Your pure and sincere love draws my motherly heart. Your faith and trust in the Heavenly Father are fragrant roses which you offer to me-the most beautiful bouquets of roses which consist of your prayers, acts of mercy and of love.
Apostles of my love, you who sincerely and with a pure heart strive to follow my Son, you who sincerely love Him, you help; you be an example to those who have not yet come to know the love of my Son-but, my children, not only with words but also with acts and pure feelings through which you glorify the Heavenly Father.
Apostles of my love, it is a time of vigilance, and of you I am asking for love, that you not judge-anyone. Because the Heavenly Father will judge everyone.
I am asking that you love, that you convey the truth; because truth is old, it is not new, it is eternal, it is truth. It testifies to God’s eternity. Bring the light of my Son and keep breaking the darkness which all the more wants to seize you. Do not be afraid. Through the grace and the love of my Son, I am with you. Thank you.
At a time when the world is on edge, it can seem that many are behaving irrationally. We might even label their actions as unjust or judge them to be gripped by a spirit of fear. Our Lady’s message could not have come at a more poignant time.
Echoing the words of her Son, “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned (Luke 6:36-38),” she reminds us instead to love and to convey the truth.
In the Gospel of John, Pilate asks rhetorically, What is truth?
Some might argue truth is pointing out injustice, like the curbing of church services in response to a public outcry for protection against the plague.
Or the criticizing of public officials and other members of the public for taking heavy precautions that may seem too drastic for the public good.
But the truth Our Lady is asking us to convey is not the same truth Pilate believes is relative. It’s the truth Jesus speaks of just before Pilate washes his hands of him: Jesus IS THE witness of truth. And, “Everyone on the side of truth listens to him.”
And what is Jesus saying to us? Our Lady reminds us that Jesus “testifies to God’s eternity.” We simply cannot judge the actions of others when we do not have Christ’s viewpoint on eternity. A time is coming when “the Heavenly Father will judge everyone.” How can we know that the actions of our leaders are not exactly the will of God? Could anyone argue it was wrong of Pilate to wash his hands of Jesus when the Lord himself absolved him, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above (John 19:11).”
So it is with us today. Christ established His authority on earth through the Apostle Peter. Regardless of our opinions on the truth of what is occurring in our times, none of us can be certain it is not the will of God for it to be so. All is revealed in God’s timing, “The Lord does not delay…as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish…(2 Peter 3:9).” Everyone has a part to play in this “time of vigilance.”
Our Lady’s part is to remind us to “Bring the light of her Son and keep breaking the darkness which all the more wants to seize you. Do not be afraid.”
We do this when we follow His commandments to love one another and to “Stop judging.” We bring the light of truth when we respect the authorities Jesus established and we follow the ordinances of His Law: to love, to pray, and to encourage one another to holy obedience.
Christ has not promised us an easy life, or that trials would not come. His crucifixion bears His witness that even consolations we have come to hold fast to, such as Eucharistic and all forms of public worship and life as we know it, can be stripped from us in an instant leaving us to thirst.
But one thing will always remain, His love for us and His grace to overcome any obstacle that might keep Him from us. For some, that will look a lot like Pilate who simply “washed his hands” and for others it may look like the Pharisees rending their clothes at perceived injustice. But let’s always remember, neither one could act under any power except the authority they’d been given by the One. He who knows all things, the end from the beginning.
In these times of persecution and suffering, Our Lord has sent us His Mother to also act in His authority reminding us that pure and sincere love, faith and trust, prayer, and acts of mercy are still the way of Truth. “Because truth is old, it is not new, it is eternal, it is truth.”
For the times when we thirst, let us also remember the wisdom of the saints:
“There are some who make a spiritual communion every day with blessed bread. If we are deprived of Sacramental Communion, let us replace it, as far as we can, by spiritual communion, which we can make every moment; for we ought to have always a burning desire to receive the good God. Communion is to the soul like blowing a fire that is beginning to go out, but that has still plenty of hot embers; we blow, and the fire burns again. After the reception of the Sacraments, when we feel ourselves slacken in the love of God, let us have recourse at once to spiritual communion. When we cannot go to the church, let us turn towards the tabernacle; no wall can shut us out from the good God.” – St. John Vianney
“What a source of grace there is in spiritual Communion! Practise it frequently and you’ll have more presence of God and closer union with him in your life.” He also taught: “Do not neglect to say, “Jesus, I love you”, and make one spiritual communion, at least, each day, in atonement for all the profanations and sacrileges he suffers because he wants to be with us.” – St. Josemaria Escriva
“When you do not receive communion and you do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion, which is a most beneficial practice; by it the love of God will be greatly impressed on you” – St. Teresa of Jesus, The Way of Perfection, Ch. 35
“Spiritual Communion, as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Alphonsus Liguori teach, produces effects similar to Sacramental Communion, according to the dispositions with which it is made, the greater or less earnestness with which Jesus is desired, and the greater or less love with which Jesus is welcomed and given due attention,” – Fr. Stefano Manelli, O.F.M. Conv., S.T.D., in his book Jesus our Eucharistic Love.
“A special advantage of Spiritual Communion is that we can make it as often as we like — even hundreds of times a day — when we like — even late at night — and wherever we like — even in a desert, or up in an airplane,” Fr. Stefano continued.
In 1983, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declared that all the effects of Holy Communion can be received through spiritual communion for persons in the following situations:
- Those at priestless parishes;
- Those who are prevented from attending Eucharistic celebrations;
- The divorced and remarried;
- Those at the Protestant Lord’s Supper.
You can make a Spiritual Communion such as this one from St. Alphonsus Liguori or the one below it during Mass, or before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, or anywhere else where the Spirit moves you.
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Oh Jesus, I turn toward the holy tabernacle where You live hidden for love of me. I love you, O my God. I cannot receive you in Holy Communion. Come, nevertheless, and visit me with Your grace. Come spiritually into my heart. Purify it. Sanctify it. Render it like unto Your own. Amen.
Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.
This last sentence is drawn from Matthew’s Gospel (Matt 8:6), in which a Roman Centurion expressed his deep faith in our Lord’s healing powers (in this case to cure his servant rather than his soul). Jesus was quite moved by the soldier’s faith, and healed his servant at once.
Christ might not answer us quite so instantaneously, but rest assured, He can and will respond to anyone who comes to Him in pure and sincere love and humility for His Divine assistance.
Finally, let us offer up our whole selves to the Divine Will of God, as Our Lady offered hers, and continue to pray for our Shepherds, “for rulers and all those in authority, so that we may lead quiet and tranquil lives (1 Timothy 2:2).”
Thank you!!!
why are you bowing before an idol?
It’s a common misunderstanding among Christians that prayer to the saints is a form of idol worship. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just as there are varying degrees of Love – agape, philia and ergos, there are also differing degrees of reverence: Worship, Adoration, Devotion. I adore my grandmother, I am devoted to my husband, But my worship I give to the Lord alone. An idol is anything you give a place of prominence to over the Lord himself. Prayer is communication to God. In the same way one might “talk” to God while looking over a family picture album, many Christians (millions actually) find it helpful to pray to Him while looking at images of the saints and other heavenly things as a means of connecting more deeply to Christ himself. There’s a huge difference between praying before a statue and actually worshiping a statue. It’s all a matter of what it is in the heart, which God alone sees. Thank you for asking the question. I hope this answer helps bring you clarification. If you’d like to study further the Biblical support behind this Truth, here is a great article from Catholic Answers https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-bible-supports-praying-to-the-saints May the peace of Christ rest in your heart as you continue to seek Him.