Fr. Martin’s
reflection on - Our Lady’s Message
25th
November 2018
“ Dear children, This is a time of grace and prayer, a time of
waiting and giving. God is giving Himself to you that we may love Him
above everything. Therefore, little children, open your hearts and
families, so that this waiting may become prayer and love and, especially,
giving. I am with you, little children, and encourage you not to give up
from what is good, because the fruits are seen and
heard of afar. That is why the enemy is angry and uses everything to lead
you away from prayer.
Thank you for having
responded to my call. ”
Dear Brothers and sisters
of Medjugorje North East and beyond,
Let us turn to the Holy
Scriptures for guidance on our reflection for this month's message, for Mary is
Mother of the Word.
Let us place at the focus
of this reflection the parable of the Mustard Seed in St. Matthew's Gospel,
Chapter thirteen, and the encounter in the temple of the generous widow who
gave everything she had to live on, Luke, Chapter twenty.
As a background to these
two Scripture passages we hold before us the words “A time of waiting and giving” given in November's message.
In the parable of the
Mustard seed, (Matthew,
13:31-32) Jesus
reminds us that "It
is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it becomes a large tree
so that the birds of the air can shelter in its branches." (Matt 13: 32)
In this month's message Our
Lady is filled with the Spirit of Advent.
A sense of expectancy and
hope pervades this message.
She reminds us of the
importance of waiting, i.e. preparing our hearts and souls, so that like
the mustard seed in the parable, God may do his work in the quiet and silence
of our lives.
As we wait for a seed to
grow, so too in Advent we wait "With Blessed Hope" for
the spiritual Graces and gifts of the Spirit to be born in us.
The Holy Spirit is working
when we wait with this Blessed Hope.
Advent is also the time of
Giving, along with Blessed waiting, Mary calls us to an openness of our lives
to receive from the Lord.
‘God is giving of himself
to you’.
The utterly free,
gratuitous Gift of his Love, poured out upon us in the self-emptying love of
his Son, is available for all people. "A time of waiting and giving, God is giving himself to you."
In St. Luke's Gospel, the
generous widow gives from the heart, gives everything, because her security is
in the self-emptying love of God, she knows how to receive the spiritual
gifts. So too for ourselves, in “waiting and giving” we
receive the new life from the giver of all life.
At the Visitation of Mary
to her cousin Elizabeth, (Luke 1: 30-45) we encounter the two Holy women who know what it is to "wait and give", two women filled
with the Blessed Hope of the first Advent, and for whom "waiting and giving" became
Prayer and Love. This is the key, to become Prayer and Love in
Advent.
Our Lady then encourages us
not to give up the good, Because
the fruits are seen and heard from afar."
Often people share with me
the holy and mystical experiences they were given whilst in Medjugorje.
Often these graces are life changing and have a profound effect on a person’s
future.
So, we must never become
discouraged at the way things are, we must not look for results as if we are
dealing with a company or business.
Mary gives a rallying call
in this month's message to keep going in Faith and Love, to wait and give,
because “The fruits are seen and
heard from afar."
Think of -
The Mustard seed,
The Widow in the Temple,
The Visitation!
God knows the fruits, and
we can see them from afar.
"This
is why the enemy is angry and uses everything to take you away from Prayer."
Our Lady is warning us as
Mother of the Church, that satan is active and leads
us away from Prayer, from Worship of God.
The most effective weapon
against satan is:
· Prayer,
· The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
· Holy Confession.
In those moments when we
receive special Graces, we triumph over satans reign
and with Mary we share the victory.
She is the woman clothed
with the Sun, standing on the moon, with a crown of twelve stars around her
head.
She is the one who crushes
the serpent's head.
By God's goodness we are,
as was Jesus, her chosen offspring.
Victory is promised to us
but only on the condition we decide for Love and Prayer.
May Advent be the time of
Blessed hope, a time of waiting and giving, the spiritual gifts to come.
Fr. Martin