Tuesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
“For greater things you were born.” (Ven. Mother Luisita)
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13TH Lk. 11: 37-41 “You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
Part 1: God is Faithful… by St. John of Avila
Part 2: Commentary and Intro to main article…
Part 3: Reparation to the Heart of Mary for Scandalizing Children by Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
“God is so faithful that He never abandons those who have recourse to Him.” by St. John of Avila
God’s light will show the Christian a thousand blemishes in his conduct, and he will feel sure that there are as many more he has failed to discover; understanding the weakness of his nature, he will suspect that he knows not half the worst. Should any divine favors be shown him, far from attributing them to any merit of his own, he blames himself for not corresponding to them, and profiting by them as he ought.
Thus he sincerely gives God His due, which is all that he possesses which is good and unsullied by any admixture of evil. Convinced of this truth, as revealed by God Himself, the lowly spirit, rising above itself, ceases to depend upon such a broken reed as itself and leans for support on Him who upholds all things.
Looking within his soul, the Christian sees cause only for repentance, and so lifts his eyes to his Creator, in whose loving kindness he can trust without fear of being forsaken. God is so faithful that He never abandons those who have recourse to Him; His love is so tender that far sooner will the sea run dry, or the sun cease shining, than the heavenly Father lack pity for His own.
- Therefore, let us leave our sins to the Mercy of God in frequent Confession, which is both curative and preventative!
- Then let us resolve to practice Charity (Love), starting with those in our own family, then reaching out to others in need, paying particular attention to those most in need spiritually, physically, or mentally, without judgment or condemnation.
- “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (Mt. 25:40)
- “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Pt. 4: 8)
- There is another form of almsgiving that is called Reparation. On October 13th we commemorate the sixth and final apparition of Our Lady of Fatima to three little shepherd children – Lucia de los Santos (age 10), and her two cousins Francisco (age 9) and Jacinta (age 7) Marto.
- Our Lady promised a miracle that all could see to authenticate the visions of the seers. The Miracle of the Sun was seen by about 70,000 the people as reported in a Lisbon newspaper. It had rained through the previous night and all morning. A picture in the newspaper showed of a sea of umbrellas as people waited for Mary to appear. After the miracle of the sun, another picture showed the umbrellas folded, their clothes and the ground they stood on completely dry.
- Our Lady of Fatima asked for Reparation for five different Blasphemes against Mary’s privileges and role as Mother of us all: Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Divine Maternity, Scandalizing Children, and Profaning Mary’s Images.
OUR LADY’S GREAT LOVE FOR CHILDREN—Reparation for those who turn children against Mary. By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
Jesus said with great tenderness and love flowing from His Sacred Heart: “Let the little children come to me.” (Mt. 19:14) Jesus also said: “Unless you become like little children you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” (Mt. 18:3) Indeed, Jesus had a very special love and special place for children in His tender and loving Sacred Heart. Some of the most beautiful and moving artistic depictions of Jesus demonstrate Jesus embracing and blessing the little children. All are moved by the compassion and deep love the Sacred Heart of Jesus has for the little ones—the innocent children.
OUR LADY AND CHILDREN. Saint Therese of the Child Jesus once said of the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Our Lady is Queen of Heaven and earth, but she is more Mother than Queen.” Of all the magnificent titles given to Mary, the greatest of her titles is that of MOTHER OF GOD. How true, Mary is the Mother of God, but Mary’s Maternity, her Motherhood, extends to all. Mary is the Mother of Jesus first and above all, but also, we are the children of Mary and she is our loving and tender Mother. From the cross, Jesus gave Mary to us in the person of Saint John: “Woman, behold thy son; son, behold thy Mother. From that moment the beloved disciple took Mary into his home.” (19: 26-27) The classical interpretation of this passage is most clearly that Jesus gave Mary to John, and in John we are all present as her children, and Mary is our most compassionate, tender and loving Mother.
MARY’S SPECIAL LOVED ONES: THE CHILDREN. At Fatima, Our Lady could have decided to appear to adults, the well-educated, the rich and the famous, the stars of the world. But that was not the case! Mary, as loving Mother, chose to reveal herself to three little Shepherd children: Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. At that time the three could not even read and write. Our Lady appeared to them, speaking to them, teaching them, encouraging then, supporting them and preparing these little children to carry out a world-wide mission. God and His Mother have their mysterious ways!
OUR LADY’S SUFFERINGS: HER SORROWFUL HEART SURROUNDED BY THORNS. Our Lady revealed her sufferings by means of her Immaculate Heart surrounded and pierced by sharp thorns. We have all experienced being pierced by a sharp thorn and being cut; imagine the piercing of a tender heart, the Heart of Mary! Our Lady revealed one of the piercing thorns that causes her so much intense suffering. We are called to meditate upon this thorn now. However, we would like to console our loving Mother in her sufferings. We would like to repair for these sufferings; we would most earnestly desire to remove the thorn piercing her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart and replace it with beautiful and fragrant roses. How can we do this? By the recitation of the most Holy Rosary!
THE SOURCE AND REASON FOR ONE OF THE THORNS AND HER SUFFERINGS.
“Blasphemies of those who seek openly to foster in the hearts of children indifference or contempt and even hatred for the Immaculate Heart of Mary and her holy images.”
PRESENT MORAL DANGER FOR CHILDREN. Now more than ever before in the world, children are being exposed to so much moral peril and danger, especially for their minds, their hearts, and their immortal souls. For this reason, we so ardently desire to consecrate the families, the youth, and in a special way, the children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let us place the children in the most pure, holy, and Immaculate Heart of Mary as a sure and safe refuge, especially in these specific areas of grave peril and danger.
1. SCHOOL AGENDA. Parents today need to be extremely wary about modern education, now on all levels, that insists on forcing children to be exposed to an aberrant and perverse sexual ethic. When children should not even be exposed to this topic, it is being forced upon them, and as a consequence, forcing them to lose their innocence. The happy, jubilant, and exuberant radiance of innocent children is being poisoned at younger and younger ages. The Immaculate Heart of Mary is pierced to see her little children inundated with impurity!
2. IMMODEST SOCIAL MILIEUX. Our Lady said about 100 years ago that immodest fashions would enter the world that would offend God gravely. Children exposed to immodesty and immorality pierces deeply the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Once a bad image is engraved in the memory of a person, it is difficult to erase.
3. DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES. Whether we like it or not we must humbly admit that we live in a dysfunctional world, a dysfunctional society, and often a dysfunctional family, all stemming from Original Sin and personal sin. Of course, this dysfunctional quality of the family, in which many children are being fostered and raised today, has deep-seated repercussions. For that reason, the famous Rosary-priest, Venerable Father Patrick Peyton never tired of promoting the safeguarding, the protection, and the salvation of the family through the presence and the intercession of Mary and the most Holy Rosary. These two immortal sayings from Peyton resound true now more than ever: “The family that prays together, stays together” and “A world at prayer is a world at peace.” For this reason, we most earnestly exhort all families to pray together for the reparation and prevention of children being morally damaged, as well as for the healing of children who have already been wounded.
4. ELECTRONIC MEDIA: THE WRONG IMAGES. We live in a world controlled by images: pictures, T.V., movies, the Internet with Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and the use of the modern cellphone. All of these can be used for good and even the promotion of the Gospel values. But also, on the contrary, they can be used for selfish, egotistic, lustful, sinful and materialistic motives. Children today live in the social media of the electronic world and it is unavoidable. Exposure to these powerfully negative images can rob the children of their innocence and at an ever more tender age. For that reason, Our Lady’s Heart is pierced and for that reason we insist on consecrating our families to the most pure and Immaculate Heart of Mary in union and conjunction with Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta Marto.
5. ANTI-CATHOLIC AND ANTI-MARIAN SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. One of the saddest facts of Modern America is the phenomena of the militant spread of many religious Sects, among the most prominent being the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons, as well as many others. Statistics prove that most of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as the majority of Mormons, also known as the Latter-day Saints, used to be Catholics. Our Lady suffers immensely due to this reality. One of the reasons for the great suffering of the Immaculate Heart of Mary over the religious sects is that they reject Mary and her key role in the economy of salvation. Her images are rejected, her name despised, and her maternal influence totally disdained and rejected. Saint Louis de Montfort asserted with force: “He who does not have Mary as Mother, does not have God as Father.” Children who are brought up and raised in this environment where Mary is ignored, insulted, rejected or blasphemed will find it difficult, if not impossible to heal this “Spiritual Mother wound” that is so deeply immersed and embedded in their hearts. The Remedy? Father Robert Fox wrote very eloquently on Our Lady of Fatima presenting her as a modern Catechist. Now more than ever, we live in a world with an enormous amount of information—an information highway! However, at the same time, we have never lived in a world with so much confusion, and that includes widespread ignorance in the religious sphere about Catholicism! To save our children from this deluge of evil, let us make a concerted effort as parents to educate our children in knowledge of the Lord, a healthy fear of the Lord—that is to say, fear of offending Him, and love for the Lord and the Catholic Church. Let us pray to Mary, Catechist par excellence to come to our assistance.
CONCLUSION. To conclude our reflection, with great hope and trust let us open our eyes wide to the reality surrounding our family and our children and humbly admit the wolves that are on the prowl day and night. For the noxious and poisonous agenda in modern education which is brain-washing our children as to the purpose of the human person and the end and purpose of human sexuality. We cry out: wolf! Let us acknowledge the fact that the exterior world, often the theater of the enemy, displays the human person as a mere object. We cry out: wolf! The Domestic church—the family, the basic cell of society, is in grave danger with lasting repercussions on the child. Again, we cry out wolf on the prowl! The electronic media can turn into an ugly monster present in every modern American home. We cry out wolf, wolf, wolf!!! Finally, due to rampant ignorance and confusion, even within the context of the Church, many exit the Church, thereby embracing a false religion that rejects Mary, makes fun of Mary, insults Mary or is totally indifferent to the person and importance of Mary. We must defend ourselves and our children from such ravenous wolves!!! Therefore, let us consecrate ourselves and our children—our entire family to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let us beg pardon for the sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary and offer due reparation. Most especially, let us love the Immaculate Heart of Mary and let her love us. Let us find a sure and lasting refuge in two safe havens: the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in you. Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.
Copyright 2020 Oblates of the Virgin Mary
St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA
