The Fire of My Love "We Have A Pipeline to God" by Rita Ring, January 22, 1994

Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr

We Have A Pipeline to God

January 22, 1994 6:00 a.m.

R. God talks to each of us inside our own hearts. There is an open pipeline between each of us and Him. The inner promptings felt in the heart are the way God is speaking to us right now.

He does not need our senses to talk to us. We take in our earthly knowledge through our eyes and ears. We communicate with each other through our senses. But God does not need senses. He communicates directly to each of our hearts.

This book is a cookbook for an intimate relationship with Jesus. As soon as we open ourselves up to His words and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we can then hear the wonderful way in which God wants to communicate with us.

There are many nerves and body parts about which we are totally unaware until something goes wrong. Only then do we become aware of their presence. Likewise, God is always ready to be our inner guide on our spiritual way. Like our outer body parts, we can ignore His presence until something goes wrong. Then we know how real He is.

Jesus is so close to us. When we are baptized He is in our hearts! He is the very life of the soul. When we are receiving our answers from within, we are tapping into His pipeline.

This book will help you to know what God Himself wants for your life. A fire will arise within your heart that cannot be contained.

http://www.sofc.org/

St. James Church in Medjugorje Image via Wikipedia

Our Lady's Message of April 25, 2009

Our Lady Queen of Peace of Medjugorje’s April 25, 2009 Monthly Message

“Dear children! Today I call you all to pray for peace and to witness it in your families so that peace may become the highest treasure on this peaceless earth. I am your Queen of Peace and your Mother. I desire to lead you on the way of peace, which comes only from God. Therefore, pray, pray, pray. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

                              

“Today I call you all to pray for peace and to witness it in your families so that peace may become the highest treasure...”

Check back later for pictures of our day, (April 25, '09) in the Community, before and after apparition time. This message today defines our life in the Community.

Tonight, Saturday April 25, 2009

A Radio WAVE^TM broadcast regarding Our Lady of Medjugorje's 25th message, with A Friend of Medjugorje tonight, Saturday, April 25th, at 7:00 PM Central USA, here on mej.com. See chart below for your local time. Please be in prayer.

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SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #558

Pilate therefore went forth again and saith to them: "Behold, I bring him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in him." (Jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.) And he saith to them: "Behold the Man." When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants had seen him, they cried out, saying: "Crucify him, Crucify him." Pilate saith to them: "Take him you, and crucify him: for I find no cause in him." (John 19:5-6)

THE INNOCENCE OF JESUS: Pilate said repeatedly: "I find no fault in Him," and spoke of Him as "this just Man." When he could find no more words to express his belief in the innocence of Jesus, he affirmed it anew by the solemn action of washing his hands, by which he meant to say: "He whom I am condemning against my will is guiltless of any fault." In other cases where a man, though innocent, has been condemned, the judge has always based his sentence on, at least, some appearance of guilt; but in this case the judge solemnly and publicly declared that He who was accused was innocent on every charge. Jesus was condemned to a disgraceful death, avowedly, in spite of His innocence: no breath tarnished the fair fame of His holiness. No act of justice or law condemned Him to death; He was the Victim of those who hated Him, and who savagely and imperiously demanded His death.

[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]

(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)

[MaryVitamin] First Mark of True Devotion

Mary Vitamin for April 24th

 

Topic: First mark of True Devotion to Mary

according to Saint Louis de Montfort (April 28th)

 

Quote:

St. Louis de Montfort

"First, true devotion to Our Lady is interior, that is, it comes from within the mind and the heart and follows from the esteem in which we hold her, the high regard we have for her greatness, and the love we bear her."

True Devotion to Mary, (Tan Books), 106.

 

Meditation:

Pope St. Pius X certainly had cause for concern during his pontificate. As Pope during the years preceding WW I, Pius X saw the evil that was about to befall the world in this colossal war.  Yet amidst these heavy concerns this holy Pope practiced interior devotion and high regard for Our Lady's greatness by saying:

 

"Let the storm rage and the sky darken not for that shall we be dismayed. If we trust as we should in Mary, we shall recognize in her, the Virgin Most Powerful who with virginal foot did crush the head of the serpent."

Francis T. Johnson, Voices of the Saints, (Tan Books)

 

Resolution:

Today I will imitate St. Pius the Tenth's great devotion and interior trust of Our Lady. I will pray an extra

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee,

the prayer written on my Miraculous medal which depicts our Lady crushing the head of the serpent. I will entrust my concerns to her.

 

Marian Vow:

St. John Eudes comforts those who have taken Our Lady as their Queen and ruler of all their actions and belongings:

 

"Blessed be the heaven and the earth which have for their Queen the admirable child Mary. For she possesses more light and wisdom, strength and power, than all the kings and queens who ever were or ever will be. And this little Mary is a great Princess and a most powerful Queen; Queen of men and Angels, Empress of the universe. She was Princess and Queen from the womb of her mother. Is it not suitable to the glory of the eternal King of Kings, that she who was to be His Mother should bear a royal crown even from her birth?"
The Wondrous Childhood of the Most Holy Mother of God, (PCP: 1998), 237.

 

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

 

Thanks be to God for graces received.

 

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate & AirMaria

__._,_.___

Visit Your Group 

__,_._,___

Blessings+
Deacon John

The Fire of My Love "God Operates Like God" by Rita Ring, January 21, 1994

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God Operates Like God

January 21, 1994 10:00 p.m.

R. When God is using you to do His work, you will not be doing what the "old you" used to do. He is God. He is powerful. His ways are steadfast and direct. He operates as He operates, as God.

When we become selfless and we let Him possess our souls, it is He who operates us and we are amazed at what He does in us.

http://www.sofc.org

The Church lives in people

Cover of Jesus of Nazareth

VATICAN - WORDS OF DOCTRINE:

Rev Nicola Bux and Rev Salvatore Vitiello -

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "The Church lives in people and those who wish to know the Church and to understand her mystery, must consider people who lived and who live the message and the mystery of the Church ". This was how the Holy Father Benedict XVI began his address at the weekly Wednesday audience on April 22, showing once again the extraordinary realism of his manner of understanding, and above all, of living Christianity, that is, the encounter with the Event, the Person of Christ.

Those who still see this pontificate as reined between "conservatorism" "progressism", between "new" end "old", between "vulgate" and "Latin" , between "break" and "continuity", show clearly that they fail to grasp, not only the theological stature of Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI, but indeed the very nature of Christianity.

Faith in Jesus of Nazareth, Lord and Christ, is marked by victory over all ideological pre-comprehension and by the Risen Lord's continual presence in his Body, the Church which, precisely, "lives in people". The fact that the Church lives in people, implies the necessary question of "how" can the men and women of today, of the 21st century, truly encounter Jesus Christ without this encounter being some sort of sentimentalist or spiritualistic flight, and the equivalent of a rationalistic reduction of the Mystery. Both, flight and the reduction, are not worthy of the human person who is a rational being but at the same time capable of experiencing authentic sentiments; they are not worthy of what the Bible calls the human "heart", the entirety of the demands and the evidence which constitute the essential nucleus, with which to compare the events of life.

The answer to "how" can men and women of today meet Christ and know the Church which, "lives in people", can be found in the still too little understood coincidence between content and method in Christianity!

As the Holy Father recalled in his recent allocution to the Plenary of the Congregation for the Clergy: " In the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, that is, of the fact that God became man like us, lies both the content and the method of Christian proclamation " (16 March 2009).

This is why "the Church lives in people"! Because the Incarnation is not only a dogmatic reality concerning the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth, it is, at the same time, the method with which the Lord chose to reveal himself and continues to do so, in this time of the Spirit and the Church, with the same method: through what is human.

The human, which certainly has none of the prerogatives of the most holy humanity of Christ the Lord, immune from any trace of sin, but which nevertheless, powerfully transformed by sanctifying grace, can continue to "strike" and attract men and women of our times for new judgment and new behavior in reality, which determine an encounter with Christ. This is the ever new mystery of humanity transformed by grace which, one sees again and again, answers to the deepest desires of every person, meeting, even among those most distant from the Church, favor and acceptance from which there arises the same old question: "Who is this man?". A question which is the first step to faith! Faith rendered possible precisely by the awareness that content and method in and of Christianity, coincide, because "the Church lives in people".

(Agenzia Fides 23/4/2009; righe 45, parole 526)

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SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #557

Pilate therefore went forth again and saith to them: "Behold, I bring him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in him." (Jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.) And he saith to them: "Behold the Man." When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants had seen him, they cried out, saying: "Crucify him, Crucify him." Pilate saith to them: "Take him you, and crucify him: for I find no cause in him." (John 19:5-6)

"BEHOLD THE MAN!" These words were spoken to us as well as to the Jews, and demand that we should contemplate the sufferings of our Divine Lord, admire His gentleness and patience, and take to heart the infinite love which made Him suffer so much for us. The contemplation of the sufferings of Jesus Christ is one of the chief devotions we can practice, and is calculated to fill us with a hatred of sin and love of Jesus, and to comfort and strengthen us in all our sufferings and trials.

[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]

(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)

[MaryVitamin] Fifth Glorious Mystery

Image by Lawrence OP via Flickr

Mary Vitamin for April 23rd

 Topic: Fifth Glorious Mystery, The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 Quote:

"Arise, make haste, my love, My dove, My beautiful one, and come; for winter is now past and gone. Thou shalt be crowned."

Canticles 2:10-11 & 4:8

 Meditation:

St. Alphonsus di Liguori explains the Coronation from the viewpoint of the Son of God:

"Come in soul and body, to enjoy the recompense of thy holy life. If thy sufferings have been great on earth, far greater is the glory which I have prepared for thee in heaven. Enter, then, that kingdom, and take thy seat near Me; come to receive that crown which I will bestow upon thee as Queen of the universe."

St. Alphonsus di Liguori, The Glories of Mary, (Tan Books), 391.

 We also find in the gospel Our Lord confirming the reward Our Lady will receive because of her virtuous life:

 While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed." He replied, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."

Luke 11:28

 Resolution:

Winter does come to an end. For Our Lady, Her life of self-immolation ends in great triumph. She is rewarded because She is the Immaculate Conception. She is honored as the Mother of God. She is crowned because of Her virtue.

Today I will think of Our Lady's Coronation and pray for perseverance.

 Marian Vow:

"There are seven Biblical passages, however, which may be used as guideposts for the spiritual ascent of every M.I.M. missionary, from the battle with sin (Gen. 3:15) to the appearance of the Woman clothed with the sun(Apoc. 12:1).

In fact, these seven passages treat the ascetical-mystical life as it begins with purification and practice of virtue (charity, prayer, mortification, purity) and concludes in union with Christ, in self-immolation with Mary, in the very life of the Holy Spirit, via identification with the woman clothed with the sun.".

 Marian Seraphic Pathways, Statutes, Article 7.

 I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate & AirMaria

__._,_.___

Visit Your Group

__,_._,___

Blessings+
Deacon John

Sent from Mt Dora, Florida, United States

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The Fire of My Love "I Am the Light of the World, You Are My Lamp" by Rita Ring, January 21, 1994

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I Am the Light of the World, You Are My Lamp

January 21, 1994 5:10 a.m.

R. Dear Jesus, You are truly great. All honor and all praise is Yours. You are the light of the earth. You are one who cries out for us to amend our lives and we do not listen to what you tell us. We are not worthy of you, yet you love us so much. Oh Jesus, I love you.

Jesus: I am your Savior. I am Jesus, Son of the Living God. I have all the power. I am truly there, little one. I am with you in every one of your trials. I watch you like a doting mother. You are guarded by Me in all you do.

I am your God. I tend to your every need. Do not be troubled or look for answers. Put all your trust in Me and tend to the work at hand. I am yours and you are Mine. Ask for selflessness and let Me possess you.

Be simple. Only tend to things of God. I am what is important. Do not get anxious about this. What you are doing here will help many souls who are willing. Just keep working. Do not question. I am guiding your life.

I am ever attentive to your needs. My child, I love you so much. Do not worry or fret on anything. I am guarding your work here. Alleluia.

I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am He Whose bootstraps you are unworthy to tie. I am the Lord of all ages. I am God, child. Do you realize God is present and talking to you? Do not think. Just write and feel My presence so close to you.

I love everyone with such intense love. My soul is sad and My heart is heavy for what My children are doing in their lives.

I have all the power. I can stop it all and rock you in a moment, but I keep asking for your prayers. You faithful ones, you are the answer to the aching world. Your prayers are so powerful. Don't stand on a box and preach how bad the world is. They don't hear you. You waste your energy. You work yourself up. Preach only of My love. Pray constantly. By your example you teach mighty lessons.

The world is starving and the only thing they will take notice of is the food for their starving soul. They need food. The Mass is their salvation if they would go and listen to the readings and come with an open heart to receive all that they could there. But most of their hearts are closed and they are not in a state to receive Me. They have worshiped false gods and don't even know it.

You pray, little ones. The souls of your brothers are dependent on your prayers. The state of the world is dependent on your prayers. Pray the rosary. Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Sit and develop an intimate love affair with Me. Go to daily Mass and Communion. Pray with your children. Play with them and stay close to them. Read them these letters.

Give others My words here. Tell them of My intense love for them and My longing to be alone with them. Tell them that God is waiting for them and that He has the cure for their aching hearts. Plant seeds about My love even when you are rejected. You are the dresser in a barren field. Do not cover your light. Let it shine to all so they may see your good works and praise your Father in heaven.

Pray to fight off Satan's distractions in your own lives. He wants you focused on yourselves and trouble in your life. Put your troubles at the foot of My cross and be the light in the darkness. Your light, your example in such darkness and your love given to the hardened heart are what will help save this cold world!

Do you underestimate your value here? You are candles in the darkest night. Satan wants to snuff you out. He wants you to remain, like the world, at unrest. You must go to the world prepared by My love. Your arms are hearts filled with My love. You are candles in the dark night. Offer up your struggles to Me that you might shine even brighter. Strive for holiness. Do not go to the negativeness of the world. Focus on the remedy: your prayers and My love.

Be the light in the darkness. Be ever up and ready for a battle with love and My operating in you. Stay so steadfast in Me that you allow Me to operate from you.

You are My soldiers in this cold, cold world. You are soldiers of love. Your arms are your warm and radiant hearts furnished by Me. I am all powerful. Do not ever underestimate what a heart fixed in Me will do in this world. Do not ever underestimate that when I operate from you I am God and I am all powerful.

Be My empty vessel to the world. Let Me possess your soul and operate from your very being. What might for your sick brothers! When you get caught up in their deeds and your distractions, you are stopping the flow of My love to your brothers. Be as an empty pipe. You exist to let My love flow constantly into and out of you. Do not clog up your pipe and stop My love and My light from reaching your brothers.

You are a light set on a hill that shines to all. A city is warmed by the love of Jesus if you keep yourselves fixed in Me. Do not give in to self-pity or wailing about your trials. Offer them up for strength. I am the light of the world and you are My lamp. Let Me shine from you. Let Me warm the cold heart. Become selfless and unattached. Your work is at hand. You indeed need My strength. Tell Satan to be gone and place your cares at My feet! Be about My work. I need to use you. Be an empty vessel and come and be filled by Me.

You are so valuable to Me. I need you now! Do not say no. Do not let Satan distract you. You are My precious little ones, such beautiful children. Live in My love and let Me live in you!

http://www.sofc.org/

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Love which forgives

Modern Confessional

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VATICAN - AVE MARIA : Mgr Luciano Alimandi - 

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) -

"The Risen Jesus gives his followers new unity, even stronger than before, invincible, since it is founded not on human resources but on his divine mercy, which enables them to experience his love and his forgiveness. It is therefore God's loving mercy which firmly unites the Church, today as yesterday, and makes one family of the whole of humanity; Divine Love which, through the crucified and risen Jesus, forgives our sins and renews us from within. Fired by this conviction, my beloved predecessor, John Paul II, decided to make this second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, pointing to the risen Christ as the source of trust and hope, receiving a spiritual message which the Lord gave to Saint Faustina Kowalska, and summarized in the invocation: 'Jesus, I trust in You!' " (Benedict XVI, Regina Caeli, 19 April 2009).

As the Holy Father said on the fourth anniversary of his election as Supreme Pontiff, Divine Mercy enables us to experience the Lord's love and forgiveness. The greatest gift which flows from Christ's salvific Sacrifice is the manifestation of His loving and forgiving mercy. This love, the essence of the Most Holy Trinity, is poured into the hearts of those who open to faith in the Lord Jesus who died and is Risen from the dead for us. The invocation "Jesus I trust in you", expresses the fundamental prayer of every Christian, unconditioned trust in the Redeemer.
The mystery of Divine Mercy is the heart of the Christian message and therefore should permeate all preaching by priests to whom the Lord, through a humble Polish nun, Saint Faustina Kowalska, made a wonderful promise: " To priests who proclaim and extol My mercy, I will give wondrous power; I will anoint their words and touch the hearts of those to whom they speak" (Diary, 1521).

In every human heart there lies a longing for freedom placed there by God, who created man in his image and likeness. Without such freedom there can be no love or happiness. When we were children our hearts were filled with joy because we were free: free from self, free from the voluntary and personal experience of sin. We knew the taste of the true freedom of the children of God.

We all need Divine Mercy to be once again free in order to love God and our neighbor. Only God's mercy has the power to free us from our sins which close the way to happiness. Jesus, precisely on the day of his Resurrection, appeared to the Apostles in the Upper Room and gave them and through them, their successors, that is priests, the immense power to absolve sins through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (cfr. Jn 20, 19-23).

Not by chance, especially in the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter, Catholics feel the need to go to confession, mysteriously drawn by Divine Mercy. Jesus told Faustina Kowalska, about a most consoling truth: " "Write, speak of My mercy. Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [the Sacrament of Reconciliation]. There the greatest miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one's misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no [hope of] restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God's mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late." (Diary, 1448).

What a great joy it is to find again the freedom lost through sin. To go from slavery to freedom, from death to life … Those who experience conversion, through the Father's unconditioned forgiveness are "reborn" to new life. How many times a convert is heard to say - and we are all called to convert our hearts more and more - "I am a different person!" Yes, when freedom for goodness, beauty, truth becomes once again our traveling companion for life, when we are freed from vice and sin - which push us to commit the evil we try to avoid and not to do the good we desire to do -, then joy is once again the companion of freedom and the heart knows the happiness of being once again free for God, the Supreme Good.

Divine Mercy is the path to freedom. The life of grace through forgiveness requested and given, reopens for the sinner the door of truth: truth about God, about man, about the world. With His resurrection the Lord gave us through Divine mercy the possibility of having all our sins forgiven, all we have to do is to turn humbly to Him. Every time we approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation we come into living contact with the mystery of Divine mercy and through the priest who gives absolution, we meet Love which forgives, the same Love experienced by the Apostles in the Upper Room on Easter Day: "whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven " (Jn 20, 23). These words of Jesus contain God's loving mercy for us!

(Agenzia Fides 22/4/2009; righe 66, parole 952)

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SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #556

But the chief priests and ancients persuaded the people that they should ask Barabbas and make Jesus away. And the governor answering, said to them: "Whether will you of the two to be released unto you?" But they said: "Barabbas." Pilate saith to them: "What shall I do then with Jesus that is called Christ?" They say all: "Let him be crucified." The governor said to them: "Why, what evil hath he done?" But they cried out the more, saying: "Let him be crucified." And Pilate seeing that he prevailed nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, taking water washed his hands before the people, saying: "I am innocent of the blood of this just man. Look you to it." And the whole people answering, said: "His blood be upon us and upon our children." Then he released to them Barabbas: and having scourged Jesus, delivered him unto them to be crucified. (Matt. 27:20-26)

INGRATITUDE AND FICKLENESS OF THE PEOPLE: They one and all voted in favor of Barabbas: not one raised his voice for Jesus. Ingratitude is the world's recompense for benefits!

[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]

(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)

 

The Fire of My Love "Sufferings Are Golden Gems" by Rita Ring, January 20, 1994

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Sufferings Are Golden Gems

January 20, 1994 6:00 a.m.

Jesus: My child, hold My hand and know that I am with you at this moment. You do not need the busyness of Satan. He wants to stop your book, here, in any way possible. Hold tight and pray for strength. I am He Who loves you intently. I care for everything in your life. Anything that happens will strengthen you.

Sufferings are golden gems from heaven. When your life is tested, turn to Me. I am closest in your trials. Any person who is close to Me moves full steam ahead and does not become bogged down by Satan's distractions. He is out to distract you (read the message of January l8). I need your total commitment to Me. I need you with your feet in the air and not looking back with yearning for this worldly ground. Once you are out there on a limb, it is worse to crawl back and forth. I am supporting you in everything and you must know this is not a little work but very important to My plan. I will give you the strength you need to do all I want you to do but you must come to Me constantly.

None of what you do here makes sense in the eyes of this world. No one of the world understands one thing that is happening. Do not turn your eyes to people and their explanations. Turn your eyes trustingly to Me Who needs you to perform your work selflessly and without any questions. Do your job and do not question. Your mind is being engulfed by Satan's sea of doubt.

He will try to stop you any way he can. These letters will bring many of My people back to Me. Do not worry what or how this is happening or how they will reach people. I am Jesus and I am supporting all who are involved in this endeavor. I am defending you with My arms. I am your God and I loved you to My death. See Me with My arms outstretched in love of you! Keep focusing on My Passion. There is so much gained by meditating on My Passion.

My death and Resurrection are the redemption of all mankind. Focus on Me and My love for you. It is My love that will see you through all this.

Focus on Me and My love. Think of Me at My death. Remember My agony, all the blood I shed and the Passion I walked for love of you. Child, I love you this much this day. How can you ever doubt that anything I send you is not out of deepest love for you?

Focus on Me and My love and My work here. You must get both feet off the ground and move full steam ahead. Don't look back to the ground. I need your surrender totally to Me. I need your commitment totally to Me. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

In the end, it will be the things of Me and all that you did for My world that goes with you. All else here is of no account.

My work is your top priority. Your prayer life alone with Me is your utmost concern. You need to be with Me in front of the tabernacle. You need time alone with Me. Satan is going to try to trip you up. Do not focus on anything but the things of Me.

I come to you with such love. I am Jesus, who died for you. I have so much to give you. I will care for all the details in your life. Let go and surrender into My hands. When you worry, when you doubt, that is from Satan. You must be absolutely sure in Me and My work here.

Spend time with Me alone. Spend so much time with Me that you do not ever miss a moment of solitude with Me. Make Spiritual Communions all day. Do not ever take your eyes from Me. You need constant union with Me. Full steam ahead, total commitment, focus on My love for you--nothing else. Say the prayer for Union with Me and let your mind be engulfed in My love. Let go of every distraction and let Me in your heart to work.

Pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance. I am your God and I am so loving. I am Jesus Christ. I am truly here!

http://www.sofc.org/

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[MaryVitamin] Fourth Glorious Mystery

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Mary Vitamin for April 23rd  

Topic: The Fourth Glorious Mystery, The Assumption

Quote:

"Why speak of death? Let us rather say that Divine love came, and cut the thread of that noble life."

St. Alphonsus di Liguori, The Glories of Mary, (Tan Books), 384.

Meditation:

"The prophet Elias was carried to heaven in a fiery chariot, which, according to interpreters, was no other than a group of angels who bore him off from the earth. 'But to conduct thee to heaven, O Mother of God,' says the Abbot Rupert, 'a fiery chariot was not enough; the whole court of heaven, headed by its King thy Son, went forth to meet and accompany thee.'"

St. Alphonsus di Liguori, The Glories of Mary, (Tan Books), 389.

Resolution:

Every small death to myself in this life, brings me closer to the Blessed Virgin and cuts the chains that tie me to this earth. (She was held by a thread.) I don't have to go looking for extra penances if I just accept the daily challenges. I will try to endure bravely and virtuously one event today and think of the detachment of the Blessed Virgin to the things of this life.

Marian vow:

The Marian vow, if lived to its fullest in transubstantiation into the Immaculate, can become the fiery chariot to speed Our Lady's children to heaven.

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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Visit Your Group

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Blessings+
Deacon John

Sent from Mt Dora, Florida, United States

Zemanta helped me add links & pictures to this email. It can do it for you too.

 

Pilate's wife dreams.

SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #555

And as he was sitting in the place of judgment, his wife sent to him, saying: "Have thou nothing to do with that just man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him." (Matt. 27:19)

 

RESISTANCE TO GRACE: The divine warning by means of Procla's dream was a grace which Pilate, indeed, wasted; but by corresponding with it his noble wife obtained the gift of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and as most ancient fathers tell us, the grace to die a happy death. Pilate, on the other hand, was degraded by the emperor, and was banished to Vienne, where he ended his guilty life by suicide.

 

[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]

(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)

The Fire of My Love "Sufferings Will Befall You" January 19, 1994 4:45 a.m.

Sufferings Will Befall You 

January 19, 1994 4:45 a.m. 

Jesus: I write a message for the world. I write this message for you. I want to tell them to pray and not to underestimate what sufferings will befall them all. Pray constantly. You suffer this weather, you see the earthquakes and you still do not comprehend a power greater than yourself. I have all the power. I want men's minds and hearts to turn back to God. I want God first in their lives, but they are so blind. What do they need to shake them to such great power! 

All things are under My control. There is not one thing that happens that I do not allow. You are so comfortable in such evilness. Why are you not on your knees asking, "Lord what is happening?" One suffering will come after another and you will, in your blindness, have to admit to My Might. My mother comes and people pay no heed. Spread these messages. Spread her messages. Do not think of what others think of you. They will know soon enough of their blindness. Do not spend a day without telling someone news about the Blessed Mother and why she comes. Tell all of My might and tell them to pray. Prayer is your weapon in a sick world. Open up the minds of your friends. What will rock these children off their rockers? If the earth moves under them, they still stay steadfast in their ways. So stubborn, indeed. They want to be blind because they do not want to change to the ways of God! 

I am He Who comes to you this way. I am He Who wants you to pray constantly. I am He Who is calling out an alert for a change in your lives. I am He Who wants you to pray, yet you sit. You idle and hold on to such trivial things while the earth moves under your feet! I will rock the heavens. I will tell you of My might. Sit, you idle ones, but you will suffer for not praying. I am God. I am Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, and I am ever present in your midst. You are blind and look for idle pursuits. 

You have become so comfortable in this evilness that you do not even sit up and take notice. "Oh, it is okay. I don't like it, but it is okay." Your children are being poisoned by the world, as if someone gives them constant poison, and you worry about your sports and what have you! 

Where in the world do you think you are going? Man thinks he is here to stay. He spends his days making his life "better" he thinks: more things--more things, more money, better bodies, clean breath, better smelling feet--oh, such insane pursuits! Let's make these bodies so perfect! Our lives should reflect the perfect life! Our children run races for glory every day, not even knowing the Ten Commandments! You make every moment a pleasure in itself. Make yourselves happy. Eat, drink, be merry, be beautiful, be smart, be perfect. Forget God--who is He? We have a life going on here and we are going to enjoy every moment! This society is sick, sick, sick. What they are enjoying is destroying their souls. Children are not even aware that I exist and their lives are totally secular. They are so blind. Oh, America, I lament everything you do. It is senseless and without meaning! 

The Son of Man is in your midst and you do not even know who He is. What more can I say. Spread My good news that Jesus is Lord and He is Coming, that you had better turn your lives back to Him now. Mary, My mother, is coming. The sun spins. What do they need? Such attachments to their sick ways! Pray constantly. Tell others about Me. Tell them to read the Bible and amend their ways. Tell them that I am God and that they need to turn their lives back to Me. Tell them to repent and pray. My mercy is great and I am waiting with open arms. 

Pray, America, pray. You will soon know My might if you continue your foolish ways. Every soul who is fixed in Me is My messenger. Go to the highways and byways and tell all: Jesus is Lord and He wants you to amend your lives. He will rock the earth and you will know His might. Time is short. Repent and pray constantly. What do I do to shake you? This earth is very insecure, here today, gone tomorrow. The only things that remain are the things of God. 

I am Jesus, Son of the Living God. Hear Me, America. Listen and be attentive! I do not come to give a message for one or two. This is My message for all. You will know My might in big proportions. I will rock you off your rockers. You must turn your lives to God. You are not here for fun and sin and whatever you are doing. Oh, little ones, you miss My tremendous love for you. You have missed all the good I have for you. You are stubborn and willful. You are silly and sick. Pray for your brothers. Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. Offer everything you do as a prayer and know I never ever leave you! I love you, My child. This message is an act of love! 

I gave Myself that you might live. I am He Who comes to deliver this message to you and you are blind. Look beyond the cup and the drink. This is your miracle, that I am truly present in the Eucharist. 

I am here. Open your eyes and see Me here in your midst. Come to Me all who labor and are heavily burdened and I will give you rest. I am your God and I comfort you on your way. I am waiting for you to come and be in union with Me. 

You, My faithful ones, can no longer be silent. Don't worry. Speak out. Others need you!

http://www.sofc.org/

FROM MARK MALLETT:

On Private Revelation

The Dream, by Michael D. O’Brien

Within the past two hundred years, there have been more reported private revelations that have received some form of ecclesiastical approval than in any other period of the Church’s history. —Dr. Mark Miravalle, Private Revelation: Discerning with the Church, p. 3

STILL, there seems to be a deficit among many when it comes to understanding the role of private revelation in the Church. Out of all of the emails I have received over the course of the past few years, it is this area of private revelation which has produced the most fearful, confused, and mean-spirited letters that I have ever received. Perhaps it is the modern mind, trained as it were to shun the supernatural and only accept those things which are tangible. On the other hand, it could be a skepticism generated by the proliferation of private revelations this past century. Or it could be the work of Satan to discredit genuine revelations by sowing lies, fear, and division.

Whatever it may be, it is clear that this is another area where Catholics are sorely under-catechized. Often, it is those on a personal inquisition to expose the "false prophet" who are lacking the most understanding (and charity) in how the Church discerns private revelation.

In this writing, I want to address some things on private revelation that other writers rarely cover.

CAUTION, NOT FEAR

The goal of this website has been to prepare the Church for the times which lay directly before her, drawing primarily upon the Popes, the Catechism, and the Early Church Fathers. At times, I have referred to approved private revelation such as Fatima or the visions of St. Faustina to help us understand better the course we are on. On other, more rare occasions, I have directed my readers toward a private revelation without official approval, so long as it:

1. Is not in contradiction to the Public Revelation of the Church.
2. Has not been ruled false by the competent authorities.

Dr. Mark Miravalle, a professor of Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, in a book which breathes much needed fresh air into this subject, strikes the necessary balance in discernment:

It is tempting for some to regard the entire genre of Christian mystical phenomena with suspicion, indeed to dispense with it altogether as too risky, too riddled with human imagination and self-deception, as well as the potential for spiritual deception by our adversary the devil. That is one danger. The alternate danger is to so unreservedly embrace any reported message that seems to come from the supernatural realm that proper discernment is lacking, which can lead to the acceptance of serious errors of faith and life outside of the Church’s wisdom and protection. According to the mind of Christ, that is the mind of the Church, neither of these alternative approaches—wholesale rejection, on the one hand, and undiscerning acceptance on the other—is healthy. Rather, the authentic Christian approach to prophetic graces should always follow the dual Apostolic exhortations, in the words of St. Paul: "Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophecy," and "Test every spirit; retain what is good" (1 Thess 5:19-21). —Dr. Mark Miravalle, Private Revelation: Discerning with the Church, p.3-4

THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

I think the single biggest reason for the exaggerated fear over alleged apparitions is that critics do not understand their own prophetic role in the Church:

The faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and integrated into the People of God, are made sharers in their particular way in the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, 897

I have heard many Catholics operate in that prophetic office without their even knowing it. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they were predicting the future, rather, they were speaking the "now word" of God in a particular given moment.

On this point, it should be kept in mind that prophecy in the biblical sense does not mean to predict the future but to explain the will of God for the present, and therefore show the right path to take for the future.—Cardinal Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), Message of Fatima, Theological Commentary,www.vatican.va

There is great power in this: the power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, it is in the use of this ordinary prophetic role where I have seen the most powerful graces come upon souls.

It is not only through the sacraments and the ministrations of the Church that the Holy Spirit makes holy the People, leads them and enriches them with his virtues. Allotting his gifts according as he wills (cf. 1 Cor. 12:11), he also distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts he makes them fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church, as it is written, "the manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for profit'’ (1 Cor. 12:7). Whether these charisms be very remarkable or more simple and widely diffused, they are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation since they are fitting and useful for the needs of the Church. —Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, 12

One of the reasons the Church is so anemic in some areas, especially the West, is that we do not operate in these gifts and charisms. In many churches, we are clueless as to what they even are. Thus, the People of God are not built up by the power of the Spirit operating in the gifts of prophecy, preaching, teaching, healing, etc. (Rom 12:6-8). It is a tragedy, and the fruits are everywhere. If the majority of churchgoers first of all understood the charisms of the Holy Spirit; and second, were docile to these gifts, allowing them to flow through themselves into word and action, they would not be nearly as afraid or critical of more extraordinary phenomena, such as apparitions.
When it comes to approved private revelation, Pope Benedict XVI said:

…they help us to understand the signs of the times and to respond to them rightly in faith. —Message of Fatima, Theological Commentary, www.vatican.va

However, does a revelation only contain power and grace when it is approved by the local ordinary? According to the experience of the Church, it does not depend on this. In fact, it may be decades later, and long after the word was spoken or vision conveyed, that a ruling comes. The ruling itself is simply to say that the faithful may be free to believe in the revelation, and that it is compatible with the Catholic faith. If we try to wait for an official ruling, often the relevant and urgent message will be long gone. And given the volume of private revelations today, some will never have the benefit of an official investigation. The prudent approach is twofold:

1. Live by and walk in the Apostolic Tradition, which is the Road.
2. Discern the Signposts that you pass by, that is, the private revelations which come either to you or from another source. Test everything, retain what is good. If they take you on a different road, discard them.

AH… I WAS OKAY UNTIL YOU SAID "MEDJUGORJE"…

In every age the Church has received the charism of prophecy, which must be scrutinized but not scorned.—Cardinal Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), Message of Fatima, Theological Commentary, www.vatican.va

Take a guess at which modern apparition banned priests from making pilgrimages to the apparition site? Fatima. It wasn’t approved until 1930, some 13 years after the apparitions ceased. Until then, local clergy were prohibited from participating in events there. Many of the approved apparitions in Church history were vehemently opposed by local Church authorities, including Lourdes (and remember St. Pio?). God permits these kinds of negative reactions, for whatever reason, within His divine providence.

Medjugorje is no different in this regard. It is surrounded by controversy as any alleged mystical phenomena ever has been. But the bottom line is this: the Vatican has made no definitive decision on Medjugorje. In a rare move, the authority over the apparitions was removed from the local bishop, and now lies directly in the hands of the Vatican. It is beyond my understanding why so many otherwise well-meaning Catholics cannot understand this current situation. They are more quick to believe a London tabloid than the easily attainable statements of Church authorities. And all too often, they fail to respect the freedom and dignity of those who wish to continue discerning the phenomenon.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Cor 3:17)

One may refuse assent to private revelation without direct injury to Catholic Faith, as long as he does so, "modestly, not without reason, and without contempt." —POPE BENEDICT XIV, Heroic Virtue, Vol. III, p. 397; Private Revelation: Discerning with the Church, p. 38

In necessary things unity, in undecided things freedom, and in all things charity. —St. Augustine

So, here they are, official statements straight from the source:

The supernatural character is not established; such were the words used by the former conference of bishops of Yugoslavia in Zadar in 1991… It has not been said that the supernatural character is substantially established. Furthermore, it has not been denied or discounted that the phenomena may be of a supernatural nature. There is no doubt that the Magisterium of the Church does not make a definite declaration while the extraordinary phenomena are going on in the form of apparitions or other means. —Cardinal Schonborn, Archbishop of Vienna, and main author of the Catechism of the Catholic Church; Medjugorje Gebetsakion, #50

You cannot say people cannot go there until it has been proven false. This has not been said, so anyone can go if they want. When Catholic faithful go anywhere, they are entitled to spiritual care, so the Church does not forbid priests to accompany lay-organized trips to Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina. —Dr. Navarro Valls, Spokesman of the Holy See, Catholic News Service, August 21, 1996

"…constat de non supernaturalitate of the apparitions or revelations in Medjugorje," should be considered the expression of the personal conviction of the Bishop of Mostar which he has the right to express as Ordinary of the place, but which is and remains his personal opinion. — Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from then Secretary, ArchbishopTarcisio Bertone, May 26th, 1998

The point is not at all to say that Medjugorje is true or false. I am not competent in this area. It is simply to say that there is an apparition allegedly occurring which is bearing incredible fruit in terms of conversions and vocations. Its central message is wholly consistent with Fatima, Lourdes, and Rue de Bac. And most importantly, the Vatican has intervened several times to keep the doors open to continuing discernment of this apparition when it has had plenty of opportunities to shut it all down.

As for this website, until the Vatican rules on this apparition, I will carefully listen to what’s being said from Medjugorje and from other alleged private revelations, testing everything, and retaining what is good.

After all, that is what the divinely inspired Public Revelation of Sacred Scripture commands us to do.

Do not be afraid! —Pope John Paul II

FURTHER READING:

• Medjugorje: "Just the facts, ma’am"

Published in: DAILY JOURNAL, FAITH AND MORALS | on April 21st, 2009 |