(c)Mary TV 2013
J.M.J.
September 16, 2013
St. Cornelius and Cyprian
Dear Family of Mary!
"...For the sake of
Jesus, for the sake of my Son, love those whom He has called and long for the
blessing only from the hands which He has consecrated. Do not permit evil to
come to reign. Anew I repeat - only alongside your shepherds will my heart
triumph. Do not permit evil to separate you from your shepherds. Thank
you." (Message to Mirjana, (09/02/13)
Our Lady has been urging us to
pray for our priests, to love them, and stay united to them. In my last
reflection I quoted Sr. Briege McKenna briefly about her experience during an
apparition of Our Lady in Medjugorje. She said that she was given a great pain
in her heart, and was told by Our Lady it was the pain she feels in her heart
for priests. We can imagine this pain is the pain of compassion. Our Lady loves
the priests deeply, and she sees how they suffer and even how they sin, and she
prays for them with great feeling. She knows how very important the priests are
in the plan of God to save His people. And she knows how much her Son, Jesus, is
present in the priests. And so she suffers for them.
As I listened to Sr. Briege's
testimony, I realized how much of what she says has to do with the priests. Her
entire life has been given to serving and praying for priests. She travels all
over the world giving retreats for priests. She, of all people, understands Our
Lady's love of the priests.
So I want to quote a bit more of
that testimony. It is wonderful:
I went to
Medjugorje for the first time with a really good friend of mine, the two of us,
and we went with a man from England, Miles Dempsey, who is quite the character.
We christened him "Major Miles" because he used to be in the army! Well anyway,
we went to Medjugorje and the first day we went to the church. It was packed.
And the priest was speaking and I started to cry. And my friend sitting beside
me said, "Do you understand what he is saying?" And I said, "No I don't." But I
had the most beautiful experience. He was speaking in Croatian and the Lord gave
me the interpretation. He showed me a scene (I went to Father afterwards to find
out...). The vision I had (I can still see it vividly) was a huge black cloud
coming, coming. It was like fog, but it was thick black fog. And as it was
creeping in to the cities and villages I saw many priests. And I wanted to say
to them, "Fathers, please stop it, you have the authority." I knew [the black
fog] was the evil taking over in people's lives. And [in the vision] I was
pleading with the priests to recognize their power against the forces of evil,
the God-given power. But the next thing I saw was that many of them became part
of the darkness. And I heard the Lord say, "You know, you have got to tell these
men that the only way to confront this evil is through holiness of life, and
through their consecration, and through their willingness to allow themselves to
be immersed in the Light of Christ. It was quite a long message.
I went around
to Fr. Tomislav afterwards, and he told me he was speaking on the power of the
priesthood and the need for the people to pray for the priests, and the need to
recognize that we were in a time when there was going to be a great battle over
the souls of God's people. And the clergy were the people who were given
God-given power!.... So that was my first visit. There were many other
things...
Jelena was a
locutionist. She was just a little girl at the time. I had this sense, I
remember saying to Sr. Janja...I had been asked to speak at the prayer group for
the visionaries...and I remember at that prayer meeting I got many, many words
of knowledge in the room with the visionaries there. But I remember two things
that happened... Sr. Janja came to me the next day and she said that Jelena
wanted to speak to me. I remember I had this sense when I was in the room of
apparition, just as the visionaries were about to kneel down. I thought I should
really be feeling very holy. I should be feeling that Our Lady is appearing
here. What is happening to me? I had this pain in my heart. I thought I was
getting a heart attack. And I thought, O, my Lord, what a place to die! I
thought I was having a heart attack right when Our Lady was appearing. And I
could feel this awful, awful pain in my breast, in my heart, and I thought, what
is happening. And just as they came out of the vision, the word said, "The pain
you are feeling is the pain I have in my heart for my priests in the heart." And
I got the sense I was going to be given a message.
The next
day...I got a message through Jelena...I was leaving the next day for South
America, and I asked Jelena to ask Our Lady what was the greatest need for the
priests. What should I tell the priests...I was going to South America on my own
to work on priest retreats. And I remember meeting with her and she said that
she asked Our Lady, and Our Lady held a cross and she said to tell the priests
that first of all they must be able to gaze at a crucifix and when they have the
love that Jesus had they wouldn't see rich and poor, they would see children
that Jesus redeemed, that He died for. Jesus doesn't see rich or poor, he sees
people that he loves, that he shed his blood for. Then Our Lady said there were
three things I was to talk to them about. One was how important it was that they
be men of humility. They were to be men who were humble of heart, like a little
child, and then they would see the message of the Gospel. They were to be men of
simplicity. The Gospel is simple. It doesn't need to be added to or subtracted
from. They should preach from the Gospel, and the power of its simple message
would penetrate hearts. And the third was about not being afraid of suffering. I
remember preaching this message in South America, and the effects were
extraordinary.
(Fruit of
Medjugorje, Episode 30, Sr. Briege McKenna)
I find Sr. Briege's vision of the
dark fog coming over the world very compelling. She understood that it was the
priesthood that could defeat this black evil. Our Lady has confirmed that only
with our shepherds will we be able to defeat evil. She urges us to stand firm
with them, and to pray for them, so that they will prevail.
"...Every day I pray for
the shepherds and I expect the same of you. Because, my children, without their
guidance and strengthening through their blessing, you cannot do it. Thank
you." June 02, 2012
"...I am especially
praying and watching over those whom my Son called to be light-bearers and
carriers of hope for you - for your shepherds. Thank you." March 02,
2013
"...Anew I repeat - only
along side your shepherds will my heart triumph." September 2, 2013
I also love the words of wisdom
Our Lady gave for the priests, through Jelena. Sr. Briege said Our Lady's
direction for her ministry bore great fruit. How wise Sr. Briege was to ask Our
Lady to guide her in her work of love for priests.
May we all draw close to Our Lady
in these days, so that she can guide each of us, leading us into the ways of
love and truth. May she teach us how to pray for our priests, and to sacrifice
for them, drawing down graces upon them. They need our prayers. We need their
ministry!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
PS. Tonight another "Fruit
of Medjugorje" Episode will air at
www.marytv.tv - 8:00 pm EDT! Don't miss it!!
"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!"
Blessed John Paul II -
Be connected!
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