(c)Mateo Ivankovic
August 13, 2018
Sts Pontian and Hyppolytus
Dear Family of Mary!
I am tired. I suspect many of you are tired too. Sometimes it feels like the challenges of life are just too much. At least for me, lately, I have been really tired. So when I heard the first reading for Holy Mass yesterday, I identified with Elijah completely:
Elijah went a day's journey into the desert until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.
He prayed for death saying:
"This is enough, O LORD!
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
"Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!"
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb. (1Kings 19:4-8)
"This is enough, O LORD!" I hear you, Elijah. I get it! I sometimes can't go any farther!
Of course, God didn't let Elijah get away with it. No giving up. So He sent an angel with bread and water from heaven to strengthen him for his journey. The Lord wants to strengthen us as well. And Our Lady has told us how.
June 13, 1985 "Dear children! Until the anniversary day I am calling you, the parish, to pray more and to let your prayer be a sign of surrender to God. Dear children, I know that you are all tired, but you don't know how to surrender yourselves to me. During these days surrender yourselves completely to me! Thank you for having responded to my call."
Our Lady told the parish that she knew they were tired, but the answer to being tired was to pray more! And to surrender to her. I must admit my first impulse when I am dead tired is not to pray more. I just want to sleep like Elijah. But praying more is her solution. She said it again this way:
April 25, 2001 "Dear children! Also today, I call you to prayer. Little children, prayer works miracles. When you are tired and sick and you do not know the meaning of your life, take the Rosary and pray; pray until prayer becomes for you a joyful meeting with your Savior. I am with you, little children, and I intercede and pray for you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
When we are tired or sick, we do lose track of the meaning of our lives. It is hard to focus, hard to make decisions, hard to think! So that is when we need to pray! Why? Because prayer works miracles. Prayer changes us. Prayer, even a tired, grumpy prayer connects us to God. So just like Elijah, we can lay down and say "Enough..." And then God will send help! He will send His bread and water from heaven to sustain us and strengthen us.
And the prayer of choice is the Rosary! The Rosary draws us into a joyful meeting with our Savior. That is all we need. Once we are in touch with Jesus, the solutions come flowing into our lives.
Of course, the bread from heaven prefigures the Eucharist, and we all know the strength we receive from Jesus in the Eucharist. Each reception of our Lord in the Eucharist infuses us with the graces we need to overcome our tiredness and follow the Lord's plan for our lives.
So, if you are feeling tired and you can't cope, find a broom tree, lay down under it and tell the Lord how you feel. And then pray the Rosary as you wait for Him to feed you and strengthen you for the days ahead!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2018
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