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January 13, 2020 Reflection – Make prayer your life!

 
(c) Mary TV 2020

January 13, 2020
St. Hilary – Bishop, Doctor of the Church

Dear Family of Mary!

“Dear children! My call for you is prayer. May prayer be a joy for you and a wreath which binds you to God. Little children, trials will come, and you will not be strong, and sin will reign but, if you are mine, you will win, because your refuge will be the Heart of my Son Jesus. Therefore, little children, return to prayer until prayer becomes life for you in the day and the night. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (July 25, 2019)

This call to prayer from Our Lady says it all. Prayer is the gift we are being given in order to withstand the trials ahead and help spread the peace and mercy that are offered to us through Our Lady of Medjugorje.

I remember something Marija Pavlovic Lunetti said on October 24, 2017, in a talk she gave in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, right after Our Lady’s apparition to her. She said that she believed that now the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was beginning. That was in 2017. Here we are two years later, and we see that Triumph growing. Indeed, it is growing, even as the world seems to be growing farther away from God each day.

And that Triumph is happening in each one of us who pray, who respond to Our Lady’s call, her summons to prayer.

I would like to share with you a homily that Fr. Maximilian Dalve gave on November 18, 2017, just three weeks after Marija’s surprising statement. It is a beautiful description of prayer and how to make prayer our life, as it says in the July 25, 2019 message above.

Homily for November 18, 2017, Medjugorje English Mass with Fr. Maximilian.
 
Jesus in the Gospel on several occasions invites us, asks us, commands us, to pray unceasingly. St. Paul, in his letters repeats this teaching. Ephesians 6:18, he says, “Pray unceasingly, with every form of prayer in the Spirit.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 he says again, “Pray without ceasing.” He repeats it.

Mary, here in Medjugorje, clothes these words from the Gospel in motherly terms. She says also on several occasions words like “Fill every moment even with the smallest prayer.” Someone might ask how we can do that? I must work, I must eat, I must sleep, I can’t always sit in church and pray.
 
Now we must distinguish between a spirit of prayer which can embrace the whole day and a time spent exclusively on prayer. The spirit of prayer is expressed very well in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, N 2565. It says: “The Life of Prayer consists in being habitually in the presence of God, three times holy.” It is beautiful! As it says in the Bible of the Prophet Elijah, he says of himself, “I am the servant of the Lord at whose presence I stand,” This says everything.
 
The habit of spiritual recollection can bring us to this grace. And it is necessary because we live in this time of rationalism, in which I always must think about God, use my brain, use my intellect, and then we become tired of that.
 
It is, first, a matter of the heart. For a boyfriend, it is not difficult to think of his girlfriend continuously, because he is in love. It is a matter of love. Prayer is a relation, a friendship, says Theresa of Avila – and she is the mystic of prayer. And for us it is a joy to pray. It is joyful to be with our friend. So through prayer it becomes an experience of joy.

This initial effort, because we have to detach ourselves from the things of this world we love, from ourselves, and from all the other things we love, to truly love God, which makes our prayer an experience of love and of joy. So, Mary combines the effort and the spirit of prayer and she says, “Pray until prayer becomes joy for you.”
 
So, we must look to our daily prayer so that prayer for us is a joyful experience. To be happy to pray. Because we are with the one who loves us most. And joy is an eternal effect of our experience of love, St. Thomas Aquinas states. So, when we feel love, joy grows in our heart. Joy and peace.
 
There are people who say to me, “Father, I always pray. I am always with the Lord. From morning to evening. But I have two kids, I must work at the office, I have all these things to do, please don’t ask me to sit down and spend time in prayer. I just don’t have the time.” It sounds a bit off key, you know, for it would be like a boyfriend who calls his girlfriend and says, “Honey, I thought of you all day long, so it isn’t necessary to see you this evening.” It seems ridiculous, you know!
 
And then Jesus told us, “When you pray, go into your room and pray to the Father in silence.” So, we need some time for prayer, we need a meeting.
 
Others say, “Father, can I pray if I am driving the car? Is it disrespectful to pray the Rosary and drive the car?” I say not at all. Mary said to pray always. Jesus says, pray always. Just don’t close your eyes if you are driving your car as you pray. Pray according to the circumstances. But as I said there must be a special moment of prayer.
 
Jesus says, “When you pray, go into your room, lock the door, and pray to the Father in secret. And the Father who sees in secret will listen to you.”
 
One lady said to me once, “Father, I love to pray. I made even a little altar in my room in my home, and there I have a picture of the Sacred Heart, the picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and my Bible there, and that is my favorite place. I love to stay there. But you see my husband left me, and I have three kids so in the morning I have to get up and get the three children off to school, go to the office, do all my duties, drive the three children back from school, help with the homework, supper, go to bed. After a day like this I am tired. And it is every day. So, I come to the altar. The place I love. I see my Mother and my Lord who I love. I feel happy. I feel at peace. And I say sorry, I am too tired to pray.”
 
I said to her, “My dear sister, you are praying the most wonderful prayer. Prayer is not a letter full of words. Prayer is an act of love. As you love, you make the most beautiful prayer. Obviously if you are there and can be at peace, in your mind distractions come like, “I have to go to the supermarket, I have to do this or that.” Just pick up the Rosary and say some Our Father’s, Hail Mary’s, and Glory Be’s. Then prayer becomes contemplation. Prayer becomes a work of love. Prayer is more something of the heart than of the mind.
 
Prayers are sometimes said in such a dry way, just out of duty, full of distractions so that the Lord must be bored just to have to listen to them. But if you look around in this world and what is going on, how can our prayer not be a cry? Jesus said today, “Those who he called who cry to the Father being light…How can our prayer not be a cry seeing what is going on? Not a cry of despair. Not a cry of anger. But a cry of faith, of hope, of love, of confidence in His mercy. Jesus, Himself was on earth, as Hebrews 10 says, “And He was heard, as He prayed with loud cries and tears.” Tears are the most beautiful cry, a silent cry, as we see what is going on in this world, as we see what happens to our brothers and sisters who don’t know God.
 
We can ask ourselves; how can we be so cold that we don’t think of them, and pray for them with loud cries and tears? Mary, here in Medjugorje, wants to transform us into her apostles of love. She wants to pray, to teach us how to pray and wants to pray with us, wants to pray in us. And her prayer, her call, her tears, are something to listen to, and they send us peace.
 
So eventually in prayer, besides the formulas which are very useful, Jesus gave them to us, think of the Our Father. But besides these formulas, besides the rules of prayer, is a passionate heart, a heart of love in which our prayer becomes a cry. Day and night. And the Chapels of Perpetual Adoration I think are the most powerful houses of prayer in the world. We need a lot of them. So, don’t feel afraid to ask the parish priest to join together and strive to open a Chapel of Perpetual Adoration. There I think is the most powerful cry because it is Jesus, Himself, who cries to the Father. If we are with Him day and night.
(Homily at English Mass, Medjugorje, November 18, 2017 – Fr. Maximillian Dalve)

Let us make prayer our life. This is our call!!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020

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January 10, 2020 Reflection – Our Father!

(c) Mary TV 2019

January 10, 2020

Dear Family of Mary!

“…My children, my Son pronounced the words of the ‘Our Father’-Our Father, [you] who are everywhere and in our hearts-because He desires to teach you to pray with words and feelings. He desires for you to always be better, to live merciful love which is prayer and limitless sacrifice for others…”
(January 2, 2020)

 
The Catechism of the Catholic Church spends some time talking about the great grace we have been given through Jesus, to be able to call God “Our Father”. We should be in awe at this great gift, a relationship with our Creator as our Father. I thought we might take some time this weekend to pray over these paragraphs:


PART FOUR – CHRISTIAN PRAYER, SECTION TWO – THE LORD’S PRAYER – “OUR FATHER!” ARTICLE 2- OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN”

I. “WE DARE TO SAY”


2777 In the Roman liturgy, the Eucharistic assembly is invited to pray to our heavenly Father with filial boldness; the Eastern liturgies develop and use similar expressions: “dare in all confidence,” “make us worthy of… ” From the burning bush Moses heard a voice saying to him, “Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”26 Only Jesus could cross that threshold of the divine holiness, for “when he had made purification for sins,” he brought us into the Father’s presence: “Here am I, and the children God has given me.”27


Our awareness of our status as slaves would make us sink into the ground and our earthly condition would dissolve into dust, if the authority of our Father himself and the Spirit of his Son had not impelled us to this cry . . . ‘Abba, Father!’ . . . When would a mortal dare call God ‘Father,’ if man’s innermost being were not animated by power from on high?”28


2778 This power of the Spirit who introduces us to the Lord’s Prayer is expressed in the liturgies of East and of West by the beautiful, characteristically Christian expression: parrhesia, straightforward simplicity, filial trust, joyous assurance, humble boldness, the certainty of being loved.29


II. ABBA – “FATHER!”

2779 Before we make our own this first exclamation of the Lord’s Prayer, we must humbly cleanse our hearts of certain false images drawn “from this world.” Humility makes us recognize that “no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him,” that is, “to little children.”30 The purification of our hearts has to do with paternal or maternal images, stemming from our personal and cultural history, and influencing our relationship with God. God our Father transcends the categories of the created world. To impose our own ideas in this area “upon him” would be to fabricate idols to adore or pull down. To pray to the Father is to enter into his mystery as he is and as the Son has revealed him to us.


The expression God the Father had never been revealed to anyone. When Moses himself asked God who he was, he heard another name. The Father’s name has been revealed to us in the Son, for the name “Son” implies the new name “Father.”31


2780 We can invoke God as “Father” because he is revealed to us by his Son become man and because his Spirit makes him known to us. The personal relation of the Son to the Father is something that man cannot conceive of nor the angelic powers even dimly see: and yet, the Spirit of the Son grants a participation in that very relation to us who believe that Jesus is the Christ and that we are born of God.32


2781 When we pray to the Father, we are in communion with him and with his Son, Jesus Christ.33 Then we know and recognize him with an ever new sense of wonder. The first phrase of the Our Father is a blessing of adoration before it is a supplication. For it is the glory of God that we should recognize him as “Father,” the true God. We give him thanks for having revealed his name to us, for the gift of believing in it, and for the indwelling of his Presence in us.


2782 We can adore the Father because he has caused us to be reborn to his life by adopting us as his children in his only Son: by Baptism, he incorporates us into the Body of his Christ; through the anointing of his Spirit who flows from the head to the members, he makes us other “Christs.”


God, indeed, who has predestined us to adoption as his sons, has conformed us to the glorious Body of Christ. So, then you who have become sharers in Christ are appropriately called “Christs.”34


The new man, reborn and restored to his God by grace, says first of all, “Father!” because he has now begun to be a son.35


2783 Thus the Lord’s Prayer reveals us to ourselves at the same time that it reveals the Father to us.36

O man, you did not dare to raise your face to heaven, you lowered your eyes to the earth, and suddenly you have received the grace of Christ all your sins have been forgiven. From being a wicked servant you have become a good son…Then raise your eyes to the Father who has begotten you through Baptism, to the Father who has redeemed you through his Son, and say: “Our Father. . . . ” But do not claim any privilege. He is the Father in a special way only of Christ, but he is the common Father of us all, because while he has begotten only Christ, he has created us. Then also say by his grace, “Our Father,” so that you may merit being his son.37


2784 The free gift of adoption requires on our part continual conversion and new life. Praying to our Father should develop in us two fundamental dispositions:
First, the desire to become like him: though created in his image, we are restored to his likeness by grace; and we must respond to this grace.


We must remember . . . and know that when we call God “our Father” we ought to behave as sons of God.38


You cannot call the God of all kindness your Father if you preserve a cruel and inhuman heart; for in this case you no longer have in you the marks of the heavenly Father’s kindness.39

We must contemplate the beauty of the Father without ceasing and adorn our own souls accordingly.40

2785 Second, a humble and trusting heart that enables us “to turn and become like children”:41 for it is to “little children” that the Father is revealed.42
[The prayer is accomplished] by the contemplation of God alone, and by the warmth of love, through which the soul, molded and directed to love him, speaks very familiarly to God as to its own Father with special devotion.43


Our Father: at this name love is aroused in us . . . and the confidence of obtaining what we are about to ask. . . . What would he not give to his children who ask, since he has already granted them the gift of being his children?44


(Use this link to see the text on the Vatican Website – including the numbered references:
https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s2a2.htm  )


In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020


PS. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! We have reached our Matching Grant of $100,000!!!! We now have $200,000 to move Mary TV forward into 2020, helping Our Lady reach her children!! Thank you so much to one and all!!!

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January 9, 2020 Reflection – My Son pronounced the words of the Our Father…

(c) Mary TV 2020

January 9, 2020  

Dear Family of Mary!

“…My children, my Son pronounced the words of the ‘Our Father’-Our Father, [you] who are everywhere and in our hearts-because He desires to teach you to pray with words and feelings. He desires for you to always be better, to live merciful love which is prayer and limitless sacrifice for others…” (January 2, 2020)

The “Our Father” is at the heart of our Catholic prayer life. We pray it just before receiving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. We pray it in the Rosary, in the Divine Office, and in the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and in almost all Novenas. When we pray the Our Father, we feel we are praying with Jesus, using His words, and approaching the Father with His dispositions. And we are!! Jesus taught us how to pray.

Here is what it says in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
  
(PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER, SECTION TWO THE LORD’S PRAYER, Article 1 “THE SUMMARY OF THE WHOLE GOSPEL”, II. The Lord’s Prayer)

II. The Lord’s Prayer
2765 The traditional expression “the Lord’s Prayer” – Oratio Dominica – means that the prayer to our Father is taught and given to us by the Lord Jesus. The prayer that comes to us from Jesus is truly unique: it is “of the Lord.” On the one hand, in the words of this prayer the only Son gives us the words the Father gave him:13 he is the master of our prayer. On the other, as Word incarnate, he knows in his human heart the needs of his human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us: he is the model of our prayer.

2766 But Jesus does not give us a formula to repeat mechanically.14 As in every vocal prayer, it is through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God to pray to their Father. Jesus not only gives us the words of our filial prayer; at the same time he gives us the Spirit by whom these words become in us “spirit and life.”15 Even more, the proof and possibility of our filial prayer is that the Father “sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!'”16 Since our prayer sets forth our desires before God, it is again the Father, “he who searches the hearts of men,” who “knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”17 The prayer to Our Father is inserted into the mysterious mission of the Son and of the Spirit.
(13
Cf. Jn 17:7. 14 Cf. Mt 6:7; 1 Kings 18:26-29. 15 Jn 6:63. 16 Gal 4:6. 17 Rom 8:27.)
https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s2a1.htm     

Jesus gave us His own prayer, so that we could pray with His words and feelings, and we could ask for what He desires for us to ask. Jesus gave us everything we need to know to find our way to His Father. We are the most blessed to have such a Brother and Lord.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy Name. 
Thy Kingdom come. 
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.  Amen.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020

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January 8, 2020 Reflection – Perfect love casts out fear!

(c) Mary TV 2020

 

January 8, 2020

 

Dear Family of Mary!

“…My children, give to my Son love for your neighbors, give words of consolation, compassion and acts of justice to your neighbors. Everything that you give to others, apostles of my love, my Son accepts as a gift. I am also with you, because my Son desires for my love, as a ray of light, to bring your souls to life; for me to help you in the search for peace and eternal happiness. Therefore, my children, love one another, be united through my Son, be children of God who all together, with full, open and pure heart, pronounce the ‘Our Father’. And do not be afraid!    Thank you.”  (January 2, 2020)

Our Lady’s message reflects this wonderful reading for Holy Mass today. Let’s take time to pray over both of them:

1John 4: 11-18

Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
In this is love brought to perfection among us,
that we have confidence on the day of judgment
because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.


Our Lady tells us to love one another, be united through her Son, be children of God…and to not be afraid! Why? Because “Perfect love drives out fear.”  “. This is what we are learning from Mother Mary. She is bringing us into the perfect love of God. Thank you, dearest Mother. Thank you, our Queen of Peace and of Divine Mercy!

 

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020

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January 7, 2020 Reflection – Divine Mercy and the Queen of Peace!

(c) Mary TV 2020

January 7, 2020
St. Raymond of Penafort 

Dear Family of Mary!

Two days after the remarkable homily of Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto about the connection of Our Lady, Queen of Peace and Divine Mercy, Fr. Christ Alar, MIC, gave the homily at English Mass in Medjugorje (January 2).  Fr. Chris is a member of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception!  This community has championed Divine Mercy since the early days.  And for Fr. Chris, the homily of Archbishop Pezzuto was very meaningful. It was significant because it tied the presence of Our Lady in Medjugorje to the devotion to the Divine Mercy as two inseparable signs from God for our age.

Here is Fr. Alar’s homily, given at English Mass on Januray 2, 2020!!

Medjugorje English Mass
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Fr. Chris Alar, MIC
 
Homily
 
Good morning! You know, coming from the United States, if I was to ask the question of you, “When does Christmas begin?” Probably, if you were from the United States, you would say, “The day after Thanksgiving with all the shopping.” That is not when Christmas begins! When does Christmas actually begin? On Christmas Day, or Christmas Eve if you are celebrating vespers.
 
Now when does Christmas end? Anybody tell me when Christmas ends? Okay. Now, the Christmas Season ends with the Baptism of Our Lord. But there’s parts of the Christmas Season that are very important. And we just finished the first part yesterday.
 
Yesterday we celebrated Mary the Mother of God. And that completes the Octave of Christmas. Now, what’s an Octave? An Octave comes from our Jewish tradition – when a feast was so big that it couldn’t be celebrated in one day, it was celebrated over eight days. And this celebration, in the Jewish tradition was called an Octave. Now, we used to have many Octaves in the Catholic Church – the Octave of Pentecost, the Octave of Corpus Christi – but we really only now celebrate two Octaves? What are they? The Octave of Christmas and the Octave of Easter.
 
These are important. Why? Well, let’s look at the Octave of Easter; the most important Octave we have in the church. It begins on Easter Sunday and eight days later concludes with what? Divine Mercy! The Feast of Divine Mercy! You can’t separate them; they are celebrated as one giant feast. The Resurrection – Christ opens the door to heaven – and on Divine Mercy, the eighth day (Eight represents eternity to the Jews) we enter eternity and, hopefully, into the embrace of God’s Mercy in heaven.
 
Now, the Christmas Octave is also very important. When did it begin? Christmas Day. And it concludes eight days later – which was yesterday – with what? The Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. You can’t separate the birth of Jesus from His mother.
 
Now this Octave which ends with Mary the Mother of God, as Father Leon was saying yesterday, is very important. You know, it might surprise a lot of you – I won’t go into the theology here, you can see me afterwards – but it shocks a lot of people to learn that Jesus Christ was not a human person. What?! Father, you’re heretical! No! Jesus Christ was a Divine Person with a Human Nature.
 
Jesus was not two persons. Then you’d have four persons in the Trinity. Jesus was one person, two natures. So, His nature for all eternity, and His personhood were always Divine. The second person of the Trinity was always Divine, and He had a Divine nature. But when He came to earth, He assumed a human nature. So, He’s fully God, in His nature; fully man, in His nature. So, please don’t run to the Bishop and say Father Chris said Jesus wasn’t at all in any way human. No! He was fully human, in His nature.
 
But if you read the catechism, it says Jesus Christ is one person, two natures. His nature is Divine; He has a human nature, He assumed that at the incarnation. But his person is Divine. And when Mary gave birth – a mother gives birth, not to a nature, but to a person – and when Mary gave birth, she gave birth to the person, and that person is Divine. Therefore, we can call Mary the Mother of God; because that person is a Divine person who then assumed a human nature.
 
Now. Why do I tell you all this? This is because we just completed the Octave of Christmas. Now we are in the middle of something else, the days to the Epiphany. From Christmas Day to the Epiphany, called the Twelve Days of Christmas.
 
Now, you all remember the song? At least in America I know we do, right? The Twelve Days of Christmas: seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying, right? Today, we’re in the Ninth Day of Christmas. Remember what the nine days are? What are the nine days? Ladies dancing, right? I think that was right; nine ladies dancing.  
 
But you know, each of those days represents something of our catholic faith. Seven represented the seven sacraments. Eight represented the eight beatitudes. Does anybody remember what nine represented in the song? Anybody? The fruits of the Holy Spirit. Now those fruits of the Holy Spirit are: love, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and peace.
 
Peace. The Croatian word, I see it all over here – is it pronounced “mere?” – Mir! This is the theme of Medjugorje: Peace! Why now and why at this time is God bringing this to us? This is important. If you were here on New Year’s Eve you heard the Apostolic Nuncio from Rome make one of the most important homilies I have ever heard. Was anybody here, here for that homily? A few people? You might want to try to find this. It is extremely important!
 
The Nuncio said that what is happening in our world is we are shackled with distrust and fear. Now you all know Satan has three great tools, right? Satan uses three things to snap souls. One: Pride. That’s the fall. That’s where John the Baptist in this reading today was the epitome of humility. He says, I am not even worthy to unstrap the sandals of the Lamb of God. The opposite of that is pride. That’s Satan’s first tool. He brought Adam and Eve down with it. We want to be like God.
 
Satan’s second great tool: Fear. We are fearful. We are living in a time of fear. We are living in absolute anxiety and nervousness. I hear this in the confessional all the time.
 
And Satan’s third great tool: Confusion. He is using this now more than ever. Confusion. Don’t fall for this Satan’s trap that’s sweeping the world, that marriage can now be between two men, or marriage can be between two women. No, it can’t. Or that you can change your gender. No, you can’t. You know if Satan can confuse who you are at your very core – your maleness or your femaleness – he can confuse anything. Don’t fall for this trap.
 
I pray for my own country, the United States. This liberal agenda is trying to confuse our very being. As I always laugh, Brother Jason and I were walking yesterday up to the mountain, to the cross, and we were talking about the very essence of who we are. There’s nothing more core to your being than your maleness or your femaleness. When your baby is born, does the doctor look and say, “It’s a lawyer?” No, he says, “It’s a boy!” “It’s a girl!” And as Brother Jason says, the doctor doesn’t look and say, “Well, before I tell you It’s a boy or a girl, what do you want it to be? Do you want it to be a boy or girl or one of the other 26 genders?” This is insanity! And this is what Satan is using to confuse us.
 
Now I want to finish by going back to fear. Satan’s great tools: Pride, Fear and Confusion. Let’s look at Fear, because this is where Medjugorje comes in. The opposite of Fear is what? Trust and Peace. If you trust someone, and you are at peace with them, you do not fear them. If you don’t trust someone, and you’re not at peace with them, you fear. This is what the Nuncio talked about.
 
Now, here’s what’s interesting. Trust is the essence of the message of Divine Mercy. Saint Faustina; God gave to her in the 1930’s the message that Pope John Paul said is the most important message of our times. In that essence of Divine Mercy is trust. Now, peace is the essence of the message of Medjugorje; Peace.
 
So, trust and peace are the answer, the Nuncio said, to the fear that Satan brings us. Satan is flooding the world with fear, and he said, the answer! The answer to this distrust and fear that is caused by Satan, (and we know the answer) is trust and peace. So, the Nuncio linked these two together, and then, he finished by saying the Queen of Peace is the Queen of Divine Mercy.
 
Brother Jason and I have been with the Marians for a decade and we have never heard this coming from a Bishop. We have never heard a Bishop say, the Queen of Peace is the Queen of Divine Mercy. But Archbishop Pezzuto linked the two together. This is the answer.
 
Jesus said, to Saint Faustina, “Mankind will not have peace until he turns with trust to my Divine Mercy.” Hear the word, “peace.” Hear the word, “trust.” Jesus said, we will not have peace – and by peace; He doesn’t mean absence of war, He means peace in your heart. This is the end of anxiety. This is the end of fear. Mankind will not have peace – until he turns with trust to my Divine Mercy. The answer to getting the trust is Divine Mercy. And to get the Peace is Medjugorje. And he linked these two together.
 
Jason, (Brother Jason,) and I are from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy, and we just finished a book called “After Suicide: There’s Hope for Them (those who have died) and (there’s hope) for You (those left behind).”   That you can get through this; never over it, but you can get through it. And in our book, in which this Divine Mercy is the essence, we quote Fr. Mitch Pacwa. Do any of you know about Father Mitch Pacwa from EWTN? He said, somebody asked him, “Why are there so many suicides in the world today?” And Father Mitch said, “The reason there are so many suicides is a lack of peace.”
 
Remember, Satan’s tools start with pride. Pride was just wiped away by John the Baptist and any of us who live in humility. Fear is wiped away with trust and peace. Trust, first, we know from Divine Mercy, and now, Peace, which will come, and we’re learning, in Medjugorje. Jesus brought us Saint Faustina and Divine Mercy to trust Him; now He brings us Medjugorje to find peace. How? Jesus said, we will find peace after turning to His Divine Mercy. That’s why Divine Mercy came first in revelations to Saint Faustina. And why now, peace is coming through the revelations of Medjugorje. This is so important.
 
So, I finish by saying, we need to know Him to see Him. How do we know Jesus? How do we see Him? This is the first reading that Brother Jason just read. The Son abides in the Father, and the Father abides in the Son. How do you know the Father? This is ultimately where we all came from, and this is ultimately where we all want to return to, the Father. But how do you know the Father? There’s only one way to know God the Father; Jesus makes it very clear, through the Son. And how do you know the Son? You know the Son through the Holy Spirit. And how do you know the Holy Spirit? Through Mary, His Spouse; right here at Medjugorje.
 
So, do you want to get back to God the Father? Start with Mary, right here in Medjugorje. That’s where you are; that’s where you start. Let Mary take you to the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, through the power of the anointing that we just read in the first reading, we know the Son. So that He can act in us. And then the Son will take us back to God the Father. Ultimately, where we are destined to be for all eternity.
 
How do we do that? How do we know the Son to get back to the Father? The image of Divine Mercy. Pope Francis said, the image of Divine Mercy is the face of the Father’s Mercy. Misericordia Voltus ; the Face of the Father’s Mercy. This is the image of Divine Mercy. To know the Father by the Son. This is what we see in Divine Mercy. And to have that, we get back to the Father.
 
But right now, we are not getting there, because we have fear. We are afraid. We run. We turn our back. I had a confession a couple days ago, and the woman – beautiful woman – said, “Father, I’m hypocritical. Because when I’m afraid and I’m anxious, I don’t pray. Because if I pray, then I’m hypocritical.” No! That’s when we need to pray!
 
So, to see God clearly, the Father, go through the Son. And the Son shows us His face in the image of Divine Mercy. So, God bless all of you for coming here to Medjugorje. You know, we are in the year 2020. As we all know, what does 20/20 mean? Perfect vision. 20/20 is the vision, the clarity that we need to see God. And we see Him through the image of Divine Mercy. But we’re not going to trust Him, unless we are at peace. Or I should say, we won’t have peace until we trust Him. So, let us trust God, by the gift of His Mother, and the promise of a Savior. And in that clarity, that John said, you do not know Him? Why do we not know Him? Because we don’t see Him. Why do we not see Him? We’re shackled with fear. Wipe out the fear with trust and peace. And when you do that, you can see Him clearly.
 
This has got to be your resolution for 2020. Not losing more weight – even though we probably all need that – probably not doing this or doing that, or doing this or whatever that, what really should be your resolution for the new year is seeing God more clearly. Seeing Him in 2020 vision. What more perfect time than the Year 2020 to see Him in 20/20. The vision and the clarity that comes only through God’s Mercy.
 
So, bless you all! And please, if not us? Who? If not everyone of us in this room, to spread this message of how Divine Mercy links to Medjugorje, of how God is using His Mother to take us to the Son and ultimately to return to the Father, nobody else is going to do it. We have to. And that’s why you’re here. Don’t think God can’t use you. You wouldn’t be here otherwise. You’re here for a purpose. So am I. So is Father Leon. So is Brother Jason. So are all of you.
 
Let us not miss this opportunity. We are at one of the most unprecedented times in human history. Next to the Resurrection, maybe the most, most important time. Jesus told Saint Faustina. You, Saint Faustina, I want to prepare for the coming, my second coming. I want to prepare you for the end times. Jesus said, mankind’s, in many ways, last hope of salvation is Divine Mercy.  
 
(You can view Fr. Christ giving this homily at this link: 
https://marytv.tv/english-mass-in-medjugorje/ – look for the video labeled 1/2/2020)


In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
(c)Mary TV 2020

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January 6, 2020 Reflection – Mary, Queen of Peace and Divine Mercy!

(c) Anthony Zubac/ Mary TV

January 6, 2020
St. Andre Bessette

Dear Family of Mary!

November 25, 2010 “Dear children! I look at you and I see in your heart death without hope, restlessness and hunger. There is no prayer or trust in God, that is why the Most High permits me to bring you hope and joy. Open yourselves. Open your hearts to God’s mercy and He will give you everything you need and will fill your hearts with peace, because He is peace and your hope. Thank you for having responded to my call.”


On New Year’s Eve, in St. James Church in Medjugorje a remarkable homily was given by the Apostolic Nuncio of Bosnia and Hercegovina, Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto. It contained a call to understand Our Lady as not only the Queen of Peace, but as Queen of Divine Mercy! This homily has brought much hope and joy to Our Lady’s children. Indeed, it is an amazing grace for us. I want to share the concluding words of Archbishop Pezzuto, as he declares something we all knew in our hearts but rejoice to hear with our ears! (I hope to have the full transcription soon.)

Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, Apostolic Nuncio of Bosnia and Hercegovina, concluded his December 31, 2019 homily in St. James Church at midnight Mass of the Solemnity of Mary the Holy Mother of God:
 
“How can Mary be the Queen of Peace without being at the same time, Queen of Divine Mercy?  We are here in the temple of the Queen of Peace raised in Bosnia and Hercegovina.  Mary is the Queen of Peace because she is the Queen of God’s Mercy, whose face is Jesus.  
 
“Just as at the wedding in Cana, today, as well, Mary continues to turn to God’s Mercy, saying, “They have run out of wine.”  And this, the wine of Mercy, has descended and enter [human history] by way of the royal petition of the one who carried Him in her body, in a way predicting at Cana His revelation in human history. 
 
“So, it would be right and just, in this place to invoke Mary with the title of Queen of Peace and God’s Divine Mercy.  We have invoked her, called upon her for centuries.  And we still call upon her as Mother of Mercy.  But her faithful, centuries’ long intercession for us, transformed her into the Queen to whom God’s Mercy gladly hears prayers and fulfills the tiniest desire of hers for the benefit of her children. 
 
“Let us conclude in the end, invoking her altogether, united in the same prayer, saying: ‘Mary, Queen of Peace and Divine Mercy, pray for us!”

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2020

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January 3, 2020 Reflection – The Most Holy Name of Jesus

 
 
(c) Anthony Zubac/ Mary TV

January 3, 2020
Most Holy Name of Jesus

Dear Family of Mary!

January 2, 2009 “Dear children, while great heavenly grace is being lavished upon you, your hearts remain hard and without response. My children, why do you not give me your hearts completely? I only desire to put in them peace and salvation, my Son. With my Son your souls will be directed to noble goals and you will never get lost. Even in greatest darkness you will find the way. My children, decide for a new life with the name of my Son on your lips. Thank you.”

With the name of Jesus on our lips, we can go through life in strength and peace. This feast day is very important and beautiful!  Let’s pray this Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus today, and allow the Name of Jesus to be always in our hearts and on our lips.
 
Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Jesus, hear us.
Jesus, graciously hear us.

God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, redeemer of the world,…
God the Holy Ghost,…
Holy Trinity, one God,…

Jesus, Son of the living God,…
Jesus, brightness of eternal light,…
Jesus, king of glory,…
Jesus, son of justice,…
Jesus, Son of the virgin Mary,…
Jesus, most amiable,…
Jesus, most admirable,…
Jesus, the mighty God,…
Jesus, father of the world to come,…
Jesus, angel of great counsel,…
Jesus, most powerful,…
Jesus, most patient,…
Jesus, most obedient,…
Jesus, meek and humble of heart,…
Jesus, lover of chastity,…
Jesus, lover of us,…
Jesus, God of peace,…
Jesus, author of life,…
Jesus, example of virtues,…
Jesus, zealous lover of souls,…
Jesus, our God,…
Jesus, our refuge,…
Jesus, father of the poor,…
Jesus, treasure of the faithful,…
Jesus, good Shepherd,…
Jesus, true light,…
Jesus, eternal wisdom,…
Jesus, infinite goodness,…
Jesus, our way and our life,…
Jesus, joy of angels,…
Jesus, king of Patriarchs,…
Jesus, master of the Apostles,…
Jesus, teacher of the Evangelists,…
Jesus, strength of martyrs,…
Jesus, light of Confessors,…
Jesus, purity of virgins,…
Jesus, crown of all saints, have mercy on us.

Be merciful, spare us, O Jesus.
Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Jesus.

From all evil, deliver us, O Jesus.
From all sin,…
From Thy wrath,…
From the snares of the devil,…
From the spirit of fornication,…
From everlasting death,…
From the neglect of Thine inspirations,…
By the mystery of Thy holy Incarnation,…
By Thy nativity,…
By Thine infancy,…
By Thy most divine life,…
By Thy labors,…
By Thine agony and passion,…
By Thy cross and dereliction,…
By Thy sufferings,…
By Thy death and burial,…
By Thy resurrection,…
By Thine ascension,…
By Thine institution of the most Holy Eucharist,…
By Thy joys,…
By Thy glory, deliver us, O Jesus….

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Jesus.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, hear us, O Jesus.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Jesus.

Jesus, hear us.
Jesus, graciously hear us.

Let us pray.
O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast said: ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you; mercifully attend to our supplications, and grant us the gift of Thy divine charity, that we may ever love Thee with our whole heart and with all our words and deeds, and may never cease from praising Thee.

Make us, O Lord, to have a perpetual fear and love of Thy holy name, for Thou never failest to help and govern those whom Thou dost bring up in Thy steadfast fear and love; who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen.
 
 

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
(c)Mary TV 2020

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The January 2, 2020 Message

(c) Anthony Zubac/ Mary TV

 
January 2, 2020

Dear Family of Mary!
 
 
Here is the Message from Our Lady, given today, January 2, 2020:

Dear children,

I know that I am present in your lives and in your hearts. I feel your love, I hear your prayers and direct them to my Son. But, my children, according to motherly love, I desire to be in the lives of all of my children. I desire to gather all of my children around me, beneath my motherly mantle. This is why I am inviting you and calling you, apostles of my love, to help me.  

My children, my Son pronounced the words of the ‘Our Father’-Our Father, [you] who are everywhere and in our hearts-because He desires to teach you to pray with words and feelings. He desires for you to always be better, to live merciful love which is prayer and limitless sacrifice for others. 
 
My children, give to my Son love for your neighbors, give words of consolation, compassion and acts of justice to your neighbors. Everything that you give to others, apostles of my love, my Son accepts as a gift. I am also with you, because my Son desires for my love, as a ray of light, to bring your souls to life; for me to help you in the search for peace and eternal happiness. Therefore, my children, love one another, be united through my Son, be children of God who all together, with full, open and pure heart, pronounce the ‘Our Father’. And do not be afraid!   

Thank you. 
 

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
(c)Mary TV 2020

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December 31, 2019 Reflection – New Year’s Eve – Let a Saint pick you!

Apparition Hill – where heaven meets earth!
(c) Anthony Zubac/ Mary TV

 
December 31, 2019

Dear Family of Mary!

As 2019 draws to a close, and we enter into a New Year, this is a good time to choose a new saint for 2020!  Our Mary TV family has a tradition of choosing a saint for the year, by printing out a list of saints which is then cut up, so that each saint is presented on a slip of paper.  The saints are then placed in a container.  On New Year’s Day the family or prayer group gathers and they pray for each person for a blessing, and the person picks a saint from the container.  That saint is the saint that chooses them!!

Our Lady has encouraged us to take the saints as our examples and to follow their example.  Here is one message:

October 25, 2014 “Dear children! Pray in this time of grace and seek the intercession of all the saints who are already in the light. From day to day may they be an example and encouragement to you on the way of your conversion. Little children, be aware that your life is short and passing. Therefore, yearn for eternity and keep preparing your hearts in prayer. I am with you and intercede before my Son for each of you, especially for those who have consecrated themselves to me and to my Son. Thank you for having responded to my call.”


When we choose a saint, we can pray to them every day.  In that way they can become a daily example to us of how to live in the light, and an encouragement on the way to holiness.  It is amazing how meaningful the saint that we receive can be. Here is an example:
 
On the way out of church on Sunday, our parish had baskets of saints prepared for choosing a saint, and each parishioner was invited to choose a saint for 2020.  It was wonderful to see the people praying and then diving into the container to receive their saint.  One man was encouraging his children to choose a saint, and he seemed so excited.  As we passed, he said to us, “This is just wonderful!  I just chose my saint, and guess who it is!!!”  Then he held up the paper and on it was written, “The Sacred Heart of Jesus”.  His face was filled with joy and  light!!  Having Jesus as his saint for 2020 was an inexpressible joy!!  He told us he was so very happy, and stunned!! 

Choosing a saint can actually change your life!  So if you haven’t started this tradition in your family or parish, I am including a PDF of our list of saints for 2020.  You can print this list out, and cut it up, and then pray together for the saint that will choose you!!
 
Let’s not forget that tomorrow is the Feast of the Mother of God.  This title of Mary is so important and earth shaking!!  Let’s pray to understand it more and more!  May 2020 be the year the the Mother of God is Crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth for all to see!!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
(c)Mary TV 2019

Here is the PDF of the list of saints for 2020:
 
 
 
 And here is the link to find the list on our website:

 
 

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December 30, 2019 Reflection – Christmas Homily by Archbishop Hoser

Archbishop Hoser giving the homily at Midnight Mass, 2019

 
December 30, 2019

Dear Family of Mary!

Here is the transcript of the English Translation of the Homily for Midnight Mass at St.James Church, given by Archbishop Hoser.  It is amazing!!

Christmas Midnight Mass
December 24-25, 2019
Papal Visitor – Archbishop Henryk Hoser
 
 
Christ, Son of Justice, was bestowed upon us by the Virgin Mary.
 
Silent Night, Holy Night!
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.
Holy Infant so tender and mild.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace,
Sleep in Heavenly Peace!
 
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters; Parishioners and Dear Pilgrims,
 
The great Christmas Liturgy begins at the threshold of night, at the Vigil Mass. At Midnight, the first solemn mass is celebrated, which is called the Shepherd’s Mass, the Midnight Mass. It is followed by the Dawn Mass, the Mass of the Angels. The third mass is the Christmas Day Mass, which is called the Mass of the Kings.
 
Midnight is now upon us. It is a great night! An extraordinary night, during which we keep watch. A night in which we feel nostalgia, in which we rejoice! To us a child is born! To us a son is given!
 
This night is preceded by time of expectation, spiritual and material preparation. Prayer in the Advent and the renewal of the Sacrament of Reconciliation have revived and empowered us. And some even have experienced this here in Medjugorje.
 
There have been three great nights in the history of mankind that preceded this one. The first was the night of creation, when God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light! The second was the night of Abraham, the night of faith, when God said, “Look to the Heavens and count the stars, if you can count them.” And then, He added, “So will your descendants be.” Thus, Abraham became the father of all believers. The third was the night of the Exodus out of Egypt and the liberation from slavery. On that night, I will pass through the land of Egypt, the Lord will punish all the Egyptian gods as well. We find ourselves in a night of Bethlehem, a Holy Night. After 33 years of the earthly life of the One born this night comes the great night of the Resurrection of the Lord.
 
Why does God honor night so much that He chooses it for such events? There are many reasons. At night, we see light more clearly. Even the smallest light illuminates our darkness. We can also hear better and better understand the word spoken in silence. So, the Light of Christ and His Word reaches us in the night, and in darkness of our soul and our heart.
 
If we are waiting for something in the night, we must keep vigil. Jesus speaks of the coming of the bridegroom. At midnight, the cry rang out, “Here is the bridegroom. Come out to meet him!” Jesus also speaks of the arrival of the thief. Understand this. If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. The coming of the Lord at the end of our lives is equally sudden, unexpected. The Day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
 
Jesus also gives us the parable of a rich man who enjoys life and trusts in his riches. But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you, and who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
 
Things can happen secretly in the night. Now, there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, who came to Jesus at night. Oh no! The people who come out of fear, is the church.
 
Tonight, we celebrate the Holy Night full of light. Saint Luke tells us that in the region of Bethlehem, there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby keeping watch over their flocks at night. The Angel of the Lord appeared to them. The Glory of the Lord shone round them, and they were terrified. Night turned into day, because the Glory of the Lord shone through them with the light. Isaiah’s prophecy came true. People walking in darkness have seen a great light! On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned!
 
In the daytime mass, we will hear the words from the beginning of John’s gospel that speak of this newborn child. In Him was life, and that life is the light of all mankind. And the light shines in darkness. And the darkness has not overcome it.
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us admit that each of us has experienced painful darkness, and radiant joy. Darkness of reason, the darkness of memory, the darkness of activity, the darkness of suffering of soul and body. There have been times in moments of darkness in the family, at work, at the side of life, that is why we are frightened, concerned, depressive, and desperate. Why are so many young people, even children, committing the drama and disaster of suicide in the very springtime of their lives? Why is this? It is because, we remain in the darkness, spread by the prince of darkness, the prince of world.
 
We must seek the right source of light. And this is the one, the Child born in Bethlehem. He is life! He is the light! He is justice, peace, love and mercy. Without Him, our life goes to ruin. When faith disappears, life’s joy disappears, and the meaning of life disappears. He gave Himself to us to redeem us from our wickedness, to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. This is what Saint Titus tells us today.
 
First to get to the stable were shepherds, ordinary and poor people. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news! I will cause great joy for all the peoples. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to us. He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you, you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the Heavenly Host appeared praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest! And on earth, peace to those on whom His favor rests.”
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Fear not! Fear not! Proclaim the good news to the whole world! We are accompanied by the just love of the Lord, of the entire world. Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to His People on earth!
 
Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! And may Peace be with you all! Amen!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
Mary TV

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