Become yourself a hymn of praise!

(c)Mateo Ivankovic 2018

Pray that in you they may see resolute humility and goodness, a readiness to serve others; that in you they may see that you live your vocation in the world with the heart, in communion with my Son; that in you they may see meekness, tenderness and love for my Son as well as for all brothers and sisters…” (April 2, 2018)

Our Lady wants us to radiate her Son, to be signs of His presence and love for all those who do not yet know Him. She wants us to be as much like Jesus as we possibly can. We must be meek, tender, humble, good, ready to serve, loving, and clearly united to Jesus in our hearts, if we are to help others to find Him. Really our lives must become hymns of praise for Jesus, so that everything we do will point to Him as the source.

St. Augustine speaks about our life with Jesus as a song of praise in the sermon used for the Office of Readings, Third Week of Easter, Tuesday. I just love the concluding paragraphs of this sermon:

My dear brothers and sons, fruit of the true faith and holy seed of heaven, all you who have been born again in Christ and whose life is from above, listen to me; or rather, listen to the Holy Spirit saying through me: Sing to the Lord a new song. Look, you tell me, I am singing. Yes, indeed, you are singing; you are singing clearly, I can hear you. But make sure that your life does not contradict your words. Sing with your voices, your hearts, your lips and your lives: Sing to the Lord a new song.

Now it is your unquestioned desire to sing of him whom you love, but you ask me how to sing his praises. You have heard the words; Sing to the Lord a new song, and you wish to know what praises to sing. The answer is: His praise is in the assembly of the saints: it is in the singers themselves. If you desire to praise him, then live what you express. Live good lives, and you yourselves will be his praise.

This is what Our Lady is saying to us. We must BE a hymn of praise to Jesus through our lives, lived like His. We can show others Jesus, by praising Him with our lives, through our actions, our choices, our service, our kindness, our humility, and our love. We will become a hymn of praise to Jesus by serving Him on earth, and that hymn of praise will draw others to Him as well.

“Live good lives, and you yourselves will be his praise!”

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2018

PS. One of our shipmates, Dr. Jen Prins, has initiated a new ministry out of her response to Our Lady’s call in Medjugorje. She has begun a movement designed to attend to the practical needs of our priests, especially parish priests, who have very busy schedules and find it hard to take good care of their own needs. Jen hopes this outreach will bring needed support to our priests through works of mercy and service!

Here is how Jen describes this beautiful movement of love:

A fruit of Medjugorie, the mission Priests Thriving Not Surviving, Inc. is to:

· Encourage and empower Catholic priests to adopt a healthy diet and lifestyle, and engage in good self-care. (Jen is preparing a wonderful cook book designed to help our priests cook healthy meals with minimal fuss.)
· Raise awareness among the lay faithful of the temporal and spiritual needs of priests, and promote works of mercy for our priests.

To raise awareness, we are selling T-Shirts!

These shirts are great gifts for your pastor or can also be worn to spread the word about this new ministry of love.

To make a donation, purchase a fundraising t-shirt, or learn more visit:
www.customink.com/fundraising/prieststhrivingnotsurviving

*Savings Tip: order shirts as a group when possible to minimize shipping cost (no additional shipping costs for orders > 4 shirts).

Thank you, Jen, for this wonderful movement of love in response to Our Lady’s call! Let’s pray for her mission and join in!