February 16, 2021 Reflection – This season is for you!
This season is for you! February 16, 2021 Dear Family of Mary! Tomorrow we begin the Season of Lent! And for the next 40 days we will pray, fast, and do penance. We will seek to draw closer to the Lord, renouncing everything that distances us from Him. So much good can happen during Lent! It is a special time of grace. Our Lady said to us: “Dear children! This Lent is a special incentive for you to change. Start from this moment. Turn off the television and renounce various things that are of no value. Dear children, I am calling you individually to conversion. This season is for you. Thank you for having responded to my call. (02/13/1986) This season is for you!! How often do we look at Lent as a time for ourselves, a time to expect blessings and graces for our own lives? Well, if seen from the right perspective, it is! The closer we can get to Jesus and His merciful Heart, the better! We will never regret it! Let’s take some time today to prepare our hearts for Lent. Take an inventory of our daily life. Make a list of things we need to renounce or “turn off”! The news, social media, email, messaging, internet searches. There are so many things that can clutter our lives or worse, tempt us into thoughts and information that can be harmful for us. Also take an inventory of the things we don’t do that we really should do. Visit a family member or neighbor, spend time serving at your parish, fast more faithfully, give alms, pray an extra Rosary, or go to Adoration? The things to do can also open our hearts to grace! Once we make the list, take it to prayer. What does Jesus want us to focus on this Lent? What is Our Lady saying to us? If we do these things today, then Ash Wednesday will find us ready to embrace the Season of Lent with all our hearts! And don’t forget our prayer to St. Joseph! Let’s ask St. Joseph to accompany us this Lent, as a very wise and holy mentor! We need him! Prayer to St. Joseph (adapted from St. Bernardine of Siena) Oh my beloved St. Joseph, adopt me as thy child. Take charge of my salvation; watch over me day and night; preserve me from the occasions of sin; obtain for me purity of body. Through thy intercession with Jesus, grant me a spirit of sacrifice, humility, self-denial, burning love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and a sweet and tender love for Mary, my mother. O Blessed St. Joseph, pray for me, that I may serve the Blessed Virgin Mary in her battle against the devil in these last days, always living her messages and answering her call from Medjugorje, so that the Immaculate Heart of Mary will Triumph in this world. Finally, St. Joseph, be with me living, be with me dying, and obtain for me a favorable judgement from Jesus, my merciful Savior. Amen. Dear St. Joseph, help me respond to this message from Our Lady: “Dear children! Today in a special way I invite you all to prayer and renunciation. For now as never before Satan wants to show the world his shameful face by which he wants to seduce as many people as possible onto the way of death and sin. Therefore, dear children, help my Immaculate Heart to triumph in the sinful world. I beseech all of you to offer prayers and sacrifices for my intentions so I can present them to God for what is most necessary. Forget your desires, dear children, and pray for what God desires, and not for what you desire. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (September 25, 1991) In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Cathy Nolan (c)Mary TV 2021