Fr. Martin’s
reflection on - Our Lady’s Message
25th
August 2020
Dear Brothers and Sisters
of Medjugorje North East and beyond,
There is a great danger for
those who follow the messages of Our Lady Queen and Mother of Peace; that we
become used to them.
That we run the risk of
thinking we have heard it all before and we no longer recognise the great depth
of wisdom and teaching contained in Our Lady’s words. So when Mary speaks, “ I
am with you and calling you ANEW.”
Then we need to take to heart her call for renewal. To see with fresh eyes her words, to hear
with new hearing her call. Anew means a
new approach, a new start. Each of us
can ask ourselves if we have this way when we receive the messages each month. For in each message is a true gift of
heavenly teaching. “ And
anew am calling you.” Each
message contains something new for each one of us, and this requires our
diligent attention and openness of spirit.
May we take to heart Our Lady’s call for a renewed approach to her call,
and so live her words ‘ anew’!
“This is a time of Grace.” A spiritual gift is being offered with Our
Lady’s coming. God in his love is always
the dispenser of graces. God is always
ready to give Himself, but it requires our availability and openness to receive.
The apparitions are ‘a
time of Grace’, because Mary is with us and leads us in our following of
her Son. So it
is ‘a time of Grace,’ because there is a special opportunity to become
receptive to the call of the Mother of God.
In last month’s message,
(25th July 2020) Our
Lady said, “ In a special way now when the Cross and Faith are
rejected.”. We as her Dear Children
are asked to listen “Anew” so as to hear
the call to Salvation in a deeper way.
“Return to God and prayer.”
We can only ask ourselves,
how these words apply to our own situation.
Where are we in our life of
Faith?
In our prayer life?
In our friendship with
Christ?
We all need to be
progressing in the spiritual life, so we need to have Jesus as the centre, each
day. To have our lives focused on doing
his will. To return to him means to give
him priority, to renounce anything that compromises our love for him. To be listening to his voice.
Our Lady wants us to
understand that our lives are a gift from God, and to deepen our understanding
of our purpose in this life. So maybe
like the young man in the Gospel we too can ask: “Good Master what must I do
to inherit eternal life? ( Luke 18:18 )
In asking this question we
will recognise what we must do to return to him.
“Little children you do not
have a future or peace until your life begins with a personal conversion and a
change to the good.”
From the outset of the
apparitions Our Lady has taught us the importance of ‘personal conversion.’ From this flows our interior peace, and our
contribution to make the world more peaceful.
Our very future is linked to our personal conversion. It begins in the heart of each one of us. When we decide for God and what needs to be
changed. To surrender our lives to him
in Faith and Love. We have
to decide for holiness and prayer.
Our future of peace begins with this decision. Note Our Lady’s emphasis on our future, and
the link with our own personal conversion.
Our future is in our own hands so to say. In our own heart.
When we Pray, Fast, Love
and Forgive , Reconcile, then we open the future onto
peace.
“Evil will cease and peace will begin to reign in your hearts and in
the world.” Peace begins in the human heart. Gods kingdom will reign within us. A heart that is filled with Prayer and Trust
is a peaceful one. And this is the way
to overcoming evil.
Our Lady then gives us the
threefold call to “Pray, Pray, Pray.”
All our answers are found in prayer.
Our Lady gives this threefold call periodically, and it underscores her
request for persevering and trusting prayer.
She does not tire of us,
and the necessity of our prayers for her intentions. Our Lady is the Mediatrix of all graces. The fact that she is with us and intercedes
for us is certainly encouraging.
So let us ask ourselves how
can we live her messages “ANEW” with -
New Enthusiasm,
New Joy,
A New Openness,
New Courage
New Trust.
Thank you
Our Lady Queen and Mother of Peace, that you do not tire of us, but ever
call us ANEW.
God
Bless, Fr. Martin