Fr. Martin’s
reflection on - Our Lady’s Message
25th
June 2020
“ Dear children, I am listening to your
cries and prayers, and am interceding for you before my Son Jesus, who is
the Way, the Truth and the Life. Return,
little children, to prayer and open your hearts in this time of grace and set
out on the way of conversion. Your life is passing and, without God, does
not have meaning. This is why I am with you to
lead you towards holiness of life, so that each of you may discover the joy of
living. I love you all, little children, and am blessing you with my motherly
blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call. ”
39th Anniversary of the
Apparitions
Dear Brothers and Sisters
of Medjugorje North East and beyond.
We live in a situation that
is confusing and bewildering to many. We
live in unprecedented times and many people are wondering where all this will
lead. But Our Blessed Lady is Mother of
the Church, and our Heavenly Mother and she never stays far from us.
“Dear Children, I am
listening to your cries and prayers,”
Mary is a real Mother to
us, she accompanies each one of us through our lives, she is close to us and shares our
situation. Her very presence with us is
consoling and strengthening.
A good Mother listens to
the cries and the prayers of her children, so Mary begins this message by
reminding us of her maternal role in each of our lives. St. Luke’s Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual help
comes to mind, so we should be like the Christ Child, who in the embrace of his
Mother finds refuge and solace. Or St.
Bernard’s beautiful prayer, “The Memorare” “ Remember, O Most
Loving Virgin Mary.”
She does indeed! Each one
us, as her, “ Dear Children.”
So we really must go to her
and entrust our situation to her, because she is ‘listening’ she is attentive to each of our
situation.
“And am interceding for you
before my Son Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Our Lady does something more than ‘listen’
there is another step. She intercedes
before her Son.
To intercede means to
‘bring before’ to intervene, to make a difference. She is praying for each one
of us at all times. “ MY soul Magnifies the Lord” ( Luke: 1: 46) To Magnify something means to make
greater. So too with Our prayers and
cries to her, Our Lady brings them to her Son, and makes our prayers more
burning, more radiant. “Who is she that comes forth as the morning Sun,
bright as the moon, fair as the sun, terrible as an army set in Battle
array.” ( Song
of Songs: 6:10 )
Then Our Lady quotes her
Sons words as recorded in St. John’s Gospel.
Words that show us the identity of the Son of God. “My Son Jesus, who is the way, the
Truth and the Life.” This is one of
the few occasions in Our Lady’s messages that she quotes Sacred Scripture.
Our Lady in Medjugorje has
always pointed us to her Son Jesus, never to herself, and in quoting John: 14
6, Our Lady underscores the reasons for her coming in these times. Our Lord spoke these words to St. Thomas who
was doubting the way forward after Jesus’ resurrection.
“Jesus, said, “ I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except
through me.” (
John: 14: 6) In using these
words, Our Lady is showing us ‘The Way’- Jesus Christ.
‘The Way’ to be walked,
‘The Truth’ to be
received,
and ‘The Life’ to be
lived.
‘Way, Truth and Life’ –
Jesus Christ the one true
saviour of the World.
Please take time now to go
to the Sacred Scriptures and turn to St. John’s Gospel, Chapter 14. 1-7 and
prayerfully pray the words Our Blessed Mother uses in this month’s
message. Pray to the Holy Spirit to be
enlightened and guided to the Truth, who is a person- Jesus Christ.
“Return, little children,
to prayer and open your hearts in this time of grace and set out on the way of
conversion.” Friendship with Christ is
always turning to him, like the Prodigal Son.
He is ‘The Way’ so we need to return to Him who shows us the way
forward. Every single moment of each day
is an opportunity to ‘return‘ to Christ because Our
Lady tells us “ This is a time of Grace.”
So rather than look upon these times in a negative way, we should interpret
the signs of the times as Mary has constantly asked us through the lens of Faith and Prayer.
“Your Life is passing, and
without God, does not have meaning.” All our
individual worlds will pass. We are a
pilgrim people; Mary does not wish to see us consumed by this world. She points us to the eternal life, to Heaven
and to heavenly realities. She is
bothered about our eternal Salvation.
Only in God, Our Way, Truth
and Life, does life have ultimate meaning.
“This is why I am with you
to lead you towards holiness of life, so that each of you may discover the Joy
of Living.”
This is the meaning of the
Faith. This is the whole point of The
Church-to lead us towards Holiness of Life.
It is rare today to hear the word “Holiness” but Our Lady calls
us to ‘Holiness
of Life’ which was at the heart of the second Vatican Council. The call to Holiness is to every
member of the Church.
Mary calls us to Holiness,
and repeats so many times that we should decide for Holiness. The word ‘Holiness’ appears more than
one thousand times in the Bible. The
Semitic word-kodesh indicates the separation
from the sacred and the profane. Being
Holy depends not on living up to external ideals, rules
or laws, but an interior state or fervour in possessing Jesus Christ. We are already Saints by Baptism, so Mary
asks that the foundation of our lives of Faith will be a Living Closeness to
her Son.
Dear Friends of Medjugorje
North East and beyond,
let us thank the Heavenly
Father for sending us The Blessed Mother Queen and Mother of Peace,
and calling each of us to
Holiness of life.
Let us be filled with the
Joy of living in him who is Our Way, Our Truth and Our Life!
God Bless
Fr. Martin