“Be ready.”
(c)Mateo Ivankovic 2017 J.M.J. June 8, 2017 Dear Family of Mary! “My children, be ready. This time is a turning point…” (June 2, 2017) This part of Our Lady’s message has resonated with many of us. We feel the spiritual battle becoming more and more intense. The opposing forces in the world are in a critical confrontation. In 1976, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła (St. John Paul II) gave a speech during a visit to America in which he described very boldly the situation the world was facing in the days ahead. He said: “We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel. “We must be prepared to undergo great trials in the not-too-distant future; trials that will require us to be ready to give up even our lives, and a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ. Through your prayers and mine, it is possible to alleviate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it. . . .How many times has the renewal of the Church been brought about in blood! It will not be different this time.” – Bicentennial talk given in the United States by the future St. John Paul II, then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Kraków, Poland (1976) (I got the quote from an article on The Catholic Thing – It is worth reading! https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2014/06/01/the-final-confrontation/ ) St. John Paul’s words came true even for himself, in that he was attacked in 1981 by a gunman in St. Peter’s Square, suffering terribly from his wounds. He was saved, as he said, by Our Lady’s hand, guiding the bullet. But what interests me is that St. John Paul told us to be ready…ready for what? To give up even our own lives, and [to make] a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ. This is what being ready meant to him. I believe this is what Our Lady intends as well. Our Lady has spoken before about being ready. In this message from 2013 she made it very clear what being ready is all about: April 02, 2013 “Dear children, I am calling you to be one with my Son in spirit. I am calling you, through prayer, and the Holy Mass when my Son unites Himself with you in a special way, to try to be like Him; that, like Him, you may always be ready to carry out God’s will and not seek the fulfillment of your own. Because, my children, it is according to God’s will that you are and that you exist, and without God’s will you are nothing. As a mother I am asking you to speak about the glory of God with your life because, in that way, you will also glorify yourself in accordance to His will. Show humility and love for your neighbour to everyone. Through such humility and love, my Son saved you and opened the way for you to the Heavenly Father. I implore you to keep opening the way to the Heavenly Father for all those who have not come to know Him and have not opened their hearts to His love. By your life, open the way to all those who still wander in search of the truth. My children, be my apostles who have not lived in vain. Do not forget that you will come before the Heavenly Father and tell Him about yourself. Be ready! Again I am warning you, pray for those whom my Son called, whose hands He blessed and whom He gave as a gift to you. Pray, pray, pray for your shepherds. Thank you.” “Always be ready to carry out God’s will and not seek the fulfillment of your own.” This is the challenge for us, to seek out and understand God’s will for us in these times. This is the only way we can be of some help to Our Lady in this turning point. “Do not forget that you will come before the Heavenly Father and tell Him about yourself. Be Ready!” We are ready when we are reconciled with God. When we have tried to live our lives in His will and His love, and have followed the teachings of the Church, we will be ready. We will be ready for whatever comes. Being ready is being at peace with God. We have a great example to follow in St. John Paul II. And we have the best of Mother’s in Our Lady. These two guides will help us to be ready, and to face this turning point with faith, hope and love! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2017