J.M.J.
January 4, 2017
St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton
Dear Family of Mary!
“Dear children, My Son was the source of love and light when he spoke on earth to the people of all peoples. My apostles, follow His light. This is not easy. You must be little. You must make yourselves smaller than others; with the help of faith to be filled with His love…” (January 2, 2017)
It is comforting that Our Lady tells us that following Jesus’ light is not easy. She doesn’t want us to get ideas! To be a disciple of her Son means to pick up our crosses and follow Him. And that means to be very little, very humble. Most crosses have to do with human relations. And because of sin, we can find ourselves in conflict with others very often. And when we are faced with a personal conflict we have to make a choice: do I beat the other person down with my argument, or do I step back from the conflict and humble myself, become littler than the other? Do is grow big or make myself small?
Our Lady gave St. Faustina some advice about holiness and following her Son:
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Before Holy Communion I saw the Blessed Mother inconceivably beautiful. Smiling at me She said to me, My daughter, at God’s command I am to be, in a special and exclusive way your Mother; but I desire that you, too, in a special way, be My child. I desire, My dearly beloved daughter, that you practice the three virtues that are dearest to Me-and most pleasing to God. The first is humility, humility, and once again humility; the second virtue, purity; the third virtue, love of God. As My daughter, you must especially radiate with these virtues. When the conversation ended, She pressed me to Her Heart and disappeared. When I regained the use of my senses, my heart became so wonderfully attracted to these virtues; and I practice them faithfully. They are as though engraved in my heart. (1414, 1415)
The first virtue Our Lady recommended was “Humility, humility, and once again humility”. Truly, humility is the strong foundation upon which our walk with Jesus depends. We must make ourselves smaller than others.
But Our Lady also gives us a clue as to how to succeed at becoming little. We need faith which will fill us with God’s love. Faith opens the door to our relationship with God, and when that door is open, then His love flows into our souls. That love can make becoming small very easy, because the great love of God does make us small. We begin to realize how very great our God is, and how very small we really are. Then what does it matter if we are smaller than others as well. God sees and provides.
Let’s ask Our Lady to press us to her heart as she did St. Faustina. In her love, we will be able to follow the light of Jesus.
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2017
