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The Morning Star!

(c) Anthony Zubac/Mary TV

Dear Family of Mary!

The presence of our Apostolic Visitor, Archbishop Henryk Hoser, continues to fill us with awe and joy! The accompaniment of such a holy and learned Archbishop to the parish, the village, the Franciscans, and the pilgrims is a great source of calm and peace, of hope and of trust. He is truly a fatherly presence for all of us.

On the Feast of the Assumption, Archbishop Hoser gave a wonderful homily at the Evening, International Mass. The parish has furnished a transcript of that homily, posting it on their website. I want to share it with you in this little reflection as well. It is worthy of a slow and thoughtful reading. Here is the homily:

Homily of the Apostolic Visitor for Medjugorje, Mons. Henryk Hoser, August 15, 2018, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

Your Excellency from Gabon in Africa, Your Excellency from Italy, dear brothers, priests, all of you who live consecrated life, dear pilgrims from this country and from abroad, dear parishioners of the Parish of Medjugorje, dear brothers and sisters,

Today’s Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, closes the eschatological cycle, turning our gaze towards the goal of human life. After our Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension, the salvific act is achieved in participation with the Mother of God. She became inseparable from her Son, the image of the Merciful God. Mary says about herself:

“From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.”

Indeed, Mary’s Assumption is the expression of Mercy acting through the Mother of Mercy, Refuge of Sinners, our Intercessor.

At the horizon of our earthly life and at the edge of eternity, a great sign appeared in the sky, a great sign of a woman. How is she presented? What does her appearance say to us?

“A woman clothed with the sun”.

The light comes from the sun. Who is that sun? Her Son is the sun: “the dawn from on high shall break upon us” – says the Canticle of Zechariah that the Church prays every morning. Mary saw the Son of God in a human nature and in a human body. Christ, on the other hand, has clothed His Mother in the sun. Mary shines with the light of Christ. In her private apparitions, Our Lady is always presented in the light, so beautiful, on the path of the light. In Fatima, she was always coming from the direction of the east and she would leave facing the east – in the direction of the rising sun.

We see her “with the moon under her feet.”

The moon is not the source of the light. The moon radiates the light it received from the sun. However, the moon shines in the dark night and directs those who journey. To be the moon, to be the reflection of the sun, this is the mission of us faithful, always radiating the sun that breaks upon us.

“On her head a crown of twelve stars.”

This is the sign, that is cosmic and biblical at the same time. Mary, the Queen of Heaven and Earth is crowned with the crown of twofold significance. She was created as the most perfect creature ever made by the Creator, as the Star Most Bright.

On the other hand, she is written in human history, the history of salvation. She is part of twelve tribes of chosen people from the Old Covenant as the Queen of Patriarchs and Prophets, later on she becomes the Queen of Apostles, those who are the foundation of the Church.

“She wailed aloud in Pain as she labored to give birth.”

From the cross, Jesus instituted Mary, his Mother, as the universal Mother of all people; all those who need to born from above, of the water and of the Spirit. Just as our Savior responded to Nicodemus on two occasions when he said:

Jesus answered and said unto him: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God!” (Jn 3,3)

Jesus responded again: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (Jn 3,5)

In the most excellent way of her motherhood, Mary is giving us a birth for the Kingdom of God.

Before she came into the glory of the Assumption, Mary was involved in earthly life, just like all mortal people are; she was born of her parents, tradition says it was Joachim and Anna, born in a simple and modest family, not in the royal palace!

A girl from Nazareth, little by little she discovered her being, incomparable to the others, mostly because she never had the experience of personal sin. After the Annunciation, the angel of the Lord brought news to Mary and said to her: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.”

Full of grace, Mary is free, from the original and personal sin. In Lourdes, Mary declared this truth when she said: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

With the Annunciation, after Mary said: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Lk 1, 37), her “pilgrimage in faith” began in which “the Blessed Virgin Mary advanced, faithfully preserving her union with Christ”. (R. Mater 5) This pilgrimage is the connection uniting the Mother of God with Christ and with the Church.

For us, Mary appears and becomes like the Stella Maris – Star of the Sea – for all those who are still on the journey of faith. Indeed, Mary’s faith is heroic, going through all of the mysteries of the Rosary, yes, the joyful, luminous and glorious, but also the sorrowful ones too. We are all familiar with Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the prophecy of Simeon:

And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed!” (Lk 2, 34-35)

St. John Paul II said: “The Blessed Virgin Mary continues to ‘go before’ the People of God. Her exceptional pilgrimage of faith represents a constant point of reference for the Church, for individuals and for communities, for peoples and nations, and in a sense, for all humanity.” (Redemptoris Mater 6)

Besides that, St. John Paul II also said: “Mary does not cease to be the ‘Star of the Sea’ for all those who are still on the journey of faith. If they lift their eyes to her from their earthly existence, they do so because ‘the Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first – born among many brethren (Rom 8;29), and also because in the birth and development of these brothers and sisters she cooperates with a maternal love.” (Redemptoris Mater 6)

She is not only the Star of the Sea, but also the Morning Star. What does this title mean – Morning Star? Just as this star, together with the “dawn” precedes the rising of the sun, so Mary from the time of her Immaculate Conception preceded the coming of the Savior, the rising of the ‘Sun of Justice’ in the history of the human race.

Let us remain strong and walk on Her journey of faith that will become our safest, shortest and the brightest path to God, Triune and One, in everlasting joy!

http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/news/homily-of-the-apostolic-visitor-for-medjugorje-mons.-henryk-hoser-medjugorje-august-15-2018-the-solemnity-of-the-assumption-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary,9976.html

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2018

PS. Thank you to all you shipmates who have responded to our need!!! What a sign of love you are to us!! I will continue to make the link available to all of you. Here is the link to our donation page:

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Forgive!

(c)Mateo Ivankovic

August 16, 2018

St. Stephen of Hungary

Dear Family of Mary!

July 2, 2009 “Dear children! I am calling you because I need you. I need hearts ready for immeasurable love. Hearts that are not burdened by vanity. Hearts that are ready to love as my Son loved, that are ready to sacrifice themselves as my Son sacrificed Himself. I need you. In order to come with me, forgive yourselves, forgive others and adore my Son. Adore Him also for those who have not come to know Him, those who do not love Him. Therefore, I need you. Therefore, I call you. Thank you.”

Gospel for August 16, 2018
Mt 18:21-19-1

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed,
and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”

When Jesus finished these words, he left Galilee
and went to the district of Judea across the Jordan.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2018

PS. Thank you to all you shipmates who have responded to our need!!! What a sign of love you are to us!! I will continue to make the link available to all of you. Here is the link to our donation page:

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The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

(c)Mateo Ivankovic

August 15, 2018

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Dear Family of Mary!

On this beautiful Feast of the Assumption, I want to share a reflection I have shared for the last few years. It is about the prophetic meaning in the Dogma of the Assumption, declared in 1950. I am quoting Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who was remarkably able to synthesize human thought and politics and religion in such a way as to show the battle between good and evil, and God’s plan to win! I hope this makes sense to you:

February 02, 2016 “Dear children… I repeat, the Resurrection of my Son and my Assumption into Heaven is hope and love for you. Therefore, my children, pray to come to know the truth; to have firm faith which will lead your heart and which will transform your pain and sufferings into love and hope. Thank you.”

I wanted to share something with you about the Assumption. For some reason, as I prayed I felt drawn to a book I read quite a while ago, “The World’s First Love, Mary, Mother of God” by Archbishop Fulton J Sheen. I looked through the Contents, and found the chapter on the Assumption. And when I began to read it, I saw that I had underlined almost every word of that chapter! It is a blockbuster!

But the last few paragraphs are really pertinent for us because Sheen points to something in a prophetic way that we are experiencing. “The World’s First Love” was written in 1952, only two years after the Dogma of the Assumption was declared by Pope Pius XII. And yet, Sheen seems to see the plan of God in that declaration. Let’s listen to him:

Within three decades the definition of the Assumption will cure the pessimism and despair of the modern world. Freud, who did so much to develop this pessimism, took as his motto; “If I cannot move the Gods on high, I shall set all hell in an uproar.” That uproar which he created will now be stilled by a Lady as powerful as an “army drawn up in battle array.” The age of the “body beautiful” will now become the age of the Assumption.

In Mary there is a triple transition. In the Annunciation we pass from the holiness of the Old Testament to the holiness of Christ. At Pentecost we pass from the holiness of the historical Christ to the holiness of the Mystical Christ or His Body, which is the Church. Mary here received the Spirit for a second time. The first overshadowing was to give birth to the Head of the Church: this second overshadowing is to give birth to His Body as she is in the midst of the Apostles abiding in prayer. The third transition is the Assumption, as she becomes the first human person to realize the historical destiny of the faithful as members of Christ’s Mystical Body, beyond time, beyond death, and beyond judgment.

Mary is always in the vanguard of humanity. She is compared to Wisdom, presiding at creation; she is announced as the woman who will conquer Satan, as the Virgin who will conceive. She becomes the first person since the Fall to have a unique and unrepeatable kind of union with God; she mothers the infant Christ in Bethlehem; she mothers the Mystical Christ at Jerusalem; and now, by her Assumption, she goes ahead like her Son to prepare a place for us. She participates in the glory of her Son, reigns with Him, presides at His Side over the destinies of the Church in time, and intercedes for us, to Him, as He, in His turn, intercedes to the Heavenly Father.

Adam came before Eve chronologically. The new Adam, Christ, comes after the New Eve, Mary, chronologically, although existentially He preceded her as the Creator a creature. By stressing for the moment only the time element, Mary always seems to be the advent of what is in store for man. She anticipates Christ for nine months, as she bears Heaven within her; she anticipates His Passion at Cana and His Church at Pentecost. Now, in the last great doctrine of the Assumption, she anticipates Heavenly glory, and the definition comes at a time when men think of it least.

One wonders if this could not be the last of the great truths of Mary to be defined by the Church. Anything else might seem to be an anticlimax after she is declared to be in Heaven, body and soul. But actually there is one other truth left to be defined, and that is that she is the Mediatrix, under her Son, of all graces. As St. Paul speaks of the Ascension of Our Lord as the prelude to His intercession for us, so we fittingly, should speak of the Assumption of Our Lady as a prelude to her intercession for us. First, the place, Heaven; then the function, intercession. The nature of her role is not to call her Son’s attention to some need, in an emergency unnoticed by Him, nor is it to “win” a difficult consent. Rather it is to unite herself to His compassionate Mercy and give a human voice to His Infinite Love. The main ministry of Mary is to incline men’s’ hearts to obedience to the will of her Divine Son. Her last recorded words at Cana are still her words in the Assumption; “Whatsoever He shall say to you, that do ye.” (Fulton J Sheen, The World’s First Love, Mary, Mother of God. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. New York. 1952)

Archbishop Sheen clearly sees that Mary, in her Assumption, is the key to our age of despair. In Mary, humanity has hope. In her Assumption, life again has meaning. We are not creatures without souls, and without an eternal future. We are called to live forever with our God, who loves us, and Mary shows us the way.

I also find it interesting that in 1952 Archbishop Sheen would project that in three decades after the Dogma was declared “the definition of the Assumption will cure the pessimism and despair of the modern world.” This is a huge claim. Sheen died in 1979, just shy of the three decades. What came next he could not have foreseen. Our Lady came to Medjugorje in 1981 and since then has been curing pessimism and despair in millions of her children. Through her presence, her messages and her intercession, Mary is reversing the terrible curse of atheism and despair in the world, one person at a time.

I also believe that Our Lady in Medjugorje has set up camp, declaring that she is with us in our fight against Satan and all evil. She is with us to help us draw close to her Son and to learn to live in Him. She is with us in these days to be Jesus’ compassionate Mercy for us. She intercedes in our midst, in Medjugorje, to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven in us. The Dogma of the Assumption is bearing great fruit in our day, as Sheen said. It is curing pessimism and despair, and bringing us heaven through Our Lady’s presence in Medjugorje!! If Sheen is right and Mary is the advent of all of God’s great works, the Incarnation, the Passion, the Birth of the Church, and now Heavenly Glory, then her coming to Medjugorje must be the advent of the coming of her Son. She is here to prepare the way for His coming!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2018

PS. Several of our shipmates have felt the nudge to donate! Thank you!! You have no idea how very much we need donations to continue Mary TV! Thanks for all you do, and for all you may be moved to do for the future!! Here is the link to our donation page:

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St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us!

(c)Mateo Ivankovic

August 14, 2018
St. Maximilian Kolbe

Dear Family of Mary!

On the eve of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, we celebrate the feast of one of her most ardent and powerful sons, St. Maximilian Kolbe. St. Maximilian spent his entire consecrated life trying to make Mary more loved and served. He understood that in these last days Satan would be incredibly powerful, so powerful that no one could withstand him but Our Lady. And so he longed for everyone to consecrate themselves to her. Only through her protection and guidance would people in this age be able to survive the attacks of the enemy.

And so today, let’s pray the Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary that St. Maximilian composed. It is a powerful consecration, one well worth praying as we prepare for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Consecration Prayer of the Militia of the Immaculata:

O Immaculata! Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you. I, (name), a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet, humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases you.

If it pleases you, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of you: “She will crush your head,” and “You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world. ” Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing your glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever you enter you obtain the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

V. Allow me to praise you, O sacred Virgin
R. Give me strength against your enemies

St. Maximilian Koble, pray for us!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2018

PS. Several of our shipmates have felt the nudge to donate! Thank you!! You have no idea how very much we need donations to continue Mary TV! Thanks for all you do, and for all you may be moved to do for the future!! Here is the link to our donation page:

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Enough!

(c)Mateo Ivankovic

August 13, 2018
Sts Pontian and Hyppolytus

Dear Family of Mary!

I am tired. I suspect many of you are tired too. Sometimes it feels like the challenges of life are just too much. At least for me, lately, I have been really tired. So when I heard the first reading for Holy Mass yesterday, I identified with Elijah completely:

Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert,
until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.
He prayed for death saying:
“This is enough, O LORD!
Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,
but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.
Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake
and a jug of water.
After he ate and drank, he lay down again,
but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,
touched him, and ordered,
“Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!”
He got up, ate, and drank;
then strengthened by that food,
he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb. (1Kings 19:4-8)

“This is enough, O LORD!” I hear you, Elijah. I get it! I sometimes can’t go any farther!

Of course, God didn’t let Elijah get away with it. No giving up. So He sent an angel with bread and water from heaven to strengthen him for his journey. The Lord wants to strengthen us as well. And Our Lady has told us how.

June 13, 1985 “Dear children! Until the anniversary day I am calling you, the parish, to pray more and to let your prayer be a sign of surrender to God. Dear children, I know that you are all tired, but you don’t know how to surrender yourselves to me. During these days surrender yourselves completely to me! Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Our Lady told the parish that she knew they were tired, but the answer to being tired was to pray more! And to surrender to her. I must admit my first impulse when I am dead tired is not to pray more. I just want to sleep like Elijah. But praying more is her solution. She said it again this way:

April 25, 2001 “Dear children! Also today, I call you to prayer. Little children, prayer works miracles. When you are tired and sick and you do not know the meaning of your life, take the Rosary and pray; pray until prayer becomes for you a joyful meeting with your Savior. I am with you, little children, and I intercede and pray for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

When we are tired or sick, we do lose track of the meaning of our lives. It is hard to focus, hard to make decisions, hard to think! So that is when we need to pray! Why? Because prayer works miracles. Prayer changes us. Prayer, even a tired, grumpy prayer connects us to God. So just like Elijah, we can lay down and say “Enough…” And then God will send help! He will send His bread and water from heaven to sustain us and strengthen us.

And the prayer of choice is the Rosary! The Rosary draws us into a joyful meeting with our Savior. That is all we need. Once we are in touch with Jesus, the solutions come flowing into our lives.

Of course the bread from heaven prefigures the Eucharist, and we all know the strength we receive from Jesus in the Eucharist. Each reception of our Lord in the Eucharist infuses us with the graces we need to overcome our tiredness and follow the Lord’s plan for our lives.

So, if you are feeling tired and you can’t cope, find a broom tree, lay down under it and tell the Lord how you feel. And then pray the Rosary as you wait for Him to feed you and strengthen you for the days ahead!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2018

PS. For those who feel a nudge to support Mary TV as we work to connect Our Lady to the world, here is a link to our donation page:

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Hell exists!

(c)Tony Zubac/ Mary TV

August 10, 2018
St. LawrenceDear Family of Mary!

Friday, November 6, 1981
After twenty minutes, the Gospa disappears, and before us, Hell appears. Later she tells us: “Do not be afraid! I have shown you Hell so that you may know the state of those who are there.”

 

I feel moved to share this message with you today. Our Lady showed the visionaries in Medjugorje hell. She wanted them to know that hell exists. She also showed the visionaries at Fatima the reality of hell. It is her wish that her children know that hell exists.

Our Lady also showed St. Faustina hell. Here is St. Faustina’s account of that experience:

Today, I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw: the first torture that constitutes hell is the

loss of God; the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; the third is that one’s condition will never change; the fourth is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it-a terrible suffering, since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger; the fifth torture is continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and, despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own; the sixth torture is the constant company of Satan; the seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. These are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings. There are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me. Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he used for sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no hell, or that nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like.
I, Sister Faustina, by the order of God, have visited the abysses of hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence. I cannot speak about it now; but I have received a command from God to leave it in writing. The devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God. What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell. When I came to, I could hardly recover from the fright. How terribly souls suffer there! Consequently, I pray even more fervently for the conversion of sinners. I incessantly plead God’s mercy upon them. O my Jesus, I would rather be in agony until the end of the world, amidst the greatest sufferings, than to offend You by the least sin. (St. Faustina’s Diary, 741)

I believe that many people do not believe in hell in these days. They are in great peril. Let’s pray for all men to be saved. Let’s pray that God’s mercy will prevail over all men and women in the world!!!!In Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2018

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Pray with your whole heart!

Fr. Marinko
(c)Tony Zubac/ Mary TV

August 9, 2018
St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross

Dear Family of Mary!

Our Lady once said to us:

“Dear children! Today again I am calling you to pray with your whole heart and day by day to change your life….”(11/13/1986)

On Day 5 of the Youth Festival, Fr. Marinko, the Pastor of St. James Parish, gave a wonderful talk on prayer. He spoke about our human problem with attention, and how being inattentive can hinder our prayer. Here is the first portion of his talk:

Just for a little while we will take a theme. And the theme is attention. Attention. How to be attentive.

The Holy Mass started and some (whether it refers to us or others, I do not know) but some people already in their thoughts wander away to a different place. With their bodies they are present and with their spirits they are absent. Their thoughts take them to the past, to the future. Running around they go to certain paths, to nature, to the work that they do.

And very often it happens that during the time of Holy Mass, there are negative feelings that occur, like anger, anger towards a person who has hurt them. They fall into anxiety, they start being worried, and all of the time during Holy Mass they think about what could happen to them. They listen to the Word of God, and after Holy Mass they are not able to remember even a single detail from the Gospel that was read. They receive Jesus, and at the same time they think about something completely different. Indeed, they came to Holy Mass with their own will, and when Holy Mass finishes they are as if they never came at all. Who do we talk about here? Do you recognize yourself here? Can you recognize yourself. Have you had such experiences? If you do not have these experiences, we won’t talk about it. A Ha, Dobro.

Why do we not feel joy during the time of Holy Mass? The reason can be because we are not awake. Because prayer is not an encounter with God to us. Jesus is with us. Jesus is with us in prayer. But we are not with Him, we are not joyful. Because we are not awake. Because our thoughts have been directed only to those problems we have or the worries we have in our lives. To be awake it means to be vigilant, to be attentive. Remember Jesus who said, “Be awake and pray.” Remember St. Paul, who invites us, “It is already the time for us to be awake.”

Distraction is the problem of each and every faithful. For Ponski (not sure of this name) distraction, and how to be recollected is so important that he says, “If you want true prayer, then you will have to find how to be recollected.” There is nothing more important for prayer than being recollected. Do whatever you can to get it.

How to be so attentive? Who to be recollected in prayer? Every minute, every second we have millions of thoughts. How to be attentive…Someone said that we have the thoughts the emotions we have. It is like when you are dealing with birds. You cannot prevent birds to fly over our heads, but we can prevent that they make a nest on our head. Birds are above us. This we cannot prevent. But that the birds make a nest on our heads, we can prevent.

Attention is not the same thing as to be concentrated. To be concentrated means to be directed to only one thing and to exclude the other. With such an attitude inner peace can be easily lost. There are many good things that we can lose. Attention on the other hand does not exclude anything. Not even food, not feelings, not sounds. There is not struggle, but the spirit is awake, completely aware of the moment.

So now we want to meet one young person. Her name was Simone Weil. She was Jewish. She was a philosopher. She wasn’t the slave of the Christianity. She was completely Jesus. She got to know Jesus. She died very young. She was not very old when she died. She said that the point of prayer was not being attentive. What does attention mean? Let’s see what her experience was like.

This is what she says:

“Last summer when I was working, trying to learn the Greek language with a certain man whose name starts with the letter T. Word by word, I was able to learn the ‘Our Father’ in the Greek language. So we promised each other that we would learn it by heart. And I believe that he did not do it. I did not do it either. But a few days afterwards, as I was reading the Holy Gospel, I said to myself that this is what I need to do. Since it is something that I promised and it is a good thing to do. That is exactly what I did.

It was so sweet, that Greek text. And this Greek text completely took me over and I was not able to resist. I was reading it constantly and reciting it over the next few days. A week afterwards, I went for the grape harvest, to harvest grapes. And each day, before I would start working, I would recite the prayer of the ‘Our Father’ in the Greek language. And very often I was repeating that prayer in the vineyard. Ever since then, from that time on I was obliged every morning to say that prayer of the ‘Our Father’ with full attention, being completely concentrated. I thought it was going to be my only religious duty. If I would fall asleep, I would start again.

Up to that point, during vocal prayer, my attention would be distracted for a little bit, or I would start to fall asleep. I would start over again until I would become completely, completely attentive. Sometimes it would happen that I would start again. And I would start out of the purest pleasure. I would do that only when I felt a profound inner need to do so.

The strength of this exercise is extraordinary. It surprises me each time, because even though I experience it each day, each day it surpasses my expectations.

Dear young friends, this is a beautiful example for each one of us. This is a good exercise for each one of us. So right now, let us try to do that. Let’s give it a try. We will say the Our Father in our language because we do not know Greek. Let’s try to say the prayer, completely collected. With full attention. Perhaps you can open your hands. Make a gesture. But try now in silence. With complete attention. Full attention. Every single word of the prayer of the Our Father. Say it now…long silence….
If you are just like Simone Weil, you can say to yourself every day “at least I will say one Our Father each day, with full attention, being fully concentrated. One Our Father each day that I try to say with all of my heart. Every single word. To be very attentive when I say it.
To Simone Weil, prayer is being directed toward God with all of our attention. The attention that the soul is capable of. The whole attention is being completely collected in a soul, being directed towards God. So I wonder and I ask myself, does that mean that Jesus said, “Love God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, with all of your strength.” I wonder is this what Jesus thought. Full attention of the soul towards God. For Simone Veil, learning how to pay attention, how to pay full attention, that is what is most important purpose of study in the church. (14:10) (Fr. Marinko’s Talk, 8/5/18 Youth Festival) (https://marytv.tv/youth-festival-2018/ )

Thank you, Fr. Mariko, for your good teaching, helpful teaching that brings us closer to Jesus and Mary! We want to learn to pray with our whole heart, as Our Lady asks us. We can ask our saint for today, St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, to help us. She went from being purely intellectual to a life of deep, attentive, contemplative prayer. She gave her entire attention to Jesus, very much like Simone Weil. Let us ask them both to pray for us!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2018

PS. For those who feel a nudge to support Mary TV as we work to connect Our Lady to the world, here is a link to our donation page:

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A Preparation for the Assumption

(c) Mateo Ivankovic 2018

August 8, 2018
St. Dominic

Dear Family of Mary!

Our Lady only mentioned her Assumption in one message so far. But in that message she described her Assumption as “hope and love for you.” As with everything in Mary’s life, she does not see her Assumption as an honor for herself. Rather, the value of her Assumption is for her children, that we would be built up in hope and love by it. Her Assumption is for us a promise of our own futures. She wants us to understand our destiny with God, and sees her Assumption as a demonstration to us of our hope!

Here is the message:

February 02, 2016 “Dear children, I have called you and am calling you anew to come to know my Son, to come to know the truth. I am with you and am praying for you to succeed. My children, you must pray much in order to have all the more love and patience; to know how to endure sacrifice and to be poor in spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, my Son is always with you. His Church is born in every heart that comes to know Him. Pray that you can come to know my Son; pray that your soul may be one with Him. That is the prayer and the love which draws others and makes you my apostles. I am looking at you with love, with a motherly love. I know you; I know your pain and sorrows, because I also suffered in silence. My faith gave me love and hope. I repeat, the Resurrection of my Son and my Assumption into Heaven is hope and love for you. Therefore, my children, pray to come to know the truth; to have firm faith which will lead your heart and which will transform your pain and sufferings into love and hope. Thank you.”

Our Lady wants us to know the truth and have firm faith. Her entire life is a study in these two things. We are approaching the Feast of the Assumption. I am too late to start a Novena to the Assumption. But I found a wonderful prayer written by Pope St. Pius XII to Our Lady Assumed into Heaven. St. Pius XII also declared the dogma of the Assumption. He understood the power of this truth, this demonstration of hope and love.

Here is the prayer that we might pray each day from now until August 15, in honor of Our Lady’s Assumption:

Prayer to Our Lady, Assumed into Heaven

O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and Mother of Humanity, we believe with all the fervor of our faith in your triumphal assumption both in body and in soul into heaven where you are acclaimed as queen by all the choirs of angels and all the legions of saints; we unite with them to praise and bless the Lord who has exalted you above all other pure creatures and to offer you the tribute of our devotion and our love.

We know that your gaze, which on earth watched over the humble and suffering humanity of Jesus, in heaven is filled with the vision of that Humanity glorified and with the vision of Uncreated Wisdom, and that the joy of your soul in the direct contemplation of the adorable Trinity causes your heart to throb with overwhelming tenderness; and we, poor sinners whose body weighs down the flight of the soul, beg you to purify our hearts so that, while we remain below, we may learn to see God and God alone in the beauties of His creatures.

We trust that your merciful eyes may deign to gaze down upon our miseries and anguish, upon our struggles and our weaknesses; that your countenance may smile upon our joys and our victories; that you may hear the voice of Jesus saying to you of each one of us, as He once said to you of His beloved disciple:

“Behold your son,” and we who call upon you as our Mother, we, like John, take you as the guide, strength and consolation of our mortal life.

We are inspired by the certainty that your eyes, which wept over the earth crimsoned by the blood of Jesus, are yet turned toward this world racked by wars and persecutions, the oppression of the just and the weak. From the shadows of this vale of tears, we seek in your heavenly assistance, tender mercy, comfort for our aching hearts, and help in the trials of Church and country.

We believe finally that in the glory where you reign, clothed with the sun and crowned with stars, you are, after Jesus, the joy and gladness of all the angels and the saints, and from this earth, over which we tread as pilgrims, comforted by our faith in the future resurrection, we look to you our life, our sweetness, our hope; draw us onward with the sweetness of your voice, so that one day, after our exile, you may show us Jesus, the blessed fruit of your womb.

O clement, O loving,
O sweet Virgin Mary.

Amen.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2018

PS. For those who feel a nudge to support Mary TV as we work to connect Our Lady to the world, here is a link to our donation page:

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A Message from Our Lady through Ivan

(c) Anthony Zubac/Mary TV

August 7, 2018
St. Sixtus II and companions, St. Cajetan

Dear Family of Mary!

Forgive me for not following my regular schedule for reflections over the past week. The Youth Festival eclipsed everything for that time. (We also had a family wedding which was a joy to celebrate!) What a festival of grace it has been!!! We will be discovering the blessings for weeks to come.

Today I want to share with you the message Our Lady gave through Ivan during his prayer group’s meeting at the statue on Apparition Hill. Here is what Ivan shared after the apparition:

Also to you, I would like to bring closer what was the most important from this meeting. Also, today, Our Lady came to us very joyful and happy and at the beginning, She greeted all of us with Her motherly greeting, “Praised be Jesus, my dear children.” Then, for a while, Our Lady, with Her arms extended, prayed over all of us here. Especially She prayed over you who are sick present here. Then Our Lady said:

“Dear children, also today, I desire to call you in a special way to forgiveness. Forgive, dear children, and like this, open the way to the Holy Spirit to your heart. I pray, dear children, for all of you, and intercede for you before my Son. Pray together with me for my plans. Thank you, dear children, for also today having responded to my call.”

Then Our Lady blessed all of us with Her motherly blessing, and blessed everything you brought to be blessed. I recommended all of you, your needs, your intentions, your families and especially I recommended all of you, the sick, who are present. After that, Our Lady continued to pray for a while, and She left in that prayer, in an illuminated Sign of the Cross, with a farewell, “Go in peace my dear children.”

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
Mary TV 2018

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Our Lady’s August 2nd, 2018 Message

Mirjana greets Our Lady today – August 2, 2018
(c) Mary TV, 2018

August 2, 2018

Dear Family of Mary!

Our Lady’s Message of August 2, 2018:

Dear children, with a motherly love I am calling you to open hearts to peace; to open hearts to my Son, so that in your hearts love for my Son may sing, because only out of that love peace comes in the soul.

My children, I know that you have goodness, I know that you have love – a merciful love, but many of my children still have a closed heart. They think that they can do it without directing their thoughts towards the Heavenly Father who illuminates-towards my Son who is always with you anew in the Eucharist and who desires to listen to you. My children, why do you not speak to Him? The life of each of you is important and precious, because it is a gift from the Heavenly Father for eternity. Therefore, do not ever forget to keep on thanking Him: speak to Him.

I know, my children, that what is to come afterwards is unknown to you, but when your hereafter comes you will receive all the answers. My motherly love desires that you be ready. My children, by your life keep putting good feelings in the hearts of the people whom you meet, feelings of peace, goodness, love and forgiveness. Through prayer, hearken to what My Son is saying and act accordingly.

Anew, I am calling you to prayer for your shepherds, for those whom my Son has called. Remember that they need prayers and love. Thank you.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan

Mary TV

PS. You can view this encounter between Our Lady and Mirjana on our website at this link: https://marytv.tv/mirjanas-apparition/

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