Seek the Grace of Conversion

May 25, 2011 Message to Marija

"Dear children! My prayer today is for all of you who seek the grace of conversion. You knock on the door of my heart, but without hope and prayer, in sin, and without the Sacrament of Reconciliation with God. Leave sin and decide, little children, for holiness. Only in this way can I help you, hear your prayers and seek intercession before the Most High. Thank you for having responded to my call." 

...I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one.

He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world. 1 John 2:1

‘For the sake of His sorrowful Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.’.... St. Faustina Kowalska

Not as the world gives.......

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you. John 14:27


He just hadn’t been feeling well. Was it just his age, or was something really wrong with him? He went to his family doctor, but nothing serious was diagnosed. He was told to take it easy and was sent home.

His balance seemed off, then he started to fall.

He went back to see his doctor, and this time he was told that he had had a mild stroke. After treatment, he was sent home, only to experience another fall, then another. Things were happening fast now, and he was frightened.

He was admitted into the hospital and diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer; it was inoperable. Struggling with the news, his family gathered around his hospital bed in prayer and support.

He was husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle to many. He had served his country proudly in the Korean War. He had always been a loving man, a peaceful man, a family man. Suddenly he was a very ill man, with little time left.

As his pain grew stronger, his medication was increased making it difficult to communicated or even pray. But God in his goodness sent him many prayer warriors to keep vigil with him. They said the prayers he could not say, they brought his priest to administer the sacrament of the sick, and they spent time in Adoration for him. Through Christ, they brought him the peace he needed.

The doctor and hospital staff could do no more for him. Hospice care had been arranged and he was sent home to spend the time he had left with his family. Within a few days he was in the arms of Jesus.

Now he prays for all of us.......

"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3

 In Memory of John Valencia

The Word Became Flesh

Karinann at Daughter of the King has tagged me for this Scripture based meme. I am asked to pick three of my favorite Scripture verses. Many came to mind, but these are the three I have chosen.

Luke 1:46    And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord.”

I often think of just her with awe and wonder;
In perfect humility, she offers a remarkable hymn of praise.
“The God-bearer”, she greatens the presence of God in our lives by bringing him to us.
As Christians we are all called to magnify the Lord, and to greaten his presence in the world around us.

Matthew 18:1-4  At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.


I can be very narrow minded at times, only seeing things or a situation one way. I call this preoccupation with self. In this scripture passage, Jesus points out to his disciples that they have lost site of his message. Instead of seeking a place of service, they sought positions of advantage.

As Christians we are called to humble service.

John 6:32-33  Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world."


The true presence of Christ himself is available to us everyday in the Holy Eucharist. The words “come let us adore him” fill my mind. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all spent more time adoring our Lord in the sacrament of Holy Eucharist?


"Dear children! Today I call on you to read the Bible every day in your homes and let it be in a visible place so as always to encourage you to read it and to pray. Thank you for having responded to my call." BVM,  Medjugorje , October 18, 1984 

I would love to read the favorite bible verses of:

  Jek at  In Search of...

Ed Sousa, Sr   at  In Gods Company 2

Joan Grayson at  Catholic Sacred Art

So if you arae interested, tag you're it!

I know my sheep, and mine know me....

“……the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” John 10:3



We had packed the motor home early that day; we were looking forward to the trip. Lake Tahoe was our destination, where our children would be participating in a soccer tournament.

My husband wanted to leave at midnight. His plan was to beat the heat of the Mojave Desert and arrive at our campsite early, making the most of the time allotted to us.

As he drove through the night we slept soundly until the motor home came to a complete stop and a small voice from a child in the back yelled, “Are we there yet ?” Dawn was breaking and the fog on the road was so thick that the taillights on the car in front of us were barely visible. “No”, my husband said, “We aren’t there yet, but we aren’t moving either”.

Just then, we started to hear the sound of bells jingling softly in the distant. Our curiosity was peaking as the sound grew closer and the fog began to lift.

To our sheer delight, we saw what looked like hundreds of sheep coming toward us. They were being lead by a single shepherd to a pasture across the highway. It was amazing how this one man could guide all these sheep so effortlessly  across the road, but he did.

Today we celebrate the Good Shepherd. May we take the time to pray for the shepherds in our church, as well as for an increase in vocations.

O Jesus,

I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;

for your unfaithful and tepid priests;

for your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields.

for your tempted priests;

for your lonely and desolate priests;

For your young priests;

for your dying priests;

for the souls of your priests in Purgatory.

But above all, I recommend to you the priests dearest to me:

the priest who baptized me;

the priests who absolved me from my sins;

the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion;

the priests who taught and instructed me;

all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way

(especially …).

O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,

and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.

Amen    St. Therese of Lisieux

Remebering Fatima

May 13, 1917

"I have come to exhort the faithful to change their lives, to avoid grieving Our Lord by sin; to pray the Rosary.”  Lady of Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima asked the children if the would pray and make sacrifice for sinners, to which they said "Yes". This was the beginning of a new life for them, for their sole purpose in life was to pray and make sacrifices for sinners. As young as they were, they would even give their lunches to the sheep as a sacrifice and other acts of mortification.

Application~ What sacrifice am I willing to make for Our Lord? How long has it been since I have offered a family rosary for the souls of others?

Prayer:   

Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls into heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.  Amen.

Citation: Our Lady of Fatima, Cultural Catholic

Say "Yes" to The Father With The Heart....

God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. (John 3)


Thick clouds gathered round the moon that night and an eerie stillness filled the air. As he knelt to pray, tightness grew within his chest, his breathing became labored and his heart began to race. He knew what lied ahead of him and his anxiety was growing stronger. His perspiration turned to blood and slowly ran down his cheeks as he accepted his chalice of suffering. Freely he said, “Father, let it be done to me according to Your Word”. With an infinite love, he suffered that we might be saved.

Like a criminal he was bound and brought before the court. Innocent though he was, he was condemned, tied to a post and scourged mercilessly. All of this he offered up to free us from the wickedness of sin.


And just as evil always seems to feed in an angry crowd, their contempt for him increased as they crowned him with thorns, slapped, spat upon him and mocked him. He suffered for our redemption.

Force to carry the weight of the heavy cross; he walked the long road of Calvary. Weak as he was, he fell three times. Knees shaking almost uncontrollably, he struggled to push himself up and continued on to what lied ahead. He knew what was at stake a little further down the road. His ‘yes’ for our salvation sustained him.

He accepted the crucifixion and death of the cross for us as he surrendered his spirit to the Father. All this he did that we would turn from our sin, from all that we are bound to here on this earth and that we too, may be resurrected to a new life.



“Dear children; God the Father is sending me to show you the way of salvation, because He, my children, desires to save you and not to condemn you. That is why I, as a mother, am gathering you around me, because with my motherly love I desire to help you to be free of the dirtiness of the past and to begin to live anew and differently. I am calling you to resurrect in my Son. Along with confession of sins renounce everything that has distanced you from my Son and that has made your life empty and unsuccessful. Say 'yes' to the Father with the heart and set out on the way of salvation to which He is calling you through the Holy Spirit. Thank you. I am especially praying for the shepherds (priests), for God to help them to be alongside you with a fullness of heart." BVM, Medjugorje, May 02, 2011 Message to Mirjana