July 9, 2018
St, Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions
Dear Family of Mary
“…My children, you are given the freedom to choose, but, as a mother, I implore you to choose the freedom for the good…” (July 2, 2018)
The Cardinal Virtues help us to build habits of acting that lead to the good. They give us the means to choose the good in our everyday life. But there are other virtues that are necessary in this process, in fact they precede the Cardinal virtues. They are the basis of our relationship to God. They are the Theological Virtues, and are given to us by God, infused, to help us draw close to Him.
Here is what the Catechism says about the first Theological Virtue, Faith:
Faith gives us the fundamental believe in God that commits us to all that the Lord has told us, all that the Church says to us, so that we can become united with God and one with Him. Faith is the portal through which we enter into the life of God. Our Lady gave a very powerful message about faith, which echoes this description in the Catechism.
March 25, 1997 “Dear children! Today, in a special way, I invite you to take the cross in the hands and to meditate on the wounds of Jesus. Ask of Jesus to heal your wounds, which you, dear children, during your life sustained because of your sins or the sins of your parents. Only in this way, dear children, you will understand that the world is in need of healing of faith in God the Creator. By Jesus’ passion and death on the cross, you will understand that only through prayer you, too, can become true apostles of faith; when, in simplicity and prayer, you live faith which is a gift. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Our Lady tells us to take the Cross and meditate on the wounds of Jesus. The Cross becomes a mirror in which we see our wounds, those interior wounds that we have received in our families, back through the generations. We see all the pain we have caused others and the pain they have inflicted on us, and we realize at last how much we need Jesus. We see how much we need to return to our Creator, who is the only one who can heal us. This is Faith!
Then once we see our wounds and our need for healing, we realize how much the whole world is reeling under the weight of sin, millions of wounded souls who need Faith. That is when we can become apostles of Faith, those who communicate with their lives that God is real and that He loves us. God can heal us and He wants very much to do so. This is then the victory of Faith!!
Yes, Faith is a gift! And it is a powerful virtue, because is connects us with our God who loves us. Through Faith we are healed. And when we witness about that Faith we become part of the healing of the world, even when we are persecuted. In simplicity and prayer may we become Apostles of Faith!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2018
