February 12, 2021 Reflection – I believe in God!
I believe in God! February 12, 2021 Dear Family of Mary! “Dear children! I am calling you at this time to prayer, fasting and renunciation, that you may be stronger in faith. This is a time of awakening and of giving birth. As nature which gives itself, you also, little children, ponder how much you have received. Be joyful bearers of peace and love that it may be good for you on earth. Yearn for Heaven; and in Heaven there is no sorrow or hatred. That is why, little children, decide anew for conversion and let holiness begin to reign in your life. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (January 25, 2021) I want to share the homily given at the Evening International Mass in Medjugorje for February 10, 2021. These words describe very well the depth of the faith of the people of Hercegovina and Croatia. We have much to learn from their example: International Mass in Medjugorje Wednesday, February 10, 2021 Here is the link to the video: https://marytv.tv/evening-international-mass-2/?smid=nBp23rsYp0X&slid=KdArKwrWsDO HOMILY Dear Brothers and Sisters, This modern civilization that surfaced after the “human elite” rejected God, constantly fills our heads with stories of how this world which we lead and live in came into being. There is talk of evolution and monkeys, all the way to some “Big Bang.” But, by no means, do they tell us – though they boast with their logic – what was before that evolution? What was there before those monkeys? What was there before that “Big Bang?” What existed before all that they are referring to? Clearly, only our faith has responded to that: There was God. He created the world. He created man in His own image and likeness. He wishes him well. Not everything ends here on earth. The earth is just a passage to our Heavenly homeland, to that place where we will stand before our God and render an account for our earthly walk. This imposed civilization of today will have nothing to offer when it comes before our God. It simply got lost, putting itself at the center of everything. That’s why it’s natural for it to tell us – like it did a short time ago – that we should celebrate the “World Chocolate Cake Day.” And on that day, we Christians celebrated a certain saint. After that, if we wanted to, we could treat, or not treat, ourselves with a chocolate cake, or with something else. One really needs to know how to put things in the right place, in order. Those who proclaimed and who celebrated the “Feast of the Chocolate Cake” and who celebrate similar so-called “holidays” throughout the year had, obviously, like the first humans, consciously, or maybe unconsciously, listened to the whisper of the serpent in the garden. The serpent whispered to man to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. For then: He, too, would become god! We know very well what that led to. Unfortunately, some people have not yet come to their senses. They still prefer the whisper of a serpent to the whisper of God. They shout that, “There is no God!” But they want to make themselves gods on this earth. We could summarize all their teaching in the term or notion, “Trans-humanism,” which claims that with the help of technical substitutes, with the help of vaccines, with the help of artificial intelligence, “We will overcome old age; and thus, we will defeat death itself.” One of them, Bill Gates, has been announcing this for a long time. Let’s just mention his 2005 Lecture to the CIA staff. He boasted, then, that he and his associates had discovered the gene responsible for “religiosity.” They, therefore, have even a “vaccine” to make you, so-to-say, “normal,” if you are religious. And every day they fill our heads with “Human Rights,” “Freedom,” etc. These are the modern prophets who want to create for us, a kind of, “Their Present” and announce to us, a kind of, “Their Own Future.” In all this, there is no place for God. But only for the greatest possible licentiousness of Man. They call it “Freedom” and “New Human Rights.” Unlike such prophets, we remember some completely different ones. These are the people who, after man’s fall in the Garden of Eden, announced recovery, only if man repents and clings to God again. The Bible is full of them. Let us remember them. Let us remember their actions, instead of remembering these others. Even today, God has not stopped speaking to His people. Every Time has its Prophets – only the way of speaking, and its content, changes. It is up to us to recognize such people in our environment in our midst, and to unite with them for our good and the good of the whole world. It is logical, therefore, now to ask the question: Who are we actually listening to on this earth? Do we indulge in that whisper from the Garden of Eden? Or the clear and loud voice of God? Do we allow ourselves to become prophets ourselves? Or, at least, to resemble them as we walk this fragile earthly path? Our lives will answer these questions. We won’t be able to hide. One cannot be partly a Christian and partly belong to this troubled world. Either you are, or you are not, of God. There is no other way. When Christians become aware of their power, the face of this world will change. The fall of today’s civilization did not happen because evil is stronger than good. But it happened because faith in those who called themselves Christians has weakened. It seemed to them that, instead of listening to God, it was easier to take the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That is why it is the way it is for us. I recently came across a verdict from 1952, the Yugoslav Communist Court in Imotski nearby city sentenced one woman to prison because she prayed in public in front of people for God to send them rain and for God to convert sinners. The word “god” of course was written in lower case. “She committed,” they said, “a violation against public order and peace. She deceived the people.” And at the end, it said: “Death to Fascism – Freedom to the People.” It is worth remembering this because the time in question is still going on. There, in the west from where Communism came to our region, today they break into churches and interrupt holy masses, because there may be more believers inside than the maximum number they set or defined. Maybe those believers do not wear masks, or a certain type of mask. Maybe, it is completely forbidden to go to church. Thank God that the situation in our country is different. We did not allow ourselves, except for some, to be poisoned by the intoxicating mists of life without God. Despite our mistakes, we live our Catholic faith. We are determined to continue to live it, to spread that “germ” of good to this world. Among other things, this is what the Blessed Aloysius Stepinac, whose memorial we are celebrating today, teaches us. He became “Blessed” – and will soon be “Holy,” canonized – by following God’s whisper till the end of his life. He didn’t let anything, or anyone, distract him from that path. There were, indeed, countless obstacles. They attacked him from all sides. They prevented him from going that way. But he simply persevered. He knew he must not give up; that, this was his true path. It was most difficult for him in the Yugoslav Communist era, with Tito as their “saint.” By Tito’s order, hundreds of thousands of Croats and others had been killed by then. But his followers simply worshipped him. Instead of a criminal, they wanted to portray Tito as a cuddly lamb. Stepinac did not fall for it. He did not want to separate the Catholic church in Croatia from Rome, in order to become “holy” in their eyes – in “their own way” – and to be pampered and cared for. He chose; he preferred to choose suffering instead. The current Croatian Ministry of Science and Education has also realized this. Two days ago on Monday, February the 8th, in their letter, they recommended to high schools in Croatia that the documentary by the title: “Stepinac, Cardinal and His Holiness” can be used in teaching. Now, these are their words, “because the life and work of Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac is a shining example to today’s youth, to the seekers of truth and moral role models.” Thank God! What else? The strength and example must have been given to Archbishop Stepinac by the faithful members of the people of God. Communism persecuted them, but they preferred to give their lives rather than turn their backs on their God and their homeland. From this parish, at that time, 279 members of the parish laid their lives on the altar of faith and homeland. Among them are six Franciscans who were born or who served in this parish. Over 1,582 persons disappeared from the Municipality of Citluk at that time; and about 20,000 from the whole of Hercegovina. This was especially the case after the end of the World War II; the evil of Communism relentlessly reaped our wheat. On this side of the border, at a Peace Cemetery in Balin, we are erecting individual crosses for all of them with their names and surnames, with the year of their birth, their father’s name, and a year of birth. That way, they’re not a number that has disappeared in history; but they are our predecessors living in our memory. It is an honor, and it is our duty, to do it for them. Siroki Brijeg , Ojuk, Citluk They have already started it. The same was done for the ministers of the church: 235 of them. Our freedom grew on the death of all of them. At the entrance to the church, you have a flyer about it all. Take it and do what needs to be done. In all our difficult battles, in all the difficult battles of Christians around the world, the hand of Our Lady was and is above us. She watched over us, guarded us, interceded for us before God on our uncertain journeys. Our love for Our Lady was instilled in our hearts by our mothers and our fathers. We remember how we used to make pilgrimages with them, barefoot, to various shrines of Our Lady. Even though we were just kids, it wasn’t hard for us. Mother was waiting for us there: Blessed Mother. Someone whom our beloved parents also honored. We have the honor to live today in the time of the Queen of Peace, as the visionaries testify to us. She, once again, visibly embraced, not only us, but the whole world. She does not allow today’s alienated civilization to pluck out its soul, to vaccinate us against God and lead us to ruin. She constantly reminds us, like our caring mothers do, which way to go and where God really is. It is unreasonable not to want to hear Our Lady’s words; at the very least, that would mean acting illogically, like those who do not know Who created this world. There is no other way on this earth, but God’s way. There, is all our happiness, all our hope, all our health. And that would be, not “the New Normal,” as we are being bombarded these days, but “the Old Normal.” We have been redeemed. We have cast off the plague of sin. And we are free. And with our heads held high, we walk this earth. “The New Normal,” instead, offers us masks, alienation from each other, vaccines of various kinds, lockdown. And who knows what else awaits us, according to them. Is it a life worthy of a man? Is it our happiness and “freedom?” Is there anyone who doesn’t know how to answer these questions? As we listen to God and His call to keep our mental health, let us not forget His call to keep our physical health as well. For how will we spread His word through this land if we do not have it? He wants us as whole personalities, but in a way that only He can give us. Let us accept His hand and go that way, knowing that it can be done. The Blessed Aloysius Stepinac, our killed friars, and all other members of the church hierarchy, as well as countless members of the faithful people of God, showed us this by example. They are our strength, our riches. Thank God for everything! Thank them for the example. Amen. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2021 PS. NEWS ABOUT OUR FIRESTICK APP!! We have a new version of the Amazon Firestick App up and running. It’s now compatible with more Amazon Firestick devices. It’s still the main Channel only. Here is the link to the new app: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08W4YJKV3