August 24, 2018
St. Bartholomew, Apostle
Dear Family of Mary!
August 2, 2011 “Dear children; Today I call you to be born anew in prayer and through the Holy Spirit, to become a new people with my Son; a people who knows that if they have lost God, they have lost themselves; a people who knows that, with God, despite all sufferings and trials, they are secure and saved. I call you to gather into God’s family and to be strengthened with the Father’s strength. As individuals, my children, you cannot stop the evil that wants to begin to rule in this world and to destroy it. But, according to God’s will, all together, with my Son, you can change everything and heal the world. I call you to pray with all your heart for your shepherds, because my Son chose them. Thank you.”
I find this message to be very important for us in these days. Our Lady captures the temptations, the trials and the challenges of our time with these words:
“Today I call you to be born anew in prayer and through the Holy Spirit, to become a new people with my Son; a people who knows that if they have lost God, they have lost themselves; a people who knows that, with God, despite all sufferings and trials, they are secure and saved.”
We know that if we lose God we lose ourselves. If we reject God, His Word, His Creation, His Commandments, we do lose ourselves. We become so much less than we were created to be. We lose our dignity. We lose our purpose. We lose our hope and our future, which should be eternity with God.
And yet, it would appear that many, many people today have lost God. They have rejected Him, or turned from Him due to their wounds and sorrows. They have made lesser gods for themselves, and have begun to experience the disorder that ensues.
Our Lady is with us to help us to adhere to the Lord with all our hearts. She is with us to help us become those who know that with God, despite all sufferings and trials, we are secure and saved. We experience this security and salvation in Medjugorje where Our Lady has come to be with us. The most common testimony given by pilgrims is that in Medjugorje they find peace. They find contentment and hope. They find themselves.
Our task then is to gather ourselves into God’s family in these days. In particular, we can gather into the family of Mary which is formed in Medjugorje. In that family we find strength. We find encouragement and hope, peace and love.
Our Lady knows that we cannot stand alone against the evils of our day. We are no match for the enemy alone. The enemy would cut us off from the family of God, so that alone, he would destroy us. But we stand together. We pray together. We believe together. And we have one Mother who watches over us.
And as Our Lady says, “But according to God’s will, all together, with my Son, you can change everything and heal the world.” She has come to change the world as she told Mirjana. But she needs her family at her side to accomplish this transformation. We are her family. She needs us.
So let us continue in prayer, continue in our new birth in Christ through the Sacraments and the Holy Spirit, continue in love and hope as we travel with Our Lady. She will prevail.
And let’s always pray with all of our hearts for our shepherds, because Jesus chose them. Good and bad, they need our prayers and sacrifices, not our judgement. We must be informed of the truth but we must leave the ultimate judgement to God. This is a hard truth, but one that will bear great fruit. Hate the sin but love the sinner. Support the victims, and pray for them. In the long run, this will protect us from the enemy, who would like to use this situation to destroy us all.
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2018
PS. I will send out the message of August 25, as soon as I get it tomorrow. Let’s remain in prayer!
PPS. The response to my little plea has been heartening!! Thank you to all of you who have begun to donate to Mary TV!!! We pray for you and thank God for you all! Here is the link to our donation page for all who want to join in the project:
