M
MariaChristi
Guest
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Chap.9 on the “Call to Sacrifice” in Sr. Lucia’s book, “Calls” From the Message of Fatima, is an especially good one to be reading this Lent. It follows chap. 8 on the “Call to prayer” which makes me think immediately of the Church’s call to all of us during Lent particularly to prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Sacrifice enters into all three because we often must sacrifice our own will to do something other than to pray, to fas,t or to give to others. Let us listen to Sister Lucia’s words, remembering it was Mary, Mother of God and Mother of all whom Lucia saw and heard speaking when Lucia was a child. How could Lucia ever forget? Yet in this book Lucia constantly refers mostly to Scripture, Old and New Testaments, which reminds me of Mary’s words in Jn 2: “Do whatever He tells you”. Lucia is imitating Mary in pointing us to Jesus.
Let us continue to ponder words from Sr. Lucia in Chap. 9 as she reminds us of God’s Word (cf Col 1:24) that we must complete in ourselves what is lacking in the Passion of Christ, because we are members of His Mystical Body:
Chap.9 on the “Call to Sacrifice” in Sr. Lucia’s book, “Calls” From the Message of Fatima, is an especially good one to be reading this Lent. It follows chap. 8 on the “Call to prayer” which makes me think immediately of the Church’s call to all of us during Lent particularly to prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
Sacrifice enters into all three because we often must sacrifice our own will to do something other than to pray, to fas,t or to give to others. Let us listen to Sister Lucia’s words, remembering it was Mary, Mother of God and Mother of all whom Lucia saw and heard speaking when Lucia was a child. How could Lucia ever forget? Yet in this book Lucia constantly refers mostly to Scripture, Old and New Testaments, which reminds me of Mary’s words in Jn 2: “Do whatever He tells you”. Lucia is imitating Mary in pointing us to Jesus.
Let us continue to ponder words from Sr. Lucia in Chap. 9 as she reminds us of God’s Word (cf Col 1:24) that we must complete in ourselves what is lacking in the Passion of Christ, because we are members of His Mystical Body:
Today on this First Friday in Lent, let us pray for grace to enter seriously into prayer, fasting and almsgiving as lovingly as we can. Let us look on Jesus Whose Heart we have pierced by our sins. Let us stand with our Mother Mary at the foot of His Cross, and by the intercession of her Immaculate Heart pierced spiritually by so many of us, strive to “make of everything a sacrifice” – offer ourselves in each prayer, work, joy or suffering today, in union with those two Pierced Hearts.…Now, when one member of the body is suffering, all the other members suffer with it, and when one member has to be removed, all the other members are affected by this ‘sacrifice’; if one member is seriously diseased, even though the disease is restricted to one part of the body, the whole body suffers and dies. The same happens in the spiritual life. We are all ill, we all have many defects and sins; hence we all have a duty to make sacrifices in union with Christ, the innocent victim, in reparation for our sins and for those of our brothers and sisters, because we are all members of the one and the same Mystical Body of the Lord…