4/21/10

Pray for the gift of love.


“My children, pray for the gift of love.” Medjugorje Message Reflection by Kathleen Aparo
Our Lady of Medjugorje Message of Sept. 2, 2009
Dear Children, “Today with a motherly heart, I call you to learn to forgive completely and unconditionally. You suffer injustice, betrayals and persecutions, but by that you are closer to and dearer to God. My children, pray for the gift of love. Only love forgives all, as my Son forgives. Follow Him! I am among you and am praying that when you come before your Father you can say: ‘here I am Father, I followed your Son. I had love and forgave with the heart, because I believed in your judgement and trusted in you.’ Thank you.

Mary knows that once we are hurt by someone, once our hearts are wounded, it will take divine assistance to forgive and forget. And so she prays for us. Mary knows our prayer needs will be great in order for us to take that step to forgive, to be able to finally say to the Father “ …..I followed your Son. I had love and forgave with the heart …..” And so she prays for us.
She knows that when someone breaks our heart, we will need an avalanche of grace to realize with certainty that God doesn’t want us broken and bruised. Mary understands that when we are filled with hurt we cannot be filled with love. And so she asks us to pray for the gift of love. We may not feel loving, we may not feel worthy to ask for anything at all, but it’s exactely then that we need to put ourselves aside and for the sake of our souls, pray for the gift of love. You can’t pull yourself up and out of self-pity without love. You can’t be good to yourself or feed your soul without love. You can’t move forward on your spiritual journey. It is exactely as one songwriter wrote, “Love is all we need.”
A good while ago I was hurt by a friend and I suffered and stayed in that place for much too long. I wanted everything to go back to normal. But that normal was exactely what God wanted to shake up. In that shake-up, I learned a good lesson about taking care of myself. I learned the importance of believing in the one “God knit in my mother’s womb.”
I think now that we are born for loving and forgiving and that we are asked to do it over and over, again and again. Is it humanly possible? Mary’s answer, “My children, pray for the gift of love.”
–Kathleen Aparo - source-blessed mother guides us

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