Fr. Martin’s
reflection on - Our Lady’s Message
25th
July 2018
“ Dear children! God called me to lead you to Him because He is your
strength. That is why I am calling you to pray to Him and to trust in Him,
because He is your refuge from every evil that lurks and carries souls far from
the grace and joy to which you are all called. Little children, live Heaven
here on earth so that it will be good for you; and may the commandments of God
be a light on your way. I am with you and I love you all with my motherly love.
Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Dear Brothers and Sisters of
Medjugorje North East and beyond,
Our Lady Queen and Mother
of Peace is both our Mother and our Teacher, and she is with us in these times
to show us the path of light and to help us remain strong in the Faith of her
Son. As our Mother and Teacher Mary persists in staying with us, because
we are in need of her maternal help, and because she
cares for our human souls.
We are told this month,
that she wants what is the true good for us.
This month’s
message begins with Our Lady reminding us about her role in Salvation
history, and as Mother of the Church.
Mary tells us that her role
is:
“to lead you to him because
he is your strength."
"When the fulness
of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman...that we might receive
adoption as Sons." (Gal:4:4)
The
second Vatican Council teaches that:
This Motherhood of Mary in
the order of Grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she gave at
the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the Cross,
until the eternal fulfilment of all the faithful. Taken up into heaven
she did not lay aside this saving office, but by her manifold intercession
continues to bring us the gifts of Eternal salvation." (L.G. 8.25)
Mary never ceases
to lead us to him, that is:
“I am with you and I love
you with all my Motherly love." As Mary was at the centre of the
early Christian community in Acts:1 so too now she is with us today
keeping and encouraging us on the path of light.
Mary, Mother of the Lord,
in her school of love and prayer that is called Medjugorje, tells us, "
He is your strength." In our weakness and tiredness Mary wants us to be renewed in our Faith, in
the Church today only in him, the Lord Jesus Christ.
With
the Psalmist we say with her, "God is our strength and our shield, in him do our
hearts find joy, we trust in him." (Psalm: 28)
Mary wants us to connect
with her Risen Son, our living Lord, who on the feeble bestows divine
strength.
Next Our Lady tells us how
to do this.
“I am calling you to pray
to him and trust in him. "
Prayer and Trust are the
key words for our reflection.
Mary is addressing our
weariness in the Faith today. She understands our temptation to slip into
doubt and despondency, so she tells us that prayer and trust go hand in
hand. So, let us make an act of entrustment of our lives to her
Immaculate Heart, so that our trust in the Father will be strong.
Many adults today are
living in fear and anxiety, Mary calls us from this state to a more profound
trust in God.
It’s good to ask ourselves
‘What is the source of our fear and unbelief?
"Why are these doubts
arising in your hearts, doubt no longer but believe." (John: 20:27)
All Our Lady's messages
call us to Pray, Fast, Confess, read the Holy Scriptures, and attend Holy
Mass. Mary wants us to practise our Faith from the Heart, with love, so
that our trust will grow and deepen.
" Because he is your
refuge from every evil that lurks and carries souls far from the grace and joy
to which you were called."
Often from the early days
of the first apparitions Mary has spoken to us about the reality of the devil
and the powers of darkness.
She tells us again, that
evil is lurking and carrying souls far from grace, Gods original purpose.
Satan wishes to destroy her work, and the work of Jesus. To inflict grave
wounds on the Church. Evil is leading many from the Church and from the
commandments of God, which are " a light on your
path."
The commandments are not a
burden, not a mere rule, they are as Mary says, "A light on your
way." Christ is our way, and only with him when we live in
peace, forgiveness and truth do we live heaven here and now. This is Our
Lady’s prayer.
Dear Friends,
These are Our Lady's times,
when much of what has been spoken of these last thirty-seven years is now
coming to fulfilment in the Church and the world.
Mary is Queen of prophets,
who wants only the good for her children, under her protective mantle may we
all gather in these times, and with her walk the path of light in her school of
love.
She is with us, she is
truly with us.
Fr. Martin