A Child’s Prayer-Reflection on 4/2/11 Medjugorje Message

If you do not believe my words, at least believe my wounds...

“Dear children, with motherly love I desire to open the heart of each of you and to teach you personal unity with The Father. To accept this, you must comprehend that you are important to God and that He is calling you individually. You must comprehend that your prayer is a conversion of a child with The Father; that love is the way by which you must set out – love for God and for your neighbor.

That is, my children, the love that has no boundaries, that is the love that emanates from truth and goes to the end. Follow me, my children, so that also others, in recognizing the truth and love in you, may follow you. Thank you.

[Once again Our Lady called us to pray for our shepherds, our priests, and said: “They have a special place in my heart. They represent my Son.”]

When our Lady first gave this message what stood out for me was one her desire to ‘open the heart’ and to teach us how to have a relationship with God the Father.

Our Lady said that in order for us to accept this, we must comprehend that we are important to God, and that He is calling us individually.

Let’s look at this a little closer. How many of us think that God does not notice me? God doesn’t love me, or God won’t care? You know that the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, when there is doubt, there is spiritual blindness.

I had to think back, and still sometimes I find myself saying do you really love me Lord, do you really care that much? For most of us, it is easy to say that. Why? Because we’ve grown up with so little love from childhood on. We grew up with conditional love…for someone to love us unconditional is not natural for us to believe in, because we do not naturally know it. But its real.

Our Lady once said that children learn the love of God through mother and father loving each other, and through the love that parents give their children. If God is Father, and our relationship with our maternal father has been wounded or severed, then we are not going to know a fathers love, and will not come to know especially the love of God as Father. Our view of an imperfect father’s love will be distorted, to the point we say, I don’t need God because He was never there for me.

I cannot count how many times I hear this said by those who do not believe especially with teens-gosh the crisis with teens is so great right now. But yet they are still miserable, and bring misery into the lives of those around them.

Contrary to what we think, Our Lady makes it clear. YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD. God knows us by name. God knew us before we were formed in the womb. (Jer.1) Not one child is an accident, NOT ONE!

Every human being was born out of the heart of the Father, out of love. The gift of baptism awakened the spirit within us to share in this life with the Father. It is God the Father that put your spirit in the womb of your Mother, and gave you a body to exist. The body is the vessel that carries your human spirit, united with the divine Spirit of God as a baptized Christian.

So why is it that so many do not know God’s love? Why is the world so cold to the love of God? Why is it so hard for anyone to enter into a loving relationship with their Creator and pretend to say He does not exist? How can we love or believe in something or someone that we cannot see?

Well like most relationships…it takes effort. You are going to get out of the relationship as much as you put in to the relationship.

We under estimate the power of the Word of God. If God who is all omnipotent can create such a vast and majestic universe has the power to do this by His spoken Word, how can we doubt when He said that (1) He will be with us to the end of time; (2) This is my body (my blood) given up for you; (3) If you see me you have seen the Father, for the Father is in me…and I can go on and on.

The Word of God (Jesus) came in the flesh so tell the world that the Father is real, and a living being. The Word of God allowed Himself to be handed over by men to be tortured and beaten to prove to the world that even to this kind of death, it is worth it to seek the Father.

Our Lady comes with the same message. It only takes an open heart to begin to understand that YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD whether you want to believe it or not.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD ENOUGH FOR HIM TO KEEP SENDING HIS OWN MOTHER INTO THE WORLD TO TELL YOU SO. If you are not feeling loved in your home, with your family, your spouse, community or work place you only have need to go so far as to your local parish the ark of salvation for all mankind, and sit before the Most Blessed Sacrament or the tabernacle where God Himself is fully present as He promised He would be, and let Him love you, and bathe you in His love. Here is the refuge for the human heart. The world cannot offer this love. Only God can offer the love the human heart desires.

I heard in the gospel yesterday the voice of the Lord say these words from John 8:47.

He said, “whoever belongs to God hears the Word of God; for this reason you do not listen because you do not belong to God…”

You belong to God if you hear the Word of God, and later he says, if you hear the word and ACT ON IT. This is Jesus saying this to those who did not believe in Him or His Word, which He said that He spoke from what He heard from His Father. He came to testify to the truth.

Jesus said, “no one can come to the Father except through me.” Saints Peter and Paul both said that there is no other name given to mankind for salvation except the name of Jesus Christ. So then why are we chasing after false prophets? The name of Jesus Christ every knee must bow in the heavens, on earth and under the earth.

The name of Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY TOWARD SALVATION. Jesus Christ is the only acceptable sacrifice pleasing in the eyes of the Father. If we want to know the Father, we must know the Son. We must look like Jesus. We must come to know Jesus in the most intimate way as a Bride who desires to be one with her Spouse.

The Father is offering a love and is extending his hand in mercy to a world that is in desperate need of it. Jesus, Who is Divine Mercy said His mercy is unfathomable, incomprehensible; that means there is no limit, no end, no boundaries as our Lady just said. His mercy and love is eternal…never ending. We only have need to “open our hearts to receive it.”

So we have to ask ourselves, what is standing in the way of me receiving the love of God. What do I give more importance to in my life that is more important to God?

Who is the father we believe? The father of lies that says you are no good, that God does not love you? Or do you believe the Word of God in the flesh Who says, “I am love and mercy itself; put great trust in my unfathomable mercy…” God does not create junk. On the contrary God said what He has created is good.

The Lord began to teach more on the scripture from the gospel of John 8:42-46. He had me focus on these words all the more…

“If God were your Father you would love me for I come from God and am here, I did not come on my own, but He sent me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? Because you cannot bear to hear my word…”

Jesus is asking those who are questioning him “Why do you not understand what I am saying?” He repeats often, that those who know Him, know His voice and will recognize truth. If we do not know Him, then we do not know truth, and will not recognize nor accept His voice in the Word.

But the Lord made it clear, if we do not listen to His voice, then there is only one other voice that we welcome, as he said because we cannot bear to hear the truth-because that would mean we would have to change our life-and we get too comfortable in our sin; or we cannot bear to think we have to put effort into changinig for the good….

“Because you cannot bear to hear my word you belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your fathers desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie he speaks in character because he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me…If I am telling you the truth why do you not believe me?”

There is the truth and there is the lie. Which is easier to believe? Truth cuts through the heart. Truth breaks open the heart, and often comes with pain. Human nature naturally hides from truth. The Lord is revealing Himself in fullness of truth, but we cannot bear to hear it.

I find it is no different today. Our Lady in her messages is offering a remedy to the whole human race to reconcile with God. The outreach of heaven is incomprehensible at this time, and yet still so many are rejecting her love. She wants to teach us how to pray to the Father, she wants to teach us how to love her Son, and remind us of how He suffered for us so patiently with such great love. And what is the typical response of most of her children; “ah, that’s nice, Oh so what..or I cannot live that kind of life, that is for someone else…”

Really? If we are rejecting her, we are rejecting the one who sent her. In the gospel of John, the Lord spoke to us about the world’s hatred. He said if they rejected you, remember they rejected Him first. How so true do I find these words to be with the obstinacy of human creatures, even among those closest to me who have seen and witnessed great things.

And for this and the hardness of hearts, the Lord said he would send a deceiving spirit so that they would believe the lie. And so dear friends, here we are today. If we reject the one Whom the Lord sends, then we are rejecting him, and we have chosen another god in the making, the father of lies.

Our Lady calls us little children. Do we know the power of the prayer of a little child? A child who speaks only from the heart when a child is in need of the love of mother or father?

I remember when my girls were little, and to hear the words…’mommy or daddy’ would just melt my heart with their tiny little voices. How do you think the Father would respond to such love and innocence of a child who cries out to him in love.

This is what Our Lady means when she says, “…you must comprehend that your prayer is a conversation of a child with the Father; that love is the way by which you must set out, love for God and neighbor….”

Jesus taught us how to pray to the Father. Read the gospels. Seek out how many times He went off to pray to His Father in secret. John chapter 17 is a good reflection on the prayer of Jesus. Now put love to this prayer as you hear the words, “Father, they are your gift to me…”

We can hear these words as parent with our children, or we can hear it as Jesus praying for me; or we can hear it as Blessed Mother praying the words of her Son to the Father for our sake….the depth of the Word of God is boundless and eternal. If we only knew the power of His mercy in it.

Once we understand this and the Word of God becomes flesh in us, and who we are, then the love of God will emanate from us TRUTH, and nothing can stop His truth from moving forward. Others will begin to see that living love is within the heart, and others will desire this love and long for it. And before you know, conversion of heart is moving ahead.

My friends, the only way the fruit of Medjugorje will be known in the world is if the pilgrims of Medjugorje are living in the world as a witness to Our Lady’s time of visitation with her Son. One cannot go to Medjugorje and go back to his former way of life…woe to you if you did not take to heart the seriousness of the grace that had been given you. The more evil tries to end what is good, the more accountable the children of Our Lady must be for truth and to live the truth as what she calls apostles of love. We are responsible to make Medjugorje known by our deeds, not just in words.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD IN THIS TIME. WITHOUT YOU GOD’S PLAN CANNOT BE REALIZED. BE A WITNESS THAT YOU LOVE GOD ABOVE EVERYTHING. HOLY MARTYRS DIED WITNESSING, I AM A CHRISTIAN AND I LOVE GOD OVER EVERTHING…DO NOT SURRENDER!

Debates can go on and on in word, but deeds do not lie. Your actions must speak louder than your preaching…it is required! Christians can no longer shrink from their Christian vocation.

Remember these words of Jesus to St. Faustina… “If you do not believe my word, at least believe my wounds.” Now, there is truth. Live out the remaining days of your Lenten season gazing at Jesus Crucified, and thank him with all your heart for the immeasurable love He has for you, and on Good Friday beg the Lord for mercy upon the whole world and be reconciled to God.

Let us all pray for our shepherds and priests, and for the fulfillment of the great plan of God.
Ave Maria!

“Do not be afraid of sufferings; I am with you (151). The more you will come to love suffering, the purer your love for me will be. (279)” (Diary of St. Faustina)

Be sure to take to prayer you call to go to Medjugorje. We are taking pilgrims, especailly young people on August 4th through 8/16. Click on the tab for the 22nd Annual Youth Prayer Festival for more information. A great gift for one who is graduating and beginning their adult life preparing for their vocation.

Pope: Parishes Help Families

God wants to convert the world through my coming...

Wow, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI addresses the family and the need for parishes to help families grow in their faith.

My friends, see where we are today. There is no mistake. This message from the Holy Father is just days after Our Lady spoke to the world stating that she is praying that we comprehend that we are God’s family. Above all, the universal Church, the parish families, and the domestic church are all united in the same Jesus Christ.
Below are the words of the Holy Father posted on 1/9/2011….

“The collaboration between the Christian community and the family is much needed in the current social context in which the institution of the family is threatened from many sides and finds itself faced with many difficulties in its mission to teach the faith,” he said. “The disappearance of stable cultural references and the rapid transformation that society continually undergoes, make the educational task truly difficult.

“Therefore, it is necessary that parishes increasingly strive to support families, the little domestic Churches, in their work of passing on the faith.” (Zenit News Source-1/9/2011)

Families must be formed anew in their faith. It is like a generation lost in the faith because there has been little or no formation in the homes. And yet I have already said, that Our Lady has spoken several times of the severity and the seriousness of the responsibility of parents to raise their children under the precepts of God.

Parishes should seek new ways to awaken the faith for their families. To find ways to draw couples and their children, deeper into heart to heart union with God.

Families must pray together, especially the rosary, to begin stirring up those sacramental graces that was gifted to husband and wife on their wedding day. The graces are there my friends. But they are dormant, because husbands and wives do not know their own faith, to hand it down to their children.

This is where the parish needs to step in and provide those opportunities. It is not enough to just to have topical speakers come in; more is needed. Parents need solid food, hard core solid Catholic formation. It is an urgency!

And I know most of you agree with me, because I talk with parents all the time about it. The kids are not getting the formation needed in the Catholic Schools and certainly not in public schools, because it is against the law so to say to mention the name of God. Many children in the Catholic Schools do not even believe there is a God.

Jesus is like Santa Claus to children, and of course as they get older, it is not cool to believe in Santa, so why would they believe in Jesus? There is no relationship!

We’ve developed a program called Holy Family Workshop to help awaken the hearts of couples, first to understand their own marriage sacrament, and then the importance of bringing the grace of their marital love in the home to their children. This formation teaches couples to pray together as husband and wife with listening ears, surrendering to the other, to help build the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ.

So many couples are just going through the motions, of attending mass, praying in church, thinking they are meeting their obligation with God, and then leave the holy Mass only to return to their same old routines. They have no concept of why they must go to mass on Sunday, nor do they see the value of holy Mass. It is routine to most, and the life of the spirit is all but lost in most parishes. Couples have no idea that the modern lifestyle in the world is opposed to God’s plan for the human family.

The Mother of God said very clearly to the world, “parents are teaching their children the wrong way…the youth are in a very difficult situation.”

Folks, this is heaven saying “we have it all wrong.”

We need to return back to the basics, the original foundation as I have said. God must be in the first place at the center of the family once more. Career cannot come first, sports cannot come first, vacations cannot come first. God must be priority! Your vocation is of second importance, then your children, then the rest to follow. We are a disordered culture.

The Holy Family is the first model to study as the perfect human family, as was given in the former articles related to the call of Fatima. Their simple, silent and hidden life speaks volumes to the world and the call to the human family.

And now we have the Vicar of Christ Himself, the official voice of God speaking to the world, calling parishes to help the families! Yes dear friends, the time is now, to start forming families with the proper tools needed to live out the vocation that about 90% of the church’s population consists of.

As I have said, Blessed Mother is rolling up her sleeves, and about to do some serious house cleaning and rearranging the Palace of God. First the interior temple must be set right, and stripped of sin. Then it must be lived out in every day life, especially in the homes where you live.

May I also echo the words of the great encyclical of our modern time, Humanae Vitae, and its call to “Christian Husband and Wives. Pp 25” The document says….

“Christian married couples then docile to her voice [that is the voice of the Church] must remember that their Christian vocation, which began at baptism, is further specified and reinforced by the sacrament of matrimony. By it husband and wife are strengthened and as it were consecrated for the faithful accomplishment of their proper duties, for the carrying out of their proper vocation even to perfection and the Christian witness which is proper to them before the whole world. To them the Lord entrusts the task of making visible to men the holiness and sweetness of the law which unites the mutual love of husband and wife with their cooperation with the love of God, the author of human life.

We do not intend to hide at all the sometimes serious difficulties inherent in the life of Christian married persons, for them as for everyone else, ‘the gate is narrow and they way is hard, that leads to life. But the hope of that life must illuminate their way as with courage they strove to live with wisdom, justice and piety in this present time, knowing that the figure of this world passes away.

Let married couples then face up to the efforts needed supported by the faith and hope which ‘do not disappoint … because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Let them implore divine assistance by persevering prayer, above all let them draw from the source of grace and charity in the Eucharist. And if sin should still keep its hold over them, let the not be discouraged, but rather have recourse with humble perseverance to the mercy of God, which is poured the fullness of conjugal life described by the Apostle; ‘husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church … husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it as Christ does the Church, this is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church. However let each on of you love his wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

Let us look at this a little closer. The encyclical states here paragraph 25 the power of the sacrament of holy matrimony, husbands and wives receive a special grace that strengthens not only the marriage union, but also strengthens them to live out their proper vocation as witnesses in the world.

God entrusts husbands and wives; a man and a woman who live under the law of obedience to the covenant they joined and professed by a vow in the presence of God to make visible the sign of His divine love in their cooperation with grace. That is couples must bring to life that which had been given to them as gift and use the gift for the greater glory of God. Most couples are not fulfilling their vow to this order. I warn couples though, God does not forget the vow. It is sealed in the blood covenant of Jesus Christ that was offered during your mass at your marriage.

If a marriage; or a man and a woman who are joined in marriage as one, do not have Jesus Christ as the golden thread between them, who is the true foundation of faith, then the once tied knot of love will become unraveled, and the rope of love will become frayed and fall apart; hence the division and the sins of marriage creep in, and the weakening of nature of man’s humanity will succumb to great temptations which will jeopardize the marriage union.

It is not easy for anyone to vow their lives to another for life, and many couples enter into this union blind without knowledge of the great responsibility set before them in the eyes of God. It’s not even a matter of dishonoring the vows to each other, but the adulterous act is committed against God Himself.

Today we are witness of the faltering state of marriage and family live, reaping the sour fruit of the broken covenantal laws of God.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains in great detail what happens to marriage when sin is manifested in the covenantal union between a man and a woman, in paragraphs 1606-08. The union is always threatened by discord, a spirit of domination, infidelity, jealousy, conflicts which ultimately will escalate into hatreds, separation and disorder. These threats are the result of the couples “break with God” and the covenant which was vowed to God.

Dear friends I do not preach what I do not live. I am speaking from experience as one who has lived to tell it all, and the effects of sin against the sacrament of marriage. We have suffered for 19 years as we looked back to see where it all went wrong. And the Lord in His mercy gave us a birds eye view of all that we have done and the sins committed in our marriage covenant, leaving us with no other option but to tear down what we had once built on sand, to laying a new foundation in Jesus Christ.

I can honestly say as all has come to light, our own sacrament of marriage was made a mockery from the day we said I do at the altar by our act of the will and the decisions we made compromising in sin.

We never gave consideration to what was ahead of us, or did we ever really care that we were offending God, and lived for the party alone. Our marriage was built on selfishness wants and goals. To the depth of my soul, if I knew then what I know now, who knows how things would have been through these past 19 years of marriage. None the less, our experience is a witness of what not to do for married couples.

We had committed every sin against the sacrament itself. However, not only have we suffered the consequences of our sins, but our children have bared the same consequences and have suffered greatly.

The Lord in His mercy, which my friends, is the greatest treasure and mystery known to man, and in it I cling to His merciful heart, for if he were not a merciful God, I should surely be dead and steeped into the pit of hell. It was the Lord who willed the life of our souls, and to this day is using us to be a sign and a witness to the world, one not only to say that God exists, but how He can resurrect to new life what was once thought lost!

The document above said of couples, “Let them implore divine assistance by persevering in prayer, and above all, let them draw from the source of grace and charity in the Eucharist…”

Hours upon hours I spent with the Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament, attending daily mass for over 15 + years and clinging to life as my soul was being refined and purified in the fire. I only had the Lord to look to, for I found no consolation in human love. I was left to myself before my God, in the misery of my sins, knowing that what I had endured through my married life could have been avoided had I been obedient to God and His commandments and sought after holiness in virtue.

Yet all the more, I also witnessed the state of my husband’s soul, who as head of the home was leading his family to the path of hell. I was given a choice by God, to offer my life for the salvation of souls in reparation for sins, not only my sins, but the sins of my husband, and sins against our marriage, and the future of my children. A great act of mercy by the Lord for one who was swimming in misery.

I gave my yes, Our Lady took charge of me, and from there all hell was leashed against me, and the battle began. I will not speak of gory details, as most have been brought to the sacrament of reconciliation, but to witness life after death alone. I spent the greater portion of my marriage suffering from spousal physical abuse, and in its final hour I experienced the crucifixion the day I was put in the hospital with a neck injury, only to find my husband at the foot of the bed in prayer. I heard the words in my soul, “it is finished.” Now his conversion was about to begin.

Therefore I speak clearly from experience, living the Word of God which was fully flesh of my flesh. I lived on a promise by God that we would be restored and as new creatures, built now on Rock. (Mt. 7, Luke 6:48-49) I never knew when this day would come, but the Lord continued to encourage me and hold me up and make up for the love I was not receiving in human terms.

I learned through this journey that not only was I suffering for my own marriage, but for the sacrament of marriage itself, as I know that our marriage is not the only one who has suffered in this way. Ours is on the recovery.

Yes my friends, I could have easily chosen to divorce my spouse and have my children live the effects of divorced parents. I had every ground to do so. But I was living the effects of divorce already as my husband was a product of an abusive divorce situation. It is what he knew about marriage and the only example he was given in his childhood.

The Lord gave me compassion for him. I knew he was not able to love me, as he was in his condition, I had to be the example for him, because he did not know how to love me, but Jesus did. I had to allow Jesus in me to love him through me. In His mercy the Lord begged me to stay on the cross with my husband, and persevere for the sake of his soul. I had to trust that Jesus was doing something in him, even though I was not seeing it visibly.

I believed in the power of sacramental grace. I had parents who were witnesses for me, who have been married for 50 years now. I witnessed how they had overcome countless trials and tribulations in their lives and still all is imperfect and always will be, because we are human and to error is human-to forgive is divine. Their witness, my faith, and the power of God kept me on the cross, as one with Jesus.

And from this, I am witnessing the power of the resurrection, and the countless miracles of God’s mercy and love for us, who now is leading us into the promise land, and rebuilding our souls, and souls of our children.

I never thought I could love this man again. But Jesus continues to teach me about divine love, the love that only comes from God. I had to learn this love by experience, not in word, but in deed.

The love that drove him to the cross knowing what would happen to him. It is Christ from whom I draw my strength, and His love moved me to the cross with him. I did not run, I did not flee but allowed the crucifixion to occur in my soul, dying to self for the sake of the other.

It is not easy to lay this out for the world to see. Maybe you are one who may say, this is too intense. Well maybe so for you, because you are not perfect in love yet nor have you had the grace to experience as such. I have confidence in the Lord enough to know however that He will make up for what I am lacking, and the hope to say I hope He is touching hearts by this witness.

I know who I am, and I know I still have a long journey to walk, but the journey I walk is in the embraced of the eternal lover, Jesus Christ.

I make this point to say clearly this is the state of marriage today. It is also the state of the marriage union with Jesus Christ and his bride, who continues to inflict wound upon wound on His mystical body.

Parishes need to help support marriages said the holy Father. Marriages are threatened by so many facets in the world as he stated. I speak from experience having been to countless parishes in this country. There is a great need for martial spiritual direction, a need for healing and deliverance ministry, and renewal of love in the marriage sacrament.

I am living witness to the power of sacramental grace and divine mercy. We have also been given the grace to counsel many couples who suffer in multiple ways in shared experiences. The only answer is ‘press into the cross’ as Jesus did my friends.

I must note, that there are some situations where there is the threat of life of a spouse. Seek help and bring the situation to light. Be silent no more oh brave soul. No one soul needs to hide in shame any longer. There is mercy, and there is new life.

As I further go on to say in short to continue with the voice of the Church through the encyclical of Humane Vitae, pp 26, the document encourages couples to work with couples and to communicate their experiences to others. Holy Father Pope Paul VI said as such:

“Among the fruits which ripen forth from a generous effort of fidelity to the divine law, one of the most precious is that married couples themselves not infrequently feel the desire to communicate their experiences to others. Thurs there comes to be included in the vast pattern of the vocation of the laity a new and most noteworthy form of the apostolic of like to like; it is married couples themselves who become apostles and guides to other married couples. This is assuredly among so many forms of apostolate, one of those which seem most opportune today.”

Parishes must be open to allow the laity especially couples to work together to help build up once more the marriage sacrament in the plan of God. Couples who can share their experiences of the trials, sufferings and truths of married and family life, especially with young couples who encounter the sacrament with stars in their eyes.

Since the laity make up the greater portion of the Church, great emphasis must be placed in helping marriage and the family life and to help once more give birth to the Holy Spirit who wants to be present in the family.

I will conclude on the words of the Mother of God… who said:

“Dear children, tonight also your Mother is warning that satan is at work. I would like you to pay special attention to the fact that satan is at work in a special way with the young. Dear children, during this period I would like you to pray in your families with your children. I would like you to talk with your children. I would like you to exchange your experiences and help them to solve all their problems. I will pray, dear children, for the young, for all of you. Pray, dear children. Prayer is medicine that heals.” (9/9/88)

Begin today my friends. Pray in your families especially with your children. Begin to strengthen their spirits to fight against satan who is seeking to devour their souls. And be honest and open with them, sharing your experiences and how you have learned from your past mistakes. Help form their conscience, and teach them that God is fully alive!

Ave Maria!

Fatima? Medjugorje? Connected?

I want to realize through the secrets I began in Fatima may be fulfilled.

“Dear children, today also I invite you to prayer, now as never before when my plan has begun to be realized. satan is strong and wants to sweep away my plans of peace and joy and make you think that my Son is not strong in His decisions. Therefore, I call all of you dear children, to pray and fast still more firmly. I invite you to renunciation for nine days so that with your help everything I wanted to realize through the secrets I began in Fatima may be fulfilled. I call you dear children to understand now the importance of my coming and the seriousness of the situation. I desire to save all souls and to present them to God. Therefore, we pray that all I have started may be completely realized in its fullness. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (8/25/1991)

FATIMA’S CONNECTION TO MEDJUGORJE?

God gave the world the model of the perfect man; he is Jesus Christ and the way to salvation. He gave us a model of the perfect woman; the Blessed Virgin Mary. He gave us another model of a righteous man in human dignity one who toiled and labored as sacrifice in atonement for sin; St. Joseph.

We have come to the close of this holy season of Christmas, which is centered on the birth of Christ who has been born a new into the world for human souls, but Christmas is also centered on the human family.

Blessed Mother speaks frequently about the family and the call to the family in her apparitions in Medjugorje. Our Lady began the call of conversion throughout her history of apparitions.

In one message she spoke of the significance for parents to carry and live the Word of God in the heart and in thoughts. She said in 1996 to place sacred scripture in a visible place in your family, read it and live it. The key word is to “live it.”

Then she said, “teach your children, because if you are not an example to them, children will depart into godlessness.” And so we have it, a godless society in our modern culture, simply because the faith was not being taught in the home.

The most recent apparitions of our age and for our generation which has had great significance and importance for this history in time is Fatima, Portugal. I will speak briefly about Fatima and its connection to Medjugorje-most specifically for the family.

Those who have followed Fatima and have experienced Medjugorje, have experienced the connection. There are many similarities connecting Fatima with Medjugorje, especially from the early years of the apparitions such as the miracle of the sun, which is a frequent occurrence to some who have experienced this event in Medjugorje and the call to conversion.

Why signs and wonders? Our Lady’s response is, “it is necessary to increase the faith.” Most people will believe things when they experience it with their own eyes. But not everyone experiences the same thing. The Lord uses signs in the way He knows the soul is going to respond to Him. Some don’t need to see a miracle of a sun because they have a stronger faith than another, and so on.

In Medjugorje, Our Lady said to Marija Luenetti (visionary) in one of her monthly messages as posted above, that she wants her plans that she began in Fatima to be fulfilled….but satan does not want it.” She said this connecting Fatima to Medjugorje. Fatima is the only Marian apparition sight mentioned by Our Lady in Medjugorje. And through this, we have to pray to understand what she is saying, and would understand its universal call to humanity.

Pope John Paul II proclaimed at one time that Medjugorje is the fulfillment of Fatima as though echoing the words of the dear Mother. For the discerning heart, who believes without seeing, it is clear to the human soul.

However, Medjugorje is still different than Fatima, as in Medjugorje our Lady is giving detailed instruction on how to live the Fatima call. We didn’t get it right the first time.

If anyone has studied and prayed the messages of Fatima, then Medjugorje would make sense for one to understand why it was necessary for Our Lady to return to earth, and call her children again one last time to conversion and prayer.

The world did not heed the message of Fatima, and with great sadness as Our Lady said, Russia would spread her errors of communism, and World War II occurred as she prophesized.

Today the world lives as if there is no God what so ever. It is as if the world has globally gone communist or atheistic. We depend more on technology, careers and statue for our survival, and forget that one day we are all going to die from this earth.

If we look back to Fatima apparitions the call of Our Lady was a call of conversion to the whole world, and pleading to the world to stop offending God. She called the three visionaries to prayer, penance and fasting, especially prayer of the rosary in the family. This is the same core message and call to the world in Medjugorje, prayer, penance, conversion, fasting, reading the bible and holy Mass.

Children were called to modest behavior and dress and to obey their parents. Parents were called to guard and protect the innocence of their children and raise them in the commandment and law of God, and above all to fear the Lord and the loss of soul.

Our Lady gave a vision of hell to the children of Fatima, and showed them how easily souls fell into hell as she said, “Like snow falling to the ground.”

During the last apparition of Fatima on 10/13/1917 there was the great sign of the spinning sun falling to the earth in front of thousands of witnesses. However, the visionaries witness three apparitions during this event of the miracle of the sun.

The first apparition was of St. Joseph holding the child Jesus with Our Lady at their side blessing the world.

The second apparition was Jesus as “perfect man” said the visionaries, who also blessed the world.

The third was Our Lady in the Carmelite habit. Lucia’s words were, “it was the most beautiful of all.”

The first of the apparitions is the call to the human family, and one of order of importance. Especially the call to Fatherhood and the role of fathers with their children, so that they reflect the image of God the Father and His mercy. The role of fathers in the home is significant, and fathers will have to answer to God Himself for how they were stewards over the gifts God has given to them, instructing them in the Law.

The child Jesus in the arms of Joseph is the call to children to surrender to the authority of their parents in the Lord.

Lets take note here. In Medjugorje our Lady addressed the state of the family today. She called the visionaries to pray on 10/24/88 in a profound way, as if speaking about the crisis in the home. Here is the message she gave on this day:
“Dear children, your Mother wants to call you to pray for the young of the whole world, for the parents of the whole world so they know how to educate their children and how to lead them in life with good advice. Pray dear children, the situation of the young is difficult. Help them! Help parents who don’t know, who give bad advice!.”

And just prior to this she said;
“…I would like to give you peace so you can give this peace to others, so you can give this peace especially to families where hatred exists. I would like you dear children to renew the family prayer, all of you…”

Our Lady does not exclude anyone in these messages, it is clear she said “all of you.”
On 4/25/88 she gave her intention for coming to the world. She said, “God wants to make you holy…let holy mass be your life….”

Does our Lady say go work on your careers, earn lots of money and feed yourself to you are fat happy and rich? No! She is very clear about what is most important, that is your soul, and to purify it before meeting your God. She calls us to coomplete dependency on God in everything.

The other two calls from Fatima are calls to religious vocations. The priesthood “Jesus as perfect man” or spiritual fatherhood and the call to religious life; Our Lady in the Carmelite habit. (the Carmelite order is where Lucia spent the rest of her life)

Most especially is the emphasis of religious wearing their habits as one who stand out in the world. Lucia the visionary in her memories document is very direct in saying to those consecrated religious about staying in their habits, and admonishes those who have left their habit, and the penalty of God’s justice for abandonment of the vows. The scripture is clear, “God does not forget a vow.”

However in the first place, the family is where vocations are born. Holy families give birth to holy vocations. Is it no wonder that evil attacks life and the family then?

Many have forgotten Fatima as generations have passed. The call was ignored and because it was, the second world war as prophesized came to be, communism idealism spread and the third secret still was left hanging in the balance, leaving many to wonder the fate of the world.

The world was making a loud statement to heaven however, that it did not need a God.

On May 13, 1981 (anniversary of the Fatima apparitions) Pope John Paul II was shot in the chest. This pope knew the third secret of Fatima, and knew he was the pope of the prophecy. On his way to the hospital he prayed to Our Lady which was dictated by his aide in the ambulance. Through his prayer he pleading to the Mother of God, to spare the world from destruction, and to save it.

It was only days later that Our Lady made her first appearance in Medjugorje, holding the baby Jesus in her arms, on 6/24/1981, the Feast of St. John the Baptist….”prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight His path…” as the great prophet herald in biblical times.

Our Lady came again to the world in the spirit of Elijah the prophet, as though in answer to the prayer of the vicar of Christ who in his great suffering interceded for the world.

My friends, this is no secret and is public record for the discerning heart. The dates do not lie. Let those who speculate research themselves.

Our Lady proclaimed boldly saying, “I am going to give messages to the world as never before since the beginning of time…and at another date said she is calling the world to conversion FOR THE LAST TIME.” She said on 5/2/1982 “I will not appear any more on this earth.”

Since the beginning of creation, no event has ever occurred in such a way as it has until now. It was also recorded and confirmed thru Lucia the last survivor of Fatima that she would live to see the fulfillment. Thus it was so, Our Lady coming to the world to triumph in human hearts to see her Son made king once more, and devotion established to her Immaculate Heart on earth.

Thus also, Pope John Paul II, in gratitude to the Mother of God, not only consecrated Russia to her Immaculate Heart, but the whole world.

The world now is hers, and she has impregnated the world about to give birth to her Son in profound ways in human hearts.

Her plan from the beginning started with hand picked little children as her prophets and apostles, and grew from there as was spoken by many mystics and saints, but one known especially by St. Louis deMonfort. These hand picked children who she called are being formed and purified for her work. This great Marian saint speaks so eloquently of true devotion to Our Lady. Those who live this way become stripped of self love and clothe themselves with her virtues, with disinterested love, surrendering it all to the Blessed Virgin. Her intercession is so powerful to appease the just anger of God and draw down his mercy.

Many know that Our Lady is described as wearing the grey gown. There is no mistake here my friends. She has come as the handmaid of the Lord. She has work to do. She came to do some serious house cleaning, cleaning up the filthy mess in the house of God made by her children, cleaning up false prophets, false teaching, re-establishing devotion to the rosary, and the original traditions of the Church which have been almost lost in this past century.

These hand picked apostles are the ones who have been called from the beginning of the apparitions who have prepared the way of the Lord with the help and guidance of the dear Mother. Their yes, their sacrificing their lives, have birthed the universal plan which is set in course.

Almost a generation has passed, and those laborers in the vineyard worked hard to get the message and their experience known in the world. Many books, media, conferences etc. have laid the foundation. Many have had profound conversions and changes of lifestyles, and have raised their children for the age of Our Lady.

Today in the present time we have now the apostles of the apostles. They are those who heard the world of God (through the voice of the Mother) acted on it, and put them to life. Their witness, their heroic suffering, also now feed the heart of the dear Mother, and the clutter in the house of God is starting to be cleaned up. These are the ones who are witnessing and proclaiming the Word and for some at a great cost.

God’s palace that is His Church must be remodeled and restored. And here we are today in the rebuilding phase of the universal plan. We are about to enter into a new era of the plan of God for the reconstruction project of His Church and reconstruction of human souls. This plan now is going to begin with the domestic church, or that which is called the human family.

The individual conversions now need to move to the families. As go God’s people, so goes the world. The family is the original cell of society, the future of society passes through the family.

Thus a radical change will have to come for the modern society’s family. Our Lady is determined to accomplish the task.

Families will be formed, stripped and purified of all attachment to sins of the world. God’s proper order of creation must now be re-established on earth. My friends, the Lord is determined and it is set in course. Do not think if you are of God’s house that you will be spared from the task.

Husbands and wives must come to know their identity and their roles in the order of creation by God’s design. Husband is head over his wife, and wife is under her husband. The two must be one again, as a head and body working in unity for the sake of the Kingdom. Not head with head, but head and body as Christ is with the Church.

Husbands you are the Christ of the home, as Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. Husbands you are to die for your bride as Christ died for his bride. (Ephesians 5) Men must become who they are as “soldiers for Christ.” They must model their King who was meek and humble of heart.

Women will find their true identity in her true feminine nature as one who births life, and lives modestly, chaste, clothed in the virtues of the perfect woman, the Blessed Virgin Mary. She should never dishonor her husband, as the bride of Christ should never dishonor her spouse Jesus Christ.

Man’s identity comes in his true masculinity as one who sacrifices, dies to himself and his own self seeking pleasures to serve His bride and the gifts she births to him from her body, that is his offspring; his children.

Husbands must be Christlike carrying the living word in their hearts, leading his family with honor, dignity, respect and obedience to the will of God. He is in no way to abuse or dominate or lord himself over her, but to show honor, understanding and love towards his wife as the weaker female sex. (1 Peter 3:7). This scripture utter by St. Peter even said husbands if you do not treat your wives as you should in the Lord, then your prayers may be hindered.

All things must reflect charity in the home towards one another. If a husband leads his wife and family after the model of the perfect man in Jesus Christ, his wife will without doubt will naturally follow his lead knowing she is loved with an ardent love of her spouse, and bring honor to him, and the children will witness the love between the spouses.

That which I have described is the perfect family under the Law, and rooted on solid Rock, through Jesus Christ.

Realistically however, we live in an imperfect world.

I assure you my friends, it has taken me as one who was on the opposite end of the scope over 20 years to discover that in my marriage that if I wanted change in the marriage I had to be the one to change the most.

I must conclude this section here, and I am sure you will agree, there is much to consider here. There is no room for error. Our Lady said, “Dear children, this is a time of decision.” I understand these words to the very depth of my being. There is no choice as far as I am concerned. I choose life, and for this comes a price, I must decrease so that He may increase in me.

Honestly, you dear reader may choose between good or evil or God or no God. You may agree or disagree with what I have written. But as one who has lived it to the full, and has paid the price for the reality of sin almost to death, there is no other option for me. In the end when it counts all will come to know truth in the fullest of the sense of the word.

Yet for the Mother of God to be permitted to come to the world for 29 years, and for the world to continue to ignore her coming and ignore the voice of heaven, the only place I want to be is tucked under her mantle of protection when God’s justice comes. Woe to those who do not recognize the time of visitation said Jesus to St. Faustina in the message of Divine Mercy. However, blessed are those who do! Join the winning team!
Ave Maria!

St. Louis deMonfort – True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary #205-206
“What does this good mother do when we have presented and consecrated to her our soul and body and all that pertains to them without expecting anything? Just what Rebecca of old did to the little goats Jacob brought to her. (a ) She kills them, that is makes them die to the life of the old Adam, (b) she strips them of their skin, that is of their natural inclinations, their self love and self will and their every attachment to creatures, (c ) she cleans them from all stain of impurity and sin. (d) She prepares them to God’s taste and to his greater glory. As she alone knows perfectly what the divine taste is and where the greatest glory of God is to be found, she alone without any fear of mistake can prepare and garnish our body and soul to satisfy that infinitely refined taste and promote that infinitely hidden glory. Once this good Mother has received our complete offering with our merits and satisfactions through this devotion, and stripped us of our own garments, she cleans us and makes us worthy to appear without shame before our heavenly Father. She clothes us in the clean, new, precious and fragrant garments of Esau, the first born, namely her Son Jesus Christ. She keeps these garments in her house, that is to say, she has them at her disposal. For she is treasurer and universal dispenser of the merits and virtues of Jesus her Son. She gives and distributes them to whom she pleases, when she pleases, as she pleases and as much as she pleases….”

Stay Awake, Be Ready…

“Dear children! Wake up from the sleep of unbelief and sin, because this is a time of grace which God gives you. Use this time and seek the grace of healing of your heart from God, so that you may see God and man with the heart. Pray in a special way for those who have not come to know God’s love, and witness with your life so that they also can come to know God and His immeasurable love. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (2/25/2000)

“Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” (Matthew 24:42-44)

Our Lady gave this message to the world over 10 years ago. Sadly many still yet have heard the call to wake up. She recently said our faith is weak, and she wants to awaken the faith in us.

She also said that we often fall into sin without conscience. This is very dangerous for the soul. So many souls are steeped in darkness, walking blindly and falling into even greater darkness and sin. All we have to do is look around us, and see the state of the world today to know that the heart of humanity is far from God.

Blessed Mother said to use this time, take advantage of her presence now, and seek grace for healing of your heart from God.

Does a mother know when a child is in pain? Of course she does. Imagine this mother looking down upon the earth piercing through our hearts in the flesh and seeing all the pain that has been caused in our lives from conception until today. This pain has led us to sin. Our Mother’s call is to turn to the mercy of God to heal the pain in our hearts.

Jesus said to St. Faustina, no matter if the sins be as scarlet, if we turn to the fount of His mercy, He will make our souls as white as snow. Many are mislead today and believe that to just believe in Jesus without works will have eternal life, and justify themselves in their sin, because they are too lazy or obstinate to change their lifestyle. Yet here Our Lady strongly said, WAKE UP. The world is in a spiritual coma. It needs to be awakened with one big alarm clock. God needs to shake us up to wake us up.

The Lord is stripping the world of all its false gods, all the idols we have made in the material world. Are we feeling it yet? Are we waking up, and stripping ourselves from gluttony and greed-from our obsessions and idolatry? What is the god in your life? Is it sports, exercise, money, power, sex? Where your heart is, there also will your treasure be.

The Lord is clear in His Word, in the end of revelation to humanity, that we do not know the day or the hour that the Lord will call us to Himself and He will ask us in that moment to give an account of our life before Him. He will judge us according to our deeds and in full truth. (Rev. 22:12) St. Faustina asked the Lord on one occasion why He did not punish souls now for the sin in the world? The Lord responded in a way that is very sobering…He said, “I have eternity to punish.” Do we want to seek God’s mercy now, or wait for His justice? This should be a no brainer question, but how many will ignore it?

If we have sin now on our soul un-reconciled, it will carry with us into eternal life. What we do in our body matters and imprinted on the soul. Our dear Mother wants us to heal from this pain of sin. She wants us to turn to Jesus to be set free from the chains that bind us to sin. She wants us happy and to dwell in peace. She wants to teach us how to be children of God. We have lost our way.

Our Lady said, “life on this earth is short compared to the one in eternity.” A great priest most of us know says often, “in the end you and I will be in heaven or in hell.” Here is the difference between the wheat and the chaff. We deceive ourselves into thinking that when we die we are canonized and go directly to heaven, especially when we have lived a life of sin. God is the final judge. And the mind and heart of God is far beyond the human intellect to be so prideful in thinking this way.

As we reflect further on her message I hear Our Lady ask for us to pray for those who do not know God’s love. This can be every one of us faith or nor faith. It is not someone out there. No! In reality it is all of us because we are all weak in faith. Mother just told us this on 9/25/10-your faith is weak. If God appeared before the world today in His fullness and glory, we could not stand before Him in truth…we’d die of fright.

If we knew the love of God and experienced as such, then we would fear God in our souls, and renounce sin. The love of God is to know who we are in truth, as mere creatures that are ashes and dust without the life of God within us. The Love of God is made present in His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no greater love than this.

The scripture from Luke’s gospel comes to mind for me. (Luke 2:41-52) We all know the story, the boy Jesus is lost in the temple. Joseph and Mary left Jerusalem thinking Jesus was with them in the caravan heading back to Nazareth. But they did not see Him among the relatives. It is easy to take for granted that God is always with us. But here He allowed His own parents to experience His loss and what it is really like without Him.

With anxiety the Word says, they searched for Him, not knowing where He was. They searched and searched for three days. Imagine the pain of not having the one they love with them, and not knowing if He was alive or dead. Imagine the thoughts playing on the mind.

Isn’t this the state of our human minds today? If we don’t have God, we fearful of our future? Do we fear evil? Our Lady said, “the one who prays is not afraid of the future, the one who fasts is not afraid of evil.” Are we worried about our jobs, our families or our loved ones? What about those who have died? Do we question if they are safely in heaven or not or do we just assume they are? Are we offering prayers, sacrifices, or masses for them?

Our Lady says, there are many souls in Purgatory who are forgotten and no one prays for them. What a great suffering for them to be forgotten and unloved. It is the same.

To be rooted in the love of God, there is no fear or loss. Because we have a foundation built upon the Crucified. The Crucified Jesus is incarnate and living in us. Are we bringing Him to life into the world by our deeds?

If we reflect on this scripture from Luke’s gospel further, when the parents find the child Jesus, He is in the temple among the high priests and elders. They are listening to Him and the wisdom He speaks. Jesus simply asked Joseph and Mary in a way of a matter of fact – like it was nothing. He said, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know I must be in my Father’s House?” (Luke. 2:49)

Jesus clearly explains to us exactly where He is. He is in His Father’s house. Can we make this any more clearer? He is in the Church, fully present in the in the tabernacle whole human person, body, blood, soul and divinity in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Who in their right mind would not want this great grace is beyond me? And still how many doubt the Word of God Himself, Who said this IS MY BODY, THIS IS MY BLOOD GIVEN UP FOR YOU. You have been purchased for a price! Your life is not your own. It belongs to God.(1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

God is with us! He is fully present, and fully alive in our midst! How we pay little or no attention to Him and treat Him as if He is a dead object. If we see with the eyes of faith, we see Him in truth and experience Him in the flesh.

He said clearly, we must EAT HIS FLESH AND DRINK HIS BLOOD to have life IN HIM. (John 6:54) We must discern our bodies before partaking in the Eucharistic sacrifice. (1 Corinthians 11:27-32) St. Paul is clear, that if we eat and drink unworthily, then we bring judgment upon ourselves. We are weak in the flesh, ill and dead in sin because we are ignorant of the sins we are committing against the Lord, His Church, and to each other. You may be living and breathing in the flesh in the world esteem, but no life in your soul my dear friends if we do not live this word with our whole hearts, our minds and in our bodies. “If you but knew the gift of God and Who is saying this to you…” (John 4:10)

Blessed Mother said, there is NOBODY ON THIS EARTH who does not need monthly confession….and MONTHLY CONFESSION WILL BE THE REMEDEY FOR THE CHURCH IN THE WEST. This excludes no body! These are sobering words my friends. Nobody is above the law. Every human being will die someday. Heaven or Hell, that is the choice we can freely make.

Let us turn to the mercy of God, while there is still time for granting mercy.

“Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are they who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the unchaste, the murderers, the idol-worshipers, and all who love and practice deceit.” I, Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let the hearer say, “Come.” Let the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water.” (Revelation 22:12-17)

Humble Devotion? Part II

Jesus I trust in You

As we reflect again on this message today, I was given further light and still called to go deeper into my heart.

I was given an image of myself in my own motherhood talking to my own children, and how I would emphasize something to them from the heart something that I needed them to do, because I was suffering and hurting for them, knowing they were not behaving properly. Yet I have to humble myself before them in love, to hopefully touch their heart with my motherly heart, trusting they love me enough to listen.

This is how I hear the words of this message today, with great emphasis, as if Blessed Mother is speaking to me as her little child saying, ‘my dear little one, oh my little one please be humble, please, please be more humble and stop doing what you are doing.

And then in the presence of the Lord before the most Blessed Sacrament, as I continued to reflect all the more, the Litany of Humility was given, as I was called to examine myself in this way. Below is the message again for the sake of the reader…

“Dear children! Today I call you to a humble, my children, humble devotion. Your hearts need to be just. May your crosses be your means in the battle against the sins of the present time.

May your weapon be patience and boundless love – a love that knows to wait and which will make you capable of recognizing God’s signs – that your life, by humble love, may show the truth to all those who seek it in the darkness of lies.

My children, my apostles, help me to open the paths to my Son. Once again I call you to pray for your shepherds. Along side them, I will triumph. Thank you.” (10/2/10-Queen of Peace to Mirjana)

What is a humble devotion I have to ask myself? Through the Litany of Humility, (which I have posted below) I have to reflect on this great prayer, I really begin to see myself in truth.

How many of us seek that attention, and want to be noticed by our accomplishments, so that we can be given that pat on the back to boost our ego? How many times have I cried out for love, and then got angry because someone did not love me the way I needed love from them?

Are we boastful of our accomplishments, or do we give glory to where glory is due, that is to the Almighty God the Creator who gave us the gifts and talents and opened the doors for us to be that witness, so that we can show His glory living in us.

How many times did Jesus admonish the Pharisees and Scribes in the gospels, encouraging his apostles NOT to do as they did seeking honor and glory for themselves. (Matthew 23, Luke 11, Luke 6) Are we seeking the same praise within?

The Lord said, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mt. 23:12)

How many times have I sought the approval of another to be affirmed in what I am doing? Have I sought the counsel of the Lord to make sure it is within His will?

Do I rejoice in the failure of another? If we believe that Jesus is alive in every person are we not the same people who condemned Him and crucified him on the cross? Yes we are!

Humble devotion…what about our brothers and sisters who have fallen from grace, or our priests/bishops or religious leaders. Do we scoff at them or judge them and say they deserve their just punishment, or do we offer mercy and prayer for them? For there go I except for the grace of God. I know myself, I can easy fall back into my former way, for I am weak. It is only God’s grace I am sustained.

However, God himself in His great mercy has been very patient with us and the world, His children, those who call themselves Christian.

Really in truth, the justice of God would be justified today for the sins of the world, and our own sins of tolerance. Should we not be the same for our neighbor? No! We do not condone the sin, but we should correct and be our brother keeper for the dignity of the human person, and for the sake of the salvation of the soul.

Our Lady counseled the visionaries on several occasions when they were little children on how they should act. Following are some of her teachings to them…

Regarding temptations from the devil; “With respect to sin, it suffices to give it serious consideration and soon move ahead to correct the sin…”

“Your humility must be proud and your pride should be humble. If you have received a gift from God, you must be proud but do not say that it is yours. Say rather, that it is God’s.” (1981)

“…these days are the days which you need to decide for God, for peace and for the good. May every hatred and jealousy disappear from your life and your thoughts, and may there only dwell love for God and for your neighbor. Thus only thus shall you be able to discern the sign of this time. I am with you to guide you into a new time, a time which God gives you as grace, so that you may get to know Him more…” (1/25/93)

“…I call all of you to open your hearts to the love of God that is so great and open to each one of you…if you do not first love God, then you will neither be able to love neighbor nor the one you hate…pray that you will discover love…” (4/25/95)

“…decide for God and daily conversion. You cannot be converted little children if you do not abandon sins and do not decide for love toward God and neighbor…” (1/25/02)

Our Lady makes it clear that satan moves in our pride and is behind it and will boost our pride to lead us into sin. Open wounds in the heart are open doors for the enemy to come in and minister to our hearts. This is why jealousy and hatred need to be mended and reconciled. It is for our own sake.

Where there are wounds there is no discernment because we are acting through our emotional hurts and pains, and then we cannot seek out God clearly nor recognize His work in us. Our Lady, our Mother wants to teach us how to be good children, faithful to God, but in humility realizing anything good that we do, comes from Him.

Our Lady calls us to a love that is pleasing to God. In truth, this love is Agape. It is the love that drove Jesus to the Cross that is pleasing to God. How many hated Him, how many beat Him, how many looked on and mocked Him?

And His response was “Father forgive them…” Forgive them! Could He have fought back? YES. Did He, NO. Could He have gotten off the Cross? YES. Did He? NO! He knew the Triumph of the Cross. He knew the Victory. He had the full vision of the plan of God before Him. There is power in the cross!

Fear keeps us from getting on the cross. Fear makes us run as the apostles ran at the crucifixion. Who stayed at the cross? Blessed Mother, the beloved disciple and some women stayed. What fear is making you run from your cross? Fear of death. Fear of pain. Fear of rejection. Fear of abandonment. Fear of failure. And the litany goes on below. Perfect love of God casts out all fear. The victory is on the cross! What is the root of your fear?

The enemy said to Jesus, “get off the cross, come down from there.” The enemy knew it was defeated at the cross. The weapon is the cross and humbly submitting and surrendering to our crosses patiently and with love and saying thy will be done Lord.

One of the most serious messages the Mother gave the world was given in the United States to Mirjana in February 1990. As if she was admonishing the children of the U.S. This message I am posting in a shorter version, yet it can be found in open records….

“…I wish to be your connection to the profound faith. Listen to me! Take your rosary and get your children, your families with you. This is the way to come to salvation.

Give your good example to your children; give a good example to those who do not believe. You will not have happiness on this earth, neither will you come to heaven if you are not with pure and humble hearts, and do not fulfill the law of God.

I am asking for your help to join me to pray for those who do not believe. You are helping me very little. You have little charity or love for your neighbor and God gave you the love and showed you how you should forgive and love others. For that reason, reconcile and purify your soul. Take your rosary and pray it. All your suffering take patiently. You should remember that Jesus was patiently suffering for you…Do not impose your faith on unbelievers. Show it to them by your example and pray for them. My children, pray!

I speak to you my fellow brothers and sisters in all humility as one who has experienced crucifixion through and through, and witness to the saving power of God through the cross. What I speak of here in these words I speak through experience as one who has been there, but also as one who must press on all the more to finish the race to the end. It is love for souls that drives me to share in this way, and through the subtle promptings of the Mother who has called me to this simple ministry hoping her messages will reach those who do not know her yet.

Our Mother in heaven is pleading to her children to help her and to cooperate in her plan. She desires to see all of us in heaven with her. She is giving good counsel on the way, and this way is through the cross. If we desire heaven, we must pass through the way that Jesus taught us, the way of the cross.

As more light comes in the meaning of this powerful message will I continue to share. Please I beg you in this time, if you have not yet, take with seriousness the message, and put it to life so that you can say, ‘there I have lived the message…” and maybe God in His infinite mercy will take pity on our souls. We do not want His justice.

Remember the words of Our Mother who said, that we cannot enter heaven if we are not pure of heart and humble. By her message today my dear brothers and sisters we have still a long way to go. As our Mother said, it is because of God’s great mercy she is still with us. I beg the Father that she remains with us, we need her to guide us through this dark world.

Remember the word of Jesus in Divine Mercy to St. Faustina, “…before the day of justice, I am sending the day of mercy (1588). I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of my visitation. (1160) While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy (848) He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice.” (1146)

“Woe to the faint of heart who trust not, who therefore will have no shelter! Woe to you who have lost hope! what will you do at the visitation of the LORD? Those who fear the LORD disobey not his words; those who love him keep his ways. Those who fear the LORD seek to please him, those who love him are filled with his law. Those who fear the LORD prepare their hearts and humble themselves before him. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD and not into the hands of men, For equal to his majesty is the mercy that he shows.” (Sirach 2:13-18)

Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved…
From the desire of being extolled …
From the desire of being honored …
From the desire of being praised …
From the desire of being preferred to others…
From the desire of being consulted …
From the desire of being approved …
From the fear of being humiliated …
From the fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
From the fear of being forgotten …
From the fear of being ridiculed …
From the fear of being wronged …
From the fear of being suspected …
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I …
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease …
That others may be chosen and I set aside …
That others may be praised and I unnoticed …
That others may be preferred to me in everything…
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

Yes Lord, Yes Lord!

Father, not my will but your will be done

“Dear children! Today I call you to a humble, my children, humble devotion. Your hearts need to be just. May your crosses be your means in the battle against the sins of the present time.

May your weapon be patience and boundless love – a love that knows to wait and which will make you capable of recognizing God’s signs – that your life, by humble love, may show the truth to all those who seek it in the darkness of lies.

My children, my apostles, help me to open the paths to my Son. Once again I call you to pray for your shepherds. Along side them, I will triumph. Thank you.” (10/2/10-Queen of Peace to Mirjana)

As I began to reflect upon this message, so many scriptures were running through my heart, that I thought would bring deep meaning to these words from Heaven. I didn’t know where to begin. Then I remembered again, that Our Lady said, “If you want to understand the message and its meaning for you, you must pray to comprehend the message.”

I knew that this message would be written in many parts, as there is much to reflect upon in these mysterious words from heaven.

So I sat right in front of a picture I have, the image of the Queen of Peace, and I let her say these words to my heart as if she were in the room talking to me directly. I listened to what these heavenly words had to say to me in my heart, and how she wanted me to not only live it in my own life, but to convey the Word to the reader, to the one who has eyes to see and ears to hear.

I began to reflect on her words, as Our Lady calls us to be “humble”. Three times she emphasized this word, and added in humble devotion. The first scripture that came to my heart was from the words of St. Paul to the Galatians 6:14…

“But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

I asked what is going on with us Mother, are we too proud? Are we boasting in ourselves, and not giving glory to God? She remained silent, and I felt called to go deeper with her into my heart.

I then pondered, that there is no one on this earth who is not carrying some form of a burden, suffering, or is on the cross in some way or another. Then the Word of Jesus came back again, which has been repeated in several occasions in the four gospels, “take up your cross and follow me.” Yet in Luke’s gospel 9:23-24 it is more detailed. Luke emphasizes “daily crosses.”

“Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

Our daily trials, daily tribulations, daily nuances, daily troubles, daily worries, daily difficulties, daily sicknesses, that is everything that I experience in my daily life, Blessed Mother is saying give it to me. Use it for good! No matter how great or small to use your cross as a weapon to fight the sin of the present world! But there is more to this.

Our Lady then led me to believe that her children, her apostles are begrudging their crosses. I then had to examine myself, and say yes I find this to be very true in me.

How many saints died as martyrs for the sake of the cross? How many enemies are there of the cross? And I grumble and complain because I have to do something that annoys me. Again my heart is pierced as I am convicted in my sin, feeling I am the one she is talking to.

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)

Our Lady gives a solution to carrying our crosses with a purpose, and defines that there is great power in the cross. Our crosses are weapons to fight sin and evil. It is an intercessory tool to defeat evil. Our cross can be used a burden bearing for another to help them get a grace or for conversion. It can be used for inner strength to increase our faith, which is something we all need or it can be for our own inner healing.

Blessed Mother recalled this message to me that she gave to the world on 5/25/92. The words humbled the soul within me all the more:

“Dear children, today also I invite you to prayer so that through prayer you come yet closer to God. I am with you and wish to lead you on the path to salvation which Jesus gives. From day to day I am closer and closer to you, although you are not conscious of it and do not want to admit that you are connected to me in prayer only a little bit.

When temptations and problems arise you say: ‘O God, O Mother where are you?’ And I only wait for you to give me your yes, so that I pass it on to Jesus and that He may bestow you with graces. Therefore, once again, accept my call and begin anew to pray, until prayer becomes a joy for you. And then you will discover that God is Almighty in your everyday life. I am with you and I wait for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

She is waiting for our yes! She said so that I can come closer to God, and walk on the path of salvation. Don’t we want to draw closer and closer to her day by day? Isn’t that what we want? Don’t we want to have a close relationship with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit and our own Mother in heaven?

Say yes, I accept my cross. Yes, I love you Mother enough to embrace my cross and I will carry it for you! Yes! I will suffer for Jesus, because He suffered for me. Yes I will stand with you at the foot of the cross as I watch my love one suffering. Yes I will remain in my marriage. Yes I will stay in this job. Yes I will love the one who is hurting me! Yes Lord, Yes Lord, YES, YES YES!

And further, she was just pouring out her words to my heart all the more, Our Lady said further…

“…I bless you with my motherly blessing and invite you all to conversion. I wish that each of you decides himself for a change of life and that each of you works more in the Church, not through words and thoughts but through example, so that your life may be a joyful testimony for Jesus. You cannot say that you are converted because your life must become a daily conversion. In order to understand what you have to do, little children, pray and God will give you what you concretely have to do, and where you have to change. I am with you and place you all under my mantle…” (2/25/93)

She reinforced through this message what she just said on 9/25/10 to stop talking and work more on your personal conversion, and reminding us as the scripture in Luke’s gospel said, it is a daily effort through our daily crosses.

Our witness to Jesus is surrender to the cross. We are called to live worthily and be a witness in our life by daily choosing Jesus and the cross. We witness by saying, “let it be” instead of complaining or getting angry at someone or something because it did not meet our expectation.

We are called to live peace, live love with patience and bearing with one another in love.

As I have said, there is much to reflect upon. In the next part I will continue further with this reflection, as this message warrants great attention in these words of Wisdom from Heaven.

“Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons: “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” Endure your trials as “discipline”; God treats you as sons. For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:1-7)

Holy See Upholds Parental Role in Sex Education

He was obedient to them

Holy See Upholds Parental Role in Sex Education
Expresses Concern Over Defective Creation of UN Document

LEON, Mexico, SEPT. 28, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See is stressing the necessary role of parents in the lives of their children, especially in the area of education on sexuality.

This was one of the points underlined by the Holy See delegation to the 2010 U.N. World Youth Conference in Leon, which took place Aug. 23-26.

The Holy See released a Sept. 17 statement outlining its official position with regard to the Guanajuato Declaration, the final document of the youth conference, in which it pointed out various “serious procedural and substantive issues.”

It noted that “the word ‘parents’ does not appear once in an outcome document devoted to youth, which means that the vital role parents must play in fulfilling their responsibilities for them has not been recognized.”

“This cannot and will not escape notice,” the Holy See asserted.

It expressed concern that “the reference to ‘comprehensive education on human sexuality’ stands alone without reference to parents’ ‘prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children,’ including religious, moral and spiritual dimensions of authentic human love, and related matters concerning the nature of sexuality, marriage and the family.”

In an intervention given to the participants during the conference, the Holy See delegation noted that “young people have a right to receive an education based upon a fundamental respect for the intrinsic dignity and worth of the human person, an education they first receive from their parents and by which they are gradually formed to become responsible adults.”

“Young people have the right to receive education that fully respects the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life and this includes the basic right of parents to educate their children in the nature of sexuality, marriage and the family,” it added.

The delegate affirmed that “every family also has the right to live freely its own domestic religious life under the guidance of the parents, as well as the right to profess that faith publicly.”

Unclear and inconsistent
In the official position statement on the final document, the Holy See also expressed concern that “with respect to the procedural aspects of the 2010 World Youth Conference,” the “process and methods for generating the outcome document were unclear, and inconsistent.”

“The irregularities and defects, which were of significant number and magnitude, continue a pattern that was also evident at the 2008 Third World Conference on the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and its outcome document to which the Holy See entered reservations,” the statement continued.

The delegation noted, “In regard to the term ‘sexual and reproductive health’ the Holy See considers this expression as applying to a holistic concept of health, which embraces the person in the entirety of his or her personality, mind and body, and which fosters the achievement of personal maturity in sexuality and in the mutual love and decision-making that characterize the conjugal relationship in accordance with moral norms.”

Thus, it continued, “the Holy See does not consider abortion or access to abortion as a dimension of this concept, nor contraception or the use of condoms as an acceptable family planning measure.”

The statement addressed the issue of the terms “gender,” and “gender equality,” noting that “the Holy See reserves its position with the understanding that ‘gender’ is grounded in biological sexual identity, that is, the two sexes, male and female.”

The Holy See reaffirmed its final statement to the 1995 Beijing Conference “and in so doing excludes dubious interpretations based on world views which assert that sexual identity can be adapted indefinitely to suit new and different purposes.”

“It also dissociates itself from the biological determinist notion that all the roles and relations of the two sexes are fixed in a single static pattern,” the delegation stated.

With respect to the term “family … in its plurality of forms,” the Holy See stated its recognition of “one family form based on marriage, the equal partnership between one man and one woman, that is, husband and wife, and the duty of the state to strengthen the family.”

The Holy See concluded its official statement with a request that the document “be reflected verbatim, and annexed to the Guanajuato Declaration” and included in the official record of the conference.
— — —

Article from Zenit News source http://www.zenit.org

Although contrary to world or modern culture view, this article impart stresses the importance of parental role in the family as the first teachers to their children, and the importance of parents taking ownership of their role and responsibility to educate and catechize their children properly, and guide them in their fundamental development as God’s children, and the created gift of self. (CCC 1657, Lumen Gentium 11) The Family is the domestic Church.

Holy Family Workshop has been designed to help parents, couples (engaged couples) to go into deeper contemplation to understand the meaning of their sacramental roles in the vocation of marriage and the importance of raising Christ centered families as the first cell of living in Christian society. This program empowers couples to help build up the domestic Church, and rebuild and strengthen the marriage Foundation.

To order your copy of Holy Family Workshop Tools for Marriage and Families, contact us by e-mail: lnance4@aol.com or respond to this website blog.

You are Still Weak in Faith

This is my beloved Son...Listen to Him

You are Still Weak in Faith

“Dear children, today I am with you and bless you with my motherly blessing of peace, and I urge you to live your life of faith even more, because you are still weak in faith and are not humble.

I urge you little children, to speak less and to work more on your personal conversion so that your witness may be fruitful. And may your life be unceasing prayer. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

As I reflected on this message it did not take long for me to say that these are very sobering words, especially as one who is trying to make a conscious effort into living the messages of Our Lady in my everyday life.

Our Lady is speaking to her children. She is speaking to those who say that they are hers and choose her as their mother.

It is not easy. It is to say the least toil and labor and a conscious effort to live the message with the gospels-and Our Lady is saying we still have much more work to do on our inner self.

As I prayed through this message more, I asked Blessed Mother to give me a scripture that went with her message, so that I could tie it to the gospel meaning for me.

To no surprise the word of St. Paul came that he spoke to the Ephesians as I kept hearing Our Lady use the words “I urge you” twice in this message. St. Paul the apostle used this word “urge” several times in his New Testament writings, when he sought to correct, encourage or admonish the churches to live their Christian lives worthily for the sake that Jesus shed His blood to save our souls.

So the fact that Our Lady gave the scripture in the following matter relating to her message, I understood her meaning very clear. We are called to live worthy of the call she is giving us as her children, in humility and gentleness, putting on her virtues and bearing our suffering patiently.

“I then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all…” (Ephesians 4:1-6)

As I look into my own heart, going through my own private struggles, I thought to myself, she is right. My pride is still big and I still blame others for the pain that I carry in my own heart. I cannot see beyond the beam in my own eye, and my own sin, because I am too focused on licking my own wounds from someone else who has sinned against me. My heart sank upon realizing this truth.

St. Paul continues on and says:

“… to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming. Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:12-16)

Our call is to build up, repair and restore a broken church, a broken people, and reject sin. A Christian must live in humility as one who realizes that we are creatures made in the image and likeness of God. How many of us are tearing down, criticizing, arguing, rebelling or harboring anger against another. I assure you my friends not one human being is the exception to the rule.

If we think in practical terms of motherhood, Blessed Mother is our Mother in heaven. If a mother sees a child doing something that could cause harm to them, then the mother will discipline the child’s behavior because of the child’s rudeness or inappropriate behavior.

So today our Mother comes with the same intention, to admonish or correct in a loving manner her children who are distracted from the call they are to live in faith, or the call to persevere in faith and live that faith as humble Christians. She said we are weak in faith, which means many are giving up. They are not standing firm in faith.

If we hear the word again “I urge you” we cannot think on human terms. No. We have to think by heavenly words that are magnified and have a greater meaning than what our human language interprets. It is a reinforcement of the call, with a great emphasis of encouragement but given in a firm matter by the Mother of God, sent to the world by her Son, who is saying just do it!

The call to the world in this message is:

1. To grow in faith a firm faith, strongly rooted in God, a faith that is unshakable, no matter what will happen in your life the attitude is I surrender O God to your will, not my will.
2. To live in humility, for the scripture says, “God opposes the proud…and those who boast in themselves…”
3. Stop talking and go into the silence of the heart in deep contemplation and prayer reflecting on the life of Jesus. And…
4. Work on your personal conversion and root out sin-get back to the sacraments especially confession.

There is nothing else that matter in this world there is nothing more important than your eternal salvation. This life is short compared to eternity.

My dear friends, to the reader, the one who has ears to hear, this is serious! After 29 years of Our Lady’s visitation in the world we as her children, still do not have it right! How God is putting up with us is clearly unfathomable mercy!

Children model after their parents who raise them. It is the same here. We have a Father and Mother in heaven. We as Christians are called adopted sons and daughters of God by the Blood of Jesus who ransomed Himself to save our souls. If we are true children of God and Blessed Mother is our Mother then we need to take on their likeness, put on Christ and clothe ourselves in holy virtue, and seek after sinlessness in our state in life.

The Lord wants holy fruit to come forth from our lives. Here we are now in the fall season which is harvest time across the globe and it appears that Heaven is saying the fruit is bitter and not so good with the children of God. It is a sparse and unproductive harvest. Where are the laborers in the vineyard? Who can God rely on if not His own people?

Are we living like the pagans do? God is bold in saying if we are living as the pagans do, we will not inherit the kingdom.

How many times do we look at our neighbor and judge and say that I am better than them? You are wrong in saying, for it is only by grace you are where you are. Where did you come from, and where are you going?

Our Lady gives us a remedy. She has said on one occasion, if you want someone to change, then you must change yourself. So they may know what it means to live as a Christian.

Yes my friends, these are very humbling words.Look around you and see the poverty of souls who do not know God. Clearly my dear brothers and sisters, we have a long way to go and must work all the more harder building up the Kingdom of God. Embrace your cross patiently for the sake of Jesus Christ who suffered patiently for us.

These words of Our Lady and the voice of God through the scripture pierced my heart through and through. I ask you all for your prayers for my salvation, as I keep all of my readers constantly in my prayers. Do no look at me as one who knows, but one who has been there, and still is wandering in the desert seeking to find my way home.

Yes it is true. I am so weak in my own human flesh, and I quickly fall in my own brokenness, yet more over what hurts the most is knowing how I’ve offended my Lord and His Mother, as if I am the one hammering the nails myself on the body of Jesus, while Our Lady looks on in bitter grief, each sword piercing her heart watching how we continue to cause her Son more pain.

This alone I cannot bear, and for their sake and the love I have for them I beg the Father in Heaven to permit me with all my heart to live in a manner worthy of the call I have received. Dear Mother teach me your way! I am yours totus tuas! Ave Maria!