Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!

Our Lady of Medjugorje, pray for us!

February 12, 2020

Dear Family of Mary!

April 25, 2015 “Dear children! I am with you also today to lead you to salvation. Your soul is restless because your spirit is weak and tired from all worldly things. You, little children, pray to the Holy Spirit that He may transform you and fill you with His strength of faith and hope, so that you may be firm in this battle against evil. I am with you and intercede for you before my Son Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Yesterday, at the Evening Mass in Medjugorje, a young priest gave a beautiful homily for the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. He spoke about the apparitions in Lourdes, and then made a comparison with the apparitions in Medjugorje. I have transcribed the second half of his beautiful homily, so that we can hear his words about Our Lady and what she is leading us to in this day in Medjugorje. You can hear the entire homily on Mary TV in the Archive of the Evening International Mass in Medjugorje (https://marytv.tv/english-mass-in-medjugorje-13/  )

After describing the amazing events in Lourdes, the homilist continued:

The Blessed Virgin Mary once again today invites us to become part of her legion in the battle against the powers of evil, even in the Catholic Church! As a sign of our participation in her offensive, for centuries she has asked of us conversion of heart, great dedication to Holy Confession, Holy Eucharist, the daily prayer of the Rosary, endless prayer, and accepting suffering for the salvation of the world.

Brothers and sisters, it could seem to us that this is to little. But in the Hands of the Good God, in whom nothing is impossible, this is a very strong weapon. As at that time when little David with a little stone and sling shot, defeated a giant, Goliath, who was armed with a sword. We today, armed with the little beads of the Rosary in daily prayer, can strongly resist our wicked opponent, and conquer and defeat him.

The battle between God and His enemy has always been through history, very severe, and that is the same today as well. The Church today is deeply in the swamp of secularism, which desires to turn the world away from God, to be without God and without God’s law. And the swamp of relativism which desires to blow away the unchangeable truth about God which is the Gospel. And religious indifference which remains unchanged and does not value the higher things which are of God and eternal life.

The battle, brothers and sisters, has many victims. Many families and individuals are destroyed. Even before he was elected pope, St. John Paul II, as Cardinal Wojtyla in 1976, said:

“We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has ever experienced. I do not think that the wide circle of the American Society, or the whole wide circle of the Christian Community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the gospel and the anti-gospel, between Christ and the antichrist. The confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence. It is, therefore, in God’s Plan, and it must be a trial which the Church must take up and face courageously…” 

Relativism has entered into the Church and that is why it is shaken at this moment. Brothers and sisters, the Church doesn’t have a problem with unbelievers, pagans who belong to false religions or atheists. Today the problem is the unfaithful believer, who instead of loving his fellow man and carrying the light into the world, remains unfaithful to his task.

 

But one thing is certain. The ultimate victory belongs to God. And that will become true thanks to Mary as well. The Woman of the Book of Genesis and the Woman of the Book of Revelation, who confronts the old enemy, Satan. And she will crush his head.

At the Grotto of Lourdes, the Blessed Virgin Mary told us that true happiness, perfect happiness is only in heaven. Man has no peace under this sky if he does not accept the eternal truth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Our Lady of Lourdes said. “I cannot promise you that you will be happy in this world, but in the next.”

Brothers and sisters, this is what we truly need today. The life of Bernadette very clearly showed. She was blessed to see Our Lady, but a cross was deeply planted in her. She was worn out by Tuberculosis and she died at the young age of 35. But she accepted to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

The example of such saints we need so much today. We must not allow ourselves to adjust to the world. We must fight for the light of Christ. So that it may enter my own life, so that it may enter my family, and that it may enter the peoples of the world. Not the customs of human emptiness, not our ways but Christ’s way. Only then will a new spring come to the Church, that will be reflected to the entire world.

The transformation of Christians will happen, if they receive the power and strength from above. Mary is full of grace. Because of that, brothers and sisters, she is crushing satan. Only Christians, in prayer, in penance, and in the grace of Christ Jesus, Our King, can resist and win as Mary did. She, Woman and Mother, remains for all times as a role model of faith to us. A role model of persistent love and the battle for the good of man. Her example of life, her suffering, her presence at the Cross on Golgotha, must be deeply imprinted on our hearts when we find ourselves alone on our own Golgotha’s. Then we can call to her and ask her, with her Son, to be with us on our journeys to heaven.

Brothers and Sisters, God created us for heaven. He created us for eternity. He created us for Himself. That is why Mary remains the Morning Star which always illuminates and gives light through the centuries and directs us to God’s love for every single person. For ever and ever. Amen

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2020

Live my messages!

(c) Mary TV/Anthony Zubac

February 10, 2020
St. Scholastica, Virgin

Dear Family of Mary!

January 25, 1993 “Dear children! Today I call you to accept and live my messages with seriousness. These days are the days when you need to decide for God, for peace and for the good. May every hatred and jealousy disappear from your life and your thoughts and may there only dwell love for God and for your neighbor. Thus, and only thus shall you be able to discern the signs of the time. I am with you and I guide you into a new time, a time which God gives you as grace so that you may get to know him more. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Our Lady has asked us many times to live her messages. She gives them to us to help us through these very important and difficult times. But She even gets a little disappointed in us, because we are so easily distracted from her messages. Like all children, we lose our concentration, and resolve. And so, she continues to call us to live her messages.

 

On Friday, February 7, Fr. Leon gave a homily about living the messages that was very helpful. Our shipmate, Stephanie, transcribed it for us!! Fr. Leon has a way of saying things that makes it all quite clear!

Here is the Homily by Fr. Leon during English Mass — Friday, February 7, 2020:

Homily

The family of Herod is very complicated. King Herod the Great, so called “the Great,” – the one who tried to kill Jesus when He was an infant – had a number of sons. One of them is Herod Antipas; the one you hear of in the gospel today.   Now, Herod; let me see, first of all, his niece, Herodias, had been married to one of his brothers called Herod Philip, by whom she had a daughter called Salome. Later she divorced her uncle, and married another uncle, Philip; also called Philip. This is very confusing. And, then she divorces Philip and marries Herod Antipas. And then John the Baptist comes on the scene and says to him, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

 

Now, telling the truth to people is a difficult thing, and yet we are duty bound to this. It is one of the Acts of Mercy, to instruct the ignorant; to tell them, for the sake of their souls. But we have to do this with charity. John the Baptist; notice, he doesn’t come to Herod and say, “Oh, let me accompany you in your journey of adultery, and, you know, slowly, hopefully before you die, it will all work out and you’ll repent.” No, he says to him, “It is not lawful.” Because, John the Baptist loves Herod. He cares for his soul. He cares too much to lie to him.

 

On the other hand, we have Herod. Herod is a very confusing character. Because he seems to believe certain things about the faith. He believes in the resurrection. When he hears about Jesus, he says, “This is John whom I beheaded, and he has risen from the dead.” So, he actually believes in resurrection, which is a curious thing. But at the same time, it says: He kept him in prison, and he was very much perplexed by John, and yet he liked to listen to him.

 

Whenever I hear these words, especially, I think about Medjugorje. How many of us have been coming for years and years to Medjugorje? How many people have come here and heard the messages? But, how few of us put them into practice?

 

Now, I’m not here, I don’t delight in pointing fingers and saying, “Oh, you have failed to live the message of Medjugorje.”   I remember even before speaking about The Five Stones, I thought, before I even speak about them, I must live them. No one is going to listen to a fat priest talk about fasting. Okay, and that’s paraphrasing. St. John Chrysostom actually says that; he says, if you’re fat and greedy, who’s ever going to listen to you when you talk about fasting?

 

We must live the messages. Our Lady doesn’t come here and just give messages just to titillate us, to delight us. And we think, “Oh isn’t it marvelous she’s here.” And then we go off and forget about her messages. If we don’t live them, we are like Herod. Herod loved listening to John but didn’t want to act on anything he said. And it didn’t do him any good; it didn’t do him any favors! Herod ended up in a worse place. Because, to his adultery, he adds murder. And then lust – he lusts after his own great niece, Salome. Then, he adds, to that, he adds cowardice; because he is afraid of looking bad in front of his friends.

 

None of this does us any good, if we don’t live Our Lady’s messages. Every day in the news you can see how – I’m not going to comment on any one thing – but lots and lots of things are taking place in the world that show us, things are moving in a certain direction. And if we are not constant in the faith, if we don’t actually live our faith, what good does it do us?

 

What good does it do us if we say that we are here in Medjugorje and then we fight with each other, provoke quarrels, maybe deliberately misunderstand each other – or not deliberately misunderstand each other – but still, revel in fighting and quarreling and anger. What good does this do any of us? We are then like Herod. Not living God’s will, but our own, our own will, our own stubbornness. And this certainly does not make for peace. This is not being a child of the Queen of Peace.

(You can listen to the homily here: https://marytv.tv/english-mass-in-medjugorje/  – remember it is 020720)

Let’s pray for one another that we can all grow in living Our Lady’s messages!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020

 

 PS.  Mike Nolan is leading a pilgrimage to Medjugorje from April 13 to 22, 2020!  Denis and I will be joining the group!  There is still room for more pilgrims. Join us!!   Here is Mike’s contact information and website:

Mike Nolan:

mnolan6@me.com

574-335-9952

(c) Mary TV

February 6, 2020
St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

Dear Family of Mary!

“…You will find strength in the Eucharist-my Son who feeds you with His Body and strengthens you with His Blood…” (February 2, 2020)

Our dearest Mother is the one who gave us Jesus in the flesh, and now she offers Him to us as our food. Again, a mystery we can never fully comprehend. But we all know the great blessedness of receiving Jesus in the Eucharist. St. Faustina lived for the Eucharist. And she wrote these two entries in her diary, describing her life with Jesus in the Eucharist:

St. Faustina, please intercede for us to Jesus, that we can make of our hearts little heavens in which He can stay, and we will keep Him company all day long! Thank you, St. Faustina, for your love from heaven.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020

(c) Mary TV 2019/ Anthony Zubac

February 4, 2020

Dear Family of Mary!

“Dear children, by the act of the decision and love of God, I am chosen to be the Mother of God and your mother. But also, by my will and my immeasurable love for the Heavenly Father and my complete trust in Him, my body was the chalice of the God-man…” (February 2, 2020)

Our Lady makes it very clear that God chose her, and she chose God! It was a beautiful meeting of hearts in which total trust and love existed. The Father trusted and loved Mary so much that He would ask her to be the Mother of His Son. And Mary loved and trusted the Father so much, that she could accept the Father’s call, even though it was beyond understanding.

Let’s listen to how St. Luke recorded this encounter :

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be.

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be, since I have no husband?”

And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:26-38)

Well, this encounter is so mysterious and wonderful, that we will contemplate it for all eternity. But for us, it is the beginning of our salvation, a moment upon which all eternity turned. Jesus became Man to save us. And Mary, well, Mary became His mother and by extension, our Mother. What a mystery of love. What a bold act of love on the Father’s part and on Mary’s part. Real, solid, life-changing love.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2020

(c) Mary TV

January 31, 2020
St. John Bosco, priest

Dear Family of Mary!

“Dear children! Today I am calling you to pray even more, until you feel the holiness of forgiveness in your heart. There must be holiness in the families, little children, because there is no future for the world without love and holiness – because in holiness and joy, you give yourselves to God the Creator who loves you with immeasurable love. This is why He sends me to you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (January 25, 2020)

“This is why He sends me to you”:

1. To call you to pray even more… (Our Lady’s most important call is prayer because everything flows from our relationship with God in prayer.)

 

2. To help you to feel the holiness of forgiveness in your heart. (In prayer we perceive that we have sinned and can repent.   We also perceive that we have been harmed by the sins of others, and we can forgive them. Forgiveness changes everything. There is no feeling as life-giving as having been forgiven and being able to forgive.)

 

3. To help you build holiness in your family. (Through our experience of forgiveness – God’s forgiveness and our own, we can begin to live holy lives in our families.)

4. To keep you humble by reminding you that you are little children! (We are at our best when we realize we are children of God.)

 

5. To build a future in you through love and holiness. (Without a future, life has no meaning. Our future is with God.)

 

6. To give that future to the whole world through your love and holiness. (We can share our future joy with others, until the whole world realizes there is eternity with God.)

 

6. To show you how to give yourself to God the Creator through joy and holiness. (In holiness, we learn to give of ourselves until we are completely given to our Lord.)

 

7. To help you to discover the immeasurable love of God. (Heaven!!!)

Thank you, dearest Mother, for sharing your heart with us. Thank you for teaching us how to return to Jesus, how to accept His love and forgiveness, and how to open our hearts to joy! Thank you for being sent by God, for coming to us in Medjugorje. Thank you!!!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020

PS. Mirjana will have her monthly apparition on Sunday, February 2. I will send out the message as soon as I can. And the video of her encounter will be posted on Mary TV! www.marytv.tv