Mary TV Daily Reflection 5/15/2014

      

(c) Mary TV 2014

J.M.J  

May 15, 2014

St. Isidore

Dear Family of Mary!

"Dear children, I, your mother, am with you for the sake of your well-being, for the sake of your needs and for the sake of your personal cognition.  The Heavenly Father gave you the freedom to decide on your own and to become cognizant on your own. I desire to help you. I desire to be a mother to you, a teacher of the truth - so that in the simplicity of an open heart, you may become cognizant of the immeasurable purity and of the light which comes from it and shatters darkness, the light which brings hope. I, my children, understand your pain and suffering. Who could understand you better than a mother? And you, my children? Small is the number of those who understand and follow me. Great is the number of those who are lost - of those who have not yet become cognizant of the truth in my Son. Therefore, my apostles, pray and act. Bring the light and do not lose hope. I am with you. In a special way I am with your shepherds. With a motherly heart I love and protect them, because they lead you to Heaven that was promised to you by my Son. Thank you." (May 2, 2014)

I have transcribed the homily from English Mass for May 14, 2014 in St. James Church, Medjugorje. I do not have the name of the priest, but his words are so anointed, I wanted to share them with all of you. He truly grasps Our Lady's message of May 2. (I will credit the homilist as soon as I can.) : 

I was just given the message of the 2nd of May which starts "I am your Mother, and I am with you always..." "I am your Mother, I am here for your well-being...." "I am your Mother, I am here for you...." It is good to know that when we come to prayer, when we come to Medjugorje, or we come into our own churches at home, or when we kneel down with our families at home, we do so in the presence and in the company of our Holy Mother. That's a great starting point. For example, when I arrive in Adoration, I always invite the Blessed Mother to sit with me, so then I know she will take care. She will take my mumblings and thoughts and bring them in the most precious way to her Son, to God Most High.

And in the message of the 2nd of May she talks about being Mother. She talks about how she knows you and she understands your pain and suffering. She says who could know that better than a mother. So that really is the starting point of our prayer this morning, to know that the Mother of God the Most High, Mary Immaculate, Queen of the Universe, Queen of Heaven and Earth is your mother... is your mother! She is your mother and she comes to you time and time again to let you know that she loves you and understands your pain and understands your crosses. She calls us to trust in her Son.

In Divine Mercy, the Lord Jesus does precisely that. He calls us in a new way, with great graces, to trust in Him. Today on the Feast of St. Matthias, we see a new Apostle, Matthias, being added to the eleven to take the place of Judas. He is added because he is one who has witnessed the truth, witnessed the Resurrection, so that he would be an authentic witness. And that, my dear brothers and sisters is what you and I are called to, to be an authentic witness to Jesus Christ, to be an authentic witness to the Resurrection, to be an authentic witness of hope, to be an authentic witness so that we ourselves can trust in Him completely, not a bit now and again, but always and completely.

I just want to give you one example. We arrived here yesterday, and I was walking down the street and I bumped into a lady. And to make a long story short, I was talking to her for 10 or 15 minutes, and for those 10 or 15 minutes, she had her hands like this all the time (crossed over her chest). And she then pulled out a picture of her child, maybe a 4 or 5 year old who was killed by a drunk driver a few years ago. And here she was in Medjugorje walking around the streets and walking to the church with her child held close to her heart.  

She told me that her husband has never gotten over it. He hit the bottle. Then he left her and their other little son, Paul, for the bottle. Can you imagine leaving a lovely wife and a beautiful child because he couldn't get over it. He was totally broken by the death of his older boy, Peter. Then she said, "I want you to do something for me." She reached into her bag and pulled out her purse...and I said, "Please, don't be giving me money, I don't want any money." She said, "I'm not giving you money." And she pulled out two rings. She wanted me to bless the rings, her engagement ring and her wedding ring. She wanted them blessed, and she was going to put them back on her finger, and she wanted the grace of the sacrament from the Lord to open her heart to receive her husband should he choose to come back. Should he choose to come back, that she would welcome him in the name of God. And then she told me she was on her way to light a candle for the man who killed her child.

I read here that Our Lady said she knows our suffering, she knows our pain. Well, before this lady left she turned to me and she said, "You know something, I just realized these last days that Our Lady has been preparing me for this cross for 35 years." You know God takes care of every detail. Trust in Him, that really is the message, trust in Him. He does things a little differently than we do. He asks us to forgive. Is there anyone here who has someone they need to forgive? Now is the time. Now before you leave the church, now! Now is the time, and pray during this Holy Mass for the grace to forgive so that then you will be free to love. You will be free to be full of joy. You will be free to be a light, a witness to truth.

That is what the gift is about. It is not about coming on pilgrimages and walking here and there. It's not about that. It's about transformation of the heart, the changing of the heart. Having a heart like His. That is what it is all about. That is the gift. That is the eternal gift. Having a heart like His. And that is what the Mother wants to give me and you today. So the gift is an offer, but we must claim that gift. We must claim it. That is really what we are invited to do.  

Love one another. Jesus says, "I have kept the Father's commandments." Even on the cross, even to the point of forgiving those who were crucifying Him. Even then He had a heart full of joy. That sounds like a contradiction. But think about it. A heart full of peace and joy despite the excruciating pain and suffering, full of joy. Why? Why? Because He was doing the Father's will. Because He was so in love with you that He was prepared to do anything. Anything the Father would ask He would do. There was a great price being paid, there was a great grace being offered. It was a great transformation promised. And that is promised, my dear brothers and sisters for you and me today.

Let's take a few moments and just be quiet, and ask Our Lady to give us the graces we need to do what is required to be free, do what is required to do His commandments, to do what is required to forgive. (The Homily at English Mass at St. James Church, Medjugorje, on May 14, 2014)

 

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2014