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

The Hand of Mercy

He sat off in the corner watching a crowd of people that had gathered around the teacher. Unable to speak, he sat alone; he was always alone. Unaccepted by others who often ridiculed him, rage became his only companion, you could say it latched onto him and wouldn’t let go. It possessed him.

The teacher, while addressing the crowd, glanced over and saw him sitting there alone and began to walk toward him. The man felt the rage within him began to stir. As the teacher moved closer, rage griped the man tightly and began to shake him violently, pushing him to the floor. Rage was well aware of who this teacher was and it was read to fight. 

The teacher, with full authority, stretched out his hand toward the man, looked through him to the eyes of rage and said "Leave him"! Just at that moment mercy and compassion filled the man and there was no room  for rage to reside. It left him.

The man immediately got up, kissed the teacher's hand with gratitude and said ,"thank you" , for all to hear. Amazed by what they had just witnessed, some in the crowd questioned the teacher's works, for mercy and compassion were unfamiliar to them.

Some continued to follow the teacher and they shared his works of mercy with those they met along the way. Others left the teacher, never to return.

"Dear Children! Open your heart to God’s mercy in this Lenten time. The heavenly Father desires to
deliver each of you from the slavery of sin. Therefore, little
children, make good use of this time and through meeting with God
in confession, leave sin and decide for holiness. Do this out of
love for Jesus, who redeemed you all with his blood, that you may
be happy and in peace. Do not forget, little children: your
freedom is your weakness, therefore follow my messages with
seriousness. Thank you for having responded to my call."  BVM, Medjugorje, 2/25/2007

Notes:  Adapted from Luke 11: 14-23

Sharing God's Mercy

"I assure you, as often as you did it for one of My least brothers, you did it for Me." –Matthew 25:40

I was in need of guidance,
and you shared your faith with me.

I was in spiritual dryness,
and you prayed for me.

I had been away from the church for some time,
and you invited me.

I came from a family that never knew Jesus,
and your love for him warmed my heart and drew me it.

As Christians, we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves, to share God’s mercy with both believers and non-believers. We are called to be a light in a world of spiritual darkness.
  It is through the  corporal and spiritual works of mercy that we truly practice our faith.


Lord, remove from my heart the stubbornness of the goat, who butts and kicks when he doesn't get his way.
Please give me the grace to be more trusting like the sheep,
Who hears your voice and follows after you.

Intercession

"Then He spoke of exterminating them, but Moses, His chosen one, withstood Him in the breach to turn back His destructive wrath." –Psalm 106:23


As I read today’s passage from the book of Exodus, the word “intercession” comes to mind. Though Israel turns from God, Moses intercedes on behalf of the people and asks God to show them mercy.

Like Israel, we too have turned away from God many times in our lives, individually and as a nation. Our molten calf might not be made of wood and gold, but what we tend to worship can come in many forms; these things lead us more toward self interest and less toward the kingdom and glory of God.

Thankfully, God in His mercy is aware of our weakness and He sends us wonderful angels of intercession to help us find our way back to Him. These angels come in many forms, such as family members, friends or people in our Christian community. But above all these, He sends us the Blessed Mother, Queen of the Angels, Mother of the Living God.

Mary intercedes for us before the Father and she is always asking us to intercede for the needs of the world as well.

“Have them believe and pray; I cannot help him who does not pray and does not sacrifice…The more you pray and fast for the same intention, the greater is the grace and the mercy of God.” BVM Medjugore 8/18/1982


May we all become intercessors for others and the world as a whole.