The statue in St. James Church is Our Lady of Lourdes!!!
(c)Mary TV 2014
J.M.J
February 11, 2014
Our Lady of Lourdes
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! I am here, I am among you. I am looking at you, am smiling at you and I love you in the way that only a mother can. Through the Holy Spirit who comes through my purity, I see your hearts and I offer them to my Son. Already for a long time I have been asking of you to be my apostles, to pray for those who have not come to know God's love. I am asking for prayer said out of love, prayer which carries out works and sacrifices. Do not waste time thinking about whether you are worthy to be my apostles. The Heavenly Father will judge everyone; and you, love Him and listen to Him. I know that all of this confuses you, even my very stay among you, but accept it with joy and pray that you may comprehend that you are worthy to work for Heaven. My love is upon you. Pray that my love may win in all hearts, because that is the love which forgives, gives and never stops. Thank you." (February 2, 2015)
"I know that all of this confuses you, even my very stay among you, but accept it with joy and pray that you may comprehend that you are worthy to work for Heaven."
Just as judging ourselves and others only leads to wasted time, so can trying to figure out what God is doing! Our Lady is right. We do get confused when we try to see the bigger picture and figure out what God's plan really is for Medjugorje. Why is Our Lady with us so long? When will the secrets happen? Why did God pick Medjugorje? Etc. Etc. Etc.....
Our Lady has never given us the blue print of her plan. She has mentioned that there is a plan; that the Heavenly Father has sent her to us in Medjugorje; that she has come to bring peace. But we are left in the dark about a lot.
Our Lady has instead been consistently drilling into our hearts and heads the need for our own conversions, and the necessity that we live her messages. This part of her plan has not be left in the dark. She gave us our marching orders in 1987, when she began the messages on the 25th of each month:
January 25, 1987 The first apparition of the 25th of the month, given to Marija, for the parish: "Today I want to appeal to all of you to start living a new life from this day on. Dear children, I wish that you would understand that God has chosen each one of you to have a part in the great plan for the salvation of mankind. You cannot fully understand how great your role is in God's design. For that reason, pray, dear children, so that through prayer, you may be able to know your role in God's plan. I am with you, so that you may be able to realize it fully."
Our Lady told us that each one of us has a role to play in the plan given by God through her. That role is a unique one for each one of us. Each of her children has their own specific job to do, fitted to their individual gifts and life situations. Each one of us has a role in the plan of salvation which can only be discovered through prayer.
And ever since that day Our Lady has been molding us and fashioning us according to her plan, through her messages. Here is one that particularly touches me:
August 02, 2014 "Dear children, the reason that I am with you, my mission, is to help you for 'good' to win, even though this does not seem possible to you now. I know that you do not understand many things as I also did not understand everything, everything that my Son explained to me while He was growing up alongside me - but I believed Him and followed Him. I ask this of you also, to believe me and to follow me. However, my children, to follow me means to love my Son above everything, to love Him in every person without making differences. For you to be able to do this, I call you anew to renunciation, prayer and fasting. I am calling you for the Eucharist to be the life of your soul. I am calling you to be my apostles of light who will spread love and mercy through the world. My children, your life is only a blink in contrast to eternal life. And when you come before my Son, in your hearts He will see how much love you had. In order to spread love in the right way, I am asking my Son, through love, to grant you unity through Him, unity among you, unity between you and your shepherds. Through them my Son always gives Himself to you anew and renews your soul. Do not forget this. Thank you."
The plan has not changed. Salvation! The Good to win! That is the goal. And we are being called to believe and follow Our Lady in that plan just as she followed Jesus. It is a plan that involves our own conversion, our seeking after holiness, and our acceptance of Our Lady's call to be her apostles and allowing her to take us by the hand and lead us. Each one of us answers that call in our own lives, in our own situations, with our own gifts and limitations, through love. This was the plan in 1981, in 1987, in 2014, and today. "I know that all of this confuses you, even my very stay among you, but accept it with joy and pray that you may comprehend that you are worthy to work for Heaven."
We don't need to know the big picture, we just need to believe and follow our Mother. She is leading us in this vast, worldwide plan of salvation that will take place through Jesus. Our role is to be "apostles of light who will spread love and mercy through the world." This is a big enough piece of the picture for us, it is enough to know and to accept with joy!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2015
PS. Our Daily Rosary group has been praying a novena to Our Lady of Lourdes! We have been asking the Lord to give Our Lady three things on this feast day: That He would grant all of Our Lady's intentions in Medjugorje, that He would grant all Our Lady's intentions for Mary TV, and that we would become good apostles of Our Lady of Medjugorje. Thank you dear Jesus, for hearing our prayer. Thank you, St. Bernadette for praying for with us! Thank you Our Lady of Lourdes, for your presence now in Medjugorje!
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.