Fr. Martin’s
reflection on - Our Lady’s Message
25th
November 2016
“ Dear children! Also today, I am calling you to
return to prayer. In this time of grace, God has permitted me to lead you
towards holiness and a simple life - that in little things you discover God the
Creator; that you fall in love with Him; and that your life be a thanksgiving
to the Most High for everything He is giving you.
Little children, in love, may your life be a gift for others and God will bless
you; but you, witness without interest - out of love for God. I am with you and intercede before my Son for all of you. Thank you
for having responded to my call.”
Dear Brothers and
sisters of Medjugorje North East and beyond,
Prayer is a meeting
with God.
Prayer is contact
with God.
In praying we meet
with Him, encounter Him, and we find in that prayer is the meaning and purpose
of our lives. Through prayer we discover Peace, and Love, even the meaning of
suffering, why we need to forgive, and accept others. Through Prayer, we are in
God, and God will be in us and we will become witnesses, ‘without interest.’
of His presence and His love.
Mary begins this
month's message by ‘calling us to return to prayer.’ Only when we pray
can we come to understand that we have to strive and
look towards our eternal salvation. "What does it profit a man,
if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul."
To return to prayer
means to take up our Rosary, to open up the Holy
Bible, to go to the Holy Mass, to give to the Lord the first place in our hearts.
During this time of Grace in Advent, Mary calls us to leave all other
distractions and discover God in simplicity of life.
Mary then reminds
us that ‘God has permitted me to lead you towards holiness and a
simple life.’ For all those in Mary's school, and in the spirituality of
Medjugorje -the whole aim, since the first apparition is the call to Holiness
and to discern the unnecessary distractions that take away simplicity of
life. Let us prepare our hearts for Christmas by cultivating a simple approach
to life, and turning away from all distractions in material things, that
take us away from Prayer.
Once Mary said to
the visionaries,
“When you Pray you are so beautiful"- only Prayer and holiness lead
us to true beauty through a simple life. ‘In little things, you
discover God the Creator’ In the beauty of creation, in the smile of
another, in the silence of Prayer, Mary is reminding us where we find the
creative presence of God. With this sentence, she is touching the deepest
problem of our relationship with God. God gives himself, he gave everything,
even his own Son Jesus, to save us. He is rich in Peace, in Love and Mercy. The
problem is; we stop seeking him. It is important to ask ourselves, "What
is hindering me from discovering God the Creator, and falling in love with him?
Maybe our lives have become too material, and complicated, and so our passions,
our attachments to material things become the obstacles that blind our eyes to
seek and ‘Fall in love with the Most High.’
The greatest gift
that God gives to those who visit Medjugorje is the yearning for the Lord. The
desire to seek him. Everyone who begins to Pray, Fast to go to Mass, begins to
discover God the Creator. The greatest gift we can ask for is to seek the Lord
in good times and in times when we may not feel his presence. Our Lady once
said, "Seek God not according to your needs
but according to his Love."
When we begin to
seek God the Creator because of his love for us, we shall desire him , more and more. When we love, we seek those we love,
and never grow tired of seeking for them.
Gratitude is at the
heart of this seeking, being aware of the many gifts we have received. Let us
be a "Gift" to one another as Mary invites. Through Mary God
is calling us because she is the Queen of Prophets. There are many false
prophets today. Let us be like Mary, and be a gift to each other desiring the
good for the other. For Ourselves, for our Children, Husbands and Wives,
Teachers and Students.
Let us prepare our
hearts for Christmas by choosing simplicity of life, and let us ‘fall in
love with Him’, who is giving us so much.
God Bless, and a Happy and Blessed Advent.
Fr. Martin