Fr. Martin’s reflection on - Our Lady’s Message
25th August 2021
“Dear
children, With
joy I am calling all of you, little children, who have responded to my call: be
joy and peace. Witness with your lives to Heaven, which I am bringing to
you. It is time, little children, that you be
a reflection of my love for all those who do not love and whose
hearts hatred has conquered. Do not forget: I am
with you and intercede for all of you before my Son Jesus, that He may give you
His peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Dear Brothers and Sisters of Medjugorje North East and beyond,
Our Lady Queen of Peace is full of Joy and
calls us to be sharers of that Joy. This is a spiritual gift or charism, that
flows from our Salvation in Christ, and from living the Joy of the Gospel.
Also the Joy of conversion of
heart, which so many have received, after hearing the call of Our Lady. We
should not be surprised when we hear Our Lady beginning this month’s message:
" With Joy I am
calling all of you, little children." Our Lady comes to us from Heaven; therefore she calls us to what she experiences. She comes in
Joy because her Son is Risen, because she gave us Him as our Redeemer. We
rightly call her, 'Cause of our Joy.'
There can be so much negative news today, and much darkness too! But Mary reminds us with her Joy, of the
importance of Christian Hope, because her Son has conquered sin and death, and
this is the reason for our Joy.
When we pray the Rosary ,
we repeat the words the angel Gabriel spoke to Our Lady at the Annunciation.
"Rejoice, you who
enjoy God's favour." ( Luke: 1:29)
The word 'Joy'
can be found more than three hundred times in the Bible. God never withdraws
his favour from us. When we are close to the Lord, we are close to the Joy of
the Hoy Spirit, like Mary was at the Annunciation. When we keep his
commandments, and trust in him, like Mary , then we
are in his Joy.
In the
message of May 25th, 1988, Our Lady said, " I desire that through you,
the whole world may draw closer to the God of Joy. By your life, bear witness
to Gods Joy. Do not be afraid or worried”
In this month
message, Our Lady continues, " Who have responded to my call, be Joy
and Peace."
(Our Lady is
speaking in the past tense. i.e. ' responded,
rather than responding.’) Here we can look back over these forty years and see
how Our Lady has encouraged us to live her messages and recognise all who heard
her call. Mary has always said she needs people who believe firmly, and so she
reminds us to be Joy and Peace for the future.
"Witness
with your lives to Heaven, which I am bringing to you"
Our Lady has
often spoken about the truth of Heaven and the reality of eternal life. By her
very coming to earth she brings us contact with Heaven. Who has not sensed that
holy presence in Medjugorje? Mary is Queen of Heaven and Earth, and in
Medjugorje Heaven and Earth come together, and we know in our hearts the beauty
of what is to come. So many have discovered there the gift of Conversion, and
the Grace of Faith. Then Mary asks us to 'witness with your lives to Heaven.'
We can do this by listening to the voice from Heaven The voice from Heaven was
heard at three crucial moments in Our Lords life.
· at
his Baptism in the Jordan,
· at
the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor,
· and
before his Passion, ( John: 12:27-30) .
To 'witness
to Heaven' means to have a pure heart, i.e. to
know what is most important before God and neighbour, to be listening to the 'Voice
from Heaven.'
" It is time, little
children, that you be a reflection of my love for all those who do not love, and whose hearts hatred
has conquered."
There is a conflict going in the world- the
Spiritual battle that affects us all.
So, Our Lady asks us to reflect her Love, because only Love can conquer hatred. Each of us are
called to be a part of this Victory. To be a channel of God’s love. Think of
Our Lady on Calvary on that Good Friday. Amidst all of the hatred and enmity
that was targeted at her Son, something great was
asked of her. When she heard her Son, asking the
Father to 'Forgive them', Our Lady would have known at that moment what
was being asked of her too!
She too would have repeated with her dying
Son, from her heart,
" Father, Forgive them."
This was her Triumph, the triumph of love over hatred.
This is why the Sacrament of
Confession is so important today, Mary asks us to confess Monthly, it is the
sacrament where the Holy Spirit assist us to be Love and Forgiveness for
others.
"Do not
forget,
" Our Lady concludes this message with these words, which can almost be
read as a farewell. When Mary asks us not to forget that she is with us, it is
because we are in danger of doing exactly that.
Whatever
happens, whatever is to come, Mary is praying for us before her Son Jesus in
Heaven.
On one occasion
during the early days of the apparitions, the Visionary Children were being
chased by communist police through the fields. Our Lady appeared to the
children, and they pleaded with her not to leave them.
" And
you my little children don't ever leave me." was her response.
May it be for us too:
may we always recall Our
Lady's presence and call upon her in our every need.
May she stand with us at
all the crossroads of our lives, and protect us all
beneath her mantle.
Our Lady cause
of our Joy...
Pray for us..
God Bless, Fr. Martin