(c)Mary TV 2014
J.M.J
March 18, 2014
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! I call you to, with complete trust and joy; bless the name of the Lord and, day by day, to give Him thanks from the heart for His great love. My Son, through that love which He showed by the Cross, gave you the possibility to be forgiven for everything; so that you do not have to be ashamed or to hide, and out of fear not to open the door of your heart to my Son. To the contrary, my children, reconcile with the Heavenly Father so that you may be able to come to love yourselves as my Son loves you. When you come to love yourselves, you will also love others; in them you will see my Son and recognize the greatness of His love. Live in faith! Through me, my Son is preparing you for the works which He desires to do through you - works through which He desires to be glorified. Give Him thanks. Especially thank Him for the shepherds - for your intercessors in the reconciliation with the Heavenly Father. I am thanking you, my children. Thank you." (March 18, 2013)
Today
is Mirjana's Birthday! Let's pray for her with gratitude! She has been
a faithful witness to Our Lady and her messages for almost 33 years!
She has given her life to witness Our Lady's presence! What a gift she
has given.
Thank
you to everyone who has responded to my last email about confession and
loving ourselves. Wow, it was a great explosion!! I guess this is an
important topic. Here are three responses to share with you:
Thank
you Cathy for this reflection and your honesty. It must have taken a
lot of courage to write for people all over the world to read. The
subject is something I have been struggling with for some time. I
haven't been to confession for over six months so your words will
hopefully give me the courage to go more often and to find the words to
say. C.
I
want to thank you VERY much for what you wrote today. As I live
opposite a cathedral I am going to try and go once a week to confession.
You are so right, if you leave it a month you have forgotten so much.
It was beautiful what you wrote. F.
Thank-you
so much for your inspiring life changing input about Our Lady's Message
a year ago and your profound transformation about the meaning of
Confession in your own life! I whole-heartedly agree and now finally
understand why I never felt forgiven but always ashamed. I have been
going to Confession (trying to) on First Saturdays. But this Lent,
something happened in my soul that breathed life back into it and I am
finally feeling and giving love in a way I never dreamed possible.
Things have changed for me with my children, husband and even very young
grand-children. I have also truly been able to forgive those in my
past who have wounded me, but never apologized to me. R.
Thank
you to all of you who responded. I am grateful for your witnesses and
wisdom! I suspect many of us put off going to confession because it is
uncomfortable. But it is a real Sacrament, one with so many graces
attached. If we knew how much grace we could receive through confession I
think we would be first in line every Saturday!!
Let
me share something Fr. Alfred Wilson wrote about the benefits of
frequent devotional Confession. (His book, Pardon and Peace, is out of
print. But he really blows away all the misconceptions about Confession
and clears the way for us to receive the graces in that wonderful
Sacrament.)
Tonic Sacrament
We
know from experience the beneficial "Tonic" effect of devotional
Confession, which has an effect on the soul similar to that of a hot
bath on the body. It renews our vigor and enables us to keep spiritually
fit. It is sun-ray treatment for the soul.
If
we neglect frequent Confession our spiritual life soon begins to
languish and decline. Bad habits gain renewed strength, temptations are
harder to conquer, spiritual truths seem unreal, and we lose our sense
of contact with the Master. Quite rightly we make a great point of
keeping physically fit; it is infinitely more important that we should
be spiritually fit. Spiritual fitness is as essential for spiritual
health as physical fitness is for physical health. If we keep in
training spiritually, we shall be able to take in our stride obstacles
which prove insurmountable to the spiritually flabby. If you have not
already done so, join the "keep-fit" movement of frequent devotional
Confession.
For
brevity's sake, I can do no more than give a list of some of the
reasons why devotional Confession has such a beneficial tonic effect on
the soul. Each point deserves attentive consideration.
1. It deletes sin. The Sacrament has special efficacy for this.
2.
It remits the temporal punishments due to sin, and does this more
effectively than ordinary acts of virtue because of Sacramental
efficiency.
3. It heals the soul from the evil effects of sin.
4.
It has an incomparable power of restoring peace of soul. Making a clean
breast of things gives us the maximum relief of mind and powerfully
restores our resolution.
5. It gains us a right to actual graces for futures combats and supernaturally strengthens our purpose of amendment.
6.
It is a powerful moral and educational force, which fosters
self-knowledge and self-control, gives insight into human nature, and
makes us more sympathetic and understanding and therefore more helpful
to our fellow-men.
7. Confession to a fellow-man helps to knock the conceit out of us and nullifies a grave danger to personality and salvation.
8. It enables us to get useful advice and sure guidance.
9. It increases sanctifying grace and the fervor of charity.
These
reasons have been summed up admirably by Pope Pius XII in his
encyclical on The Mystical Body of Christ. "To hasten daily progress
along the path of virtue, we wish the pious practice of frequent
confession to be earnestly advocated. Not without the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit was this practice introduced into the Church. By it genuine
self-knowledge is increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are
corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are countered, the conscience
is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary self-control is attained
and grace is increased in virtue of the Sacrament itself." (Fr. Alfred
Wilson, C.P. "Pardon and Peace." Chap III.)
Well,
that list is argument enough! And my experience bears it out. After
over a year of weekly confessions, I find myself stronger spiritually,
more simple in my approach to God, and more "fit" than ever! Thanks for
all the great responses! Let's pray for one another to move ahead with
confession, and may we learn to love ourselves as Jesus loves us!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
© Mary TV 2014
PS. Don't forget the Yearly Apparition to Mirjana, March 18, 2014 at 1:30 pm Medjugorje time (8:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time) Today!!!! At www.marytv.tv
"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!"
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