Fr. Martin’s
reflection on - Our Lady’s Message
25th
December 2017
“Dear children, Today I am bringing to you my Son Jesus for Him to give
you His peace and blessing. I am calling all of you, little children, to live
and witness the graces and the gifts which you have received. Do not be afraid.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the strength to be joyful witnesses and
people of peace and hope. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Dear Brothers and Sisters
of Medjugorje North East and beyond,
As we begin this Holy Time
of a new year, may our hearts be filled with gratitude for the gift of time,
and the presence of our Lady Queen and Mother of Peace with us. It is within
our own times that Mary comes with her Christmas message to help bring about
the new world of Peace. She comes to us as "Theotokos"
or God bearer, carrying the Prince of Peace, little Jesus.
We see in these opening
words of her Christmas presence our dignity as children of the Father. "Today
I am bringing to you my Son Jesus for Him to give you His peace and
Blessing."
Mary bears him who is our
Peace, He gives us His blessing. Peace in our own hearts, in our
families, and communities. This is the call of Our Lady's school, "Peace,
Peace, Peace. Peace must reign between God and Man." (1981)
We know her messages so
well, but they must never lose their radical call and simplicity. They
are about the purification of the soul and heart and mind. So, may we
have no lack of effort in sincerely wanting to enter into
the Divine Peace Mary brings us.
The person who decides for
Peace is the one who decides for Jesus and his Word. The one who decides
for Prayer, Holy Rosary, Holy Mass, Penance is the one who receives the
Blessing. For the fruit of Prayer is Peace.
This is how we open our
hearts to the Christ Child. May the new year be a time of renewed Prayer.
To change our lives, becoming, more forgiving, and being reconciled, are the
ones who become the witnesses, people who are filled with “Peace and
Hope."
Twice Mary calls us to be “Witnesses,”
and then "Joyful Witnesses." To witness to the “Graces and gifts we have received.”
The Acts of the Apostles
tell us that it was from the upper room in Jerusalem, that the apostles were
sent out, from where they had been praying with Mary, the Mother of
Jesus. They had to make known the Victory of the Crucified and risen Lord
Jesus to all peoples.
They were armed with Divine
Power, as the Church is in every age to make known the Lord. Mary as Mother of
the Church comes to us again as the Star of the new Evangelisation, to
encourage us in our Faith, and to bring about a new wave of Missionary zeal in
the Church.
The apostles were Joyful
witnesses because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. "Do not be
afraid" says Mary. Re-echoing the words, the Angel Gabriel spoke to
her at the Annunciation she calls all of us to a profound nearness of her Son,
a nearness that can only produce a Joyful mystery. "Pray for the Holy
Spirit, to give you the strength to be Joyful Witnesses." Let us do
what Mary asks. To turn with renewed devotion and attention to the Holy Spirit,
and implore in each of our Lives the renewed outpouring of the Divine gifts.
We begin this new year with
a message that has a deep sense of Pentecost, of Witness, and not to be afraid.
Let us be confident then
that the Holy Spirit will indeed make many believers today "Witnesses
of Peace and Hope”.
Come Holy Spirit,
come
from the pierced side of Jesus on the Cross,
come
from the breath of our Risen Saviour.
Come
O Most Holy Spirit of Jesus!
A Happy and Blessed
New Year to you all
God Bless, Fr.
Martin