Deuteronomy 31:8: It is the Lord who
goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do
not fear or be dismayed.”
At Guadalupe….As
for the sign for the bishop, Mary told Juan Diego to go to the top of the
mountain and pick some flowers. He went up to the hill which was dry and barren
— a place for cactus — and found roses like those grown in Castille, but
foreign to Mexico. He gathered them in his tilma, a garment like a
poncho. He brought them to Mary who
arranged them and said to take them to the bishop. http://catholiceducation.org/articles/stories_of_faith_and_character/cs0092.html
The Second
Apparition at Fatima: 13 June 1917
About fifty people turned up at the Cova da Iria
on June 13, as the three children assembled near the Holmoak tree where the
Lady had appeared. The children then saw a flash of light followed immediately
by the apparition of Mary, as she spoke to Lucia: "I want you to come on
the 13th of next month, to pray the
Rosary every day, and to learn to read. Later, I will tell you what I
want."
Today we see Mary
return to Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia, reminding them to pray the rosary every
day! If we haven’t gotten the message by now, I don’t know what else Mary can
do to remind us of the power of this prayer. The rosary, all 15 decades,
encapsulates the entire life of Jesus for our meditation. When prayed in its entirety,
we travel with Jesus, through Mary, from the announcement of Mary’s motherhood
until her Coronation. To pray the rosary every day is to use the most powerful
weapon on earth to fight evil in our families and in our world
Lucia asked Mary to take them to heaven and was
reassured in this way: "I will take Jacinta and Francisco shortly; but you
will stay here for some time to come. Jesus wants to use you to make me known
and loved. He wishes to establish the devotion to my Immaculate Heart
throughout the world. I promise salvation to whoever embraces it; these souls
will be dear to God, like flowers put by me
to adorn his throne." This last sentence is found in a letter written
in 1927 by Sr. Lucia to her confessor.
Mary uses flowers
and the reference to flowers in several other apparitions. She used them as the
proof of her appearance to Juan Diego at Guadalupe; she referred to the people
gathered at Kibeho as flowers, and she is referred to in the Old Testament
in this way: "I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valley."
(Canticles 2: 1) My
blossoms bear fruit fair and rich." (Sirach 24: 13-17). The beauty of Mary
is that she loves us so much. She constantly intercedes for us. She presents us
to God when we die if we follow the devotion to her Immaculate Heart, and she
does it in such a lovely way, that only the image of flowers can capture the
splendor of this.
Lucia was sad at the first part of this reply,
saying: "Am I to stay here alone?" Mary replied: "No, my
daughter. Are you suffering a great deal? Don't lose heart. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge
and the way that will lead you to God."
Again, as we saw in yesterday’s apparition, Mary’s words
parallel those of God the Father and God the Son. She is never seeking to draw
attention to herself, but only to God. Here she reminds us all that even when
we are asked to suffer, she will help us through it. We can always participate
in the act of redemptive suffering knowing we will never be alone in doing it.
Do not be afraid to suffer and offer it up for the reparation of sin.
O holy Mother of the Children of God! When shall I rest in thy immortal arms? Our souls should be wholly consumed by this desire. But I will restrain myself and peacefully await the hour which the divine Savior has destined for me, to overwhelm me with that bliss. In the meantime, let me have only one desire, to please Him by doing His holy will in all things. What God wishes from us, be done; we are His for time and eternity. Amen. (The
Prayer Book, Catholic Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1958)
No comments:
Post a Comment