Pray they can lead you in love...
(c)Mary TV 2013
J.M.J
January 29, 2014
Dear Family of Mary!
Day
6 of our Novena for Priests. Thank you for joining in this prayer.
Perla shared with me that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, gave a homily
on January 27, 2014 in which he asked the faithful to pray for priests
and bishops. He drew his comments from the scripture in 1 Samuel about
David's anointing. He said that the priests and bishops operate out of
their anointing in the Holy Spirit, and that is the only way the Church
has survived. And he asked the faithful to pray for them.
He
also said: "We in history know but a small part - though how many holy
bishops, how many priests, how many holy priests have given their lives
in the service of the diocese, the parish, how many people have received
the power of faith, the power of love, hope [itself] from these
anonymous pastors? We do not know. There are so many." -VATICAN CITY,
January 27, 2014 (Zenit.org)
It
is exciting to think that we are responding to the Holy Spirit in union
with the Holy Father! Our novena is part of God's plan right now!!
Novena for Priests - Day 6
Our Lady said to us:
"Dear children...Pray for your shepherds so that through your fasting and prayer they can lead you in love. Thank you." (February 2, 2013)
And Sr. Briege shares about love and our priests:
Finally,
the priest must be a man of love. The greatest commandment Jesus gave
his disciples, that we must all follow is that we must love. The way to
grow in holiness is to grow in love of God and our neighbor...
One
morning, I went down to the grotto to pray. As I sat there, I felt a
hand on my shoulder and then I received this little kiss on my cheek. I
looked up and saw this elderly priest. He sat down next to me and said,
"Sister Briege, I want to thank you for being my mother."
I smiled and thought, "My, miracles never cease. Here I am 86 years of age and my son is 80!"
He
said, "I didn't' know you'd be here, Sister. I came down this morning
to thank Our Lady for sending you. My mother died when I was five. I had
seven brothers and no sisters. I went into the seminary at a very early
age and never had contact with women.
"To
me, celibacy meant I had to keep away from women and must never allow
myself to come in contact with them. I lived my whole priesthood
avoiding women. So, I went through my life rejecting my sexuality,
becoming a man who was very hard-hearted. Here I am at 84. I never
thought I would come to a retreat that a woman was giving. Yesterday, when I went in for your ministry, I didn't know what I was going to say to you. I didn't know how to relate to women.
"As
you started to talk to me, it was as though you read my whole life
story with the tenderness of Jesus. As I broke down and started to cry,
because I was so moved, you put your arm around me and let me cry.
"For
the first time in my life, I felt the tenderness of a mother. I never
knew what it was to be touched and to have a woman put her arm around
me."
He
said, "I never had devotion to Our Lady. She was a woman and women were
out of my life. Through your ministry, I experienced the warmth and
tenderness of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. I have accepted Mary as my
mother. I want to thank you, Sister.'
I
rejoiced at that. That is the very reason I am a celibate, that I may
be able to bring Christ to his people. There are many ways to bring
Christ, but to me, this was the most beautiful way, to know that I
introduced that priest to Mary, to the tenderness of a mother, to the
beauty of womanhood, to a part of his own life that had not been
touched.
How
can he be a man of love, of tenderness, of compassion if his own heart
had never been touched by humanity?" (Sr. Briege McKenna. "Miracles Do
Happen." P. 87-88)
A PRAYER FOR PRIESTS
Keep them, I pray Thee, dearest Lord. Keep them, for they are Thine
The priests whose lives burn out before Thy consecrated shrine.
Keep them, for they are in the world though from the world apart.
When earthly treasures tempt, allure - Shelter them in Thy heart.
Keep them and comfort them in hours of loneliness and pain,
when all their life of sacrifice for souls seems but in vain.
Keep them and remember Lord, they have no one but Thee.
They have only human hearts, with human frailty.
Keep them as spotless as the Host, that daily they caress;
their every thought and word and deed, deign, dearest Lord, to bless.
Dear
Jesus, please give our priests and bishops your love, your tenderness
and your compassion, and especially give them Your Mother, Mary! Then
they will be able to love us!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2014
"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!"
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