Christmas Novena – Day Five
(c)Mateo Ivankovic 2016 J.M.J. December 19, 2016 Christmas Novena Day Five Dear Family of Mary! We are at Day Five of our Christmas Novena! Half way there! Today both Our Lady and Jesus speak about sleep! Truly, sleep is an act of trust, because we give ourselves over completely to rest and let go control of our life for a few hours. It is very important to sleep, as we need to be revitalized and strengthened through our rest for the next day’ challenges. Sleep is really a sort of surrender, especially if we pray and give ourselves over to God before we sleep. Our Message for today: Sunday, October 30, 1983 To Jelena: “Why do you not put your trust in me? I know that you have been praying for a long time, but really, surrender yourself. Abandon your concerns to Jesus. Listen to what He says in the Gospel: And who among you, through his anxiety, is able to add a single cubit, to the length of his life’ (Mt. 6:27). Pray also, in the evening when you have finished your day. Sit down in your room, and say to Jesus: ‘Thank you.’ If in the evening you fall asleep in peace, and in prayer, in the morning you will wake up thinking of Jesus. You will then be able to pray for peace, but if you fall asleep in distraction, the day after will be misty, and you will forget even to pray that day.” Novena of Surrender to the will of God – Day Five (Jesus speaks to Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo) And when I must lead you on a path different from the one you see, I will prepare you; I will carry you in my arms; I will let you find yourself, like children who have fallen asleep in their mother’s arms, on the other bank of the river. What troubles you and hurts you immensely are your reason, your thoughts and worry, and your desire at all costs to deal with what afflicts you. O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times) (I have to say that Jesus’ words are comforting. There is power in this image. We often find ourselves confronted with a change in our life, something unexpected and maybe difficult. We can respond with fear and the need to control the situation, which will lead us into a spiral of chaos. Or we can respond with complete surrender to Jesus, in which we place all our fears in His heart, and then rest on His chest, letting Him carry us. “Who among you, through his anxiety, is able to add a single cubit to the length of his life?” Jesus alone can carry us over the unexpected paths we encounter. He will do it. We only have to surrender.) Let us pray 7 Our Fathers, 7 Hail Marys and 7 Glory bes. Lord Jesus, through the Intercession of your Mother, Mary, we want to stop worrying and start praying to you when a new path is presented to us. May we learn to stop worrying and planning on our own, and instead turn to you for help. May we learn to surrender our entire selves to You, that we may give you glory and honor all our days, and especially at this celebration of your Incarnation and Nativity. We are all yours through the guidance and intercession of our Mother, Mary! Amen. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2016 PS. Join us for this live event from December 15 to 23, 2016 at www.marytv.tv It will be shown on our Channel Window on the home page. Also, we will live stream this Novena on our Facebook page, “Medjugorje Mary TV”. https://www.facebook.com/marytv.tv/ If you are on Facebook with us, please “like” and “share” the event so we can spread the word about Medjugorje and Our Lady’s presence!