June 18, 2020 Reflection – 39th Anniversary Novena, Day 4
(c) Mateo Ivankovic 2016 J.M.J. June 18, 2020 39th Anniversary Novena Day 4 Dear Family of Mary! “Dear Children! As a mother, I implore you, open your heart and offer it to me, and fear nothing. I will be with you and will teach you how to put Jesus in the first place. I will teach you to love Him and to belong to Him completely. Comprehend, dear children that without my Son there is no salvation. You should become aware that He is your beginning and your end. Only with this awareness can you be happy and merit eternal life. As your mother, I desire this for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”(March 18, 2002) It seems that one of the prerequisites to Our Lady’s school of holiness, one of the underlying predispositions we need to have is an “open heart”. Our Lady has mentioned the need for an open heart at least 70 times in her messages. She not only suggests that we open our hearts, she implores us, begs us, and prays for us to have open hearts. Why is an open heart so important and what does it mean? I think an open heart means that we let Our Lady into our inner self. We invite her into our heart where our deepest secrets, wounds, desires and hopes are found. It means that we invite her into our inner room where we pray, where we love, where we choose. We do not hide ourselves from her. And we do not put on a show for her, we are honest and straight-forward with her about everything. The same goes for Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. We open our heart to them, that they may have free access to our inner self. Why is it important? Because it is only with an open heart that we can make contact with God and Mother Mary, and receive all the graces we need to be saved. We must open our hearts, no one can do it for us. It is our fundamental choice to believe in God and love Him. When we open our heart we choose to convert, turn to the Lord and trust Him. We choose to follow Our Lady who is leading us to God. Medjugorje is the place where hearts open! May we be those open hearts!! Let us pray the Joyful Mysteries: The Annunciation “Dear children, By God’s will I am here with you in this place. I desire that you open your hearts to me and to accept me as a mother. With my love I will teach you simplicity of life and richness of mercy and I will lead you to my Son. The way to Him can be difficult and painful but do not be afraid, I will be with you. My hands will hold you to the very end, to eternal happiness; therefore do not be afraid to open yourselves to me. Thank you. Pray for priests. My Son gave them to you as a gift.”(May 2, 2008) The Visitation “Dear children; Today I am praying here with you that you may gather the strength to open your hearts and thus to become aware of the mighty love of the suffering God. Through His love, goodness and meekness, I am also with you. I invite you for this special time of preparation to be a time of prayer, penance and conversion. My children, you need God. You cannot go forward without my Son. When you comprehend and accept this, what was promised to you will be realized. Through the Holy Spirit the Kingdom of Heaven will be born in your hearts. I am leading you to this. Thank you.”(December 2, 2010) The Birth of Jesus “Dear children, with much love and patience I strive to make your hearts like unto mine. I strive, by my example, to teach you humility, wisdom and love because I need you; I cannot do without you my children. According to God’s will I am choosing you, by His strength I am strengthening you. Therefore, my children, do not be afraid to open your hearts to me. I will give them to my Son and in return, He will give you the gift of Divine peace. You will carry it to all those whom you meet, you will witness God’s love with your life and you will give the gift of my Son through yourselves. Through reconciliation, fasting and prayer, I will lead you. Immeasurable is my love. Do not be afraid. My children, pray for the shepherds. May your lips be shut to every judgment, because do not forget that my Son has chosen them and only He has the right to judge. Thank you.”(January 02, 2013) The Presentation “Dear children, If only you would open your hearts to me with complete trust, you would comprehend everything. You would comprehend with how much love I am calling you; with how much love I desire to change you, to make you happy; with how much love I desire to make you followers of my Son and give you peace in the fullness of my Son. You would comprehend the immeasurable greatness of my motherly love. That is why, my children, pray because through prayer your faith grows and love is born, the love along which even the cross is not unendurable because you do not carry it alone. In union with my Son you glorify the name of the Heavenly Father. Pray, pray for the gift of love, because love is the only truth: it forgives everything, it serves everyone and it sees a brother in everyone. My children, my apostles, great is the trust that the Heavenly Father has given you through me, His handmaid, to help those who do not know Him, that they may reconcile with Him and follow Him. That is why I am teaching you love, because only if you have love will you be able to respond to Him. Again I am calling you to love your shepherds and to pray that, at this difficult time, the name of my Son may be glorified under their guidance. Thank you.”(August 02, 2013) The Finding in the Temple “Dear children, open your hearts and try to feel how much I love you and how much I desire for you to love my Son. I desire for you to come to know Him all the better, because it is impossible to know Him and not to love Him – because He is love. I, my children, know you. I know your pain and suffering because I lived through them. I laugh with you in your joy and I cry with you in your pain. I will never leave you. I will always speak to you with motherly tenderness. And I, as a mother, need your open hearts to spread the love of my Son with wisdom and simplicity. I need you to be open and sensitive to the good and mercy. I need you to be united with my Son, because I desire for you to be happy and to help me to bring happiness to all of my children. My apostles, I need you to show everyone the truth of God, so that my heart, which suffered and today suffers so much pain, can win in love. Pray for the holiness of your shepherds, so that in the name of my Son they can work miracles, because holiness works miracles. Thank you.”(May 2, 2015) Let us pray: Dear Mother Mary, we gather together to pray this novena, with deep gratitude for your presence in our midst. You have come to show us the way to heaven. The Heavenly Father has sent you to us to help us to repent and return to Him. You are coming to be the bond between us and the Heavenly Father, and to help us to love and serve His Son. You pray with us for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, because you have told us that when we have the Holy Spirit, we have everything. Therefore we ask that during this Novena you will help us to bond with you and through you with our Triune God who loves us so much. We ask that every grace can be poured out upon our shepherds during these nine days, that they will be strengthened and purified for the days ahead, these most triumphant days of the Triumph of your Immaculate Heart! Thank you, dearest Mother!!! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2020