Message September 25, 2015

MESSAGE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

SEPTEMBER 25, 2015: 

THE VILLAGE OF MEDJUGORJE, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

"Dear Children! Also today I am praying to the Holy Spirit to fill your hearts with a strong faith. Prayer and faith will fill your heart with love and joy and you will be a sign for those who are far from God. Little Children, encourage each other to prayer with the heart, so that prayer may fulfill your life; and each day, you, little children, will be, above all, witnesses of serving God in adoration and of your neighbor in need. I am with you and intercede for all of you. Thank you for having responded to my call.

MEDJUGORJE

It takes a great deal of courage to pick up a newspaper or listen to a newscast today. There is so much trauma, so much ugliness that by itself the news is constantly discouraging.

To encourage is to put the heart back into someone; to discourage is to make a person lose heart. To be utterly discouraged is to be heartless.

For peace in the world we are asked to be devoted to the hearts of Mary and Jesus. St. Bernadette was asked by Mary to pray for conversions. When Bernadette asked what that meant, Our Lady just smiled. Basically, conversion is a change of heart, a changed that touches our innermost being.

At Medjugorje, Mary has been calling the visionaries, the locutionaries, and through them, calling us to a serious change of heart - in regard to priorities, in regard to our responsibility to pray and our conviction of the power of prayer. Basically, Mary is calling us to holiness. It is part of the peace process.

Instead of giving in to indifference, "I don't want to listen to it; I don't want to think about it," we need to listen to Mary's constantly recurring request "Pray, pray, pray." Any new headline of suicide bombing, of gross cruelty, of eye-for-an-eye retaliation should repeat to us the same "pray, pray, pray."

Trusting in prayer in the midst of such chaos is the way to peace.

August 02, 2015 "Dear children, I, as a mother who loves her children, see how difficult the time in which you live is. I see your suffering, but you need to know that you are not alone. My Son is with you. He is everywhere. He is invisible, but you can see Him if you live Him. He is the light which illuminates your soul and gives you peace. He is the Church which you need to love and to always pray and fight for - but not only with words, instead with acts of love. My children, bring it about for everyone to come to know my Son, bring it about that He may be loved, because the truth is in my Son born of God - the Son of God. Do not waste time deliberating too much; you will distance yourselves from the truth. With a simple heart accept His word and live it. If you live His word, you will pray. If you live His word, you will love with a merciful love; you will love each other. The more that you will love, the farther away you will be from death. For those who will live the word of my Son and who will love, death will be life. Thank you. Pray to be able to see my Son in your shepherds. Pray to be able to embrace Him in them." 08/02/2015

HOLY SCRIPTURE

Fr. Rick Tomasone will be teaching an adult education class on the New Testament beginning Thursday October 1 at 6:30 P.M. in the St. Mary's Social Hall in Reynoldsville and running for eight weeks. Topics to be discussed include Jesus, St. Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts, John, the Catholic Epistles, and Revelation. All are welcome. For those who need classes for Religious Ed Teacher certification, this class will qualify.

August 25, 2015 "Dear Children! Also today I am calling you to be prayer. May prayer be for you the Wings for an encounter with God. The world is in a moment of trial, because it forgot and abandoned God. Therefore you, little children, be those who seek and love God above all. I am with you and I am leading you to my Son,  but you must say your "yes" in the freedom of children of God. I intercede for you and I love you, little children; with an endless love. Thank you for having responded to my call." 08/25/2015

Prayer for Patience and Watchfulness

Lord God, maker of heaven and earth, by signs and wonders, great and small, you prepare us for the fulfillment of your promise, the coming of your Son, Jesus Christ.

He is the light that will dawn. He is the bright morning star of justice. His presence is the sign of your love, and his grace will increase our love- for one another and for you.

Grant us patience as we wait for Christ to come in the fullness of time. Help us to see the signs that point to him and to stay awake so that when he arrives we will be found watching and ready.

We ask this through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

You must know of many parents who worry about their children, who lose faith during their teen years and stop going to Mass. Have you any words of hope or encouragement to give these people?

Marija: Our Lady always says pray and become an example with our own life. She really asks, what is in Holy Scripture, to be salt of the earth and light of the world. I think in this way we become testimony for all our children, and also for people who work with us. Our Lady also asks us to wear and carry in our pockets, holy objects like medals and Rosary beads, as signs that we belong to Our Lady and Jesus.

It is also said that those who give their lives to Our Lady come under a lot of pressure from the enemy. Is there any truth in this?

Marija: True! I always say, when we are with God, Satan is not happy!  Always when we work for peace. Today, peace is destroyed by murder and terrorism, as we have witnessed recently in Spain, Our Lady says we must become those who bring peace.

Our lady has given you a special mission to pray for the Holy Souls...

Marija: No - for priests - for the consecrated! But I love praying for the Holy Souls also. Many people do not know that when we pray for the Holy Souls they become our friends. But Our Lady asked me particular to pray for all the people who are consecrated in a special way to God.

For people who, for whatever reason, cannot go to Medjugorje, how can Medjugorje come to them?

Marija: I thank God that thanks to you, and thanks to all the people who spread the message of Our Lady; it can come in this way. For example, one month, at the invitation of my parish priest, I went to Brazil. At one church I met a man who had never been to Medjugorje, but he knew and really lived all Our Lady's messages. He said: "I choose the way of holiness for my life and my family. We love little in our families, so we try to live Our Lady's message and live love and peace in our own family." This was just as when Our Lady said: "I want you to live Paradise here." It is really beautiful. So I see many people and many families live the message because of the way Our Lady uses people to spread Her message. And this also is very beautiful.

CAN YOU HELP?

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Father Ralph A. Diorio, Jr.

To offer oneself in total surrender to God is the vocation of each Christian - married, single, priest or religious - but to act in the very person of Christ, in Persona Christi, is the privilege and burden of his priest. Each Priest must offer himself as a sacrifice. Fr. Ralph A. DiOrio, JR. does this with great humility and love for Christ and his people. Fr. Ralph emphasizes that ''The Hour of healing is here for us".  "Healing of man occasions nothing more but an event which creates faith. The gospel produces love and concerns for everyone. To heal, not to injure.. To help, not to hurt .... To strengthen and sustain .... With patience, compassion and trust."

Bethany Center of  Spirituality, Retreat Center: PO Box 129, Frenchville, PA offers weekend retreats and other events of a spiritual nature all year long. A peace filled rural setting--God is spoken here!

"Be joyful carriers of peace and love ..."

To hear our Lady's Message, very early, by phone, call 1-814-787-5683 (LOVE). Usually the 26th of each month. Prayer requests at this number are given to the visionary, Vicka, so that she may offer them to Our Lady. Prayer petitions can also be handwritten and sent in a sealed envelope to: The Holy Family, Ine., PO Box 442, St. Marys, PA 15857-0442. They are forwarded to Vicka who presents them to Our Lady.

"Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being." Pope John Paul II, Families Consortio II

Sunday: October 18 Evening of prayer and music at St. Michaels church 15 Robinson St., DuBois, 6:30 P.M. Father Leon Hont O.S.B. former Pastor of Queen of the World R. C. Church in St. Mary's and current Pastor of St. John the Baptist in Summerhill, PA will lead in Scripture reading, Homily and Benediction. Following the service, there will be prayers for the healing of physical, financial, spiritual, and emotional problems. Everyone is welcome. The music ministry will be "Shalom".

CONSECRATION OF OUR FAMIlY

Almighty Father, we consecrate ourselves and our home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus who loves us with a tender and everlasting love. Strengthen us with your grace that we may return His love in the way we treat, respect and love each other. Give us the strength and compassion to understand each other, wisdom and love to help each other, and the trust and patience we need to live peacefully together. Grant us, through the intercession of Mary, Your mother, and St. Joseph, our family too, may become a holy family. We ask Jesus to be the heart of our family and ask His protection and help in our daily lives.

Heavenly Father, grant that our love goes beyond our home into the world so that we may do our part to build up Your kingdom and lead all souls to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate heart of Mary our Heavenly Mother. Praise be Jesus Our Lord and Savior!

Pope Calls Congress and Nation to Return to Gospel

By Joan Frawley Desmond; Senior Editor

"The Holy Father has brought to Congress a comprehensive view of human dignity in all its dimensions." Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore told the Register.

"He offers a lesson on what it means to be a politician who has the obligation to serve the common good and the dignity of the individual.

Archbishop Lori described the Pope's remarks as a very "gently and beautiful" invitation to dialogue. "Because in the midst of our political divisions as a country and in the midst of our competitive political system, these fundamental values can get lost."

Bradley Lewis, an associate professor of philosophy at The Catholic University of America, echoed that judgment and believes the papal address offers rich guidance to a nation that has drifted from its moorings.

"When Francis said he wanted a dialogue, I think he meant it," said Lewis.  "He reminded us of our own best traditions and connected them to the Gospel."

Faces of America

Facing the entire cohort of the U.S. government, from the Supreme Court to members of Congress and President Obama's cabinet, Pope Francis sought to offer an antidote to the fractured partisan landscape on Capital Hill and beyond.

He pointed to Moses, the law-giver, who "symbolizes the need of peoples to keep alive, their sense of unity by means of just legislation." Further, "the figure of Moses leads us directly to God and thus to the transcendent dignity of the human being. Moses provides us with a good synthesis of your work:  You are asked to protect, by means of the law, the image and likeness fashioned by God on every human face."

The Pope raised up the often hidden contributions of the many ordinary Americans who elected the power brokers on Capitol Hill and still made the nation's experiment in ordered liberty possible.

"These are men and women who are not concerned simply with paying their taxes, but in their own quiet way sustain the life of society.  They generate solidarity by their actions, and their create organizations which offer a helping hand to those most in need."

"He used Lincoln's own statement--'a new birth of freedom'--and talked about intellectual and political freedom," said Archbishop Lori.

"That understanding of freedom and diversity would run counter to an overarching secularism that tried to level out the distinctive practice and beliefs of faith."

Gospel of the Family

Pope's Primary Priority

By: Jonathan Liedl:  Register Correspondence

PHILADELPHIA--When Pope Francis stepped foot on American soil for the first time in his 78 years of life, the person who welcomed him wasn't Barack Obama, president of the United States.

It was Barack Obama, head of the Obama family. Obama was joined on the tarmac by his wife, Michelle, and their two teenage daughters, Malia and Sasha, and his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, as well as Vice President Joe Biden and his family.

This was a symbolic indication that, despite the media frenzy that did its best to indicate otherwise, the Holy Father's three-city visit would focus on something more fundamental than politics. It would focus on the family.

Quote of the Week

"Dear friends, I embrace all of you in the Lord, and I entrust you to the maternal care of Mary Immaculate, patroness of the United States. I will pray for you and your families, and I ask you, please to pray for me.  May God bless you all. God bless America!"   Pope Francis to America

"How much good we can do, if only we try to speak this language of hospitality...This requires open doors, especially the doors of your heart... [and] welcoming those who do not think as we do, who do not have faith or who have lost it; welcoming the persecuted, the unemployed; welcoming the different cultures...welcoming sinners..."

Pope Francis