Forgive us our trespasses…
I imploring you, my children, to forgive and to love all the people whom you meet? (c)Mary TV/Mateo Ivankovic March 12, 2019 Dear Family of Mary! Dear children, I call you ‘apostles of my love’. I am showing you my Son who is the true peace and the true love. As a mother, through the mercy of God, I desire to lead you to Him. My children, this is why I am calling you to reflect on yourselves, starting out from my Son, that you look to Him with the heart and that you may see with the heart where you are and where your life is going. My children, I am calling you to comprehend that it is, thanks to my Son, that you live – through His love and sacrifice. You are asking of my Son to be merciful to you and I am calling you to mercy. You are asking of Him to be good to you and to forgive you, and for how long am I imploring you, my children, to forgive and to love all the people whom you meet? When you comprehend my words with the heart, you will comprehend and come to know the true love and you will be able to be apostles of that love, my apostles, my dear children. Thank you. Amazingly, the Gospel reading for today also speaks exactly to Our Lady’s message on March 2, 2019. Her message brings into focus one of the most important teachings of Jesus, that of forgiving as Our Heavenly Father forgives us. Forgiveness is one of the most difficult acts we do each day, because when we forgive, we are saying to ourselves that we want to be like Jesus, who forgave us from the Cross. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” So hard to understand and even harder to do. But not impossible, if we do it in, with and through Jesus. Today’s Gospel: Matthew 6: 7-15 “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. “You are asking of Him to be good to you and to forgive you, and for how long am I imploring you, my children, to forgive and to love all the people whom you meet?” Our Lady repeats Jesus’ teaching to us. Our Lady wants us to be self-aware. She says, “My children, this is why I am calling you to reflect on yourselves, starting out from my Son, that you look to Him with the heart and that you may see with the heart where you are and where your life is going.” Our Lady wants us to see our lives as compared to Jesus’ life which will then lead us to see them in terms of eternity. She wants us to see where we are going, based on how we are living today. This is what Jesus does in the Gospels. He wants us to see the eternal consequences of our choices and our actions. The Our Father is a prayer that points us to Heaven and then gives us tools to aim at Heaven, to find the way there. Forgiveness is one of the keys to finding this way. It brings us so close to Jesus when we forgive. I recommend the homily given by Fr. Brian Baker at the English Mass in Medjugorje on March 11, 2019. You can find it at this link: https://marytv.tv/english-mass-in-medjugorje / Please choose the 03/11/19 English Mass in the playlist to the right on the window. Fr. Baker speaks very well of the importance of forgiveness in all our relationships, through our union with Jesus on the Cross. Our Lady is with us to help us to change the trajectory of our lives, aiming them directly at Heaven!! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!Cathy Nolan©Mary TV 2019