|
"Clothe yourselves in penitential garments..."
March 1, 2023
Dear Family of Mary!
February
25, 2023 "Dear children! Keep converting and clothe yourselves in
penitential garments and in personal, deep prayer; and in humility, seek
peace from the Most High. In this time of grace, Satan wants to seduce
you; but you, little children, keep looking at my Son and follow Him
towards Calvary in renunciation and fasting. I am with you because the
Most High permits me to love you and lead you towards the joy of the
heart, in faith which grows for all those who love God above all. Thank
you for having responded to my call."
"Clothe yourselves in penitential garments..."
As
far as I can tell, this is the first time Our Lady has mentioned
"penitential garments". I do believe she is referring back to her own
days as a Jewish woman, when there were prescribed times for fasting,
prayer, and repentance, along with wearing rough garments as a sign of
mourning, repentance and turning back to God.
There are many accounts of penitential garments being worn as a sign to God of repentance. A famous one is in the book of Jonah:
Conversion of Nineveh
Then
the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go
to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell
you." So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the
LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in
breadth.
Jonah
began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he cried, "Yet
forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh
believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the
greatest of them to the least of them.
Then
tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne,
removed his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in
ashes. And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the
decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor
flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, but let man
and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God;
yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is
in his hands. Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce
anger, so that we perish not?"
When
God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God
repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did
not do it. (Jonah 3: 1-10)
The
use of penitential garments was an expression of repentance and
self-denial. It showed that the people of Nineveh understood that they
had offended God and wanted to change. It made that desire physically
present to them. It was an outward sign of an inner desire.
So
how can we express outwardly our desire to repent as Our Lady asks this
Lent? We could change the way we dress, being simple and modest and
poor, etc. Or we could wear something that signifies our repentance,
like a Crucifix or a Rosary around our neck. A big sign we often see in
Medjugorje is climbing the rocky mountains in bare feet! That is
penitential!!
But
there may be an additional way to clothe ourselves in penitence that
has more to do with our actions than with our appearance. We could put
on the garments of love and forgiveness, of service and humility. These
garments are seen in our actions. They appear when we put ourselves
last, and serve others instead.
This message might be helpful for us in finding our penitential garments:
January
2, 2010 "Dear children, Today I am calling you to, with complete trust
and love, set out with me because I desire to acquaint you with my Son.
Do not be afraid, my children, I am here with you; I am next to you. I
am showing you the way to forgive yourselves, to forgive others, and,
with sincere repentance of heart, to kneel before the Father. Make
everything die in you that hinders you from loving and saving, that you
may be with Him and in Him. Decide for a new beginning, a beginning of
sincere love of God Himself. Thank you."
Maybe our penitential garments can be made of love of God and neighbor?
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
Mary TV
| 
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.