July 31, 2018
St. Ignatius of Loyola
Dear Family of Mary!
“Dear children! God called me to lead you to Him because He is your strength. That is why I am calling you to pray to Him and to trust in Him, because He is your refuge from every evil that lurks and carries souls far from the grace and joy to which you are all called. Little children, live Heaven here on earth so that it will be good for you; and may the commandments of God be a light on your way. I am with you and I love you all with my motherly love. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (July 25, 2018)
Our Lady in this message is giving us instruction in survival. She is showing us how to face these tumultuous days with strength. As our Church is being rocked with scandal at the highest levels, we all need a guiding light, a way to proceed. And she is giving us just that light.
“Dear children! God called me to lead you to Him because He is your strength.” The Father has sent Our Lady to lead us, to be our guiding light, the way to go to be with God. She has been providing that guidance for us for 37 years. She has led us to the Lord, so that we can receive His strength in these very difficult days.
“That is why I am calling you to pray to Him and to trust in Him, because He is your refuge from every evil that lurks and carries souls far from the grace and joy to which you are all called.” Our Lady has called us to be people of prayer, people who spend much time with Jesus in prayer. This prayer fills us with trust. We experience the interventions of the Lord in our everyday life, and our trust in Him grows.
The Surrender Prayer that Denis and I pray every day in the Daily Rosary is exactly this kind of trust. Putting everything in Jesus’ hands, and letting Him take over in our lives is really the way to becoming strong. We become strong because we are depending on the One who has all power and all authority. Jesus can carry us all, if we place ourselves in His hands. “O Jesus, I surrender myself to You. Take care of everything!” Here is a link to the novena prayers of surrender we pray: https://marytv.tv/novena-prayers/
Yes there is great evil in our day, trying to take us far away from God. But Our Lady is with us to lead us back to God. She is coming to teach us the way.
“Little children, live Heaven here on earth so that it will be good for you; and may the commandments of God be a light on your way.” Isn’t this an amazing word for us!! Live Heaven here on earth so it will be good for you… How do we live heaven on earth? I believe there is a clue in the “Our Father” that Jesus taught us. He said we should pray this way: “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven…”
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. I believe this is the key to living Heaven on earth. We need to learn how to live God’s will on earth, as the souls live God’s will in Heaven! But how do the saints in Heaven live God’s will? This is a very good question. How do they live God’s will in Heaven? My stab at an answer is that they love God with their entire being, and that love teaches them everything they need to know about God’s will for them. It is the Love that guides them to do what God has planned for them. And so we need to grow in love for the Lord, so much in love, that we desire only to please Him. He will show us the way. And that way will always contain the commandments. God’s love is expressed in the commandments, and so the commandments will be our means to loving God always.
Well, finally Our Lady tells us: “I am with you and I love you all with my motherly love.” If we have any doubt about doing what she has asked us to do, we can set it aside, because she is with us now, in an extraordinary way. She will not leave our side. And with her help, we will live Heaven here on earth…
I can’t wait for the Youth Festival, starting Wednesday!!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2018
PS. The Youth Festival in Medjugorje, Mladifest, begins on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. Mary TV will stream the entire festival, live. We will also archive the sessions so that you can catch up on what you miss. Please pray for our team as we prepare for this great event. Here is the schedule published by the Parish:
