Fr. Martin’s
reflection on - Our Lady’s Message
25th
December 2025
“Dear
children! Also today - when
God permits me to carry to you in my arms little Jesus, the King of Peace, that
He may fill you with the ardor of love and peace, so
that every heart may be similar to His Heart in this time of grace - be
resolute and courageous defenders of the love of your God, that in this time of
grace He may give you His peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
(With Ecclesiastical
approval)
Dear Brothers and Sisters of Medjugorje North East and beyond,
Our Lady comes to us carrying the Christ child in her arms. Mary calls him, ‘little Jesus.’ The Church often refers to Our Lady as ‘The
God- Bearer’ or in the Greek ‘Theotokos.’ Our Lady comes to us bearing ‘ little Jesus’ the ‘King of Peace’ because God does not threaten. A baby only brings love and warmth, and draws
the same response
from our hearts. ‘Little Jesus’ – The
King of peace comes to us in the arms of Our Lady to show us the true face of
God. May we be filled with wonder and
praise as we contemplate this image. Let us remember how much God loves us , as the Incarnate one.
When Our Lady refers to her Son as , ‘Little
Jesus’. I am reminded of two Saints who had great devotion to the infant
Jesus. St. Terese
of Lisieux and St. Anthony of Padua, found in the contemplation of the infant Jesus , the humility of God and his tenderness, and the
‘little’ way he invites us to walk. Here
in the ‘littleness’ of God, we find the answer to human pride and the way to overcome such
ways. Here in the ‘littleness’ of Jesus
we see the depth of the Christmas mystery , and the
invitation to become spiritually small too.
“Unless you become like little children, you shall not enter the kingdom
of heaven.” (MT: 18: 3) May we humbly kneel before the crib in these holy
days and give the Christ child the gift
of our own hearts, and entrust him with our lives. Let us welcome him , ‘little Jesus’. With open arms from the Mother of God.
Then Our Lady says, “That he may fill you with the ardor of love and peace, so that every heart may be similar
to his heart.”
Peace in the heart
is the condition for Jesus to be born in our hearts. Peace is a grace from God ,
it also the fruit of love, forgiveness, reconciliation and mercy. Jesus is ‘The King of Peace’ says Mary, so we
should pray more to him who gave his life for us. ‘Little Jesus’ desires to draw all people to
his heart, his Sacred Heart where we find an endless ocean of divine
peace. He wants to protect us, - our families,
the church, our communities, and the whole world.
The infant Jesus in his littleness and meekness desires to touch every
human heart with his heavenly peace. The word Our Lady uses is ‘ardor’ – i.e. tenderness ,
warmth steadfast love. This is the
divine outpouring of God’s saving love at Christmas time. So our hearts become
like his, when they are truly open to this wondrous gift. To have a heart like the heart of Jesus, is
Our Lady’s prayer for us.
Our Lady then calls us to “be resolute and courageous defenders of
the love of your God, that in this time of grace, he may give you his peace.”
What does it mean to defend the Love of God ? To love with the heart of Jesus. To mirror the face of God in the crib of
Bethlehem in our
words and actions. To defend the love of
God in our hearts from everything that would compromise our faith in him. To be ‘resolute’ and ‘courageous defenders of
the love of your God’ means to know our true purpose and meaning in him who
gave everything for us. To be determined
and unwavering in the gift of a loving Faith, in service to others, in love for
him who became flesh for our Salvation.
A Happy and Holy Christmas to all
of you, and every blessing for the New Year.
Fr. Martin