(c)Mateo Ivankovic 2017
J.M.J.
April 11, 2017
Tuesday of Holy Week
September 02, 2014 “Dear children, I, your mother, am coming anew among you out of love which has no end, from endless love of the endless Heavenly Father. And as I am looking into your hearts I see that many of you accept me as a mother and, with sincere and pure hearts, you desire to be my apostles. But, I am also the mother of those of you who do not accept me and who, in the hardness of your hearts, do not desire to come to know the love of my Son. And you do not know how much my heart suffers and how much I pray to my Son for you. I pray to Him to heal your souls because He can do so. I pray to Him to illuminate you with the miracle of the Holy Spirit so that you may stop, always anew, betraying, cursing and wounding Him. With all my heart I pray for you to understand that only my Son is the salvation and the light of the world. And you, my children, my dear apostles, always carry my Son in your hearts and thoughts. In this way you are carrying love. All those who do not know Him will recognize Him in your love. I am always beside you. In a special way I am beside your shepherds because my Son has called them to lead you on the way to eternity. Thank you, my apostles, for your sacrifice and love.”
This difficult message from Our Lady talks about two sets of people, those who accept her presence in Medjugorje and also accept Jesus, and those who do not accept her presence and do not accept Jesus. She loves both sets. But she is very worried about those who deny her son, who betray Him and curse and wound Him. They are cutting themselves off from salvation.
In the Gospel for today Jesus is at table with the very same two sets of people, those who accept Him and those who deny Him. Of course the obvious one is Judas. But less obvious is Peter, the Rock on which the Church would be founded. Peter professes his fidelity to Jesus, but we all know how Peter acts later that night. Three times he denies Jesus. Three time he falls.
We must look into our hearts to discover our own denials, for surely there are some. The Lord only wants us to run to Him in humility and confess. He will take us back into His embrace. This is what Our Lady is praying for in her message of September 2, 2014. May we open our hearts to the Lord.
Tuesday of Holy Week – Gospel: Jn 13:21-33, 36-38
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant.
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,
was reclining at Jesus’ side.
So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant.
He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him,
“Master, who is it?”
Jesus answered,
“It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.”
So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas,
son of Simon the Iscariot.
After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.
So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him.
Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him,
“Buy what we need for the feast,”
or to give something to the poor.
So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.
When he had left, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself,
and he will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
You will look for me, and as I told the Jews,
‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”
Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”
Jesus answered him,
“Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later.”
Peter said to him,
“Master, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times.”
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2017
