October 19, 2018
Sts. John de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues
Dear Family of Mary!
“…My children, the world needs apostles of love; the world needs much prayer, but prayer spoken with the heart and the soul and not only pronounced with the lips.” (October 2, 2018)
The world needs apostles of love. Is it not so! The world needs those who have come to know Jesus, and to love Him sincerely. The world needs those apostles desperately. The world seems to have gone mad. Having lost God, the world has erected its own morality, centered not on love for others, but only on the self. Morality now hinges on what the self wants with little care for the other. There is therefore a great need in our world for apostles of love. Souls are in great danger, in great pain, depression, loneliness, isolation…The world needs apostles of love.
Our Lady tells us that apostles of love are those who pray very much with the heart and the soul. It is this kind of prayer that opens us up to the love of God. The Lord can’t reach us if we are not open. It is our task to pray with our heart, to pray with our soul, fully engaged through faith and ready for an encounter with God.
In Mark’s Gospel Jesus was asked by a scribe what was the first of all commandments. This scribe wanted to know exactly what God wanted of him. Jesus replied in this way:
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, `Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he; and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mk 12: 28-34)
To love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength!!! This is prayer with the heart and soul! This is the kind of prayer in which the entire person is opened up to God, ready for an encounter. What are we but heart, soul, mind and strength? Our entire person must love God. In that loving, prayer is born. And in that prayer, we are healed and made ready to love others as if they are our very self. No more can our self be the center of our universe. God is the center and our neighbor is our intimate business, because we are one.
May we find a way to pray with our heart, our mind, our soul, and our strength, totally engaged in the conversation with the Lord. May we be apostles of love for Our Lady.
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2018
