Strength to be God's children....
(c)Mary TV 2013
J.M.J.
October 30, 2013
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children! Today I call you to open yourselves to prayer. Prayer works miracles in you and through you. Therefore, little children, in the simplicity of heart seek of the Most High to give you the strength to be God's children and for Satan not to shake you like the wind shakes the branches. Little children, decide for God anew and seek only His will - and then you will find joy and peace in Him. Thank you for having responded to my call." (October 25, 2013)
Our Lady says something
surprising in this message. She says, "Therefore, little children, in
the simplicity of heart seek of the Most High to give you the strength
to be God's children..." We might ask ourselves why does it take
strength from God to be His children! What is it about being God's
children that takes strength?
I think St. Paul knew the answer to this question. In the letter to the Romans he wrote:
For
all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not
receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have
received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba Father!" it is the
Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of
God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with
Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be
glorified with him. (Rom 8:14-17)
When we receive the Holy
Spirit in the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Eucharist and
Confirmation), we are brought into the family of God and made children
of God. Our lives are forever sealed with this gift, and we have a new
heritage. But this same seal, this family inheritance, marks us as
enemies of Satan and his cohort. We become a battleground on this earth.
Our souls are at issue. We have been stolen from the enemy, and now he
wants us back. And so the fight goes on. So we suffer with Christ, in
the battle over salvation.
This battle entails
suffering. We suffer with our own concupiscence. We suffer with
generational sins we inherit from our earthly families. We suffer in the
world which is so influenced by the enemy. And we suffer with the
direct influence of the enemy in the lives of men. And so St. Paul
continues:
I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation
waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the
creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will
of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set
free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the
children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in
travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves
who have the first fruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait for
adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were
saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he
sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with
patience. (Rom 8: 18-25)
We groan. We suffer. We wait
with patience, while the world battles on. We have to hold firm as we
wait for our hope to be revealed, that we are children of God and that
God is going to make a new heaven and earth for us, a place where we
shall all be free of sin at last! That is our hope, and it is our
future.
And so, it takes strength
from God to actually be children of God. We have to have God's strength
to stand firm in this time of battle, to fight on for the good, to hope
in salvation, and to love with the love of God for the sake of souls. We
have to have God's strength to forgive over and over again, when we are
wronged, when evil attacks, when we fail, when others fail. It takes
strength to wait with patience.
But one day we will be
revealed as the sons and daughters of God, and all creation will be
released from sin and death! Until that time it takes strength not to be
shaken like branches in the wind every time Satan attacks. Strength!
Hope! Faith! Love!
May we consider such
sufferings as St. Paul did, as not worth comparing with the glory that
is to be revealed in us!! We are children of God!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2013
"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!"
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