Medjugorje Message: July 25, 2018
Dear children! God called me to lead you to Him because He is your strength. That is why I am calling you to pray to Him and to trust in Him, because He is your refuge from every evil that lurks and carries souls far from the grace and joy to which you are all called. Little children, live Heaven here on earth so that it will be good for you; and may the commandments of God be a light on your way. I am with you and I love you all with my motherly love. Thank you for having responded to my call.
River of Light
August 2018
Once again, in this month’s message to the world, Our Lady emphasizes her role as the Mother who “leads us to God, calling us to pray to Him and to trust Him.” She does this, she says, because “God called me to lead you to Him because He is your strength.” Our Lady never makes herself the goal or endpoint of our dependency or our drawing close in prayerful relationship, but always points us to her Son and to the Father in heaven who is our Source. To this “guiding” job she was “called” by God; it is her vocation, her mission, her work, her cosmic career, both on earth and in heaven: from eternity she was destined and commissioned by the Creator for this singular purpose.
Our Lady knows and understands her calling from God. Do we know ours? On his deathbed, St. Francis of Assisi said to his friars, “I have done what was mine to do. May God show you what is yours.” Likewise, St. Paul expressed the same confidence that he had “completed the race” that was Christ’s work meant for him to accomplish as apostle to the Gentiles. (2 Tim 4:7) We, too, must prayerfully “open the ears of our hearts” to hear and discern God’s calling and claim upon our lives, fulfilling the purpose for which we were created. In God we can find both the vision or master plan for our life, AND the strength to carry it out, for “He is our strength.” The Divine Indwelling Presence of God at the center of our inmost Being reveals to us—just as St. Paul said: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13) Let us prayerfully ask each day, “What is God’s unique calling on my life?”
We face many obstacles to answering the divine call in the chaotic storm of modern culture, with its myriad forces and influences acting upon us—physically, emotionally, spiritually—that are often counter to and conflicting with God’s claim on us. Our Lady says, “I am calling you to pray to Him and to trust Him, because He is your refuge from every evil that lurks and carries souls far from the grace and joy to which you are all called.” The word “REFUGE” is profoundly meaningful in many traditions. In Buddhism, “Taking Refuge” is a spiritual discipline in which one finds shelter in three places: 1) in the Buddha (both the historic person and the spirit of awakening); 2) in the Dharma (the Buddha’s teachings); and 3) in the Sangha (the community of spiritual practitioners). In Christianity, this might translate as “Taking Refuge” 1) in Christ, 2) in the Gospel teachings, and 3) in the Church.
In this message, Our Lady says GOD is our “refuge“—a word defined by Webster’s as: shelter, support, protection, security, sanctuary or asylum when fleeing danger, violence, suffering or difficulty. Psalm 46 begins, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Sacred scripture refers often to the concept of “refuge” and those who seek it—“refugees.” Leviticus 19 says, “The refugee residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10 says, “You are to love those who are refugees, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.” Exodus 23 says, “Do not oppress a refugee. You know how it feels to be foreigners in Egypt.” And in Matthew 25, Jesus says, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” In our own day and time, the immigrant crisis in America highlights the plight of those seeking refuge/sanctuary/asylum from the “evil that lurks” in their native lands—often in the form of murderous despotic governments, war, domestic violence, child slavery, sex trafficking, or drug lords and gangs terrorizing the innocent.
While we focus only on the externals of these cruel and violent situations, debating the fate of people’s bodies, Our Lady stresses the spiritual threat to human SOULS that are being carried by evil “far from the grace and joy” meant for “all” God’s children. In a less dramatic way than these literal refugees, each of us must confront the “evil that lurks” in our own daily life, threatening to “carry our souls far” from the heaven God has prepared for us. Let us take some time to prayerfully discern and uncover these dark places of lurking evil and soul-danger in our own life. How do we detect them?
Our Lady answers by concluding her message with these words: “Little children, live Heaven here on earth so that it will be good for you; and may the commandments of God be a light on your way.” At first it may sound grandiose or absurdly unrealistic to say “Live Heaven here on earth.” But recall that in every “Our Father,” we pray that God’s kingdom “come” and “will be done, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.” In the Gospel, Jesus tells a young man who has carefully studied the Mosaic Law that he is “not far from the kingdom of God” (Mk 12:34), and tells another, “the kingdom of God is within you.” (Lk 17:21) So clearly it is possible, with divine grace, for us to “Live Heaven here on earth,” even though we still suffer the “vale of tears” and sense of exile from the blissful experience of the Beatific Vision of God that will come only after our physical death. Still, Our Lady says that life on earth “will be good for you” in this way of living. Her teaching supports St. John Paul II’s assertion that heaven and hell are states of consciousness that we carry with us from life into death; there is a continuity between how we live on earth and what we experience after death.
To see the “lurking evil” that threatens our souls, Our Lady says that “the commandments of God” can be “a light on our way” through this present darkness of our sin-filled, conscience-impaired, sleepwalking 21st century world riddled with greed and corruption, lacking God-consciousness and spiritual awareness. So let us renew our acquaintance with the scriptural commandments of God, distilled by Jesus Christ down to two: LOVE OF GOD with heart, mind, soul and strength, and LOVE OF NEIGHBOR as our “other self”—with “neighbor” meaning anyone in need.
For further guidance and a practical, detailed elaboration of these two Great Commandments of Love, let us review the Ten Commandments given in the Mosaic Law, which Jesus himself surely learned from Mary:
- Have no other gods or false idols before the Lord, your God.
- Do not misuse the holy name of the Lord.
- Keep the sabbath day of rest holy.
- Honor your father and mother.
- Do not murder.
- Do not commit adultery.
- Do not steal.
- Do not lie.
- Do not covet another’s spouse or sexually objectify any person.
- Do not covet riches or material goods.
Considering anew these Ten Commandments of God revealed in the Old Testament (Ex 20 and Deut 5), along with their consummate summary in the twofold “Great Commandment” of Jesus in the New Testament (Mt 22 and Mk 12), let us discern the places in our own life where evil may lurk to threaten our soul-health, and prayerfully repent of our part in evil with humble, contrite hearts and deep trust. Having recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, may we celebrate a fresh start and new beginning in the REFUGE OF LOVE that is our ever-merciful God.
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Everybody gets a gift. “Each person is given something to do that shows who God is.” (1 Cor 12:7) Our assignments are tailor-made. No two fingerprints are the same. So, why would two skill sets be the same? No wonder Paul said, “Make sure you understand what the Master wants.” (Eph 5:17) Do you understand what your Master wants? Do you know what makes you, you? Have you identified the features that distinguish you from every other human? You have an “acreage” to develop, a lot in life. Scripture reminds us, “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.” (Gal 6:4) You be you!
—Max Lucado
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Your core, your deepest DNA, is the Spirit of Love implanted within you by your Creator at the first moment of your creation. Once you recognize the Christ as the universal truth of matter and spirit working together as one, then everything is holy. (Baltimore Catechism, Question 15: Where is God? Answer: God is everywhere.)
The root of violence is the illusion of separation. The Gospel message gradually trains you not to make so much of the differences, but to return to who you are (your True Self in God) which is always beyond any nationality, religion, skin color, gender, sexuality, or any other possible labels. When you can become little enough, naked enough, and honest enough…at this place of poverty and freedom, you have nothing to prove and nothing to protect. Here you can connect with everything and everyone. Everything belongs.
Our activism can flow from our authentic identity as Love. We can work for social change from a stance much different than vengeance, ideology, or willpower pressing against willpower. Connecting with our inner experience of communion rather than separation, our actions, rooted in the True Self, come from a deeper knowing beyond labels and dualistic judgments—from “being in prayer.” Contemplation offers a way to make our action sustainable and lasting, without being overly defended or cynical.
—Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM
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If I have harmed anyone in any way, either knowingly or unknowingly
through my own confusions, I ask their forgiveness.
If anyone has harmed me in any way, either knowingly or unknowingly
through their own confusions, I forgive them.
And if there is a situation I am not yet ready to forgive,
I forgive myself for that.
For all the ways that I harm myself, negate, doubt, belittle myself,
judge or be unkind to myself through my own confusions,
I forgive myself.
—A Buddhist Prayer of Forgiveness
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As long as there is this sense of separation, this awareness of distance between ourselves and God, we have not yet entered into the fullness of contemplation. As long as there is an “I” that is aware of itself and of its contemplation, then we have not yet passed over the Red Sea, we have not yet “gone out of Egypt.” We remain in the realm of multiplicity, activity, striving and desire. The true inner self, the immortal person, the true “I” does not “have” anything, cannot amass experiences, reflect on himself, for this “I” is not the superficial self that we know in everyday life.
It is a great mistake to confuse the person (the spiritual and hidden self united with God) and the ego—the exterior self who forms a kind of mask for the inner and hidden self. This outer self is nothing but a shadow. Its biography and existence both end at death. Of the inmost self, there is neither biography nor end. The outward self can “have, enjoy, and accomplish” much, but in the end all its possessions, joys and accomplishments are nothing, and the outer self is nothing: a shadow, a garment cast off and consumed by decay.
—Thomas Merton, OCSO
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Aug 15 & 22: Assumption and Queenship of Mary
Our good Lord showed us Our Lady Saint Mary to signify the exalted wisdom and truth which were hers as she contemplated her Creator. This wisdom and truth showed her in contemplation how great, how exalted, how mighty, and how good was her God. The greatness and nobility of her contemplation of God filled her full of reverence, and with this she saw herself so small and humble, so simple and poor in comparison with her God that this reverence filled her with humility. And founded on this, she was filled with grace and with every kind of virtue, and she surpasses all creatures.
—Bl. Julian of Norwich
The Virgin never ceased practicing in a perfect way each one of these points: prayer, trust, humility, obedience, peace, detachment, living in the present moment, and gratitude. The secret for receiving the abundance of the Spirit is to trust ourselves totally to the holy Virgin, so that she will teach us her interior disposition, keep us faithful, and pray for what we are lacking. The closer we are to Mary, the more we receive the Holy Spirit. The greatness of Mary is her faith…and what she most desires to communicate to us is the force of her faith. It is by faith that every grace comes to us. Faith is the essence of our capacity to receive the free gift of God.
—Fr. Jacques Philippe
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Wisdom from Pope Francis
We live with the accelerator down, morning to night….This ruins our mental health, our spiritual health, and our moral health.
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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
