Day: September 9, 2020

September 10, 2020 Reflection – Be little lights in the world!

(c) Mary TV September 10, 2020 Dear Family of Mary! Our Lady has given so many messages. They are always powerful at the time they are given. But they also can grow in power and meaning over time. Often a phrase or sentence will pass us by. We will even forget it, until God brings it back into focus and shows us what Our Lady is saying. Her words are inspired by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. She speaks for our salvation! After I had the waking dream of the little lights at ground level illuminating the darkness of the world above, I began to see that Our Lady had mentioned this image of being little lights several times over the years. I always liked the idea but didn’t think much about it. Now in these days, as the world grows ever darker all around us, I see those messages with new appreciation. Here is one such message: June 02, 2017: “Dear children, as in the other places where I have come to you, also here I am calling you to prayer. (Our Lady makes the connection of her apparitions in Medjugorje with her other apparition sites, without naming them. We think of Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe… and we know that she always called her children first and foremost to pray.) Pray for those who do not know my Son, for those who have not come to know the love of God, against sin, for the consecrated – for those whom my Son called to have love and the spirit of strength for you, for the Church. (Our Lady asks for intercession for those who do not believe! To pray against sin in the world – which is spiritual warfare! To pray for priests and religious – those who need our intercession because they are so important for all of us, the Church!) Pray to my Son, and the love which you experience from His nearness will give you the strength to make you ready for the works of love, which you will do in His name. (She calls us to pray with the heart to Jesus. In prayer with the heart we can receive the love that Jesus has for us, a love that changes everything. In that love we can do great works!) My children, be ready. This time is a turning point. (Our Lady told us in June of 2017 that it was at that time a turning point. We needed to be ready. Today, as we see the world descending into chaos, we realize that she was right. Over the past three years, the battle has intensified, and we are right in the middle of it all. But how can we ready?) That is why I am calling you anew to faith and hope. (We must ask for the grace of faith and hope, both theological virtues. They make us ready for battle. We believe in Jesus with all our hearts, and we see that salvation is possible by our hope. Then we are equipped to move forward in the battle for souls.) I am showing you the way by which you need to go, and those are the words of the Gospel. (The words of the Gospel hold everything we need to move forward in faith and hope, and love!) Apostles of my love, the world is in such need of your arms raised towards Heaven, towards my Son, towards the Heavenly Father. (We must raise our arms in praise and petition to Jesus and the Father. We must desire God above all else, with every part of our being. Such prayer brings down the Holy Spirit. Such prayer changes us and makes us free and whole. Such prayer equips us to shine!) Much humility and purity of heart are needed. Have trust in my Son and know that you can always be better. (Humility and purity of heart make us little. When we are humble, we a free. We are surrendered to Jesus and know that all is in His hands. We are not blinded by our own importance. In fact we don’t even think of ourselves. That is how we can walk with the Lord in trust and constant conversion of heart.) My motherly heart desires for you, apostles of my love, to be little lights of the world, to illuminate there where darkness wants to begin to reign, to show the true way by your prayer and love, to save souls. I am with you. Thank you.” (Then she tells us exactly what we are called to do. “Be little lights of the world!” Where the darkness engulfs souls, we must, through our humility and purity, shine with the light of faith. We must shine with the truth and help others to find the way of truth through prayer and love. We must save souls from the darkness of atheism and despair. And we can do this if we stay close to our Mother and shine with her love!) We may not think that our little lives have much meaning, but when we live them without fear in a dark place, the light will do its job. And the more of us who gather, the more the light will grow! This is how we can save souls. Little lights shining in their littleness without fear in a world that needs hope. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan © Mary TV 2020    

September 9, 2020 Reflection – Little Lights

(c) Mary TV September 9, 2020 St. Peter Claver, Priest Dear Family of Mary! Our Lady says this is a time of grace, often. We all know that she is the grace! She’s the one with the grace! Her presence! But we have also learned that she is not only the Queen of Peace in Medjugorje, but also Queen of Divine Mercy! With all of that in mind, I want to share a “waking” dream that I had the other night. I couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night and I was not peaceful. It just seemed like everything was so dark. I think I was thinking about the turmoil in the world and the governments and the powers that be, atheistic communism and all the rest. And all of a sudden, I had this deep feeling or sense about the possibility of having a world without mercy. A world without mercy. Atheism spawns a world view with no mercy. And the horror of the thought that there could be a place, or a time, or a world where there was no mercy, was terrifying. No mercy ever again. It just overcame all of my being. I felt terror at this thought. And that made me realize how much I take the mercy that surrounds me for granted.  Every day I am shown mercy in many, many ways. So many I can’t count them. I am used to it. I’m used to it because I am a Catholic. I live in the sacraments – Baptism, Confession, Eucharist, Anointing of the Sick, etc! All of that is just Mercy flooding upon me. Also, because I have the Sacrament of Matrimony, we have Mercy flowing through our family and our relationships. But I was in danger of taking all that for granted. Instead I was looking for mercy from governments. It doesn’t matter who is in the government. They can’t be the main source of mercy in my life. Anyway, I was thinking all that and I realized that I should not take the Mercy that flows through my life for granted. And at that moment I saw as it were, a dark, dark, dark land, as if the whole world was dark. And it looked like there was no mercy in the entire world. But then I saw tiny lights, down at ground level, in the lowest levels of society, all these lights which were tiny, insignificant (in that no one would notice them) works of mercy going on between people. And I realized that that was the avenue through which Mercy would triumph. It would be coming from the bottom up, not from the top down. And that Mercy was much stronger than it looked like. Now let’s hear from St. Faustina, as she was given the job of declaring this Time of Mercy from the Lord, making it clear that He was with us to bless us, forgive us, and draw us into His merciful Heart: God’s floodgates have been opened for us. Let us want to take advantage of them before the day of God’s justice arrives. And that will be a dreadful day! When once I asked the Lord Jesus how He could tolerate so many sins and crimes and not punish them, the Lord answered me, I have eternity for punishing [these], and so I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of [sinners]. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation. My daughter, secretary of My mercy, your duty is not only to write about and proclaim My mercy, but also to beg for this grace for them, so that they too may glorify My mercy.  (Diary, 1159-1160) This is what St. Faustina had so deep in her heart, the need for Divine Mercy, for all the people around her and in all the world. And it was her job to beg for that mercy for them. She wrote just before these words: A member of this group ought to perform at least one act of mercy a day; at least one, but there can be many more, for such deeds can easily be carried out by anyone, even the very poorest. For there are three ways of performing an act of mercy: the merciful word, by forgiving and by comforting; secondly, if you can offer no word, then pray – that too is mercy; and thirdly, deeds of mercy. And when the Last Day comes, we shall be judged from this, and on this basis, we shall receive the eternal verdict. (Diary, 1158) Really, we can measure our lives in terms of mercy. Where and when are we living mercy? How are we living it? How are we giving it? How are we accepting it? Are we going to confession, where we receive the tremendous Mercy of Jesus? So I guess I just wanted to encourage all of us right now, when in some of our countries we have elections coming and there is great turmoil in the midst of our political lives, and in other countries there is terrible persecution going on, not to mention horrible poverty. But in all of that, we should take confidence in the smallest act of mercy we do and that others can do around the world, that those acts of mercy will change the world. The acts, the prayers, and words of mercy, they are powerful. And they come through us little guys, us little guys, the little lights at the bottom of society. Let’s take great confidence in that. We are on the right track, we little guys, praying for mercy constantly. Praying for mercy. Praying for mercy all the time. And living mercy and trusting in mercy and knowing that Our Lady is the Queen of Divine Mercy, Queen of Peace. As much as that experience of a world with no mercy scared me half to death, it also brought life back into me by the tremendous understanding of the gift of Mercy that has been poured out and will continue to be poured out from Jesus through little souls throughout the world, who are fed by Jesus in the Eucharist and strengthened by Our Lady. I want to end with this message from Our Lady through Mirjana – April 2, 2017. Please read it attentively and prayerfully. Her message explains exactly what I had the waking dream about. But she says it better. She does want us to be her “little lights of the world”: “Dear children, apostles of my love, it is up to you to spread the love of my Son to all those who have not come to know it; you, the little lights of the world, whom I am teaching with motherly love to shine clearly with full brilliance. Prayer will help you, because prayer saves you, prayer saves the world. Therefore, my children, pray with words, feelings, merciful love and sacrifice. My Son has shown you the way – He who became incarnate and made of me the first chalice, with His exalted sacrifice He has shown you how you need to love. Therefore, my children, do not be afraid to speak the truth. Do not be afraid to change yourself and the world by spreading love, by doing everything for my Son to be known and loved by loving others in Him. As a mother, I am always with you. I am imploring my Son to help you for love to reign in your life – love that lives, love that draws, love which gives life. I am teaching you such love – pure love. It is up to you, my apostles, to recognize it, live it and spread it. Pray with feeling for your shepherds so that they can witness my Son with love. Thank you.” (April 02, 2017) “You, the little lights of the world, whom I am teaching with motherly love to shine clearly with full brilliance.” That is what I saw in my waking dream. Those little lights at the bottom of society, so fearlessly shining with full brilliance! We must be those lights in this day. Our Lady has come to show us the way. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2020