Medjugorje Message: June 25, 2016
Dear children! Give thanks to God with me for the gift of my being with you. Pray, little children, and live God’s commandments that it may be good for you on earth. Today, on this day of grace, I desire to give you my motherly blessing of peace and of my love. I intercede for you with my Son and call you to persevere in prayer so that, with you, I can realize my plans. Thank you for having responded to my call.
River of Light
July 2016
Our La
dy’s 35th Anniversary Message from Medjugorje to the world is exquisite in its simplicity and the reprise of the themes she introduced in late June 1981 to the six young children of the tiny mountain village “between the hills” in Bosnia-Hercegovina (then called Yugoslavia). First she reminds us of the unearned, unmerited GIFT of her presence there for these many years: “Give thanks to God with me for the gift of my being with you.” This gift of Mary’s “being with us” began on Calvary when Jesus said, “Behold, your mother” (Jn 19:27) and has continued throughout the centuries in her constant spiritual accessibility and aid through prayer, as well as the occasional extraordinary sensible manifestations of her maternal presence through apparitions such as Guadalupe, Mexico (1531), Lourdes, France (1858), Fatima, Portugal (1913), and several others approved by the Church as private revelations worthy of belief. Someday, after Our Lady’s apparitions end and the messages’ content can be studied exhaustively for their genuine orthodoxy, Medjugorje can join these elite ranks of “Church-approved apparitions” of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Indeed, we have much for which to give thanks in this incredible period of history in which we live, witnessing the longest-running (and allegedly the final) apparitions of Our Lady on earth!
She continues, “Pray, little children, and live God’s commandments that it may be good for you on earth.” Here Our Lady joins together the contemplative and active, or the “Mary” and “Martha” dimensions of our spiritual life in one sentence, conveying the inseparability of the two if we are to live well in this world. To be holy–that is, whole–human beings, we must both pray and live God’s commandments. Why? To avoid hell? To escape condemnation and punishment? No–so “that it may be good for you on earth.” In Medjugorje, Our Lady has never used “scare tactics” to promote her cause of prayer; she has never threatened thunderbolts from heaven or God’s retribution upon us if we fail to pray or live the commandments. Instead, she always provides positive motivation by revealing this as the path to the most fulfilling and happy life possible. We need not agonize or analyze too long about “which” commandments she means. Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt 7:12) Otherwise known as the “Golden Rule,” this teaching of fundamental human morality is universally taught in all the great religious traditions, and since Mary is Mother of the whole human race (not just Jews, Christians and Muslims), it may be the simplest and most accurate summation of her plea to “live God’s commandments that it may be good for you on earth.”
Our Lady continues: “Today, on this day of grace, I desire to give you my motherly blessing of peace and of my love.” When she uses the phrase, “I desire to give you my motherly blessing…” it is a special occasion, indeed, as we have learned on pilgrimage to Medjugorje. The visionaries have explained that when Our Lady extends her hands over the crowd to give a blessing, the blessing is for some particular purpose, grace or charism; in this case, the blessing is that of PEACE and of Mary’s LOVE. Of special importance is the fact that these blessings given by Our Lady are meant to be transmitted, transferred, passed on from the recipient to others as often as possible. Since the message given on the 25th of the month is addressed to the “whole world,” we know that Our Lady has in fact bestowed upon us as recipients this “motherly blessing of peace and of her love“–even though we are geographically far removed from the apparition site in Medjugorje–and that we are now capable and empowered to extend this same blessing to others, whenever and wherever possible! What a gift given to us on this “day of grace”! May we open our hearts wide to receive the fullness of Our Lady’s blessing.
Finally, Our Lady ends her anniversary message by saying, “I intercede for you with my Son and call you to persevere in prayer so that, with you, I can realize my plans.” From the start, Mary announced herself as the Queen of Peace in Medjugorje and spoke of her plans for the world which could only be realized through the cooperation of our prayers for her intentions. While we do not know the specifics of her plans, we have been told throughout history that “in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph” and peace will reign on earth. “Queen of Peace” is the very last title given to Mary in the traditional Litany of Loreto (1587), coinciding with her Medjugorje claim that these will be her “last apparitions on the earth.” Thus, we have been invited to make history with Our Lady and to be part of something monumentally significant and world-changing through our humble participation in daily prayer for her intentions. Let’s all get onboard and say, “I’m with HER!”
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A Christian should have a deep awareness that he cannot earn sanctity. He can only receive it as a gift from Jesus by earnestly aspiring to it. It is not we who give something to God but God who gives everything to us. Each of us will stand before God at the end of our lives with empty hands. Jesus himself will come with his hands full to meet the one who has labored for God but remains before him with empty hands. God desires that we permit him to manifest his love for us and, in response to his love, permit him to act in us. Our sinfulness does not stop God’s action in us. By experiencing interior conflict as a result of sin, we can open up to the words the Savior said to all of us: “Behold, your mother.” John, entrusted then to the Mother of God, “took her into his home.” We, too, can discover in those words the call to self-entrustment to Mary as we invite her, who formed the earthly face of Christ, to form also this face in us. When we enter the communion of life with Mary, through self-entrustment to her, we also start on the path of fuller growth of unity with Jesus–on the path to holiness. — Fr. Tadeusz Dajczer
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I want to dive into a place deeper than thought…deliver myself from the constant bondage of the brain, but with all my attention awake and alert…to penetrate into the mysteries which hide the innermost recesses of man’s soul….But how divorce oneself from the age-old tyranny of thoughts?…’Trace thought to its place of origin; watch for the real self to reveal itself, and then your thoughts will die down of their own accord.’ An amazing new sense of absolute freedom, for thought is like a loom-shuttle which is always going to and fro, and to be freed from its tyrannical motion is to step out of prison into the open air. — Paul Brunton
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July 4: Independence Day ~
What is “Freedom“?
We often think of freedom merely as the freedom to do what we want to do. But even the most basic experience of making contact with the power of Jesus in meditation shows us that freedom is not essentially the power to ‘do’ but the liberty to be who we are. To be who we are, we must be in relationship. We often painfully discover that we cannot be ourselves in isolation. The fundamental relationship of life is our relationship with God and meditation is our commitment to that. Prayer could be described as the selfless attention we bring to this relationship in which all relationships find their source. So we do not think about ourselves in meditation. We attend to God. Even to think of God would lead us to thinking of God in terms of ourselves. The wonder of prayer is that, in selfless attention, we enter God’s all-goodness and become good ourselves; not through any kind of platonic striving but simply because we enter the radiance of the orbit of his goodness. This is the essential basis of all morality, not that we try to imitate God but that we participate in the goodness of God. The ancient Fathers called this “purity of heart.” It is enjoyed when our heart is cleansed of all desire, including the desire for God. We should not want to possess God or even to possess wisdom or happiness. Desire itself prevents us from enjoying any of these. We should rather, simply and in quiet stillness, be who we are and be content to be good because we are in God. — Fr. John Main, OSB
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*** Freedom to Choose . . . ***
Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose.
I choose love. No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.
I choose joy. I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.
I choose peace. I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.
I choose patience. I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.
I choose kindness. I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.
I choose goodness. I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.
I choose faithfulness. Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My spouse will not question my love. My children will not fear they will be abandoned.
I choose gentleness. Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.
I choose self-control. I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day.
— Max Lucado
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Peace is not achieved by rooting out and destroying evil. When we become aware of our vices–anger, pride, greed, lust–the attempt to destroy them easily degenerates into self-hatred. After all, if we cannot love ourselves why bother to love others? Better than destroying your faults is to work patiently to implant the virtues–a slower and less dramatic work but far more effective. And by avoiding the dangers of religious hypocrisy and self-righteousness, the work creates a more pleasant working personality. Hidden in all our faults –our capacity for evil–there are also the seeds of virtues, many virtues. The terrorist may have had the seed of justice in him before his anger and the delusion that he is the instrument of God’s wrath took him over. When we conduct war against ourselves (many of the greatest religious fanatics have been self-denying) we risk huge collateral damage: in the destruction of our own seeds of virtue. Every kind of violence is a crime against humanity because it deprives the world of unknown goodness. The first step in implanting the virtues that will eventually overpower the vices is to establish the foundational virtue of deep and regular prayer. Through this silent rhythm of prayer, wisdom slowly penetrates our mind and our world. Wisdom is the universal power that brings good out of evil. The wise know the distinction between self-knowledge and self-fixation, between detachment and hardness of heart, between correction and cruelty. There are no rules for wisdom. Rules are not universal, but virtue is. — World Communion of Christian Meditation newsletter
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Wisdom from Pope Francis
The couple that loves and begets life is a true, living icon…capable of revealing God the Creator and Savior….The couple’s fruitful relationship becomes an image for understanding and describing the mystery of God himself….The triune God is a communion of love, and the family is its living reflection. St. John Paul II said, “Our God in his deepest mystery is not solitude, but a family, for he has within himself fatherhood, sonship and the essence of the family, which is love. That love, in the divine family, is the Holy Spirit“….Where love is concerned, silence is always more eloquent than words….Children are not the property of a family, but have their own lives to lead….Children’s life decisions, and their Christian vocation may demand a parting for the sake of the Kingdom of God…Jesus himself…has a greater mission to accomplish apart from his earthly family. In this way, he shows the need for other, deeper bonds even within the family….Jesus goes so far as to present [children] as teachers, on account of their simple trust and spontaneity toward others….a bitter truth found throughout sacred Scripture–that is, the presence of pain, evil and violence that break up families and their communion of life and love….The word of God constantly testifies to that somber dimension already present at the beginning, when, through sin, the relationship of love and purity between man and woman turns into domination…. Jesus knows the anxieties and tensions experienced by families…. The word of God is not a series of abstract ideas but rather a source of comfort and companionship for every family that experiences difficulties or suffering….Nor can we overlook the social degeneration brought about by sin, as when human beings tyrannize nature, selfishly and brutally ravaging it. This leads to the desertification of the earth and those social and economic imbalances denounced by the prophets….Christ proposed as the distinctive sign of his disciples the law of love and the gift of self for others….Love bears fruit in mercy and forgiveness….Another virtue stands out…it is tenderness….Every family should look to the icon of the Holy Family of Nazareth….The treasury of Mary’s heart also contains the experiences of every family, which she cherishes.
(from Amoris Laetitia—Apostolic Exhortation on the Synod on the Family, ch. 1)
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Mark Your Calendar
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To reject the contemplative dimension of any religion is to reject the religion itself, however loyal one may be to its externals and rituals. This is because the contemplative dimension is the heart and soul of every religion. It initiates the movement into higher states of consciousness. The great wisdom teachings of the Vedas, Upanishads, Buddhist Sutras, Old and New Testaments, and the Koran bear witness to this truth. Right now there are about two billion Christians on the planet. If a significant portion of them were to embrace the contemplative dimension of the gospel, the emerging global society would experience a powerful surge toward enduring peace. If this contemplative dimension of the Christian religion is not presented, the Gospel is not being adequately preached.
– Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO
