My children, you cannot be without the shepherds

(c)Mary TV 2011 The lifesaving ministry of the Priesthood! May 8, 2012 Dear Family of Mary! "My children, you cannot be without the shepherds. May they be in your prayers every day. Thank you." (May 2, 2012) . This is the tail end of Our Lady's message of May 2. But it is a very important part of her message. Our Lady shares with us a very stark and startling reality. We really cannot be without our shepherds. Without our Pope, the bishops, and our priests, we would cease to function as the Body of Christ. Our shepherds are like the vital organs of the body, pumping oxygen and food through our veins like the heart and lungs, teaching us and guiding us like the brain and the senses, and cleaning us of all impurities, like the kidneys and intestines. They keep us alive in the grace of God through their administration of the Sacraments. We need them!!! . I have several examples of the life-saving role of the priesthood in my life. Here is one. About 15 years ago I became very ill with an intestinal infection. At first it looked like the flu, but as time went by it intensified instead of abating, and so I was sent to the emergency room. As the doctors worked to try to diagnose the cause of my illness, I became weaker and weaker. It was looking pretty grim. No one seemed able to identify the source of my problem. . I was in and out of reality, sedated because of pain. But I remember very clearly the night when Denis brought Fr. Ed O'Connor to my hospital room to give me the Anointing of the Sick. Fr. Ed's voice penetrated the fog in my mind, and I heard him praying the beautiful prayers of the Anointing. I felt the oil on my forehead, hands and feet. I knew I was being blessed through the power of the Church, and a peace came over me that I could not explain. . That same night, a new doctor came on the scene, and his voice also pierced through the fog, and I knew he would be able to diagnose my situation. I just knew it. He asked me several questions, and then made some changes to my medications. For the next week, he attended me very faithfully, and though it was touch and go, I pulled through with no lasting consequences. (I also had many friends and family praying for me. In fact that night I was anointed two friends were in adoration for me, and they both felt it was a turning point.) . Anyway, I experienced firsthand that power of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. It was as if Jesus came right to my bedside and turned the situation around, beginning my healing through Fr. Ed. We cannot "be" without our priests, bishops and the Pope. They are our life support system in the Body of Christ, and we need them at every turning point in our life. . I want to pray for them with intense gratitude and love. I think we should cherish them because they bring us the life sustaining graces that Jesus has provided for us by His sacrifice, death and resurrection. Thank you, dear Jesus, for giving us your Representatives on earth. Thank you for their constant care. Strengthen them for the days ahead. Teach them how to become more and more perfect as your representatives, and comfort them in their trials and failures. We ask you to hear our prayers for them, and to always sustain them in love. In Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2012