February 10, 1974
“You must be more attentive, O my son, in order to remain always in my Immaculate Heart, and not let yourself be taken up or discouraged by things, especially when these are independent of your will. You are in a hurry: you would like my Movement to spread more rapidly, and that the Booklet would not encounter so many difficulties in its reprinting. How much of the human there is in your desires! It is necessary that I, as a mother, purify you, if you want Me to lead you to that perfection which is pleasing to my Heart.
Rely only on Me and not on human means; entrust yourself only to Me. There is one thing that you can always do, and which is the only thing that I want you to do at each moment, because it is so useful to Me for the Movement: your prayer, your suffering, your trust in Me. This is what I ask of you: that you let yourself instead be divested of all other preoccupations. This is not one of many movements, but it is My Movement, my son. So then let Me act! All my Priests must act this way: I will make them understand by causing every human means in which they had placed their trust to come tumbling down. They must entrust themselves to Me alone. I know that this asks much of human nature. But I want the Priests of my Movement to be mine alone!
If they do not accustom themselves now to seek Me alone, to listen to Me alone, and to entrust themselves to Me alone, how are they going to find Me at the moment of the great tempest when everything will be plunged in darkness? Let them accustom themselves as of now to see Me as the Light of their every action!”
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The Church – mystery of men’s union with God
(Catechism of the Catholic Church)
772 It is in the Church that Christ fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God’s plan: “to unite all things in him.”189 St. Paul calls the nuptial union of Christ and the Church “a great mystery.” Because she is united to Christ as to her bridegroom, she becomes a mystery in her turn.190 Contemplating this mystery in her, Paul exclaims: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.“191
773 In the Church this communion of men with God, in the “love [that] never ends,” is the purpose which governs everything in her that is a sacramental means, tied to this passing world.192 “[The Church’s] structure is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ’s members. And holiness is measured according to the ‘great mystery’ in which the Bride responds with the gift of love to the gift of the Bridegroom.”193 Mary goes before us all in the holiness that is the Church’s mystery as “the bride without spot or wrinkle.”194 This is why the “Marian” dimension of the Church precedes the “Petrine.”195
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Some Thoughts:
Just wanted to note down a few things that came to me during prayer this morning. “Don’t worry about controlling things, just pray.” This has been an ongoing lesson this week…this concept of ‘don’t worry’. It’s not about not having concern, but to not allow my mind to go to all kinds of potential results of a situation, and then trying to ‘fix’ it myself. The message being that I need to live every moment in the presence of God, that only as I take each step in faith will the the next steps be revealed. This is hard for me as someone who likes to have everything planned out. But instead I’m being shown that I am to go on with my daily schedule, and He’ll come to me as I step into these seemingly routine moments. That this alone brings calmness in the storms of life. That to look to anything else, is idolatry.
Mary’s words in today’s message “Prayer, suffering and trust”, really are key. Prayer…turn to God in every situation and our Blessed Mother will accompany us. Prayer ‘waters’ the soil of our work. (I’ve been hearing this message a lot lately too.), Suffering… obedience consists of suffering because we need to die to self to fulfill God’s will for every moment, it is our great response of love to Him who first loved us. Trust…this is the one that allays our worries. It is deeply connected with faith. We know that God loves us and all that He asks of us is for our own good.
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From “The Imitation of Mary” by Fr. Quan Tran
“Our Blessed Mother has a quiet, recollected disposition, and she is comfortable with solitude. This quiet disposition allows her to perceive God’s subtle presence and respond by uniting herself to Him. Her mind, heart, and soul are always connected to the Lord. Her love for God compels her to be one with Him. Truly, when we love someone, we want to be united to him or her always. Mary never leaves God’s presence but uses her faculties to be in communion with the Lord.”