Monday, July 01, 2013

Mary TV Daily Reflection 7/1/2013


mom and child
A mother's helping hand
   (c)Mary TV 2013.

J.M.J.
July 1, 2013

Dear Family of Mary!

"Dear children! With joy in the heart I love you all and call you to draw closer to my Immaculate Heart so I can draw you still closer to my Son Jesus, and that He can give you His peace and love, which are nourishment for each one of you. Open yourselves, little children, to prayer - open yourselves to my love. I am your mother and cannot leave you alone in wandering and sin. You are called, little children, to be my children, my beloved children, so I can present you all to my Son. Thank you for having responded to my call." (June 25, 2013)

Again I wish to say that I am so struck by the intensity of this message from Our Lady, given on June 25, 2013. She is declaring her love for us, over and over again. "With joy in the heart I love you all...open yourselves to my love...I am your mother and cannot leave you alone in wandering and sin...You are called, little children to be my children, my beloved children..." Only the hardest heart could ignore these words of love for us. But they are not just words, they are reality! Our Lady loves us so much that she gives herself to us completely. She is completely given to us as our mother, our friend, our confidant, our intercessor, and our guide. She wants to be involved in our lives in every way. Her love is real, concrete, and practical. Our Lady wants to help us draw close to Jesus, in every day practical realities.

This extraordinary love of Mary is described by St. Louis de Montfort in "True Devotion" in practical terms. He writes:

144. The Blessed Virgin, mother of gentleness and mercy, never allows herself to be surpassed in love and generosity. When she sees someone giving himself entirely to her in order to honor and serve her, and depriving himself of what he prizes most in order to adorn her, she gives herself completely in a wondrous manner to him. She engulfs him in the ocean of her graces, adorns him with her merits, supports him with her power, enlightens him with her light, and fills him with her love. She shares her virtues with him  - her humility, faith, purity, etc. She makes up for his failings and becomes his representative with Jesus. Just as one who is consecrated belongs entirely to Mary, so Mary belongs entirely to him. We can truthfully say of this perfect servant and child of Mary what St. John in his gospel says of himself, "He took her for his own."

145. This produces in his soul, if he is persevering, a great distrust, contempt, and hatred of self, and a great confidence in Mary with complete self-abandonment to her. He no longer relies on his own dispositions, intentions, merits, virtues and good works, since he has sacrificed them completely to Jesus through his loving Mother. He has now only one treasury, where all his wealth is stored. That treasury is not within himself: it is Mary. That is why he can now go to our Lord without any servile or scrupulous fear and pray to him with great confidence. He can also share the sentiments of the devout and learned Abbot Rupert, who, referring to the victory which Jacob won over an angel, addressed our Lady in these words, "O Mary, my Queen, Immaculate Mother of the God-man, Jesus Christ, I desire to wrestle with this man, the Divine Word, armed with your merits and not my own."
How much stronger and more powerful are we in approaching our Lord when we are armed with the merits and prayers of the worthy Mother of God, who, as St. Augustine says, has conquered the Almighty by her love! (St. Louis de Montfort. "True Devotion to Mary")

This language may be flowery and a bit outlandish to our ears today. But what St. Louis is saying is exactly the experience we have in Medjugorje as we live the messages. He says that when Our Lady sees someone opening their heart to her with childlike trust, she comes to that person with her gifts and abilities and helps him along the way. She becomes his partner, his best friend in his daily life.  

I have been experiencing this more and more lately myself. I have begun a simple practice of asking Our Lady to help me with all my tasks, from cooking dinner to shopping, to planning family parties to doing my computer work, and on and on. I have always been industrious, but I always worked with a certain anxiety within. I never have felt quite up to the tasks at hand. But when I ask Our Lady to work with me, shop with me, pray with me, think with me, I experience her very close and my mind becomes clear and my thoughts placid. I feel her motherly expertise guiding me. And my day becomes enjoyable and fruitful! Anxiety goes out the window. St. Louis says "She makes up for his failings..." and I truly experience this. My weaknesses are still there, but somehow Mother Mary fills in the gaps, and everything is blessed!

And it is true, that the more I rely on Mary to help me moment by moment, the more I begin to distrust my own abilities. Not because I am dismissive of myself, but because I realize that entrusting everything into Mary's hands is the way to true peace and joy! Since I now realize that my own strength and merits are not enough, I realize that "[I] now have only one treasury, where all [my] wealth is stored. That treasury is not within [my]self: it is Mary." Truly, the more I entrust my entire life into Mary's hands, the more I experience the loving care of my Mother, and through it the salvific love of my Savior, Jesus! It is the way, the only way, as Augusto told us (see the June 28, 2013 reflection).

I believe that Our Lady wants us to live our consecration to her in very practical terms, not in flowery ideals. She wants us to turn to her, just as a little child turns to her mother when she knows she needs help. Children do not hesitate to call for their mother. We should not hesitate to call for Mary, to ask her to be there with us in our daily duties, in our moment by moment realities. This is when she can help us the most. And she will tend our lives towards Jesus, gently and beautifully moving us towards Him, towards His love and His glory. She will do it. We have only to open our hearts to her in everything.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2013

PS. Tonight we have another "Fruit of Medjugorje" Episode, 8:00 pm EDT!!

PPS. Mary TV will stream the July 2, 2013 apparition to Mirjana Soldo tomorrow - beginning at 8:00 am Medjugorje time (2:00 am EDT). The apparition will occur at approximately 8:45 am Medjugorje time (2:45 am EDT). Join us in welcoming Our Lady!



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 "Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!"   
Blessed John Paul II  -
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