Shrove Tuesday
February 21, 2023
Dear Family of Mary!
Today is Shrove Tuesday! We are on the threshold of Lent! Traditionally on this day everyone goes to confession as a preparation for the Lenten time. This makes sense, in that we want to take good stock of our spiritual life, and clear the deck, so to speak, before Lent begins. Then we can spend our Lent building up our spiritual muscles, training ourselves for holiness.
But one thing I am experiencing as Lent approaches, is a kind of deep quiet in my soul. I have felt Our Lady calling me to a kind of silence that is new to me. And in that silence, she has been showing me what I can do this Lent. I am so grateful for this help she is giving me. She is asking of me to do some simple but radical things to change my relationship with the Lord and by extension with others. I won’t go into detail, but it seems to be a call to a radical trust and love.
So today, I hope to have more quiet time, so that Our Lady can continue to lead me into Lent. I think this message is what I am experiencing:
February 25, 2006
“Dear children!
In this Lenten time of grace,
I call you to open your hearts
to the gifts that God desires to give you.
Do not be closed,
but with prayer and renunciation
say ‘yes’ to God
and He will give to you in abundance.
As in springtime
the earth opens to the seed
and yields a hundredfold,
so also your heavenly Father
will give to you in abundance.
I am with you and love you,
little children,
with a tender love.
Thank you for having responded to my call.”
I never thought of Lent as a time when God would give to me in abundance. But I think it really is. And our prayer and renunciation can become acts of love and trust that we give to the Lord so that He can bless us with gifts. It is a time of a loving exchange with our God. And Our Lady is so excited about it!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
(c) Mary TV 2023
