Day: February 19, 2020

  Renew and live the Fast! (c)Anthony Zubac February 20, 2020 Dear Family of Mary! September 26, 1985 “Dear children! I thank you for all the prayers. Thank you for all the sacrifices. I wish to tell you, dear children, to renew the messages which I am giving you. Especially live the fast, because by fasting you will achieve and cause me the joy of the whole plan, which God is planning here in Medjugorje, being fulfilled. Thank you for having responded to my call.” In looking for messages about fasting, I found at least 186!! Our Lady truly desires the fast. Over and over again, she has called for “prayer and fasting…” They go together. Prayer is powered by fasting and fasting only has meaning through prayer. Let’s hear what Fr. Leon says about fasting: The fourth stone is fasting. Our Lady says to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. Fast strictly on Wednesdays and Fridays. The best fast is on bread and water. With fasting you can suspend natural laws and stop wars. She also says she needs our fasting to convert other people. My Jewish friend said to me once, you Catholics…when you say fasting you mean that you don’t eat in between meals. Think about our fasting. We have two days of fasting, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. That’s it. Only two days in Lent. Maybe 60 years ago we had more than 100 days of fasting. They are all gone now. On those two days – Ash Wednesday and Good Friday – you can have one full meal and then you can have two small meals that when added together don’t add up to one meal. We call this fasting. But this is what most people eat on a good day. But fasting is powerful. Pray for the grace to be able to fast. Although Our Lady invites us to fast, she is also strict. She says that no one is excused, not even the elderly. Only the sick. And then she says, for the sick, let him who smokes give up cigarettes. Let him who drinks give up alcohol. Let him who watches television, turn off the TV. In at least six early messages she says to turn off the TV. You don’t need it. (She might say the same thing about smart phones…) But fasting is important. Now Ash Wednesday is coming up, and I know lots of people will tell you that rather than giving up something you should add on a new good thing to do. That is not entirely true. Giving up something that you are entitled to is powerful. Making a sacrifice is powerful. And Our Lady needs it. She said in Fatima almost a hundred years ago, more souls go to hell because no people pray and make sacrifices. (https://marytv.tv/fruit-of-medjugorje/   Fruit show 355) Fr. Leon did a good job of sorting out issues about fasting. And Our Lady is really good at showing us the good in fasting! Here are several messages that we can pray over today. Fasting is a difficult interior struggle that helps us to put our selfish desires aside and focus on what God wants us to desire, i.e. love, holiness, service, gentleness, peace, hope, prayer, the Triumph and Jesus!! We are made strong and good by fasting. And Our Lady can gather up our sacrifices to do great and wonderful things for the world. Messages about fasting from the Queen of Peace: December 4, 1986 “Dear children! Today I call you to prepare your hearts for these days when the Lord particularly desires to purify you from all the sins of your past. You, dear children, are not able by yourselves, therefore I am here to help you. You pray, dear children! Only that way shall you be able to recognize all the evil that is in you and surrender it to the Lord so the Lord may completely purify your hearts. Therefore, dear children, pray without ceasing and prepare your hearts in penance and fasting. Thank you for having responded to my call.” July 25, 1991 “Dear Children! Today I invite you to pray for peace. At this time peace is being threatened in a special way, and I am seeking from you to renew fasting and prayer in your families. Dear children, I desire you to grasp the seriousness of the situation and that much of what will happen depends on your prayers and you are praying a little bit. Dear children, I am with you and I am inviting you to begin to pray and fast seriously as in the first days of my coming. Thank you for having responded to my call.” August 25, 1991 “Dear Children! Today also I invite you to prayer, now as never before when my plan has begun to be realized. Satan is strong and wants to sweep away my plans of peace and joy and make you think that my Son is not strong in His decisions. Therefore, I call all of you, dear children, to pray and fast still more firmly. I invite you to self-renunciation for nine days so that, with your help, everything that I desire to realize through the secrets I began in Fatima, may be fulfilled. I call you, dear children, to now grasp the importance of my coming and the seriousness of the situation. I want to save all souls and present them to God. Therefore, let us pray that everything I have begun be fully realized. Thank you for having responded to my call.” October 25, 2000 “Dear children! Today I desire to open my motherly heart to you and to call you all to pray for my intentions. I desire to renew prayer with you and to call you to fast which I desire to offer to my Son Jesus for the coming of a new time – a time of spring. In this Jubilee year many hearts have opened to me and the Church is being renewed in the Spirit. I rejoice with you and I thank God for this gift; and you, little children, I call to pray, pray, pray – until prayer becomes a joy for you… Thank you for having responded to my call.” January 25, 2001 “Dear children! Today I call you to renew prayer and fasting with even greater enthusiasm until prayer becomes a joy for you. Little children, the one who prays is not afraid of the future and the one who fasts is not afraid of evil. Once again, I repeat to you: only through prayer and fasting also wars can be stopped – wars of your unbelief and fear for the future. I am with you and am teaching you little children: your peace and hope are in God. That is why draw closer to God and put Him in the first place in your life. Thank you for having responded to my call.” February 25, 2003 “Dear children! Also today I call you to pray and fast for peace. As I have already said and now repeat to you, little children, only with prayer and fasting can wars also be stopped. Peace is a precious gift from God. Seek, pray and you will receive it. Speak about peace and carry peace in your hearts. Nurture it like a flower which is in need of water, tenderness and light. Be those who carry peace to others. I am with you and intercede for all of you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” March 25, 2007 “Dear children! I desire to thank you from my heart for your Lenten renunciations. I desire to inspire you to continue to live fasting with an open heart. By fasting and renunciation, little children, you will be stronger in faith. In God you will find true peace through daily prayer. I am with you and I am not tired. I desire to take you all with me to Heaven, therefore, decide daily for holiness. Thank you for having responded to my call.” March 18, 2007 “Dear children! I come to you as a Mother with gifts. I come with love and mercy. Dear children, mine is a big heart. In it, I desire all of your hearts, purified by fasting and prayer. I desire that, through love, our hearts may triumph together. I desire that through that triumph you may see the real Truth, the real Way and the real Life. I desire that you may see my Son. Thank you.” In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!Cathy Nolan© Mary TV 2020   PS. (I know I keep sharing this information, but I want to be sure everyone sees this beautiful opportunity!!)   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: [email protected] 574-335-9952 https://www.pilgrim-medj.com/pilgrimages.html

  Read the Scriptures and Live it! February 19, 2020 Dear Family of Mary! January 25, 2006 “Dear children! Also today I call you to be carriers of the Gospel in your families. Do not forget, little children, to read Sacred Scripture. Put it in a visible place and witness with your life that you believe and live the Word of God. I am close to you with my love and intercede before my Son for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Our Lady has consistently called us to reverence and read the Bible. She asks us to place the Sacred Scriptures in a prominent place in our homes, and to read it together as a family. Fr. Leon spoke about the Bible, as the third stone in Our Lady’s plan this way: The third stone is the Holy Bible. Our Lady says: “Put the Bible in a prominent place in the family home. Let everyone read from it, even the children. Root it in your heart. Read especially the Gospel.” Now here are we part of the Bible Belt here? (North Carolina) Yes? OK! You have to know that Bible, because it is our book. It’s a Catholic book! As Father said, we don’t have extra books (in our Bibles as Catholics) but it is just that the Protestants have mutilated it because of Martin Luther who threw out 7 books he didn’t like. I remember at my seminary, a Protestant friend came around for dinner, and I was in the shower and he texted me and he said, “Revelations 3:12”, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice I will enter and I will dine with him.” So, I came out of the shower and saw this message and I thought “I’ll show him that Catholics know the Bible too.” So, I wrote back, “Genesis 3:12” “Behold I heard the sound of your voice in the garden, but I was naked and afraid and I hid myself.” (Much laughter) This is a true story! Read the Bible, every day. Read especially the Gospels. As St. Jerome says, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” If you were courting, you would never believe your beloved if he said, “Oh, I don’t want to hear anything about you. Just let me love you.” You would say to that person, “Welcome to dumpsville, population: you.” Right? Get rid of him… It’s the same way, with Jesus. Would Jesus believe that we love Him if we don’t read the Bible? No. We have got to read it. Also, the Bible is powerful. You know, my ancestors are from Singapore, but their ancestors are from Kerala, in Southwest India. It is very Catholic. And they all seem to be charismatic. I think there are a lot of Kerala priests throughout the United States. They are very big into Charismatic phenomena, and healing through the Scriptures. I have seen this. They will read the Word of God and people get healed. Through hearing the Word of God. So, remember that the Word of God is very powerful. When you Hear the Word of God at Mass you can be healed in your soul and in your body. Be aware of that. Be open to God and you will see miracles. (Fruit of Medjugorje – show 355 – Fr. Leon Pereira speaking at St. Mark’s Church in North Carolina in 2019 –  https://marytv.tv/fruit-of-medjugorje/    ) I agree with Fr. Leon, that the Bible is very powerful. The Word of God is the Truth. And Truth is stronger than evil. If we are struggling in prayer or being tempted by the enemy, the Word of God will set us on a good path and free us from temptation. We need the Truth in our day, because so much confusion has been sown in our families and communities. The Bible holds that Truth for us, and can help us to stand on solid ground in our lives. Here are a few things Our Lady has said to us about the Bible: October 18, 1984 “Dear children! Today I call on you to read the Bible every day in your homes and let it be in a visible place so as always to encourage you to read it and to pray. Thank you for having responded to my call.” August 25, 1996 “Dear children! Listen, because I wish to speak to you and to invite you to have more faith and trust in God, who loves you immeasurably. Little children, you do not know how to live in the grace of God, that is why I call you all anew, to carry the word of God in your heart and in thoughts. Little children, place the Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your family, and read and live it. Teach your children, because if you are not an example to them, children depart into godlessness. Reflect and pray and then God will be born in your heart and your heart will be joyous. Thank you for having for responded to my call.” April 25, 2005 “Dear children! Also today, I call you to renew prayer in your families. By prayer and the reading of Sacred Scripture, may the Holy Spirit, who will renew you, enter into your families. In this way, you will become teachers of the faith in your family. By prayer and your love, the world will set out on a better way and love will begin to rule in the world. Thank you for having responded to my call.” January 25, 2006 “Dear children! Also today I call you to be carriers of the Gospel in your families. Do not forget, little children, to read Sacred Scripture. Put it in a visible place and witness with your life that you believe and live the Word of God. I am close to you with my love and intercede before my Son for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Holy Thursday, April 19, 1984 To Jelena: “I’m going to reveal a spiritual secret to you: if you want to be stronger than evil, make yourself a plan of personal prayer. Take a certain time in the morning, read a text from Holy Scripture, anchor the Divine word in your heart, and strive to live it during the day, particularly during the moment of trials. In this way, you will be stronger than evil.” Finally, I just want to say that recently I have felt drawn to the Bible during prayer. I have felt the Holy Spirit encouraging me to reverence the Bible, because it is Holy! To kiss it when I open it. To hold it, even hug it, because it is the Word of God, that Word that saves us! The effect has been powerful for me. We are so blessed to have the Bible in our homes, to be able to read it, study it, and pray with it. May we all grow in our relationship to the Holy Scriptures, because they are a defense against the enemy, a sure source of Truth, and a window into the Heart of God! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!Cathy Nolan©Mary TV 2020   PS. (I know I keep sharing this information, but I want to be sure everyone sees this beautiful opportunity!!)   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: [email protected] 574-335-9952 https://www.pilgrim-medj.com/pilgrimages.html