Author: Cathy Nolan

  (c)Mateo Ivankovic 2017 June 5, 2019Novena to the Holy Spirit Day Six Dear Family of Mary! Today we consider the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Strengthener. Our Lady encourages us to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit so He can transform us. The Holy Spirit will help us to call God our Father and make us capable of love! St. Paul in The Letter to the Ephesians says the very same thing, that through the Holy Spirit we will be strengthen in the inner man and we will be grounded in love. We need very much the strengthening and comforting love of the Holy Spirit, for we are naturally weak and lack the power to love on our own. Oh Comforter to thee we cry! Our Lady asked us to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit:  “Dear children, Today I call you to open your hearts to the Holy Spirit and permit Him to transform you. My children, God is the immeasurable good and therefore, as a mother, I implore you: Pray, pray, pray, fast and hope that it is possible to achieve good, because from that good love is born. The Holy Spirit will strengthen that love in you and you will be able to call God your Father. Through this exalted love, you will truly come to love all people and, through God, you will regard them as brothers and sisters. Thank you.” (November 2, 2007) St. Paul prays that we might be strengthen by the Spirit in the inner man: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph 3: 14-20) Let us pray through this wonderful hymn to the Holy Spirit:   Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest, And in our souls take up your rest; Come with your grace and heavenly aid To fill the hearts which you have made.   O Comforter, to you we cry, O heavenly gift of God Most High, O fount of life and fire of love, And sweet anointing from above.   You in your sevenfold gifts are known; You, finger of God’s hand we own; You, promise of the Father, you Who do the tongue with power imbue. Kindle our senses from above, And make our hearts overflow with love; With patience firm and virtue high The weakness of our flesh supply. Far from us drive the foe we dread, And grant us your peace instead; So shall we not, with you for guide, Turn from the path of life aside. Oh, may your grace on us bestow The Father and the Son to know; And you, through endless times confessed, Of both the eternal Spirit blest. Now to the Father and the Son, Who rose from death, be glory given, With you, O holy Comforter, Henceforth by all in earth and heaven.Amen. In Jesus Mary and Joseph!Cathy Nolan©Mary TV 2019

(c)Mateo Ivankovic 2017 June 4, 2019 Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day 5   Dear Family of Mary!   Today we call upon the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth! Our Lady has emphasized the necessity of living in the truth in many of her messages. We will consider two of them. Jesus, Himself, used the title, “Spirit of Truth” in our scripture. We are being given a great gift in the Truth. It is something that all people desire, but is impossible to attain through our merely human powers of intellect. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the truth to us, as gift! “Dear children! Tomorrow night pray for the Spirit of Truth! Especially, you from the parish because you need the Spirit of Truth to be able to convey the messages just the way they are, neither adding anything to them, nor taking anything whatsoever away from them, but just the way I said them. Pray for the Holy Spirit to inspire you with the spirit of prayer, so you will pray more. I, your Mother, tell you that you are praying little. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (June 9, 1984, Vigil of Pentecost)  “Dear children! With a full heart I am asking you, I am imploring you children: cleanse your hearts of sin and lift them up to God and to eternal life. I am imploring you: be vigilant and open for truth. Do not permit for all that is of this earth to distance you from the true cognition of the contentment in the communion with my Son. I am leading you on the way of true wisdom, because only with true wisdom can you come to know true peace and the true good. Do not waste time asking for signs of the Heavenly Father, because He has already given you the greatest sign, which is my Son. Therefore, my children, pray so that the Holy Spirit can lead you into truth, can help you to come to know it, and through that knowledge of the truth that you may be one with the Heavenly Father and with my Son. That is the cognition which gives happiness on earth and opens the door of eternal life and infinite love. Thank you.” (March 18, 2015)   Jesus told the Apostles:   “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (Jn 16:12-13)   Let us pray:   O HOLY SPIRIT, Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, Spirit of Truth, of Love and of Holiness, proceeding from the Father and the Son and equal to Them in all things, I adore Thee and love Thee with all my heart. Teach me to know and seek my last end; grant me the holy fear of God; grant me compunction and patience, and suffer me not to fall into sin. Grant me an increase of Faith, Hope and Charity, and bring forth in my soul all the virtues proper to my state of life. Make me a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, and an obedient child of Holy Church. Grant me an efficacious grace to keep the Commandments and to receive the Sacraments worthily. Grant me the Four Cardinal Virtues, Thy Seven Gifts, Thy Twelve Fruits. Raise me to perfection in the state of life to which Thou hast called me; and lead me, through a happy death, to life everlasting through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.   In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2019

  (c)Mateo Ivankovic 2016 June 3, 2019 Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day Four   Dear Family of Mary!   Today we call upon the Holy Spirit as Fire. Jesus came “to cast fire on the earth” (Lk 12:40). John the Baptist understood this Fire, and told his followers about it: “John answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire’” (Lk 3: 16). This Fire which is the Holy Spirit has a purifying and empowering effect on those who receive Him. Fire burns away what is not of God and sets hearts ablaze with love for God. It is a dangerous thing to receive the Holy Spirit! Life changes.   Our Lady told us to desire this Fire:   Wednesday, March 14, 1984“Pray and fast so that the kingdom of God may come among you. Let my Son set you aglow with His fire.”   And in the Acts of the Apostles we see the power of this Fire as it descends on the Apostles: When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Act 2: 1-4) Everything changed for the Apostles at that moment. They became fearless witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus! They could not be stopped until the entire world knew about Jesus!   Let us pray for this gift of Fire: O HOLY SPIRIT, LORD OF GRACE O Holy Spirit, Lord of grace, Eternal Fount of love, Inflame, we pray, our inmost hearts with fire from Heav’n above. As Thou in bond of love dost join The Father and the Son, So fill us all with mutual love, and knit our hearts in one. All glory to the Father be, all glory to the Son, All glory, Holy Ghost, to Thee, while endless ages run. And one extra prayer today. A prayer of consecration to Our Lady that was dictated to Jelena Vasilj in 1983. This prayer speaks of the “Flame of your heart, oh Mary!” This Flame can be none other than the Fire of the Holy Spirit, because her heart was really the Holy Spirit Himself!   Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Given by Our Lady to Jelena Vasilj, 11/28/1983) O Immaculate Heart of Mary, overflowing with goodness, Show us your love for us. May the flame of your heart, Oh Mary, Descend upon all peoples. We love you immensely. Impress in our hearts a true love. May our hearts yearn for you. Oh Mary, sweet and humble of heart, Remember us when we sin. You know that all mankind are sinners. Through your most sacred and maternal heart, Cure us from every spiritual illness. Make us capable of looking at the beauty of your maternal heart, and that, thus, we may be converted to the flame of your heart. Amen   In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2019

Mirjiana Soldo greets Our Lady today!(c)Mary TV/ Anthony Zubac 2019 June 2, 2019   Dear Family of Mary!   Here is the June 2, 2019 message from Our Lady: Dear children, only a pure and an open heart will make it such that you may truly come to know my Son and that all those who do not know His love may come to know it through you. Only love will make you comprehend that it is stronger than death because true love conquered death and made it so that death not exist. My children, forgiveness is the most exalted form of love. You, as apostles of my love, must pray that you be strong in spirit and that you could comprehend and forgive. You, apostles of my love, by understanding and forgiveness, are giving an example of love and mercy. To be able to comprehend and forgive is a gift for which it is necessary to pray, and to nurture it. By forgiveness you are showing that you know how to love. Just look, my children, how the Heavenly Father loves you with a great love, with understanding, forgiveness and justice-how He gives me, the Mother of your hearts, to you. And here I am among you to bless you with a motherly blessing, to call you to prayer, to fasting-to tell you to believe, to hope, to forgive, to pray for your shepherds, and above all to love without limits. My children, follow me. My way is the way of peace and love, the way of my Son. It is the way that leads to the triumph of my heart. Thank you.  (June 2, 2019)    In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!Cathy NolanMary TV 2019

Cross Mountain, Medjugorje (c)Mateo Ivankovic 2018 June 2, 2019 Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 3 (Feast of the Ascension of the Lord in some Dioceses)   Dear Family of Mary!   Come Holy Spirit!   Today Our Lady calls us to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit! She longs for us to put God in the first place and set aside our temporal, material desires. St. Paul tells us that all the gifts of the Spirit come from one Lord and God of all, but each of us will manifest the individual gifts God desires to give to each of us. Just as we see in nature the manifold variety and beauty of God’s creatures, so in the Spirit, we see in each of us the manifold variety and beauty of God’s plan for His children! Let us stand in awe at what God wants to give to us, each of us as a gift to the others and set aside our worldly concerns!   April 17, 1986 “Dear children! You are absorbed with material things, but in the material you lose everything that God wishes to give you. I call you, dear children, to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are necessary for you now in order to be able to give witness to my presence here and to all that I am giving you. Dear children, let go to me so I can lead you completely. Don’t be absorbed with material things. Thank you for having responded to my call.”   St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. (1 Cor 12:4-11) God is so generous and His gifts are so manifold! We are indeed the most blessed of children! Let’s be generous in return, and ask the Lord to give us whatever gifts He deems best for each one of us, so that the whole Body of Christ can be built up in love!! Let us “let go” to Our Lady so that she can lead us completely. She is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit; she knows best! Let us pray: Prayer for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, before ascending into heaven, didst promise to send the Holy Ghost to finish Thy work in the souls of Thy Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me, that He may perfect in my soul the work of Thy grace and Thy love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Thy divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining Heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with Thee, and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God, and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Thy true disciples and animate me in all things with Thy Spirit. Amen. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2019

The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan Luminous Mysteries in Medjugorje June 1, 2019 Day Two – Novena to the Holy SpiritThe Spirit of Sonship!   Dear Family of Mary!   This is Day Two of our Novena to the Holy Spirit. Today Our Lady prays that the action of the Holy Spirit in our hearts will strengthen us, heal us, and make us children and apostles of Jesus. St. Paul tells us that “you have received the spirit of sonship” (Rom 8:14).  May we receive the Holy Spirit as children of God, and be made strong in love.   “Dear children, I love you all. All of you, all of my children, all of you are in my heart. All of you have my motherly love, and I desire to lead all of you to come to know God’s joy. This is why I am calling you. I need humble apostles who, with an open heart, will accept the Word of God and help others to comprehend the meaning of their life alongside God’s word. To be able to do this my children, through prayer and fasting, you must learn to listen with the heart and to learn to keep submitting yourselves. You must learn to keep rejecting everything that distances you from God’s word and to yearn only for that which draws you closer to it. Do not be afraid. I am here. You are not alone. I am imploring the Holy Spirit to renew and strengthen you. I am imploring the Holy Spirit that, as you help others, you too may be healed. I am imploring Him that, through Him, you may be God’s children and my apostles.“ (September 2, 2013) St. Paul wrote to the Romans about the action of the Holy Spirit. The entire letter to the Romans is a school on the Holy Spirit! But especially here in Chapter 8 we hear the call to become children of God:   “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom 8: 14-17). One of the most wonderful actions of the Holy Spirit is that of Baptism, when we are born into the family of God and become sons and daughters of God. We are included in the family of Heaven, made participants in the light of God’s truth! But we must constantly choose to remain in God’s family. This is done through the Sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Eucharist. Through the action of the Holy Spirit we, who stray from the truth and commit sin, can be reattached to the vine, the Family of God, and be nourished even daily to stay strong on the way of love. We can live our true life as sons and daughters of God.   Let us pray:   Prayer to Live as a Child of God Father in Heaven, when the Spirit came down upon Jesus at His Baptism in the Jordan, You revealed Him as Your Own Beloved Son. Keep me, Your child, born of water and the Spirit, faithful to my calling. May I, who share in Your Life as Your child through Baptism, follow in Christ’s path of service to people. Let me become one in His Sacrifice and hear His Word with faith. May I live as Your child, following the example of Jesus. Amen.     In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2019

The Coming of the Holy Spirit Bronze Relief on Apparition Hill, Medjugorje by Carmelo Puzzolo   May 31, 2019 Novena to the Holy Spirit, Day 1Springs of Living Water!   Dear Family of Mary!   Today we begin the Novena to the Holy Spirit which will culminate with the Feast of Pentecost! This year I want to keep the readings and prayers simple and short. We will consider a message from Our Lady of Medjugorje, read a scripture and then pray a prayer to the Holy Spirit.   Let’s ask Our Lady to guide us in this novena, preparing us as she prepared the Apostles in the upper room on that first Pentecost!   Our Lady spoke to us on April 2, 2014:   “Dear children, with a motherly love I desire to help you with your life of prayer and penance to be a sincere attempt at drawing closer to my Son and His divine light – that you may know how to separate yourselves from sin. Every prayer, every Mass and every fasting is an attempt at drawing closer to my Son, a reminder of His glory and a refuge from sin – it is a way to a renewed union of the good Father and His children. Therefore, my dear children, with hearts open and full of love, cry out the name of the Heavenly Father that He may illuminate you with the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit you will become a spring of God’s love. All those who do not know my Son, all those thirsting for the love and peace of my Son, will drink from this spring. Thank you. Pray for your shepherds. I pray for them and I desire that they may always feel the blessing of my motherly hands and the support of my motherly heart.” (April 02, 2014)   This reminds me of Jesus’ words in John, Chapter 7: On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, `Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (Jn 7: 37-39) When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our hearts become springs of living water, springs of the love of God, which flow out on those who do not know the love of Jesus. The Holy Spirit makes us capable of loving others. This is a great thing. We can change the world, if we learn to love and are empowered to love by the Spirit.   Prayer: O Holy Spirit, Uncreated Love of the Ever-blessed Trinity, you are living Water and living Fire. Fill my heart with the streams of your grace, and make it clean before you. Fill my heart with the fire of your love, and burn up all the dross in it, that it may be bright in your eyes. Lord Jesus, let your Holy Spirit dwell ever more and more in my heart. Amen In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!Cathy Nolan©Mary TV 2019

   The Promise from on High (C)Mary TV   May 30, 2019The Ascension of the Lord Dear Family of Mary! I get a bit cross-eyed on the Feast of the Ascension because some dioceses transfer the feast to Sunday. But for me it makes sense to have it on Thursday!! And then we have 9 days for the Novena for the Holy Spirit before Pentecost. So, let’s celebrate the Ascension today at least in our reflection! The Gospel for today: Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:46-53) Power from on high!! The Promise of the Father! This is the gift that Jesus won for us. The Holy Spirit given to us as our indwelling Lord. We receive everything we need in the plan of God through the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit, we can do nothing. We are blind and weak, as far as the heavenly realities are concerned. Without the Holy Spirit we have very little to offer Our Lord. Our Lady tells us how much we need the Holy Spirit: May 25, 1993 “Dear children! Today I invite you to open yourselves to God by means of prayer, so the Holy Spirit may begin to work miracles in you and through you. I am with you and I intercede before God for each one of you because, dear children, each one of you is important in my plan of salvation. I invite you to be carriers of good and peace. God can give you peace only if you convert and pray. Therefore, my dear little children, pray, pray, pray and do that which the Holy Spirit inspires you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Even as Jesus was ascending to His Father, He made sure that His disciples understood that He was not going to leave them orphaned. He was sending the Holy Spirit to be with them as guide, teacher, power, and love in their lives. Our Lady urges us to open ourselves to God by means of prayer so the Holy Spirit will begin to work in us and through us. What will He do? Miracles!! We will begin the Novena to the Holy Spirit tomorrow! Get ready!!! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!Cathy Nolan©Mary TV 2019

   In the silence of your hearts… (C)Mary TV     May 29, 2019 Dear Family of Mary! As we approach the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost Sunday, we become more and more aware of the role of the Holy Spirit according to Jesus. He said in the Gospel for today in John Chapter 16: 5-11. Here is a portion of the Gospel: Jesus said to his disciples:  “But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (Jn 16: 5-7 RSV) So the role of the Holy Spirit is vital and essential. But it can seem a bit invisible sometimes. So, let’s look at this passage from St. Faustina’s Diary, entry 359, in which she talks of her experience of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.    359January 10, 1935. +Thursday. In the evening during Benediction, such thoughts as these began to distress me: Is not perhaps all this that I am saying about God’s great mercy just a lie or an illusion? And I wanted to think about this for a while, when I heard a strong and clear inner voice saying,  Everything that you say about My goodness is true; language has no adequate expression to extol My goodness. These words were so filled with power and so clear that I would give my life in declaring they came from God. I can tell this by the profound peace that accompanied them at that time and that still remains with me. This peace gives me such great strength and power that all difficulties, adversities, sufferings, and death itself are as nothing. This light gave me a glimpse of the truth that all my efforts to bring souls to know the mercy of the Lord are very pleasing to God. And from this springs such great joy in my soul that I do not know whether it could be any greater in heaven. Oh, if souls would only be willing to listen, at least a little, to the voice of conscience and the voice – that is, the inspirations – of the Holy Spirit! I say, “at least a little,” because once we open ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit, He Himself will fulfill what is lacking in us. (Diary, 359)   I think there is so much more we can learn from what St. Faustina says here. First, she was before the Blessed Sacrament, and she started to get distressing thoughts. Usually where do those thoughts come from?? And God intervened…Jesus spoke to her through the Holy Spirit, addressing those thoughts and protecting her from them by telling her that “Everything that you say about My goodness is true. Language has no adequate expression to extol My goodness.” Jesus and the Holy Spirit just blew all those thoughts away. Don’t we need this kind of help from the Holy Spirit in our day. We are inundated by the lies and negativity of the devil all the time through the Media. Well, St. Faustina was facing very difficult times too, but she received such peace from the Holy Spirit that day. She says: “These words were so filled with power and so clear that I would give my life in declaring they came from God.” She felt the power of the Holy Spirit in the words. They filled her whole heart with peace, with strength, with a firm foundation for her. She was confirmed in what she was doing and was given the peace to continue. This was a really, really important moment for St. Faustina. She didn’t forget it. She wrote it down. And she recognized that, “Oh, if souls would only be willing to listen, at least a little, to the voice of conscience and the voice – that is, the inspirations – of the Holy Spirit! I say, “at least a little,” because once we open ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit, He Himself will fulfill what is lacking in us.” That’s the important thing. We have to acquire a silence in our souls. We need to be quiet enough to hear what the Holy Spirit will say because He doesn’t scream at us!! He doesn’t interrupt us, but He gently says things that we could easily overlook. But we need Him to make it through our challenges. Our Lady once said to us: May 25, 2001 “Dear children! At this time of grace, I call you to prayer. Little children, you work much but without God’s blessing. Bless and seek the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to lead you at this time so that you may comprehend and live in the grace of this time. Convert, little children, and kneel in the silence of your hearts. Put God in the center of your being so that, in that way, you can witness in joy the beauty that God continually gives in your life. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Our Lady works like a little megaphone to make the Holy Spirit’s voice louder! She amplifies it for us, so we can notice it. She gives us clues about Him. She is guiding us spiritually, so we will get very close to the Holy Spirit and we will be guided by Him all the time. As Denis always says, you can’t separate the two, Mary and the Holy Spirit!! We should be very grateful that we are not alone in this very difficult time in history. We are not alone. “Dear children, my real, living presence among you should make you happy because this is the great love of my Son. He is sending me among you so that, with a motherly love, I may grant you safety… (July 2, 2016) Jesus was insistent that it was better for Him to leave and the Holy Spirit to come instead!! Our Lady has come to help us discover this great gift, the Holy Spirit here among us to help us in these very dark and difficult days. We are not alone!! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!Cathy Nolan©Mary TV 2019