(c)Mateo Ivankovic 2016
JMJ
September 22, 2016
Fall Equinox
Dear Family of Mary!
February 25, 2005 “Dear children! Today I call you to be my extended hands in this world that puts God in the last place. You, little children, put God in the first place in your life. God will bless you and give you strength to bear witness to Him, the God of love and peace. I am with you and intercede for all of you. Little children, do not forget that I love you with a tender love. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
“Little children, do not forget that I love you with a tender love.” Somehow we all know that Mary is not capable of loving in any other way than tenderly. She is “The Mother”. In her holiness, purity, selflessness, and compassion, Mary looks upon each of her children with deep tenderness. This tenderness moves her to behold every detail of our lives, with motherly solicitude and care. She is never forgetful of us. Our Mother cares about us always.
We in turn respond to her tender love with tender trust and faithfulness. We know that Our Lady is watching over us, caring about us in every way. And so we respond with openness and trust in her. It is a tender relationship!!
St. Louis de Montfort lived such a relationship with Mary. He must have, because he wrote about it with such accuracy. In his description of the characteristics of true devotion to Mary, he spoke of tenderness:
107. It [a true devotion to Mary] is tender; that is full of confidence in her, like a child’s confidence in his loving mother. This confidence makes the soul have recourse to her in all its bodily and mental necessities, with much simplicity, trust and tenderness. It implores the aid of its good Mother at all times, in all places and above all things; in its doubts, that it may be enlightened; in its wanderings, that it may be brought into the right path; in its temptations, that it may be supported; in its weaknesses, that it may be strengthened; in its fall, that it may be lifted up; in its discouragements, that it may be cheered; in its scruples, that they may be taken away; in the crosses, toils and disappointments of life, that it may be consoled under them. In a word, in all the evils of body and mind, the soul ordinarily has recourse to Mary, without fear of annoying her or displeasing Jesus Christ.
We see that in the tender relationship between Our Lady and her children, there is nothing that cannot be discussed with her or confided to her. She is the tender Mother who will take all our sufferings and difficulties into her heart and support us with her love.
This tenderness of mother and child reminds me of Psalm 131:
Psalm 131
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,
My eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
Too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a child quieted at its mother’s breast;
Like a child that is quieted is my soul.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and for evermore.
Our relationship with Our Lady is very much of mother and child. She can quiet our souls by her presence and her motherly love. She can solve all our problems just by being there with us. Mothers do that. And it would seem that God also would love us with this tender love if we let Him, if we turn to Him with trust and surrender. Think how a child surrenders to his mother’s care. This is the surrender the Lord wishes of us. This is the surrender that Mary can evoke from us. She in turn, gives us over to her Son, so that He can love us tenderly.
We are the most blessed of children!!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2016
PS. Please pray for protection for all those going on the October 3-14 Pilgrimage with Mike Nolan. There is a lot of spiritual warfare before this trip. Several people have shared with us the difficulties that have cropped up to discourage them as they prepare to travel.
Let’s pray the St. Michael the Archangel prayer for them all!
St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen..
The pilgrimage that Mike Nolan is leading on October 3 – 14 still has room. [I can’t stop sharing this…there must be someone out there who is resisting!!!] Pray about coming!! The air fares are quite low. If you have been waiting for the right time to go to Medjugorje, this may be it!!
Mike Nolan
574-335-9952
