8:00 pm EDT!!
PPS. Mary TV will stream the July 2, 2013 apparition to Mirjana Soldo tomorrow - beginning at 8:00 am Medjugorje time (2:00 am EDT). The apparition will occur at approximately 8:45 am Medjugorje time (2:45 am EDT). Join us in welcoming Our Lady!
"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!"
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