Divine Mercy Novena Day 2

Second Day

"Today bring to Me the Souls of Priests and Religious, and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind."
Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service,* that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard -- upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.

Divine Mercy Novena Day 1

First Day

"Today bring to Me all mankind, especially all sinners, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console Me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges Me."

Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from It. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.

March 29, 2018 Holy Thursday

As the Triduum begins I can't help but speak to the amazing importance of women and mothers and their all important roll as women. Mankind cannot replace the love of God that comes through the womb of a woman. The 100% natural way human beings come into the world. It is the only way God as Creator keeps the human race from declining to the point of extinction. That is simply common sense. My own mother used to say, "If you don't believe in God, take a look at a new born baby." She and her sisters used to joke about what it would be like if a man had to give birth, they laughed and said, "the world will come to an end."

The truth as Jesus has taught it to me, is that women and mothers are what make God relevant in this world. If not for women crying out to God for their children there would be no need for Faith in God. He said to me, "The church and the world are crumbling because not enough women are crying out to God for their children." We have come to a time in the world were the confusion is deep and the power of evil so seductive that man can only hope to plow through to the end of life and finally rest.

I have 5 sons, big and strong, kind hearted but only one believing in the necessity for God, not believing in the church they were raised in. My husband, my friends and my self have been praying and praying for them to no apparent change. They have all run into very serious problems but it doesn't seem to encourage them as the world and their friends are all in the same boat.

Did you know that your grandmother carried you inside her womb?
A female baby is born with all the eggs she will ever have in her lifetime.
So when your grandmother was carrying your mother in her womb,
you were a teeny tiny egg in your moms ovaries.

I am very thankful and grateful for the love that God has given me as a wife and mother. I have looked at the situation in our world and realized that our lives are all fragile and we at any age are at risk for a quick and untimely death; I have changed my prayer.

My prayer is, "Jesus let me suffer with You for the souls of my children." I haven't told this to anyone until today. Jesus has given me a confirmation of this as a good prayer. The Pastor of our church in South Port gave a homily, he spoke about the death of his own parents. He said he watched his father pass away, there was a serious amount of suffering but when his mother was passing she suffered greatly. When he looked at her face he saw the face of Christ.

When we suffer with Jesus we suffer for the whole world, the world most definitely needs our small sacrifices. This is not just offering your daily sufferings but asking to suffer. In truth. God will never give you more than you can handle but you will be stretched as He and His mother were.

I have seen astonishing changes in some of my children, jaw dropping changes that only God could bring about. I have also suffered a lot. I have never had this much Joy, Hope and Love not in my 67 years.

God is good, God is pure love so just keep holding on and putting one foot in front of the other. We will all make it to the finish line and bring millions of souls along with us. Never, never, never give up and be sure to ask for help from a faithful friend when you need it.

My love and Blessings,
Margaret of Souls for Jesus

Direction for our Times - Knowing God

 

 

 

February 23, 2018

Jesus

"I want to offer a promise to everyone who desires a relationship with Me. My promise is this: I will thin your perception of distance between us. If you want to have a relationship with Me that is intimate and constant, I will help you to remain disposed toward Me. This is the time to rely on Me. If you are struggling, then this is your answer. Come into a closer relationship with Me, which I will support, and you will come to know Me in a way that changes your perspective of your struggles and fills you with hope. I want this for you. Do you want this for you? Do you want this for Me? Talk to Me in your heart about your worries and hopes and I will show you how to change your life if it needs to change.

If you are not struggling, then you must believe that this is a good time to begin a more personal and constant relationship with Me. This increased knowledge of My presence will stand to you on this day and on every day. Do you want to know what I hope that you will do every day? Then you must turn toward Me and learn to both ask Me and listen to My answer. Do not be afraid that your life will become hard if you follow Me. The opposite is true. Your life will become peaceful and calm. I want you to have a happy life, full of laughter, despite any trials. All human beings are called to serve each other. To do so in joy makes the service a gift to self and other. Your service to each other becomes your delight when you think like Me. To help the people around you and to accept help from them is to live in the Kingdom of God, where the need of one is the need of all.

Remain close to Me and I will show you how to do all of this without even thinking. Rather, I will show you My way of being. When you accept from Me freely, and also give freely, I can give you more and more. A generous heart will draw from Heaven in a profound way, steadily and always with a surplus. What would I withhold from you? Nothing. I cannot resist you. We are meant to be together and you are meant to live a life which is constantly supported by Me. You need consolation at times. I suffered intense loneliness at times during My life. I chose the Father’s will always and this meant that My heart remained alert to Him first. You have Me to help you to live this way. I want to do this for you. I watch you trying and you are so full of goodness. I can help you to know you are loved and to live as though you are the Father’s only child, the heir to all. Please trust and believe that at every moment I am seeking contact with you. Turn your thoughts to Me and you will see that I am there, waiting, as alert to you as I was to My Father."

 

Dear Friends,

During this Lent Anne recorded six locutions on the Passion. We are calling these Passion locutions. We believe these new messages on The Passion have been offered by the Lord to help us gain a better understanding of His sacrifice. 

"These messages on the Passion of Jesus are among the most profound, the most encouraging, the most loving and the most merciful that I have ever encountered” Dr. Mark Miravalle, Theologian.   

Above is the fifth of these six Passion locutions. To read the first four, please click here. We will release the remaining one this week. 

In addition to these locutions on the Passion, we also want you to know that Anne has received the first of another series of locutions. On Good Friday, we will send the first of these out. We get a serious feel from its tone and pray that everyone will receive this message on Good Friday in humility and willingness to be led.

As with all of our work, these writings have been initially cleared by our local authority and also by a theologian. They are consistent with our faith. When these writings are put into a book, we will apply for a formal Imprimatur, as we always do. But you can be confident that everything we offer is consistent with our teachings and supports both personal holiness and unity in our Catholic Church.

Lay Apostles, let us dispose ourselves toward God with gratitude and a spirit of service to our Church, because it belongs to Jesus, who loves us all so much.

With love,

The DFOT Team

 

 

 

Tips on Prayer - So that others will know God

Watch this one minute video on Facebook  or YouTube

 

 

Medjugorje Message March 25, 2018 to Marija

March 25, 2018 Message to Marija "Dear children! I am calling you to be with me in prayer in this time of grace when darkness is fighting against the light. Pray, little children, confess and begin a new life in grace. Decide for God and He will lead you towards holiness; and the cross will be a sign of victory and hope for you. Be proud that you are baptized and grateful in your heart that you are a part of God's plan. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Direction for our Times2

February 22, 2018

Jesus

"When we gaze into a still lake, we can see our own reflection. I am that way, too. When you gaze at My figure on the cross, you see Me, and My love for you, but you also come to see yourself reflected back. Spending time with Me acts as a mirror and you begin to understand yourself better. Why is this important? Because when you understand my physical brokenness on the cross and feel compassion for Me, you come to understand your own brokenness and feel compassion for yourself. I want this for you. I want you to be loving toward yourself and understanding and compassionate. When you accept that I submitted to a plan that was bigger than one day, you can learn that your difficult days, also contribute to a greater plan than you can see in one moment. You can learn to trust in God’s outcomes, even when your life seems full of pain and suffering and uncertainty. God’s outcomes are so full of love and truth that any suffering is quickly obscured. When you can see the value in suffering, it becomes easy to bear, such as physical labour for a physical goal. ‘It is worth it’ one thinks to one’s self. 

 When you can see no value to suffering, such as in the case when innocence is offended and injured, there is a great need to trust in the certainty that the Father will bring both healing and justice. This need is the difference between peace and often grave disturbance and even torment. The Father wills recovery for all. Recovery is available and it is a certainty in the heavenly kingdom. But often, through prayer, recovery comes on earth and any suffering you endure contributes to enormous development. I want this for you. I want you to benefit from any cross you have carried. I want you to know that I am with you in any cross you carry today. I will lead you to the answers just as the Father led me through My life. I have the answers for you.

In a human relationship, imperfection is expected and negotiated. Can you accept that in our relationship, which is unrepeatable, there will also be times when you feel good about us and times when you are unsure of us? My beloved friend, put your trust in Me and you will not be disappointed. Our relationship moves through these periods as you develop. I do not change. In all relationships there must be humility and constancy. In our relationship, this is necessary, too. Come to me in prayer, in trust and in hope, regardless of how you feel. In those prayer times when you feel less, you are gaining more, believe Me, please. Relationships must advance and grow and that is what happens in your relationship with Me, which is very real, as you will know when you finish your time on earth. For now, look for signs that I am with you. Look for Me in your day and assume I am there. When you look with the eyes of faith, you will see Me in many moments, through people and circumstances. In your greatest suffering, you will see glimpses of My presence. When you see these glimpses of Me, great and small, remember that you are loved and that you are full of potential for greatness. I did a big thing when I gave my human life for you. I did this so that you could do small things each day, with great hope, confident that the small things you do contribute to My Kingdom remaining present on earth and growing. Know that you are important to Me, today and every day, first because you are loved and secondly because you are needed."

Dear Friends,

During this Lent Anne recorded six locutions on the Passion. We are calling these Passion locutions. We believe these new messages on The Passion have been offered by the Lord to help us gain a better understanding of His sacrifice. 

"These messages on the Passion of Jesus are among the most profound, the most encouraging, the most loving and the most merciful that I have ever encountered” Dr. Mark Miravalle, Theologian.   

Above is the fourth of these six Passion locutions. To read the first three, please click here. We will release the remaining two in Holy Week. 

In addition to these locutions on the Passion, we also want you to know that Anne has received the first of another series of locutions. On Good Friday, we will send the first of these out. We get a serious feel from its tone and pray that everyone will receive this message on Good Friday in humility and willingness to be led.

As with all of our work, these writings have been initially cleared by our local authority and also by a theologian. They are consistent with our faith. When these writings are put into a book, we will apply for a formal Imprimatur, as we always do. But you can be confident that everything we offer is consistent with our teachings and supports both personal holiness and unity in our Catholic Church.

Lay Apostles, let us dispose ourselves toward God with gratitude and a spirit of service to our Church, because it belongs to Jesus, who loves us all so much.

With love,

The DFOT Team

Direction for our Times

February 21, 2018

Jesus

"For those who follow My way, I offer ongoing prompts and direction. The experience of following My way will be different than if you do not follow My way. In following Me, you will have My direction, yes, but you may not be certain about how to achieve what I am directing you to do. Be at peace in this uncertainty. You will have all that you need to bring about My will for you and My plans for you. Do you see that there exists in this the opportunity to live in peace, even in uncertainty? When you trust in Me and My goodness, you recognise that you live in perfect safety, regardless of what is happening around you. Who will stop Me? I offered My life for you and then, after the sacrifice was complete, I returned to life from the dead. Do you understand? There will be no enemy against you who is stronger than God and I am God. When you look at My still form on the cross, see Me as God, who stops at nothing, not even death, to establish your safety in the kingdom. If I am willing to die for you, am I not willing to remain with you in every moment?

Contemplate this. Your Saviour has given His life so that you may be protected from the death that is caused by sin. If I am willing to forgive my murderers, and even beg the Father to forgive them, how serious will I be about protecting those who love me and serve Me? You are everything to Me. I feel such deep personal love for you that I will remain on duty and alert during every moment of your life. I did not save you so that you could be lost, but continually found by Me. I do not change My sentiments for you. In each moment you feel discouraged or anguished, I remain with you, prepared to comfort and console you and also help you to recover from all distress. When you look at my cross and Me lifeless on it, I want you to remind yourself, again and again, that I am God with you, ever present in your moments. You have only to turn the eyes of your soul to my eyes. I am there. I am always there. My eyes are full of love for you. Please remember My love. My love overcomes any guilt that you may feel. I did not die for you because you would be perfect on earth, but because you would make mistakes and take actions harmful to yourself or other people. I knew this and I loved you perfectly in this reality. I did not want you to be overcome by your mistakes. I knew you would need to recover, again and again, in My love. I knew you would need to be freed from your guilt and so I absorbed every bit of it in my body on the day they crucified Me. Please understand that this was my great joy. I wanted to do this for you because of your beautiful goodness. Right now, I see all of your goodness even though you may not be feeling confident about your goodness.

We are a team, you and I together. I will bring out more and more goodness from you by noticing it for both of us. Any goodness in you delights Me and in prayer, I show your goodness to you so that you, too, can be delighted. In prayer, we are together in a profound way. By studying My Passion and My determination to sacrifice fully for each of God’s children, you will find your determination to sacrifice for Me, and for our Father’s goals."

Dear Friends,

During this Lent Anne recorded six locutions on the Passion. We are calling these Passion locutions. We believe these new messages on The Passion have been offered by the Lord to help us gain a better understanding of His sacrifice. 

"These messages on the Passion of Jesus are among the most profound, the most encouraging, the most loving and the most merciful that I have ever encountered” Dr. Mark Miravalle, Theologian.   

And so, we have released two of these Passion locutions this past week.  We will be releasing two this week and the remaining two in Holy Week.

In addition to these locutions on the Passion, we also want you to know that Anne has received the first of another series of locutions. On Good Friday, we will send the first of these out. We get a serious feel from its tone and pray that everyone will receive this message on Good Friday in humility and willingness to be led.

As with all of our work, these writings have been initially cleared by our local authority and also by a theologian. They are consistent with our faith. When these writings are put into a book, we will apply for a formal Imprimatur, as we always do. But you can be confident that everything we offer is consistent with our teachings and supports both personal holiness and unity in our Catholic Church.

Lay Apostles, let us dispose ourselves toward God with gratitude and a spirit of service to our Church, because it belongs to Jesus, who loves us all so much.

Above is the third of these six Passion locutions as mentioned at the beginning of this email. Click here to read all three locutions that have been sent out so far. 

With love,

The DFOT Team

Tips on Prayer - How to Breathe in Prayer

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February 20, 2018

Jesus

"Why does it benefit people to study my Passion? Why does the sacrifice of one person for the good of another inspire us and console us? My friends, when we see heroic human sacrifice, everything trivial is stripped away. We look and we understand. God created humanity for noble goals. The hopes of the Father are realised when, against all worldly thinking, one person sacrifices himself, his well-being or his wealth for the good of another person.

In families this is most common because when people know each other intimately, they do love each other and view each other as valuable and important. In families where this unconditional and full commitment to the good of each other is absent, for any reason, the individuals may be without awareness of their foundational worth. For those people who feel unloved, we must work hard to persuade them that they are crucial members of the family of God. That is our work if we serve the Father. Why was I convinced that my very life should be given over to the plans of the Father? My friends, I was in the world but I was aware of the next life for everyone I met. My cross directs the eye to the next world. My lifeless form does not prompt despair, because I overcame My death through the Resurrection. Do you see? Death is not the last thing. It is only the last thing on earth, in the human experience. I want my cross and my lifeless form on the cross to prompt people to think of their next life, their heavenly home and all of the hope that comes with those thoughts. When someone looks at the cross and me on it, lifeless, they should remember that sacrifice is temporary. Eternal life is permanent. The lesson offered from the cross is one of hope in the unconditional love of the Father, in sending Me, yes, but also allowing Me to give in totality for the well being of each person ever created by the Father. My cross should prompt one to study deep and complete conviction, along with complete trust and hope in the Father's presence and the Father's plan. Do not think when you are maligned or misunderstood that the Father also misunderstands you. The Father loves you, in every situation. You are understood. You will be safe in Heaven and every sacrifice and suffering will be rewarded and celebrated. Be deeply peaceful when you study my Passion. It is a sign of both love and determination."

Dear Friends,

During this Lent Anne recorded six locutions on the Passion.Last Thursday we sent out an excerpt from one of these locutions. We are calling these Passion locutions. We believe these new messages on The Passion have been offered by the Lord to help us gain a better understanding of His sacrifice.

"These messages on the Passion of Jesus are among the most profound, the most encouraging, the most loving and the most merciful that I have ever encountered. ~Dr. Mark Miravalle, Theologian.

And so, we will release two of these Passion locutions this week, two next week and the remaining two in Holy Week.

In addition to these locutions on the Passion, we also want you to know that Anne has received the first of another series of locutions. On Good Friday, we will send the first of these out. We get a serious feel from its tone and pray that everyone will receive this message on Good Friday in humility and willingness to be led.

As with all of our work, these writings have been initially cleared by our local authority and also by a theologian. They are consistent with our faith. When these writings are put into a book, we will applyfor a formal Imprimatur, as we always do. But you can be confident that everything we offer is consistent with our teachings and supports both personal holiness and unity in our Catholic Church.

Lay Apostles, let us dispose ourselves toward God with gratitude and a spirit of service to our Church, because it belongs to Jesus, who loves us all so much.

Below is the second of these six Passion locutions as mentioned at the beginning of this email.

With love,

The DFOT Team

 

Lady Day: If Someone Asks Why You Are All Dressed Up…

By John Horvat II

 

If someone asks why you’re dressed up, be prepared to explain that Lady Day is a special day to appreciate how God made women, and embrace their God-given role in society. That’s what thousands of ladies did on March 8 when celebrating Lady Day. You could sense a great joy in those who told their stories. It was as if they felt truly “liberated” from the political correctness that says all women should be radical feminists.

Lady Day is an initiative of the Return to Order campaign. It seeks to restore in a positive way a true image of womanhood. This image is in contrast to radical feminists who observe International Women’s Day on March 8 as a means to advocate gender parity, sexual revolution and immodesty.

Free Book: Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Need to Go

Her Highness Duchess Pilar von Oldenburg

This year’s Lady Day honored the sublime and sacrificial calling of motherhood, both physical and spiritual, as a most noble vocation in life. Participants were encouraged to celebrate this pure and sacrificial aspect of motherhood by visiting a shrine of the Blessed Mother and getting together with other ladies for tea at home or in a tea house. Her Highness Duchess Pilar von Oldenburg, a mother of five, agreed to act as patroness of the event.

One of the accounts of the celebration was that of a lady in Lafayette, Louisiana who summed up the special event. She writes: “The ladies and their families met at a bustling and popular restaurant…and enjoyed the conviviality and delicious food. While there, due to the noon hour, the ladies prayed the Angelus and then the meal blessing. While seated, we had a toast to our patroness Her Highness, the Duchess Pilar von Oldenburg, and toasted all the ladies for coming out to attend Lady Day and honoring motherhood, and we then made a special toast to Our Spiritual Mother and role model, Our Lady.

“We finished the day with a visit to a special shrine to Our Lady in the area…. We asked her to ask her Son to give us the graces we need in these times to be good mothers, wives, and children, and to become the ladies God wants us to be. We also prayed in reparation for the offenses of the International Women’s Day, which seeks to take away motherhood and the good, true and beautiful in society.”

Upon hearing of the event, one lady wrote: “Frankly, I never bonded with the up-to-now title of ‘Woman’s day’…since it heralded mostly a deviated feminism to which I never gave any allegiance whatsoever. From now on, I shall cherish this day as a gift to the real vocation of womanhood!”

What Does Saint Thomas Say About Immigration?

From Florida, one event organizer wrote “a group of us started our Lady’s Day with Holy Mass, followed by a holy hour of reparation, and finally brunch. Thank you for organizing this event. God bless you.”

It was thrilling to hear that this year’s celebrations attracted participants worldwide. There were celebrations in Canada, Australia and even Guatemala, as can be seen in this enthusiastic message.

“We did it! In Guatemala we celebrated Lady Day with our 4-7 year old daughters. We had a tea party and a conference about raising happy daughters, encouraging them to live according to natural law.”

What Does Saint Thomas Say About Marriage?

Lady Day Conference in Guatemala

From Australia came this enthusiastic support and promise for next year: “I want to let you know that I fully support Lady Day. I live in a small town in Australia and my daughter and I, as well as many of our friends, would like to know more about it, so we can celebrate it next year. God bless you for the good you are doing.”

Shouldn’t there be a day when ladies can be ladies? Hopefully, Lady Day will be the beginning of many more good actions and events to help bring out positive Christian feminine qualities in a world that seems to be promoting and pushing the contrary.

The Litany of Humility: How Can I be Freed From the Desire to be Loved?

Dear Father John, I am trying to pray the Litany of Humility [by Servant of God Cardinal Merry del Val] with special reverence and attentiveness during this Lent, and in doing so the following question keeps recurring to me: In the Litany of Humility, the second request is: “From the desire of being loved, Lord Jesus, free me!” How am I to understand this request? I had thought that to want to love and to be loved is a part of our human nature. What am I missing?

It has been argued (quite successfully, in my opinion) that Christ’s greatest virtue during his earthly sojourn was humility. That you have felt nudged to pray the Litany of Humility as a Lenten devotion, then, seems a sure sign that you are listening to the Holy Spirit. It is edifying and encouraging to hear about it!
Your dilemma is a good one. True, the deepest needs of our human nature, as designed by God, are to be loved and to love. This is because we are created in God’s image, and God is love, the infinite love of the relationship between the three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Insofar as we reflect that divine Trinitarian relation of love within the limitations of our human nature, we live out our vocation as God’s children and we discover and enjoy the fulfillment we long for at the very bottom of our souls.

Looking for Love in a Fallen World
But remember, our current condition includes both a fallen human nature and a fallen world. As a result, these deep needs of our human heart have a tendency to express themselves in distorted ways.
Think about a secular family in which the parents are trying to re-live their own youth vicariously through their children. They pressure their kids to excel at sports, the arts, academics, and everything else. And as the children grow up, they either rebel against this self-centered mode of parenting in some destructive way, or they fall into the over-achiever trap, thinking that achievements are a condition of love. In the latter case, they unconsciously form a habit of the heart in which their need to be loved is almost inextricably intertwined with a need to achieve. If they don’t get straight A’s, if they don’t get into a top college, if they don’t win this or that award, then they will let their parents down and therefore not be loved. As a result, they live in constant tension, deathly afraid of failure, because failure will disqualify them from being loved. This is an unhealthy spiritual state.
Or think about a girl who grows up in a broken home. Mom raises her all alone, because Dad abandoned the family early on. She reaches adolescence with a void in her heart, because she hasn’t grown up with the love of a faithful father. She starts dating early, and unconsciously tries to fill that void by winning the love of a boy, a boy who, naturally, is immature and full of adolescent lust. What happens? Her frustrated thirst to be loved leads her to give herself to someone who is not worthy, and only magnifies her emotional instability, maybe even leading to unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and a whole Pandora’s box of painful complications.

The Key Concept
We could multiply examples, but the core concept is very simple: it is possible, unfortunately, to aim our natural desire to be loved in the wrong direction. The unconditional love we are created to yearn for should be sought in only one place – God. St Augustine put it beautifully in a phrase quoted early on in the Catechism:

You [O Lord] have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they rest in You. [Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 30]

If we seek to fill our need for love from any other source, we will end up frustrated and confused at best, and wounded and lost at worst.

We should serve others and do good to others and encourage others, not in order to win their love and worship, but because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ and therefore deserve our love. We should strive to develop our talents and utilize them to make a positive impact in the world not in order to win love, esteem, and praise from others, but because we are God’s children and this is what he has created us to do.
The alarming, effervescent, energizing, and contagious freedom of the saints flows from their having learned this lesson. They no longer gauge their actions or decisions by what other people will think of them. And so they don’t live in fear, instability, and hesitancy. Rather, they have discovered that God’s love for them is as firm as the mountains (as the Psalms tell us). They don’t need to earn it; they just humbly accept it. And once they do, it propels them to echo and reflect it spontaneously and joyfully, regardless of the consequences.
When you pray that line of the Litany of the Humility, as the context of the rest of the Litany helps make clear, you are praying for that same grace:

“From the desire of being loved by others, from the thirst of winning the approval of others, from the slavery of depending on the praise and recognition of others, Lord Jesus, free me! Instead, Lord, grant me the grace to fill my infinite need for love at the only infinite fountain that exists: your Sacred Heart.”

Yours in Christ, Fr John Bartunek, LC, STL

Passion locutions of Anne, a Lay Apostle

During this Lent Anne recorded six locutions on the Passion. Last Thursday we sent out an excerpt from one of these locutions. We are calling these 'Passion locutions'. We believe these new messages on The Passion have been offered by the Lord to help us gain a better understanding of His sacrifice.

"These messages on the Passion of Jesus are among the most profound, the most encouraging, the most loving and the most merciful that I have ever encountered.  - Dr. Mark Miravalle, Theologian.  

And so, we will release two of these Passion locutions this week, two next week and the remaining two in Holy Week. In addition to these locutions on the Passion, we also want you to know that Anne has received the first of another series of locutions. On Good Friday, we will send the first out. We get a serious feel from its tone and pray that everyone will receive this message on Good Friday in humility and willingness to be led.

As with all of our work, these writings have been initially cleared by our local authority and also by a theologian. They are consistent with our faith. When these writings are put into a book, we will apply for a formal Imprimatur, as we always do. But you can be confident that everything we offer is consistent with our teachings and supports both personal holiness and unity in our Catholic Church.

Lay Apostles, let us dispose ourselves toward God with gratitude and a spirit of service to our Church, because it belongs to Jesus, who loves us all so much.

Below is the first of these six Passion locutions as mentioned at the beginning of this email.

With love,

The DFOT Team

---

February 19, 2018

Jesus

"My Passion was offered to the Father as an example of human love perfected. Can a person live in the world, with all that it offers, and maintain a perfect position of love toward the Creator? Yes. I proved that it could be done. I was divine, even in my humanity, but I subordinated my divinity so that mankind would see that if one will only put the Father first, love will surround him and he will live in joy. I lived in joy. Do you believe it? Can people understand that I put the Father first and still existed in perfect joy? It is true. I did.

When one is in unity with the perfect love of one's Creator, joy is not only possible, it is an unchosen state. When I say unchosen, I mean that it is so spontaneous that one finds oneself in joy unexpectedly. One chooses the Father, and one then experiences joy. One is tempted to sin, and one chooses instead the Father's way, and one then experiences joy. There seems to be a time elapsing between the temptation, the choice for righteousness, and then the joy. Children of the Father, there is no time elapsing. Time ceases to be for those who remain fixed in love and fidelity toward the Father. These temptations that come float by. To be tempted is not to be sinful and there is no method of sin attaching to an apostle who has decided completely for the Father. One can be immersed in temptation, but if one simply continues to choose the righteous path, that person remains safe in the Father's love.

Truly, if thoughts are directed to God then people will experience life as a journey through a beautiful world. Mankind is with God in the world insofar as he chooses God's ways and God's thoughts. My wounds, suffered for the sins of mankind, should be viewed as demonstrations of My love, which always reflects the Father's love. When a person says that he loves someone, it is a good thing. When a person says that he loves someone, then uses his very body to protect that someone, there is little doubt that his sentiments of love are both true and deeply held. I did that for you. My sentiments of love for each of God's children are true and deeply held. I love you, dear child of the Father. I am connected to you intimately as one who has offered one's own life for another. We have a bond, you might say, an intimate bond that will never cease to be. I look at you steadily, craving notice. When you look at my wounds, do you see how much I love you? That is what I want you to see. I want you to look at my crucified form and believe that you are worth total love, total dedication, total immolation. You are worth everything there is and everything there will be. Any sacrifice is acceptable when it comes to your eternal life. Many people will be saved through my sacrifice and I will be in intimate relationship with them for eternity. But I hope for something more. I hope that you will begin an intimate relationship with me now.

I will repeat myself. When you view my wounds, please accept them as evidence of my total personal love for you."

Tips on Prayer - Who is the Holy Spirit?

Watch this three minute video

 

About your prayer life video - Part 1
About your prayer life video - Part 2

WORD on Fire podcast - Who is Jordan Peterson?

118_JordanPeterson_RESOURCE MARCH 5, 2018
WOF 117: Who Is Jordan Peterson?

Dr. Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist and mythology enthusiast, has exploded onto the scene, becoming the world’s most popular intellectual figure in just a few short months. Who is he and what should you know about him? And why have his ideas gained so much traction, especially young men? Over the next couple episodes, Bishop Barron and Brandon Vogt discuss the Jordan Peterson phenomenon and reflect on his work from a Catholic perspective. A listener asks whether it’s fine to use secular mindfulness meditation to relieve anxiety.


PODCAST

Topics Discussed
0:04 – Introduction, Bishop spends time with Jim Caviezel
4:45 – How did Bishop Barron first come to know Jordan Peterson?
7:20 – Who are some of the philosophical influences of Jordan Peterson?
10:40 – Why does Jordan Peterson place such an emphasis on the Bible?
14:10 – How does Peterson view Nietzsche and our reaction to life’s suffering?
24:05 – What is Jordan Peterson’s reading of the Garden of Eden in Genesis?
28:15 – What is Jordan Peterson’s take on Buddhism and Christian redemptive suffering?
30:00 – Why does Jordan Peterson believe you should absolutely never tell a lie?
33:00 – Why has Jordan Peterson become so popular especially amongst young men?
37:30 – Listener question: Is it okay for a Catholic to engage in secular mindfulness meditation in order to relieve anxiety?

The Call To Pray

Call it the "Ash Wednesday Massacre," with the most widely circulated photo of the Florida school shooting that of one horrified young mom cradling another, the ashes of Lent in a Cross on her forehead.

Surely, this says something. It says that her act of devotion brought a reminder of Lent to an entire nation; it says that Lent is a time of spiritual battle; it also is a call for us not simply to watch the news, but to pray for those involved in the articles and video clips we watch.

When, watching the TV news, a dentist from Bogota, Colombia, named Dr. Gloria Polo saw a news story about a woman who was left a widow and her child fatherless when the landlord, eager to evict them (and resisted by the father), hired thugs to murder him, she writes:

"I was really grieved for that poor woman. It was the Lord that permitted this! I gave attention to what was being said, and I realized that these events took place at Venadillo, Tulima: my birthplace!

"But immediately afterwards, the daily programs began and they spoke about a phenomenal diet, and so I completely forgot about the peasant woman. I never thought of her again."

Years later, during a near-death experience, Dr. Polo, raised Catholic but now utterly worldly and materialistic and finding herself in a dark place, her life being reviewed, says she was told by the Lord she had seen that news clip because He'd wanted her to pray -- to get on her knees and pray for the woman and her family -- and that if she had, the Holy Spirit would have inspired her to mention the event to a priest who lived nearby and knew another priest in Venadillo who in his turn could have helped the devastated peasant family.

The Lord then showed her how, years later, driving with her young son through the red light district of Bogota, the boy had pointed to one of the streetwalkers and asked why she was dressed the way she was.

"Do not look!" she told her son. "They are contemptible women who sell their bodies for pleasure and money."

Jesus showed her, writes the dentist (in Struck By Lightning) that the streetwalker was the widow! -- that without money or assistance, the woman in that news story had been forced into prostitution in order to support her family, which would not have occurred if Dr. Polo had simply taken a moment to pray.

And so we think of all the victims we see on news these days -- the wars, the terrorism, the constant shootings, so horrible now in Florida -- where seventeen people were shot to death -- and it reminds us not only to watch with passing sympathy or a quick supplication but to pray meaningfully for the families, for we have no idea the effect these deaths may have. (See here for the victims.) Let us also keep in prayer the family of the heroic coach who saved lives by shielding students -- but lost his own. (Ironic it was that the Mass reading that very day was about laying down one's life for another, Luke 9)...

Also, to pray, however odious it seems, for the suspected killer, for while the first tendency is to despise him, we have no idea what caused him to become the way he is. (We do know he was adopted and that his adopted mother died last November.)

In whatever we are viewing on television or on internet sites such as Spirit Daily, this is the call of news: they are posted not just to consume but to see the "signs" of our times and respond to those whether in Florida or far-off places such as Iraq and Syria. 

Let us be "struck" by news, including the more obscure stories and trends.

As the Virgin  Mary, in a real Lenten lesson, once said: with prayer and fasting we can stop wars and even suspend the laws of nature...

Locution from Jesus to Anne, a Lay Apostle

February 19th, 2018

Jesus:

"Truly, if thoughts are directed to God then people will experience life as a journey through a beautiful world. Mankind is with God in the world in so far as he chooses God’s ways and God’s thoughts. My wounds, suffered for the sins of mankind should be viewed as demonstrations of My love, which always reflects the Father’s love. When a person says that he loves someone, it is a good thing. When a person says that he loves someone, then uses his very body to protect that someone, there is little doubt that his sentiments of love are both true and deeply held. I did that for you. My sentiments of love for each of God’s children are true and deeply held. I love you, dear child of the Father. I am connected to you intimately as one who has offered one’s own life for another. We have a bond, you might say, an intimate bond that will never cease to be. I look at you steadily, craving notice. When you look at my wounds, do you see how much I love you? That is what I want you to see. I want you to look at my crucified form and believe that you are worth total love, total dedication, total immolation. You are worth everything there is and everything there will be. Any sacrifice is acceptable when it comes to your eternal life. Many people will be saved through my sacrifice and I will be in intimate relationship with them for eternity. But I hope for something more. I hope that you will begin an intimate relationship with me now.

I will repeat myself. When you view my wounds, please accept them as evidence of my total personal love for you."

Direction for Our Times (DFOT) is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to spreading God's messages as revealed in the Volumes.