December 23, 2024 Reflection – Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet…
Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet… December 23, 2024 Dear Family of Mary! “Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with doom.” (Malachi 3:23-34, first reading for Mass today) This scripture concludes the Old Testament! It speaks of another Elijah to come when God is about to bring down his judgement! Amazingly, in the New Testament, St Luke picks up the words of Malachi for the first chapter of his gospel (Luke 1:57-66), when the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, John’s father, and spoke to him about his son, “…he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16-17) Clearly, St Luke tells us that John is the one Malachi was announcing as the “Elijah” to come! John the Baptist was sent to announce the coming of the Lord! He went before Jesus, to prepare the way for His coming. And his witness was pure and true. I am always intrigued that Our Lady first appeared on June 24, 1981, which is the Feast of the Birth of St. John the Baptist! I believe that she came on that feast to make it clear that she was now carrying on the prophetic role of St. John, who was the successor of Elijah before him, preparing the way for the coming of her Son in our day. May we recognize her coming as prophetic, and respond to her call to repent and turn to her Son with complete trust and readiness to do all He asks of us in this time of grace. Our Lady said to us: September 2, 2015 “Dear children, My dear apostles of love, my carriers of truth, again I am calling you and gathering you around me to help me, to help all of my children who thirst for love and truth – who thirst for my Son. I am a grace from the Heavenly Father, sent to help you to live the word of my Son. Love one another. I lived your earthly life. I know that it is not always easy, but if you will love each other, you will pray with the heart, you will reach spiritual heights and the way to heaven will be opened for you. I, your mother, am waiting for you there because I am there. Be faithful to my Son and teach others faithfulness. I am with you. I will help you. I will teach you faith that you may know how to transmit it to others in the right way. I will teach you truth that you may know how to discern. I will teach you love that you may come to know what real love is… My children, my Son will make it so as to speak through your words and your actions. Thank you.” Clearly, Mother needs us to carry on her mission to spread the love of her Son. She speaks with Heavenly authority. She is raising us up to be like St. John the Baptist, who pointed the way to Christ, speaking in the desert and baptizing the people in a baptism of repentance. We live in a spiritual desert in these days, created by the enemy of our souls. But we can bring the truth to thirsting souls, by sharing the truth of our salvation, through Jesus and through Mary! So many people long for the truth, the light of faith, the love of God! We can show them the way, through our testimonies and our love. St. Elijah, pray for us! St. John the Baptist, pray for us! Mother Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!! God bless you, Cathy Nolan Mary TV P.S. Many have responded to our need for donations! Thank you! We need your support as we enter into 2025. Consider a monthly donation! We are grateful!! https://marytv.tv/donate/