Little Lights - candlelight prayer in Medjugorje
(c)Mary TV
September 9, 2020
St. Peter Claver, Priest
Dear Family of Mary!
Our Lady says this is a time of grace, often. We all know that she is the grace! She’s the one with the grace! Her presence! But we have also learned that she is not only the Queen of Peace in Medjugorje, but also Queen of Divine Mercy! With all of that in mind, I want to share a “waking” dream that I had the other night.
I couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night and I was not peaceful. It just seemed like everything was so dark. I think I was thinking about the turmoil in the world and the governments and the powers that be, atheistic communism and all the rest. And all of a sudden, I had this deep feeling or sense about the possibility of having a world without mercy. A world without mercy. Atheism spawns a world view with no mercy. And the horror of the thought that there could be a place, or a time, or a world where there was no mercy, was terrifying. No mercy ever again. It just overcame all of my being. I felt terror at this thought.
And that made me realize how much I take the mercy that surrounds me for granted. Every day I am shown mercy in many, many ways. So many I can’t count them. I am used to it. I’m used to it because I am a Catholic. I live in the sacraments - Baptism, Confession, Eucharist, Anointing of the Sick, etc! All of that is just Mercy flooding upon me. Also, because I have the Sacrament of Matrimony, we have Mercy flowing through our family and our relationships. But I was in danger of taking all that for granted. Instead I was looking for mercy from governments. It doesn’t matter who is in the government. They can't be the main source of mercy in my life.
Anyway, I was thinking all that and I realized that I should not take the Mercy that flows through my life for granted. And at that moment I saw as it were, a dark, dark, dark land, as if the whole world was dark. And it looked like there was no mercy in the entire world. But then I saw tiny lights, down at ground level, in the lowest levels of society, all these lights which were tiny, insignificant (in that no one would notice them) works of mercy going on between people.
And I realized that that was the avenue through which Mercy would triumph. It would be coming from the bottom up, not from the top down. And that Mercy was much stronger than it looked like.
Now let’s hear from St. Faustina, as she was given the job of declaring this Time of Mercy from the Lord, making it clear that He was with us to bless us, forgive us, and draw us into His merciful Heart.
1159. God’s floodgates have been opened for us. Let us want to take advantage of them before the day of God’s justice arrives. And that will be a dreadful day!
1160. When once I asked the Lord Jesus how He could tolerate so many sins and crimes and not punish them, the Lord answered me, I have eternity for punishing [these], and so I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of [sinners]. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation. My daughter, secretary of My mercy, your duty is not only to write about and proclaim My mercy, but also to beg for this grace for them, so that they too may glorify My mercy. (Diary, 1159-1160)
This is what St. Faustina had so deep in her heart, the need for Divine Mercy, for all the people around her and in all the world. And it was her job to beg for that mercy for them. She wrote just before these words:
1158. A member of this group ought to perform at least one act of mercy a day; at least one, but there can be many more, for such deeds can easily be carried out by anyone, even the very poorest. For there are three ways of performing an act of mercy: the merciful word, by forgiving and by comforting; secondly, if you can offer no word, then pray - that too is mercy; and thirdly, deeds of mercy. And when the Last Day comes, we shall be judged from this, and on this basis, we shall receive the eternal verdict. (Diary, 1158)
Really, we can measure our lives in terms of mercy. Where and when are we living mercy? How are we living it? How are we giving it? How are we accepting it? Are we going to confession, where we receive the tremendous Mercy of Jesus?
So I guess I just wanted to encourage all of us right now, when in some of our countries we have elections coming and there is great turmoil in the midst of our political lives, and in other countries there is terrible persecution going on, not to mention horrible poverty. But in all of that, we should take confidence in the smallest act of mercy we do and that others can do around the world, that those acts of mercy will change the world. The acts, the prayers, and words of mercy, they are powerful. And they come through us little guys, us little guys, the little lights at the bottom of society.
Let’s take great confidence in that. We are on the right track, we little guys, praying for mercy constantly. Praying for mercy. Praying for mercy all the time. And living mercy and trusting in mercy and knowing that Our Lady is the Queen of Divine Mercy, Queen of Peace.
As much as that experience of a world with no mercy scared me half to death, it also brought life back into me by the tremendous understanding of the gift of Mercy that has been poured out and will continue to be poured out from Jesus through little souls throughout the world, who are fed by Jesus in the Eucharist and strengthened by Our Lady.
I want to end with this message from Our Lady through Mirjana – April 2, 2017. Please read it attentively and prayerfully. Her message explains exactly what I had the waking dream about. But she says it better. She does want us to be her “little lights of the world”:
"Dear children, apostles of my love, it is up to you to spread the love of my Son to all those who have not come to know it; you, the little lights of the world, whom I am teaching with motherly love to shine clearly with full brilliance. Prayer will help you, because prayer saves you, prayer saves the world. Therefore, my children, pray with words, feelings, merciful love and sacrifice. My Son has shown you the way - He who became incarnate and made of me the first chalice, with His exalted sacrifice He has shown you how you need to love. Therefore, my children, do not be afraid to speak the truth. Do not be afraid to change yourself and the world by spreading love, by doing everything for my Son to be known and loved by loving others in Him. As a mother, I am always with you. I am imploring my Son to help you for love to reign in your life - love that lives, love that draws, love which gives life. I am teaching you such love - pure love. It is up to you, my apostles, to recognize it, live it and spread it. Pray with feeling for your shepherds so that they can witness my Son with love. Thank you." (April 02, 2017)
“You, the little lights of the world, whom I am teaching with motherly love to shine clearly with full brilliance.” That is what I saw in my waking dream. Those little lights at the bottom of society, so fearlessly shining with full brilliance! We must be those lights in this day. Our Lady has come to show us the way.
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020
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