January 28, 2021 Reflection – This is a time of awakening

This is a time of awakening

January 28, 2021
St. Thomas Aquinas

Dear Family of Mary!

“…This is a time of awakening…” (01/25/21)

Our Lady tells us that this is a time of awakening.  We might wonder what she means by this.  My first thought was of winter.  Where I live it is very cold these days.  There are inches of snow on the ground.  Nature is not ready to awaken.  Nothing is going to bud or grow yet.  So it isn’t yet the time for nature to awaken.

Then my thoughts went to a different kind of awakening.  Could this be a time for souls to awaken?  We have been living through a very long winter in terms of our societies and the faith.  In every way, faith in God has been attacked.  For many years there has been a decline in belief and a rise in atheism.  We have seen the Christian culture decimated.  Could it be that this is a time to awakening to the reality of God?  Could it be that the Lord is going to do something to drive away the winter of our unbelief and bring the springtime of hope?

When Our Lady tells us “this is a time of awakening”, it seems that she is announcing the grace of awakening.  She is not hopefully suggesting that it is the time of awakening.  She is announcing that God is sending the grace of awakening.  So the grace is there for souls to be awakened.  The grace is being poured out for souls to awake from their sleep and open to Jesus.  The grace of conversion is flowing.  The grace of a new faith is present, waiting to be accepted.

In the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul wrote:

Therefore it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give you light.”  Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. (Eph 5:14-16)

Maybe the grace of awakening has to do with finally realizing that God is God, and that we are not.  Maybe awakening has to do with allowing Christ to enter into our lives now as our Lord and Savior, so that He can call us out of the darkness of sin and into His Holy Light!  Maybe awakening has to do with glimpsing Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, and realizing that we have eternal souls that will live in one of those three places.  Maybe we need to be awakened to reality!!  God is God!  He made us and is calling us to Himself.

Well, the good news is that if we are awakened by God, it will be to the truth.  And the truth will set us free.

Let’s allow Our Lady to pray with us for the grace of awakening, for the grace of being raised to life by Christ.  And let’s pray for that grace for all of our brothers and sisters all over the world.

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light!”

In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2021