Mary TV Daily Reflection 3/9/2012

March 9, 2012

St. Frances of Rome

 

Dear Family of Mary!

 

"Dear children! Through the immeasurable love of God I am coming among you and I am persistently calling you into the arms of my Son. With a motherly heart I am imploring you, my children, but I am also repeatedly warning you, that concern for those who have not come to know my Son be in the first place for you. Do not permit that by looking at you and your life, they are not overcome by a desire to come to know Him. Pray to the Holy Spirit for my Son to be impressed within you. Pray that you can be apostles of the divine light in this time of darkness and hopelessness. This is a time of your trial. With a rosary in hand and love in the heart set out with me. I am leading you towards Easter in my Son. Pray for those whom my Son has chosen that they can always live through Him and in Him - the High Priest. Thank you." (March 2, 2012)

 

We discussed yesterday what it means to let "concern for those who have not come to know my Son be in the first place for you." If we are concerned for these children not yet united to Jesus, what can we do to help them find Him? Our Lady first asks us to clean up our own lives so that we do not give them scandal. We don't have to be perfect, but we do have to desire to become perfect, and live repentant lives.

 

But Our Lady continues to advise us. She tells us to pray for certain things. She doesn't expect us to accomplish these things on our own power, but rather to pray for God to give us these gifts that will help us to help her.

 

What are these gifts we should seek through prayer?

 

"Pray to the Holy Spirit for my Son to be impressed within you."

 

And...

 

"Pray that you can be apostles of the divine light in this time of darkness and hopelessness."

 

Two very beautiful gifts, to be sure! And to think that we can receive them through prayer!!

 

The first gift, that Jesus will be impressed within us, is truly awesome. This "impression" upon our souls of the person of Jesus is the goal of our Christian life. We are called to become "like" Jesus. He is our role model, our ideal, our way. And so Our Lady asks us in this message to open ourselves to the process of molding ourselves to Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

As I prayed about this process, I realized that Our Lady has given us a very good way to become like Jesus. That way is the Rosary. As we meditate with Mother Mary on the mysteries of the Rosary, we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit's action. Through meditating on Jesus' life, we let the Spirit mold us into the likeness of the One we contemplate.

 

Pope John Paul II wrote about this process in his Apostolic Letter, On the Most Holy Rosary:

 

Being conformed to Christ with Mary

15. Christian spirituality is distinguished by the disciple's commitment to become conformed ever more fully to his Master (cf. Rom 8:29; Phil 3:10,12). The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Baptism grafts the believer like a branch onto the vine which is Christ (cf. Jn 15:5) and makes him a member of Christ's mystical Body (cf.1Cor 12:12; Rom 12:5). This initial unity, however, calls for a growing assimilation which will increasingly shape the conduct of the disciple in accordance with the "mind" of Christ: "Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5). In the words of the Apostle, we are called "to put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (cf. Rom 13:14; Gal 3:27).

 

In the spiritual journey of the Rosary, based on the constant contemplation - in Mary's company - of the face of Christ, this demanding ideal of being conformed to him is pursued through an association which could be described in terms of friendship. We are thereby enabled to enter naturally into Christ's life and as it were to share his deepest feelings. In this regard Blessed Bartolo Longo has written: "Just as two friends, frequently in each other's company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection".

 

In this process of being conformed to Christ in the Rosary, we entrust ourselves in a special way to the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin. She who is both the Mother of Christ and a member of the Church, indeed her "pre-eminent and altogether singular member", is at the same time the "Mother of the Church". As such, she continually brings to birth children for the mystical Body of her Son. She does so through her intercession, imploring upon them the inexhaustible outpouring of the Spirit. Mary is the perfect icon of the motherhood of the Church.

 

The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary's side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is "fully formed" in us (cf. Gal 4:19). This role of Mary, totally grounded in that of Christ and radically subordinated to it, "in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power". This is the luminous principle expressed by the Second Vatican Council which I have so powerfully experienced in my own life and have made the basis of my episcopal motto: Totus Tuus. The motto is of course inspired by the teaching of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, who explained in the following words Mary's role in the process of our configuration to Christ: "Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ". Never as in the Rosary do the life of Jesus and that of Mary appear so deeply joined. Mary lives only in Christ and for Christ!

(Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II - Rosarium Virginis Mariae. n 15)

 

We can see that it is the Church's desire that we ask for Jesus to be impressed in our hearts, and that it is through the Holy Spirit that this will happen, and happens best when we join with Mary and the mysteries of the Rosary to bring it about. The mysteries of the Rosary bring us into intimate union with Jesus' life, opening up a way for us to be formed into Him.

 

Well, we can see that Our Lady can help us to do what she asks of us. Yes, it is the Holy Spirit whom we ask, but we know that He will work through Our Lady to accomplish this great gift in us! Those two are inseparable!!

 

Have a beautiful weekend, filled with peace and prayer. Let the Rosary be in your hand and set out with Our Lady on this beautiful adventure of life!

 

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2012

 

 

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[MaryVitamin] Station VII

 

Mary Vitamin for March 9th   Topic: The Seventh Station-The Second Fall of Jesus Quote: St. Alphonsus di Liguori Cosmas of Jerusalem used to say, "While I keep my hope in thee unconquerable, O Mother of God, I shall be safe. I will fight and overcome my enemies with no other buckler than thy protection and thy all-powerful aid." St. Alphonsus di Liguori, The Glories of Mary (Tan Books: 1978), 122. Meditation: St. Maximilian Kolbe Cooperation with grace is very important, for in response to grace comes further new grace. The more faithful we will be to grace, the more we will have reason to hope that we will receive more graces. One thing is sufficient; now, this moment, cooperate with its grace. There is but one ultimate cause of spiritual breakdown, namely, the lessening of the flow of grace through personal ignoring of it. Then the soul weakens. This flows from infidelity to grace. How can we assure ourselves against such an eventuality? St. Alphonsus Liguori tells us to turn to the Blessed Mother and place all our trust and hope in her. Experience proves this to be true. Will to Love (Marytown Press: 1998), 72-3. Resolution: Today, I will ask over and over that my Heavenly Mother keep me responsive to the life of grace. Marian Vow: Ven Mary of Agreda O Great Chieftainess of the martyrs, Queen of the courageous, Mistress of all the imitators of thy Son, if I am thy daughter and disciple, as Thou condescendest to call me, and as my Lord wishes to merit, do not reject my longing desire to follow thy footsteps on the way of the cross. If in my weakness I have fallen, do Thou, my Lady and Mother, obtain for me the courage of a contrite heart, justly humiliated on account of its vile ingratitude. Gain for me through thy prayers the love of the eternal Father, which is so precious, that only thy powerful intercession can obtain it and only my Lord and Redeemer can merit it for me. Mystical City of God, Volume III  (Tan Books: 2006), 579-580. I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thanks be to God for graces received. Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate &AirMaria

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Bishop Aquila receives Pope's praise for reordering sacraments By David Kerr

Related news:

• Today's world requires lower age for first communicants, stresses Vatican prefect

Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo said he is delighted to have first-hand papal approval for changing the order by which children in his diocese receive the sacraments.

�I was very surprised in what the Pope said to me, in terms of how happy he was that the sacraments of initiation have been restored to their proper order of baptism, confirmation then first Eucharist,� said Bishop Aquila, after meeting Pope Benedict on March 8.
 
Bishop Aquila was one of five bishops from North and South Dakota to meet with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican as part of their March 5-10 �ad limina� visit to the Rome.

Over the past seven years the Diocese of Fargo has changed the typical order of the sacraments of initiation. Instead of confirmation coming third and at an older age, it is now conferred on children at a younger age and prior to First Communion.
 
Bishop Aquila said he made the changes because �it really puts the emphasis on the Eucharist as being what completes the sacraments of initiation� and on confirmation as �sealing and completing baptism.�

When the sacraments are conferred in this order, he said, it becomes more obvious that �both baptism and confirmation lead to the Eucharist.� This sacramental assistance helps Catholics live �that intimate relationship of being the beloved sons and daughters of the Father in our daily lives,� he added.
 
The Bishop of Fargo said the changes have also distanced the Sacrament of Confirmation from �some false theologies that see it as being a sacrament of maturity or as a sacrament for �me choosing God.��

Instead, young people in Fargo now have �the fullness of the spirit and the completion of the gifts of the spirit� to assist them in �living their lives within the world,� especially �in the trials they face in junior high and high school.�

Bishop Aquila explained his theological thinking to Pope Benedict during today�s meeting.

In response, he said, the Pope asked if he had �begun to speak to other bishops about this.� He told the pontiff that he had and that �certainly bishops within the Dakotas are now really looking towards the implementation in the restoration in the ordering of the sacraments.�

via ewtnnews.com

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[Video] Saint John of God

Grow in Charity Reflection for 3/8/12 www.apostleshipofprayer.org More

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Mary TV daily Reflection 3/8/2012

March 8, 2012

St. John of God

 

Dear Family of Mary!

 

"Dear children! Through the immeasurable love of God I am coming among you and I am persistently calling you into the arms of my Son. With a motherly heart I am imploring you, my children, but I am also repeatedly warning you, that concern for those who have not come to know my Son be in the first place for you. Do not permit that by looking at you and your life, they are not overcome by a desire to come to know Him. Pray to the Holy Spirit for my Son to be impressed within you. Pray that you can be apostles of the divine light in this time of darkness and hopelessness. This is a time of your trial. With a rosary in hand and love in the heart set out with me. I am leading you towards Easter in my Son. Pray for those whom my Son has chosen that they can always live through Him and in Him - the High Priest. Thank you." (March 2, 2012)

 

"With a motherly heart I am imploring you, my children, but I am also repeatedly warning you, that concern for those who have not come to know my Son be in the first place for you." With these words, Our Lady gives us the main thrust of this message. She is imploring us to make "those who have not come to know [her] Son" our main concern, our first priority. She is warning us to do this. She sounds a bit frantic about her children who do not yet believe. There must be something very timely and urgent about their situation. Our Lady would not speak about them in such a way, if it was not urgent.

 

We are all feeling that it is our faith in God that will bring us through these difficult days. The world is in a mad descent into darkness, it seems. Only God alone will be able to shine light into our lives and show us the way to the future. We are blessed with this certainty, this faith. It is a gift which many of us have received through Our Lady of Medjugorje. But imagine how it must feel to witness this mad descent, and have no belief in God! Imagine the fear! Imagine the depression! Imagine the confusion and hopelessness! Our Lady sees her poor children, so lost. She wants to find them and bring them into the peace that we enjoy. She wants them to discover Jesus and cling to Him. This is her concern. And she is sharing it with us.

 

But how do we make this concern for those who have not come to know Jesus our first priority? I believe Our Lady answers this question in the rest of this message. Let's begin with that difficult sentence which immediately follows: "Do not permit that by looking at you and your life, they are not overcome by a desire to come to know Him." I think we all took a double take at this sentence! A double negative! But if we think of it in terms of the sentence before in which she asks us to put concern for those who have not come to know Jesus, it becomes clear.  

 

She says to us: Do not permit (Do not let it be) that by looking at you and your life (that when people who have no faith see the way we live and who we are), they are not overcome by a desire to come to know Him (they see that in our life we do not live the love of Jesus, and so they are driven away from Jesus because of our bad witness).  

 

In other words, if we call ourselves Christians, but we live lives of sin, of greed, anger, sloth, pride, gluttony, envy or lust, and we do not put God in the first place, we will drive people away from faith in Jesus. They will not be drawn to Him by a desire to know Him. They will instead be disgusted by Him because of us. It is our witness that speaks volumes about God. Our generous actions, our good choices, our prayerfulness, our kindness, these things communicate God to others.

 

So the first way to answer Our Lady's concern is to clean up our own act! Which is exactly what we are doing during Lent! We are trying to weed out of our lives all hypocrisy and put God back in the first place in our daily lives. If we start moving in that direction, we will help Our Lady, because our repentance will attract others. They will see us straining to find God, and follow us. We could start a movement!! A movement of hearts towards God!

 

We will consider the rest of the message tomorrow. Don't forget: "With a motherly heart I am imploring you, my children, but I am also repeatedly warning you, that concern for those who have not come to know my Son be in the first place for you."

 

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

© Mary TV 2012

 

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Fr. MacRae: When Bad Things Happen to Good People

How do the broken-hearted do penance for Lent? Why does it always seem as though the unjust thrive while good people with good hearts struggle?  The basic answer is that there ARE no answers.  But These Stone Walls might be on the trail of one. Don't miss: "The Gravity of Grace: When Bad Things Happen to Good People."

The Gravity of Grace: When Bad Things Happen to Good People

by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae

on March 7, 2012 · 5 comments

A great Western, The Magnificent Seven is a film about how tragedy, suffering, and even sin can be transformed in God’s plan into instruments of grace.

“If God did not want them sheared,” He would not have made them sheep!”

That cynical line was delivered by actor Eli Wallach in the great 1960 Western film, The Magnificent Seven. Eli Wallach portrayed the leader of a gang of marauding bandits who terrorized and extorted a small, peaceful Mexican farming village. The famous quote jumped out at me as a perfect start for this post about when bad things happen to good people.

Read the article here: http://www.thesestonewalls.com/gordon-macrae/the-gravity-of-grace-when-bad-things-happen-to-good-people/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheseStoneWalls+%28These+Stone+Walls%29

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[MaryVitamin] Station vi

 

Mary Vitamin for March 7th Topic: The Sixth Station: Jesus Meets Veronica   Quote: Father Faber "How [Mary] longed to wipe the blood from His face with her veil, to part His tangled hair to remove with lightest touch that cruel crown, to lift the Cross off His shoulders and see whether her broken heart would not give her superhuman strength to carry it for Him!" Father Faber,  At the Foot of the Cross, (Tan Books: 1978), 212. Meditation: One can almost imagine the Mother of Christ standing beside St. Veronica in the crowd encouraging her spiritual daughter to great courage and sublime compassion. John Paul II [T]he Divine Redeemer wishes to penetrate the soul of every sufferer through the heart of his holy Mother, the first and the most exalted of all the redeemed. As though by a continuation of that motherhood which by the power of the Holy Spirit had given him life, the dying Christ conferred upon the ever Virgin Mary a new kind of motherhood ”spiritual and universal”towards all human beings, so that every individual, during the pilgrimage of faith, might remain, together with her, closely united to him unto the Cross, and so that every form of suffering, given fresh life by the power of this Cross, should become no longer the weakness of man but the power of God. Salvifici Doloris, #26 February 11, 1984   Resolution: Today I will think of St. Veronica as a symbol of a child of Mary who looks to offer Christ  comfort in his sufferings. How can I comfort the crucified in the presence of Our Lady today?   Marian Vow: St. Katharine Drexel (feast day March 3rd) What likeness is there between me and my Mother? Do I try to be like her, in her love for Jesus? In her devotion to the cause for which he died –the salvation of souls- in her absolute submission to the will of God, in her patient suffering? Holy Mary, Mother of God and my Mother too, let me stand at the foot of the cross with you, to learn its lessons and to learn to be like the Mother of Sorrows. Amen.   I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thanks be to God for graces received. Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate & AirMaria

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Sick Hackers Block Vatican's Website

Hackers from 'Anonymous' reportedly block Vatican's website On Wednesday afternoon, the Vatican's website stopped working at around 3:00 o clock, after reportedly being hacked. Apparently, a group known as "Anonymous" claimed responsibility for this. On the Vatican's website, vatican.va, the issue is described as a "technical problem that's being solved." More

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Mary TV Daily Reflection 3/7/2012

March 7, 2012

Sts. Perpetua and Felicity

 

Dear Family of Mary!

 

"Dear children! Through the immeasurable love of God I am coming among you and I am persistently calling you into the arms of my Son. With a motherly heart I am imploring you, my children, but I am also repeatedly warning you, that concern for those who have not come to know my Son be in the first place for you. Do not permit that by looking at you and your life, they are not overcome by a desire to come to know Him. Pray to the Holy Spirit for my Son to be impressed within you. Pray that you can be apostles of the divine light in this time of darkness and hopelessness. This is a time of your trial. With a rosary in hand and love in the heart set out with me. I am leading you towards Easter in my Son. Pray for those whom my Son has chosen that they can always live through Him and in Him - the High Priest. Thank you." (March 2, 2012)

 

Mother Mary tells us: "I am persistently calling you into the arms of my Son."Message after message, Our Lady tries to direct us into the embrace of Jesus. She calls us into the arms of her Son, she leads us, she guides us, she directs us into His arms. Her messages are designed to this end. But what does this mean? Here are a few messages as examples:

 

"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." (January 02, 2010)

 

"Dear children! These days I call you especially to open your hearts to the Holy Spirit. Especially during these days the Holy Spirit is working through you. Open your hearts and surrender your life to Jesus so that He works through your hearts and strengthens you in faith. Thank you for having responded to my call." (May 23, 1985)

 

"Dear children! Anew I call you to follow me with joy. I desire to lead all of you to my Son, your Savior. You are not aware that without Him you do not have joy and peace, nor a future or eternal life. Therefore, little children, make good use of this time of joyful prayer and surrender. Thank you for having responded to my call." (July 25, 2010)

 Come Holy Spirit, Come by means of the Immaculate Heart of Mary . . . 

 

Notice that Our Lady is asking us to go to Jesus in complete trust and surrender. That is how we find ourselves in His arms. We cannot enter into His embrace if we are not at peace with Him, reconciled with Him, trusting Him with our whole life, surrendering to Him all our circumstances, fears, sins, desires, hopes, dreams, and failures. To be in the embrace of Jesus is to be completely surrendered to His love. We have to stop fighting Him. He is our only hope.

 

If we surrender to Jesus we will be where Our Lady wants us, in His arms. If we trust Him with our whole lives, every aspect, every relationship, every reality, we will be where she wants us, in His arms. If we let go of our fear, our shame, our worries and anxieties, our pride, and our inordinate desires, we can throw ourselves into Jesus' arms, free and capable of union with Him. That is what Our Lady wants for us, what she desires with all her heart.

 

Surrender, trust, love - safe in the arms of Jesus!

 

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2012

 

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[video] Terrorist Attacks against Christians increase 309%

Terrorist Attacks against Christians increase 309% in Africa, Middle East and Asia More

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Mary TV Daily Reflection 3/6/2012

Ivan understands the impact of Our Lady's presence!  He registers pure joy! Here he receives Our Lady in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Jan. 31 2012 (c)Mary TV 2012

March 6, 2012   Dear Family of Mary!   "Dear children! Through the immeasurable love of God I am coming among you and I am persistently calling you into the arms of my Son. With a motherly heart I am imploring you, my children, but I am also repeatedly warning you, that concern for those who have not come to know my Son be in the first place for you. Do not permit that by looking at you and your life, they are not overcome by a desire to come to know Him. Pray to the Holy Spirit for my Son to be impressed within you. Pray that you can be apostles of the divine light in this time of darkness and hopelessness. This is a time of your trial. With a rosary in hand and love in the heart set out with me. I am leading you towards Easter in my Son. Pray for those whom my Son has chosen that they can always live through Him and in Him - the High Priest. Thank you." (March 2, 2012)   I want to thank all those who prayed for me and sent me notes of encouragement! I feel better! With so many prayers, how could I not!! Thank you!   This message is so full; I don't know where to begin. But for today, these words have attracted my attention: "Through the immeasurable love of God I am coming among you." Mother Mary has told us many times that her apparitions in Medjugorje are due to an amazing initiative of God to reach out to us.   For instance, Our Lady said, "I will pray for you and intercede for you before God that you understand the greatness of this gift which God is giving me - that I can be with you." (4/25/1990) God is giving Our Lady this gift to be with us. Her motherly heart must have been yearning deeply to be able to reach out to us in a tangible way. God has finally allowed her to come to us, day after day. This is a great grace for her as well as for us! But we need help to understand it.   Again, in April, 1991 Our Lady said, "I am with you and I am grateful to God for every moment spent with you." We are the ones who should be grateful! Our Lady's love for us is so great, she sees each moment as intensely wonderful, being with her children. Each moment is an eternity of love with Mary.   Also on July 25, 1992: "I am with you and every day I bless you with my motherly blessing, so that God may fill you with the abundance of his grace for your daily life. Thank God for the gift that I can be with you, because I tell you: this is a great grace." We do not comprehend the true magnitude of Our Lady's coming to us. We just don't see what Our Lady sees. Her coming is monumental. No other time in history has had such a gift. The Mother of Jesus is coming to earth every day, bringing graces, blessings, advice, direction, peace, spiritual protection, and hope to a world in growing darkness. She is here with us. But we may not register the impact of this reality. One day we may say, "If I only had understood..."   On September 25, 2003, Our Lady said: "Dear children! Also today I call you to come closer to my heart. Only in this way, will you comprehend the gift of my presence here among you." The only way we will begin to comprehend the meaning and power of Our Lady's presence among us, is if we draw close to her heart through prayer. She can give us the spiritual sight we need to grasp the immensity of the grace we have been given. She can open our spiritual eyes to see the beauty of God's plan through her presence.   Again on June 25, 2009 Our Lady said: "Dear children! Rejoice with me, convert in joy and give thanks to God for the gift of my presence among you." And on June 25, 2011: "Dear children! Give thanks with me to the Most High for my presence with you. My heart is joyful watching the love and joy in the living of my messages." Joy!! This is the ultimate response to Our Lady's presence! Joy! We are not alone! We are not without our Mother! We have her loving care surrounding us here on earth! Joy! God is giving us the best guide for these treacherous days. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is with us! This is the immeasurable love of God.   In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2012

 

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[MaryVitamin] IV Station

 

Mary Vitamin

Topic: Fourth Station Jesus Meets His Mother

Quote:

"She is going up to Calvary, in brave tranquility, to help to slay the Babe of Bethlehem."

Father Faber,  

At the Foot of the Cross, (Tan Books: 1978), 211.

Meditation:

 "The fourth dolor contains within itself the whole science and mystery of cross-bearing. This is the wisdom we learn from the picture while we gaze on Mary in the streets of the cruel Jerusalem. The eye of her soul sees the fair-haired Boy in the temple, whom she sought more than twenty years ago, while her bodily eye is fixed on the pale and bleeding and earth-stained Man, going with sound of trumpet and the chorus of earth's curses to His doom. And shall we, who gave Him that heavy cross to bear, and kept weighting it after we had given it, if our cruelty were not satisfied, refuse to bear the sweet grace giving crosses which He binds on us, so little too as, when we have borne them for a while, we are forced to confess they are? Oh, no! let us do now as Mary did them look at Him who is on the road before us, and see how the beauty of the Sacred Heart sits with meek majesty and attractive love on the woe-worn disfigured Countenance."

Father Faber,  At the Foot of the Cross, (Tan Books: 1978 , 239.

Resolution:

Is my suffering any greater than Mary's who helped "to slay the Babe of Bethlehem?" I will try to be grateful for the small crosses which come my way.

Marian vow:

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

"You must constantly carry the cross which He lays on you, be it interior or exterior."

The Thoughts and Saying of Saint Margaret Mary, (Tan Books: 1986), 81.

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related site: Castle of the Immaculate & AirMaria

__._,_.___

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[MaryVitamin] V Station

 

Mary Vitamin 

  

Topic: Fifth Station of the Cross

Jesus meets Simon the Cyrene

Quote:

Father Faber 

Judas was almost a dolor by himself. We learn, from the revelations of the saints, how she had striven in prayer for that wretched soul. She had lavished all manner of kindness of him, as if he had been more to her than either Peter or John.

 Father Faber,  At the Foot of the Cross, (Tan Books: 1978), 218.

Meditation:

Is Our Lady reminded of Judas when she sees Simon's compliance? Couldn't Judas have borne the weight?

This was her first lesson in the loss of souls. If we were more like saints, we should know something of what it meant. The Passion began by losing an apostle's soul, and ended by saving the soul of a poor outcast thief. Such are the ways in which God takes His compensations.

Father Faber,  At the Foot of the Cross, (Tan Books: 1978), 219.

Resolution:

Today, I will pray for the conversion of sinners with the heart of Mary.

Marian Vow:

St. Katharine Drexel

O Mary, make me endeavor, by all means in my power, to extend the kingdom of the Divine Son and offer incessantly my prayers for the conversion of those who are yet in darkness or estranged from the fold of Your Divine Son.

Praying with Mother Katharine Drexel, 14

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate & AirMaria

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WHILE TENDENCY IN CHURCH CAN BE TO MINIMIZE EVIL, BIBLE SPELLS OUT MANIFESTATIONS, REMEDY

via spiritdaily.com

The other day, after a Mass reading that dealt powerfully and solemnly with expelling demons, a priest gave a homily warning against blaming the devil when we sin. "The devil made me do it. The devil made me do it." (Remember that comedian's line in the 1960s?) Too often, he pointed out, we attribute what we do to demons.

The point about Satan is well-taken: we can't blame him for everything we do (and choose) through free will. Our sins are our sins.

But there are certainly demonic temptations (we recall these particularly during Lent) and we suggest that by far the larger problem is that too often we are flip about the devil (no pun intended, Mr. Wilson); evil goes "unblamed" vastly more than it gets blamed (see the recent uproar over a candidate who dared to mention its workings)
Read more here: http://www.spiritdaily.com/evilchurch.htm

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Mary TV March 5, 2012 Reflection

(c)Diane Freeby, 2010, used with permission March 5, 2012   Dear Family of Mary!   "Dear children! Through the immeasurable love of God I am coming among you and I am persistently calling you into the arms of my Son. With a motherly heart I am imploring you, my children, but I am also repeatedly warning you, that concern for those who have not come to know my Son be in the first place for you. Do not permit that by looking at you and your life, they are not overcome by a desire to come to know Him. Pray to the Holy Spirit for my Son to be impressed within you. Pray that you can be apostles of the divine light in this time of darkness and hopelessness. This is a time of your trial. With a rosary in hand and love in the heart set out with me. I am leading you towards Easter in my Son. Pray for those whom my Son has chosen that they can always live through Him and in Him - the High Priest. Thank you." (March 2, 2012)   I am feeling ill today, and so I want to send only this powerful and challenging message again, along with a picture from Medjugorje that reflect its meaning. More tomorrow!   In Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2012

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The Pope's visit to a Roman parish, "become missionaries of Christ to your brothers wherever they live, work, study or spend their leisure time"

VATICAN - 

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "The position of your church placed on the highest spot in the neighborhood reminds you that the Gospel must be communicated and announced to everyone. Wait not for others to bring you different messages that do not lead to the real life; instead become yourselves missionaries of Christ to your brothers wherever they live, work, study or spend leisure time." This is the exhortation that the Holy Father Benedict XVI addressed to the faithful of the parish of St. John Baptist de La Salle in Torrino, in the Southern part of the Diocese of Rome, where he paid a pastoral visit on Sunday morning, March 4. Warmly welcomed by the members of the parish, the Pope emphasized that "faith must be lived together and the parish is a place where you learn to live one's own faith in the 'we' of the Church", so he hopes that the upcoming "Year of Faith" "is an auspicious occasion for the parish to grow and consolidate the experience of catechesis on the great truths of Christian faith, so as to allow the neighborhood to know and learn the Creed of the Church, and overcome that '"religious illiteracy" which is one of the biggest problems of our day."
Finally the Holy Father focused on the centrality of the Eucharist, in personal and community life, and the importance of Sunday, "which must be rediscovered and lived as the day of God and the community": "Gathered around the Eucharist, in fact, we more easily perceive how the mission of every Christian community is to bring the message of God's love to all men. That is why it is important that the Eucharist is always the heart of the life of the faithful." (SL) (Agenzia Fides 05/03/2012)

Benedict XVI: Everyone be missionaries of Christ On Sunday morning, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Roman parish of San Giovanni Battista de La Salle in Torrino, in the southern part of the Diocese of Rome. During his homily on the Second Sunday of Lent, the Holy Father said, "If God gave His Son for all of us, no one can condemn us, no one can separate us from his great love." He said the supreme sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross is the definitive exodus which open the door to freedom and the newness of the Resurrection. It also gives us the firm hope that God will be victorious in our lives. The Pope said this offers us comfort, which we need in our daily journey, which is so often marked by the darkness of evil.

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Catholic Prayer Life Blog: Scripture Reflections

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Mar 4, Daily Reflections On Scripture Readings That Will Nourish Your Soul Short daily reflections have been posted for this week. Read these daily Catholic reflections on scripture readings, much like a devotional. http://www.catholic-prayer-life.com/Daily-Reflections.html

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[Video] Pope Benedict XVI: Jesus protects us from the assaults of darknes

Benedict XVI: Jesus protects us from the assaults of darknes "We all need inner light to overcome the trials of life. This light comes from God, and Christ gives it to us". Those were Pope Benedict XVI words at the Angelus, commenting on the Gospel of this second Sunday of Lent. The mystery of the Transfiguration, the Pope explained, should not be detached from the context of the path that Jesus is making. After the experience of the desert, the Son of God invites us to climb the mountain to reveal his divine glory, the splendor of Truth and Love. "God is light -- said the Pope, and asked everyone not to be ashamed of being Christians. Jesus wants to give his friends the most intimate experience of this light, dwelling in Jesus is the light that never goes out, ... More

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CMMB: Your Weekly Reflection in Prayer 3/4/2012

“If God is for us, who can be against us? Is it possible that He who did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for the sake of us all will not grant us all things besides?”   Romans 8: 31-32 March 4, 2012 Second Sunday of Lent Dear Friends, In life, we look for, and need, some anchor, something solid and trustworthy to hold on to.  Christian faith puts before us the love of God in Christ Jesus as this anchor, this center, this rock of Gibraltar.   The season of Lent leads us forward to Holy Week and Easter, where we see most clearly the height and depth of the love of God.  God did not spare His own Son.  Jesus gives Himself completely to His Father and to us – for us and for our salvation.   When in doubt, when in need, when lost or feeling abandoned and alone, we are assured that God’s love remains.  May we have the faith and courage to turn to and trust in that love.  Lord Jesus Christ, take us to Yourself, draw us with cords to the foot of Your cross; for we have no strength to come and we know not the way. You are mighty to save, and none can separate us from Your love. Bring us home to You. We have wandered. Under the shadow of Your cross let us live all the rest of our lives, and there we shall be safe.   Amen.  Rev. Peter Schineller, S.J., CMMB Board of Directors

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Transformation into Christ is the Journey and the Goal of our Lives

via us2.campaign-archive2.com

“Oh My Jesus
may our feet journey together
may our hands gather in unity
may our hearts beat to the same rhythm
may our souls be in harmony
may our thoughts be in unison
may our ears listen to the silence together
may our glances melt in one another
and may our lips beg our heavenly Father together to obtain Mercy...Amen!”

Prayer taught by our Lord to Elizabeth Kindelmann as part of the Church approved messages of “Our Lady Flame of Love” (www.theflameoflove.org)

You can receive complimentary materials to make your Consecration to God through Mary’s Immaculate Heart (important spiritual protection at this time in salvation history) at myconsecration.org... where you can also learn about Our Lady of Las Lajas.

You can learn more about our Lady of Fatima at www.wafusa.org.

God Bless you and your work,

Deacon Bob Tony

Deacon Bob Ellis Anthony Mullen
Executive Director MyConsecration.org
World Apostolate of Fatima, USA 222 S. Manoa Road
A Pontifical Association of the Faithful Havertown, PA 19083
visit us at: www.wafusa.org visit us at: www.myconsecration.org

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From Mark Mallett: How the Era was Lost

via markmallett.com

THE future hope of an “era of peace” based on the “thousand years” that follow the death of Antichrist, according to the the book of Revelation, may sound like a new concept to some readers. To others, it is considered a heresy. But it is neither. The fact is, the eschatological hope of a “period” of peace and justice, of a “Sabbath rest” for the Church before the end of time, does have its basis in Sacred Tradition. In reality, it has been somewhat buried in centuries of misinterpretation, unwarranted attacks, and speculative theology that continues to this day. In this writing, we look at the question of exactly how “the era was lost”—a bit of a soap opera in itself—and other questions such as whether it is literally a “thousand years,” whether Christ will be visibly present at that time, and what we can expect. Why is this important? Because it not only confirms a future hope that the Blessed Mother announced as imminent at Fatima, but of events that must take place at the end of this age that will change the world forever… events that appear to be on the very threshold of our times.

Read more… » http://www.markmallett.com/blog/2012/03/how-the-era-was-lost/#more-7947

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March 2, 2012 Reflection: Our Lady's 2nd of the Month Message for Unbelievers

March 2, 2012   Dear Family of Mary!   Our Lady's message to Mirjana Soldo of March 2nd, 2012: Dear children; Through the immeasurable love of God I am coming among you and I am persistently calling you into the arms of my Son. With a motherly heart I am imploring you, my children, but I am also repeatedly warning you, that concern for those who have not come to know my Son be in the first place for you. Do not permit that by looking at you and your life, they are not overcome by a desire to come to know Him. Pray to the Holy Spirit for my Son to be impressed within you. Pray that you can be apostles of the divine light in this time of darkness and hopelessness. This is a time of your trial. With a rosary in hand and love in the heart set out with me. I am leading you towards Easter in my Son. Pray for those whom my Son has chosen that they can always live through Him and in Him - the High Priest. Thank you.   In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan

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[video] First Friday Devotion

What More Can I Do? Reflection for 3/2/12 www.apostleshipofprayer.org More
©

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[MaryVitamin] III Station

 

Mary Vitamin for March 1st

  

Topic: The Third Station --The First Fall

Quote:

Fr. Faber

"He is her Babe of Bethlehem. She is helpless. She cannot get near. Omnipotence held her heart fast. In a peace far beyond man's understanding, she followed slowly on to Calvary, Magdalen and John beside themselves with grief, but feeling as if grace went out from her blue mantle enabling them also to live with broken hearts."

 

Foot of the Cross, (Tan Books:1978), 208.

Meditation:

John Paul II

"Mary shares our human condition, but in complete openness to the grace of God. Not having known sin, she is able to have compassion on every kind of weakness. She understands sinful man and loves him with a Mother's love. Precisely for this reason she is on the side of truth and shares the Church's burden in recalling always and to everyone the demands of morality. Nor does she permit sinful man to be deceived by those who claim to love him by justifying his sin, for she knows that the sacrifice of Christ her Son would thus be emptied of its power. No absolution offered by beguiling doctrines, even in the areas of philosophy and theology, can make man truly happy: only the Cross and the glory of the Risen Christ can grant peace to his conscience and salvation to his life."

Veritatis Splendor

 

Resolution:

In my failings as well as my victories this Lent Our Lady will keep me company and give me the strength of her blue mantle and permit no "beguiling doctrines"

 

to deceive me.

  

I will turn to Our Lady for wisdom and strength.

 

Marian Vow:

St. Katharine Drexel

"O holy Mother of God, behold your child! I am not worthy but Jesus gave me to you. I am part of His legacy, teach me to behave that a child of Mary ought to behave."

Praying With Mother Katharine Drexel, 14

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate  & AirMaria

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Pope's prayer intentions for March: Women and persecuted Christians [2 videos]

Pope's prayer intentions for March: Women and persecuted Christians Every month of the year, the Pope prays for a general intention. During the month of March, the Pope will be praying for women, so that the contribution they make to the development of society is recognized worldwide. More

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[video] Catholic Priests are Biblical

Catholic Priests are Biblical "Do this in remembrance of me," may also be translated, "Offer this as my memorial sacrifice" -- a fact Protestant preachers never mention when they talk about this passage. But it has an important bearing on our topic, because by telling the apostles to offer His memorial sacrifice, Jesus clearly ordained them as His priests. More

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Mary TV March 1, 2012 Reflection

(c)MaryTV 2012 Intercession in Medjugorje  March 1, 2012   Dear Family of Mary!   "Dear children! At this time, in a special way I call you: 'pray with the heart'. Little children, you speak much and pray little. Read and meditate on Sacred Scripture, and may the words written in it be life for you. I encourage and love you, so that in God you may find your peace and the joy of living. Thank you for having responded to my call." (February 25, 2012)   "Little children, you speak much and pray little." Our Lady has often contrasted the amount of words we use with the amount of prayer we pray. If we could make a chart and measure our idle chatter and long discussions about life against the amount of time we spend in conversation with God, we might be surprised. There is nothing wrong with normal conversation, because it builds relationships and creates friendship and joy. But, the relationship we need to nurture the most is our relationship with God. How can we respond to this message?   Scripture holds many great examples for us. The Gospel for today is a good one. It is Queen Esther in prayer, interceding for her people:   Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,    had recourse to the LORD.  She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids,   from morning until evening, and said:  "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.  Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,   for I am taking my life in my hand.  As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers  that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.  Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,   O LORD, my God.    "And now, come to help me, an orphan.  Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion  and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy,   so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.  Save us from the hand of our enemies;   turn our mourning into gladness  and our sorrows into wholeness."   (Est. C:12, 14-16, 23-25)   Queen Esther gathered herself entirely, and placed herself in God's hands in this prayer. She stayed in prayer for a long time, in order to wait on Him. Her deep prayer of intercession was heard, and all of Israel was spared. If we could imitate her, even for 10 minutes a day, and go before the Lord is complete surrender, abandonment and trust, we could open the gates of heaven from which graces are poured out upon the world. We could help Our Lady to bring about her plan for the salvation of souls.   This may be what the Lent is all about!   In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2012

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From New Oxford Review: News You May Have Missed

FROM THE CURRENT ISSUE

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Here, Kitty Kitty... Failure to Launch, Parte Seconda... Holy Dumping Ground... Up to His Old Tricks... Sr. Marie's Black Habit... Awaiting the Corduroy Messiah... and more

Read all about it...

http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=0112-news

 

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Monthly message from Anne, a lay apostle

_____________________________________ March 1, 2012 Monthly Message On the first of every month, our Lord gives Anne a new message about His call to service. March 1, 2011 Jesus My dear apostles, you remain faithful to Me and I guide you through every change. Can it be said that the Lord devised a plan for you yesterday and again today but that the Lord will fail to make His plan for tomorrow known to you? Will I hide My needs from you? Will I abandon the work and the workers? You know that this will never happen. My friends desire a relationship with Me and truly I make Myself available to all who sincerely seek Me. And those who know Me, through a desire to know Me, understand that My ways do not always look the same as the ways of the world. Therefore, true followers must be alert to the desires of the Lord when events around them alter earthly plans. I am constructing an edifice of humility in the world. I am committed to My Church and it is My desire to bring an abundance of grace into the world through My Church. Dear apostles, do you see that this cannot be accomplished through the ways designed by humanity? Which human being can embrace the scope of change necessary to bring God's children into humility and into love for the Father? Only God can do this and only God understands the ways of both earth and heaven. It will always be a heavenly directed plan which brings individuals back to peace through holiness. Together, we are accomplishing this, person by person. I am pleased that our efforts are securing fruit, which we offer to the Father as evidence of a true desire for holiness in His children. Please, dear apostles, remain faithful to Me. Allow Me to direct your contribution and you will be blessed and consoled. Through your fidelity, others will also be blessed and consoled. When we are finished with your work on earth, you will come to Me in fullness and you will understand all that I accomplished through your willingness. I will not steer you into what is bad for you but into what is good for you. Continue on in trust and be grateful that I have chosen you to serve God's Renewal. Direction for Our Times For more information, visit our website.

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