From the bottom of your heart ask the Lord to forgive your faults that have offended Him. In this way you will be able to participate worthily in this privilege of assisting at the Holy Mass.” I thought for a fraction of a second: “Surely I am in a state of grace of God, I went to confession last night.”
She answered: “Do you think that since last night you have not offended the Lord? Let Me remind you of a few things. When you left to come here, the girl who helps you approached to ask you for something and, as you were late and in a hurry, you did not answer her in a very nice way. There was a lack of charity on your part and you say, you have not offended God...?
"While on the way here, a bus crossed over your lane and almost hit you. You expressed yourself in a very non-advisable way against that poor man, instead of saying your prayers and preparing yourself for Mass. You have failed in charity and lost your peace and patience. And you say you have not hurt the Lord?
"You arrive at the last minute when the procession of the celebrants is already coming out to celebrate the Mass… and you are going to participate without previous preparation...".......
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The moment of the Liturgy of the Word arrived and the Virgin Mary made me repeat: “Lord, today I want to listen to Your Word and produce abundant fruit. May Your Holy Spirit clean the interior of my heart so that Your Word grows and develops in it, purifying my heart so that it may be well disposed.”
Our Lady said: “I want you to be attentive to the readings and to all of the homily of the priest. Remember that the Bible says that the Word of God does not return without bearing fruit. If you are attentive, something from all that you heard will remain in you. You should try to recall all day long those Words that left an impression on you. Sometimes it may be two verses, other times the reading of the entire Gospel or perhaps only one word. Savor them for the rest of the day and it will then become part of you, because that is the way to change one’s life, by allowing the Word of God to transform you.
“And now, tell the Lord that you are here to listen, that you want Him to speak to your heart today."
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A moment later the Offertory arrived and the Holy Virgin said: “Pray like this: (and I repeated after her) Lord, I offer all that I am, all that I have, all that I can. I put everything into Your Hands. Build it up, Lord, with the little thing that I am. By the merits of Your Son, transform me, God Almighty. I petition You for my family, for my benefactors, for each member of our Apostolate, for all the people who fight against us, for those who commend themselves to my poor prayers. Teach me to lay down my heart as if on the ground before them so that their walk may be less severe. This is how the saints prayed; this is how I want all of you to do it.”..........
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Before the Altar, there appeared some shadows of people in a gray color with their hands raised. The Holy Virgin said: “These are the blessed souls of Purgatory, who await your prayers to be refreshed. Do not stop praying for them. They pray for you but they cannot pray for themselves. It is you who have to pray for them, in order to help them depart so that they can be with God and enjoy Him eternally.
“Now you now see it; I am here all the time. People go on pilgrimages, searching for the places where I have appeared. This is good because of all the graces that they will receive there. But during no apparition, in no other place, am I more present than during the Holy Mass. You will always find Me at the foot of the Altar where the Eucharist is celebrated; at the foot of the Tabernacle, I remain with the angels because I am always with Him.”....................
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When we were going to pray the Our Father, the Lord spoke for the first time during the celebration and said: “Wait, I want you to pray with the deepest profundity which you can summon. At this moment, bring to mind that person or persons which have done you the greatest harm during your life, so that you embrace them close to your bosom and tell them with all your heart: “In the Name of Jesus I forgive you and wish you peace. In the Name of Jesus, I ask for your forgiveness and wish my peace. If the person is worthy of that peace, then the person will receive it and feel better for it. If that person is not capable of opening up to that peace, then peace will return to your heart. But I do not want you to receive nor offer peace when you are not capable of forgiving and feeling that peace in your heart first.
“Be careful of what you do,” continued the Lord, “you repeat in the Our Father: forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. If you are capable of forgiving but not forgetting, as some people say, you are placing conditions upon the forgiveness of God. You are saying: You forgive me only as I am capable of forgiving but no more.” ..............
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Many times we say that there are no priests to whom to go to confess at any given moment. But the problem is not about confessing at each moment but the problem resides in our ease of falling into evil again. On the other hand, in the same way that we make an effort to search for a beauty parlor or men search for a barber when we have a party, we have to also make an effort to seek a priest when we need to remove all that dirt from ourselves. We must not have the audacity to receive Jesus at any moment with our hearts full of ugly things.
When I went to receive communion, Jesus told me: “The Last Supper was the moment of the greatest intimacy with My own. During that hour of love, I established what could be thought of as the greatest act of lunacy in the eyes of men, that of making Myself a prisoner of Love. I established the Eucharist. I wanted to remain with you until the end of the centuries because My Love could not bear that you remained orphans, you whom I loved more than My life.”.....
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What she said without opening her mouth was more or less like this: “Lord, remember that we are at the end of the month and I do not have the money to pay the rent, the car payments or the children’s school. You have to do something to help me… Please, make my husband stop drinking so much. I cannot bear any more his being intoxicated so often and my youngest son is going to repeat the year again if you do not help him. He has exams this week... And do not forget our neighbor who must move. Let her do it right away. I cannot stand her anymore… etc., etc.”
Then the Archbishop said: “Let us pray,” and obviously all the congregation stood up for the final prayer. Jesus said in a sad tone: “Did you take note of her prayer? Not a single time did she tell Me that she loves Me. Not a single time did she thank Me for the gift that I have given her by bringing down My Divinity to her poor humanity, in order to elevate her to Me. Not a single time has she said: thank You, Lord. It has been a litany of requests… and so are almost all of those who come to receive Me.”
“I have died for love and I am risen. For love I await each one of you and for love I remain with you... But you do not realize that I need your love. Remember that I am the Beggar of Love in this sublime hour for the soul.” .....................
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We the laity have a very important role in our Church. We do not have the right to be silent because the Lord has sent us out, as all the baptized, to go forth and announce the Good News. We do not have the right to absorb all this knowledge and not share it with others and to allow our brothers to die of hunger when we have so much bread in our hands.
We cannot watch our Church crumble as we stay comfortable in our parishes and homes, receiving and receiving so much from the Lord: His Word, the homilies of the priests, the pilgrimages, the Mercy of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the marvelous union with the nourishment of communion, the talks of preachers.
In other words, we are receiving so much and we do not have the courage to leave our comfort zone and go to a jail, to a correctional institution, to speak to the neediest. To go and tell them not to give up, that they were born Catholic and that their Church needs them there, suffering, because their suffering will serve to redeem others, because that sacrifice will gain for them eternal life.
We are not capable of going where the terminally ill are in the hospitals and by praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, helping them with our prayers during that time of struggle between good and evil to free them from the snares and temptations of the devil. Every dying person has fear and just taking their hand and talking to them about the love of God and the marvel that awaits them in Heaven next to Jesus and Mary, next to their departed ones, gives them comfort.
The hour in which we currently live does not allow us to be indifferent. We must be an extension of the hands of our priests and go where they cannot reach. But for this, we need courage. We must receive Jesus, live with Jesus, nourish ourselves with Jesus.
We are afraid to commit ourselves a little more and when the Lord says, “First seek the Kingdom of God and the rest will be added onto you,” He says it all, brothers and sisters. It means to seek the Kingdom of God, by all possible means and with all means and… to open your hands in order to receive EVERYTHING in addition! This is because He is the Master Who pays the best, the only One Who is attentive to your smallest needs..................
Thank you Pam for sharing this with us here on the OBOB. I'm posting my favorite parts, although, the whole writing was wonderful and a blessing to read.
God's Peace,
Debbie
