"I am all yours, and all that I have is yours, O most loving Jesus, through Mary, your most holy Mother"
(True Devotion, 233).
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| Mosaic John Paul II commissioned and placed in St. Peter's square exemplifying his life's motto - the life the Church is called to: complete surrender to God in and through His Mother, Mary - Totally Yours - Totus Tuus |
DAY 12 of 33:
SECTION 2: Contemplate the Our Father as we take St. Maximilian Kolbe as our guide.
Action: SECTION 2: Contemplate the Our Father as we take St. Maximilian Kolbe as our guide.
Resolve to pray a complete set of mysteries of the Rosary every day - as an act of love to God and in fulfillment of Mary's requests to us.
Start by contemplating the Joyful mysteries of the Rosary - see day 8 for instructions/ guidance on how to fit this into your day.
Also, pray and contemplate the 3rd Luminous Mystery - the Proclamation of the Kingdom and the Call to Conversion again if you feel called:
Today I'm going to divert from our normal outline of prayers to share something God that has placed on my heart
It is in the spirit of the Scandalous Love of God, and encouraged by the Truth that God is able to shine most brightly and perfectly through our weakness, that I share this:
Evident in the fact that we cannot and will not be able to celebrate our Consecration on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th as we intended - as it falls on a Sunday and so it's feast is being transferred to December 9th... (and thus, for those of us in the U.S., it will not be celebrated as a Feast Day of Holy Obligation) -
This confirms what I've felt God has been saying to me since before I began, that it's His Will that our 33 Days of formation be "imperfect" as a sign that the formation is for the "imperfect" ...
Thus, I believe it is His Will for me to create a 33 Days of preparation program that actually lasts 40 days, (which means we will end on December 15th on the Feast of the Octave of the Immaculate Conception for those of us doing it now)... giving each of us times of grace and mercy in these days when life circumstances and our inabilities get in the way and so often tempt us to give up making our Total Consecration...
Practically speaking this means that there will be days I will not post teachings.
These days are meant not to be a break from praying - for it is God's expressed will that we pray a rosary every day - but rather these days are meant for us to go deeper.
They are being given to us to allow us time to re-read the wisdom that has touched us in previous lessons.
They are being given to us so we can go back and read or watch what we've missed and we weren't able to get to before...
These days are meant to be ones in which we live in awareness of God in our circumstances - offering up every moment - every trial or joy or frustration - every heart beat as a prayer.
These days are meant to be space for God to speak to us individually - heart to heart - even in the midst of our busy lives.
Or, practically speaking, this may mean that I take days to post things that are outside of our plans, such as today....
While saying this, it is also true that "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom!" For some, who are going through Fr. Gaitley's book, it might still be the will of God for you to end on December 8th. For others, it might be God's will for you to take 50 days and end on Christmas ... or to take 58 days, ending on the Solemnity of the the Holy Mother of God, etc., etc...
Or, for some of you, it is God's will for you to begin TODAY - ending on ANY day of the year - as literally every day of the year is a feast of Mary!
Seriously, check it out for yourself:
Because it's infinitely more important that we do this - than that we do it perfectly!!!
... It's important to make this accessible, because this Consecration of ourselves to Jesus through Mary is the most important thing each of us can be doing right now.
It is our greatest weapon against the seemingly boundless evil of our day...
because
Marian Consecration is the greatest means of being drawn deeper and deeper into intimacy with God ... into His Divine Love, His Life and His Will for us, which are all inseparably connected.
It is able to do this for us, because it draws us deeper and deeper into faith and trust ...
into dying to self...
into humility ...
into obedience to His Divine Inspirations...
going where He wants us to go ...
doing what He wants us to do regardless of our inabilities...
we do it because He asks us to, not because it makes sense to us...
Thus, it is opening ourselves to be used by God until every moment of our lives becomes a gift that we give back to Him ... striving to do everything only and always for the glory of God!
I say this not on my own authority, but because Maximilian Kolbe, St. Louis de Montfort and St. John Paul II (and countless others) were all convinced that Consecration would be the means that God will use to save the world!
I say this because Mary has told us this herself in her appearances.
How could it not be? Imagine countless souls who have dedicated themselves to God completely - who, only and always, seek to do His Will - who, willingly pray and offer sacrifice continually in reparation and for the conversion of souls because it is God's expressed will.. all done imperfectly, but with great love and trust in God and in the heart of our Mother, who transforms our imperfections into something incredibly beautiful in God's eyes...
This is why I've felt called to renew my Total Consecration again and again and again... because God's graces are infinite and boundless ... and because each time I do so, such amazing grace pours out until it becomes like a gushing torrent flowing out not only upon my life but upon the whole world!
This is a time of grace for us!
It is a time Mary is coming physically on earth each day! She doesn't come without reason. It isn't without importance. God is sending her to us daily (now for over 38 years) to save us! She is repeating the words of her Son, "Repent and Believe in the Gospel! The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"
We cannot know how long this time of grace will last for us, so it's important that we not ignore or reject it while it's taking place ...
In the same way, it's important we not reject this gift of Total Consecration!
It's important that we do it now for ourselves and your families, for our nation and world, for our priests and for our Church...
and that's why I believe God is asking me to share a preparation program for the imperfect...so that all feel called to make their Consecration in this time of grace!
“I know, my Jesus, that You never command the impossible; You know better than I do how frail and imperfect I am. You know perfectly well that I can never hope to love my Sisters as You love them, unless You Yourself love them in me. It is only because You are willing to do this that You have given us a New Commandment, and I love it because it is my assurance that You desire to love in me all those whom You command me to love.” St. Therese
I share this quote by St. Therese - I share it here because making our consecration is not something that God asks of us that's impossible...
Rather, it is, at it's heart, all about love and trust and dying to ourselves, so that we no longer live, but Christ lives and loves in and through us, all within the heart of Our Mother.
Finally, I share this with the intention that each one of us be "caught on fire with Divine Love" which translate into the desire:
“To conquer the whole world for Christ through the Immaculata.” which is only possible by the “total and limitless” belonging to the Immaculata [that] widens toward the passionate search for the heart of man, of all men, of all the billions of hearts beating on earth... (cf. the Writings of Maximilian Kolbe 647).
Thus, we make
this consecration not only for ourselves - but that our hearts become
ever more like Jesus's and Mary's - truly on fire with a passionate
longing to save billions of souls by offering
- in and
through the heart of Mary
- our every prayer and every act of our day
- in reparation and for the salvation of souls
- that untold grace be poured out for the
salvation of the world.
Most of us are not being called upon to do great feats,
most of us are too little and imperfect for
that...
but, we remain confident in the fulfillment of our desires because of the Truth of the statement St. Therese makes here: "to pick up a pin for love can
convert a soul."
It is this desire that makes room in this program of consecration for the least of these...
"Give me a person of prayer, and such a one will be capable of accomplishing anything." St. Vincent de Paul
Entrusting this endeavor and all of us into the hearts of Jesus and Mary!
May God's will only and always be done!
In Jesus' Name we pray.
© Janet Moore 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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