The Call to Perfection (Part 2)

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In Chapter 19 of her book, “Calls” From the Message of Fatima, Sister Lucia explains her understanding of the second of the three further apparitions of Oct. 13, 1917 in which Our Lord appeared as the Perfect Man and Our Lady as Our Lady of Sorrows. I’ve posted part of this chapter before which, like the whole book, is very beautiful. Sister continues to quote from Sacred Scripture in order to be sure her understanding is in confromity with the Truth God has revealed. In concluding this chapter, Sister wrote:

…Mary was chosen by God to be the Mother of His Son – the Mother of Jesus Christ – and the Mother of His Mystical Body, the Church, which is her spiritual progenty. When He was dying in agony on the cross, Jesus gave her to us all in the person of St. John: “Behold your Mother” (Jn 19:27). We are the children of the suffering and bitterness of the Heart of Jesus Christ, and of the heart of His Mother and ours.

It is for this reason that all suffering united with His completes our dedication and commitment to God and contributes to the salvation of our brothers and sisters who have gone astray. Jesus said: “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also” (Jn 10:16). In order to collaborate with Christ in this mission, we must suffer, work , pray and love because it is by charity that we shall win back our lost brethren, as the Lord Himself said: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” ( Jn 12:35"

Love is the magnet which draws souls, and it is for them that we offer to God our sacrifices, our acts of self-denial, our infirmities, our pains and aches, and our physical and moral sufferings. By means of them, we offer our entire consecration to God, and it is by means of them that our prayer is lifted up to Him before His altar…

(Underlining is mine, not Sister Lucia’s.)

Jesus, we trust in You.
Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us.
St. Jacinta and St. Francisco, pray for us. Sister Lucia, pray for us.