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(c)Mary TV 2014
J.M.J
February 17, 2015
The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! Today again I call all of you to prayer. Only with prayer, dear children, will your heart change, become better, and be more sensitive to the Word of God. Little children, do not permit Satan to pull you apart and to do with you what he wants. I call you to be responsible and determined and to consecrate each day to God in prayer. May Holy Mass, little children, not be a habit for you, but life? By living Holy Mass each day, you will feel the need for holiness and you will grow in holiness. I am close to you and intercede before God for each of you, so that He may give you strength to change your heart. Thank you for having responded to my call." (January 25, 1998)
"May Holy Mass, little children, not be a habit for you, but life? By living Holy Mass each day, you will feel the need for holiness and you will grow in holiness."
We are entering into the Lenten Season tomorrow. I have the feeling that if we could just follow Our Lady's words of advice about Holy Mass, we would have the most beautiful and most fruitful Lent of our lives. What if we decided to make Holy Mass our focus for this Lent? We could try to arrange our lives so the Holy Mass is the first thing on our list each day, and the most important thing we do. Even if we cannot actually go to Holy Mass, we could place Holy Mass at the top of our list by reading the readings for that day, or watching the English Mass from Medjugorje when possible and making a spiritual communion in prayer. A deep awareness of Holy Mass would begin to build in us, and we could be part of the offering of the Sacrifice of Christ each day in our hearts.
Fr. Maximilian spoke about Holy Mass and how it can be the center of our life in his homily for February 16, 2015 in Medjugorje. Here is an excerpt:
For Abel it [his offering to God] was the first born of his flock. Where Cain only brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the soil. It was not the fruit of his soil, and it was not the first fruit. Now in our offering we have to be very careful how we offer to God. For instance, we can say, "Ok, this morning I will go to play golf, go to drink tea with the neighbors, and then I will go to Holy Mass..." So you know we have a lot of things to do and there is also Holy Mass. That is not pleasing to God. We have to give Him the first fruit. That does not mean we have to go at 7:00 in the morning, but that we say, "Sunday! I will go to Holy Mass, and then after I will play golf and drink tea with the neighbor and all this." This comes out of the celebration. Everything comes from Christ. Everything comes from Holy Mass. Holy Mass is the center.
It is also very important how we use our prayer life. "Ah, this morning I will pray a little bit, I will do this and that..." No, I pray and then all the other things will flow from prayer. Prayer will be first. God wants the first place. It is right and just to give Him the first place. And when we give Him the first place, then everything will be His. But if we put Him among a lot of other values, it is not pleasing to God. It is a mockery to God.
So Mother Mary says, "Put God in the first place." Put Him in the center of your being. Some say it is not important what you offer to God, two coins or two million, it is important to give Him everything.
Everything means that in your heart, your intention is to give Him the first place. Then everything will be for God. St. Paul, yesterday, in the second reading, said, "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). Everything will be for the glory of God if that first love is for God. So even in our sleeping, in our drinking or our eating, we will glorify God. There will not be an isolated worship here at the altar, but it will become Holy Mass the whole day, our whole life will be an offering to God.
St. Paul in Romans 12 says "to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Rom 12:1). May all our being give praise and glory to God! So we enter into Christ's ascension to the Father. We enter into the Trinitarian life which is always totally giving, one to the other. Totally giving, not just a part. Not just amongst other things. This type of love, God wants. (Fr. Maximilian, Feb. 16, 2015, English Mass)
If we can learn to change the way we think about our lives, we will have changed our hearts this Lent. Our days are not our own, if we belong to God. And our first duty is to worship God. Holy Mass is our perfect Sacrifice, the perfect offering to God of our love and our lives. To be aware that each day, Holy Mass is our time to give ourselves to God with Jesus will help us to make Holy Mass our life!
Let's also pray for one another this Lent. Our email group is dedicated to living the messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje. We are listening to her words, and trying to put them into practice. Let's pray for one another this Lent in a special way that we all can truly put God in the first place in our lives. This will be a great strength for all of us as we journey towards Easter!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2015
PS. Mary TV is sponsoring a pilgrimage in November 2015! Here is a link with information about it! Denis and I will be among the pilgrims! We would love to have you along!
http://web27.streamhoster.com/broadcastviewer//marytv/Website/2015_MaryTV_Medjugorje_Pilgrimage.pdf
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