J.M.J.
V
FORMATION PROGRAM #8
Fifth Apparition of Our Lady - September 13, 1917
Lucia
Speaks: Accompanying Commentary:
[As Lucia had digressed, something can be said on the matter of the
digression itself: People are so taken
up with appearances that they lock themselves
in a kind of a mental
prison. If Jesus, but for one brief
second, showed Himself in the Great Sacrament of the altar, which He has
entrusted to us, all
these people, and certainly
ourselves, would flock to Him with all those things that crowd our heart and
thoughts. But our good Jesus knows our
weakness, and so He allows
little specks of His light to enter us, through the means that we choose to
reach Him in others, when our desire is there
to reach out and touch Him.
But what great wonders untold does He pour out in great measure to those
who come to Him at the Source.
If we but have the
dispositions of Our Lady in our attitude in approaching Him, heaven and earth
would be ours!]
“Continue to pray the Rosary in
order to ALL things can be obtained from
the power of Our Lady’s intercession through the Rosary.
obtain
the end of the war.” What
is it that calls you to prayer? What is
most important to you? What drives you
forward
to
hope? If nothing, what would? What is your deepest longing? If you could do anything,
be
anything, or obtain anything in the whole world, what would be your
desire?
Our
Lady tells you to continue to pray the Rosary.
“In October Our Lord will come,
as well as Our
Lady has plans for the October event and reveals to Lucia that the request she
had asked
Our Lady of Dolors and Our Lady
of
to bless the world.” ever
imagine, if we are faithful to our part of the commitment.
“God is pleased
with your sacrifices.” The
children set themselves each day to strive hard to please God. How consoling these
words
must have been to them. Our Lady, this
time, did not increase on them a greater
urgency
of giving themselves more, as She did in the third apparition. They had truly
turned
their lives over to making this their primary work and were now heartened to
hear they
were
succeeding in their objective. This becomes an examination of conscience for
ourselves--
how
hard are we striving to please God? Are we sincerely sacrificing ourselves to
obtain a
worthy
purpose from our prayers?
“He does not want you to sleep with the rope Our good and Holy
Father in Heaven is very reasonable. He
desires that we daily work and
on, but only wear
it during the daytime.” train
ourselves to give ourselves completely without reserve to a righteous cause
until, like
Christ,
we hold nothing back. However, He knows
our humanness (that we are but dust),
and
He understands our weakness. So in His
most wonderful plan He has set within the
natural
order, times to rest-- for the day, the week, the year, and additionally in the
Church,
Holydays
and Jubilee Years.
Even in the Old
Testament, one was considered unclean only until evening, and one day
is given within seven to rest. All of us take some time during the year to
go on vacation.
God blesses rest and makes it
holy. In fact, He has made it His day,
claiming it for Himself
and showing Himself to be the
Giver of rest. These times are to
refresh us, so that we might
have the strength to begin again.
[Lucia]: “I was
told to ask you many things, Why
does Our Lady cure some but not others?
We know the greater good of the person is at
the cure of some sick people, of a deaf-mute...” stake here. Will the cure bring about a good for the
individual? Or will it free them from an
[Our Lady]: “Yes, I will cure some, but not others.” impediment which keeps them
from a life of sin? Suffering is not an
end in itself. There is a
definite
purpose for it. Once it has achieved its purpose, the suffering is
removed. If the removal
of
the suffering would cause greater harm, Our Lady will protect us from ourselves
and leave us
to
carry that cross. How good She is! Our Divine Parents know us, and what is good
for us,
better
than we know ourselves.
“In
October I will perform a miracle so that all Lucia
has kept her commitments. Our Lady again
promises She will keep Hers.
may
believe.”
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION:
Go back
again and read the questions addressed in the first paragraph of the commentary
of this instruction. Formulate the
desire you wish to entrust to Our Lady. Give it to Her and let Her
bring it about for you. She says in another place: “Believe in me, I will believe in you;[1] ”
and,
“Take care of my interests and I will take care of yours.” We continue to fulfill our duties, but we
don’t make plans to bring about that which we will entrust to Her.
She will arrange the events to bring it about Herself. Persevere in the promises you make for living
out Our Lady’s wishes. If you do, She
will make known to
you a promise... a gift from Her Immaculate Heart-- a personal gift
to you. In the measure which you give,
it will be given back to you. If you
persevere to the
end, you will receive your request. Too many give up right at the
edge of receiving all, because they lose it all by giving up. We must die in order to rise. We
must persevere when everything is lost and things seem
hopeless. It is then that we have
reached the point which precedes the resurrection of the promise to
be fulfilled...right when it is the most impossible. How strong is your faith? If we break with faith, the promise will
still be fulfilled, but it will be late and at what cost?
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: What is the deepest longing and desire of
your heart, that you would be willing to pray and sacrifice for, in order to
obtain
or achieve
it? Entrust it to Our Lady. Fulfill Her requests daily. Persevere; and
let Our Lady prove Her commitment to you.
Act of Consecration
[1] The Apparitions of Our Lady at Banneux (approved),
pg. 22