Fr. Martin’s
reflection on - Our Lady’s Message
25th
July 2019
“ Dear children, My call for
you is prayer. May prayer be a joy for you and a wreath which binds you to God.
Little children, trials will come and you will not be
strong, and sin will reign but, if you are mine, you will win, because your
refuge will be the Heart of my Son Jesus. Therefore, little children, return to
prayer until prayer becomes life for you in the day and the night. Thank you
for having responded to my call. ”
Dear Brothers and Sisters of Medjugorje North East and
beyond,
Let us begin our reflection on this month's message of
Our Lady Queen of Peace by turning to the Holy Scriptures for
understanding and inspiration.
In St. Matthew's account of the parable of the
sower, (Matt 13:18-23) we explore our inner life and the interior workings of
God's grace in our lives. It can also be a parable that explores the
daily battle for the heart and mind of every person.
The conflict rages over whether God's Word will
produce fruit in our lives, and will we be strong enough for the good soil, the
seed of God's word to grow in us? The tools for this cultivation
have borne great fruit in the history of the Church, in the lives of the
faithful, and the parable invites us to use them for the ploughing of the soil
of the soul, through Prayer, Scripture, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and
Holy Fasting.
(Just like the five stones Our Lady recommends for the
strengthening of our spiritual lives.)
The parable says: "But lest some trial come,
or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once." ( vs.21)
"Little Children, trials will come, and you will
not be strong, and sin will reign."
Our Lady is with us to instruct and guide us in the spiritual life, and to help
us in the maturity of our Faith in her Son. "But if you are mine,
you will win, because your refuge will be the heart of my Son."
Our Lady, Queen of Peace, and Mother of the Church
shows us once again how to belong to her and take refuge in the heart of her
Son Jesus.
The message begins, " My call for you is
prayer." This is nothing new, for thirty-eight years now Our
Lady has come to us as a model of Prayer, for she is the first disciple, who
shows us how to reach the heart of her son. The Gospels tell us the same.
"So, go into your private room, and speak to your heavenly Father who
is in that secret place." (Mt: 6:6)
As followers of the Lord, all excuses should fall
away, and the firm decision for prayer should be made. To decide for
prayer above everything else should be our firm resolve. Our Lady's call
is addressed "For you” .
All renewal takes place in prayer, so there should be
no room left for fear, procrastination, mistrust or distractions. What
Our Lady is asking of the Church must be done in the lives of all the faithful,
she knows what she is saying. All of us can sense at this time the
frightening effects of the speed of the decline in Faith in our own times, and
in the midst of his Our Lady says,
“My call for you is prayer."
Our Lady has told us many times what to pray for: For
Peace, (19 times) To be protected from satan, (14
times) For the plan of God to be realised, (14 times) For the Holy Spirit, (14
times), To discover the love of God, (4 times), To give witness, (12 times),
For the gift of faith, (14 times) .
All of these suggest that Mary asks us to pray
for what is essential for our times. Hers are general intentions
concerning universal Salvation.
Cardinal Robert Sarah says:
"Prayer is in the first place, the work of
the Holy Spirit, who prays in us, reshapes us interiorly, and plunges us into
the depths of the Triune God. This is why it is
essential to keep silence and to listen, to give ourselves up to God who is
present in us. God loved us first.
To pray is to allow oneself to be loved and to love
oneself.
To pray is to look at God and to allow oneself to be
looked at by him.
We occupy all the ground of our interior landscape,
all day long and endlessly. We always persist in doing a lot of things,
talking a lot, thinking a lot. We fill our lives with so much
noise.
Interior silence, and a necessary solitude are the
most suitable rocks on which to build a life with God, in an intimate face-face
encounter with him."
(God or Nothing, by Cardinal Robert Sarah- page,
124.)
Dear Friends, Our Lady is our Mother and our teacher,
she speaks and prays for us in these times. She knows that we are weak
but shows us how to be strong in the personal trials that come our way.
She knows that we are sinners, that we have drifted far from the encounter with
her Son, and could continue to do so. She prays
for us, and comes to us, because she is the Mother of Mercy, so that we will
stay with her and search for God, like St. John the Apostle, resolute before
the Cross, next to her. She wants us to search for God, to be open before him,
to trust him, to be in the heart of her son, especially when trials come.
Thank you, Mary, that you come to us in these times,
and touch our lives. Thank you, Mary, for reminding us that we are weak,
prodigal children in the face of trials.
Thank you, Mary, that you show us how to be strong in
following the way of your Son.
Mary pray for the gift of a deep faith in the heart of
every believer
so that we can believe that great miracles are
possible in the encounter with Jesus your Son, our Saviour.
Who is Lord for ever and ever.
Amen!
God Bless Fr. Martin