Spirit and Power

Spirit and Power

My daughter, you will have to suffer much. I will give you no consolation that will tie you to the earth, but I will always give you My fortifying grace. Also, the power of the Holy Spirit will be with you.(Jesus) (March 4-7, 1962)

Today’s Readings: He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb,
and he will turn many of the children of Israel
to the Lord their God.
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah
to turn the hearts of fathers toward children
and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous,
to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” (Luke 1)

Prayer Meditation- O Lord today we thank You and praise You and worship You because today we have announcements- announcements from Heaven. Announcements about the coming of the one who was to prepare the way for You to turn the hearts of fathers towards children and an announcement to an ordinary widow that Your Grace will always be with her even in her suffering as she lives out the plan You have for her life. Because Lord, You have a plan for each one of us, be it a big mission or a smaller more ordinary one. You have had a dream for our lives from all Eternity. O Lord You know we cannot do anything on our own (John 15) except fall down and yet You promise us the power of the Holy Spirit to remind us always of what You have taught us (John 14:26). Not a spirt of fear but of power, love and self control! (2 Timothy 1:7). So Lord, let us surrender ourselves to You without questioning and doubting like Zechariah in today’s Gospel, fully trusting that Your plan is always for our good.

“My child, even if you seemed to love everything, even if all the affections of your heart were to fade away and you found yourself alone and misunderstood by everyone, I should still be your treasure, your goal, your incomparable friend, your beginning and your end. “So don’t be upset by anything. Once and for all, place your heart in Mine, in joy as in distress. If I fill your cup to overflowing, I am your peace. If I put you to the test, I am your companion. Nothing ever ceases to flow from Me to you, if you accept Me. Now do you understand a little better the reason you were born? To be one with Me. Begin, begin right from this very moment. Tighten the bonds of union. Ask the immaculate one for this grace. Her heart never left Me. And you, child, never leave Me. Never. I’ll be tempted to thank you.””

— He and I by Gabrielle Bossis

⁸ Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:8).

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,^[d]
    I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
    thy rod and thy staff,
    they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelations 1:8)

Reflection- O Lord we can feel so alone in this world even in the best of circumstances. But now during this Holiday Season, so many can really be feeling the losses- of loved ones, of poor health, of loneliness and depression. And yet You are our treasure, our goal, our only purpose in life. Our Alpha and Omega, our beginning and our end. And You promise that You are not just there on the mountaintop but as a faithful companion in the valley, our comfort and our peace. So let us ask for the grace to live fused in Your Most Holy and Divine Will, one with You no matter the circumstances. Mary Queen of Peace please pray for us.

Stumbling Into Holiness

Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Stumbling Into Holiness

You did not make yourself worthy. I, God, thought you worthy of your call. Even one instant is too much for you to be occupied with something else. My love does not rest. May our thoughts be as one!” (Jesus) (August 30, 1964)

Today’s Readings: Jesus said to the crowds: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, like the first reading today in Isaiah 40 we do run and grow weary, we walk, and not only do we faint, we stumble and fall. We work in our own power to somehow be good enough, to measure up, even for those of us on a spiritual path to make ourselves holy. We are literally tripping on our own feet! You see all of this and You say to us today enough! You call to us to come to You, all who are labored, burdened, just plain worn out and sick and tired of being sick and tired and You ask us to turn in that worn out yoke for a brand new one of Your making. Because we do not make ourselves good or holy- only You do when we surrender ourselves to Your Divine Will, the sacrament of the Present Moment which includes our duties to You and to our state in life and loving acceptance of all that comes to us through Your Hands for our good! Thank You Jesus for stepping into this holiday madness with Your Word in the Gospel today- let us have ears to hear!

Never Leave Your Immaculate Mother

“Never leave your immaculate mother. She won’t leave you either. She loves you even more than your own dear mother. She suffered more to give birth to you, for she bore My death. Queen of Martyrs! If suffering increases love, just imagine the tenderness she feels for you. Nothing could ever quench it, not even your ingratitude. Thank her. Love her. Above all, speak to her about your love, and this will draw you nearer to Me. Where else would she lead you if not to Me? She is much too humble to take for herself what belongs to Me, she who lived for God alone. Ask her to teach you to live for Me. Put all your trust in her. She will help you on your uphill climb; it is strenuous work climbing the mountain of perfection.” (Jesus to Gabrielle Bossis)

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Imman′u-el. (Isaiah 7:14).

⁴³ And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Luke 1:43)

²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:26-27).

Reflection- O Lord how can we thank You enough for Your Immaculate Mother and ours. She gave Her Fiat to Your Incarnation but Her Love did not stop there. She followed You all the way to the Cross and She participated in Your Sufferings for our sake. She is our true Mother who wants all of Her Children safe and home in You. You remind us today that suffering increases love! So many of us are suffering but are we increasing in love? How many of us just feel empty and numb and overwhelmed? But Our Lady wants to give us Her Love so that She can lead us to You as we strive to get up out of whatever valley we may find ourselves in today. So let us put our trust in Her as we strive to climb the mountain of perfection because She will draw us even nearer to You!

Made White in the Blood of the Lamb- All Saints Day

Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Solemnity of All Saints

Made White in the Blood of the Lamb- All Saints Day

“Then I humbly hid Myself under a common appearance so as to be more accessible to you, so that you would not fear Me. I hid Myself in the white Host like a child wrapped up in swaddling clothes. When I enter your heart, make sure that the robe of your soul is free from any stain or tear, because no father has made greater sacrifices to acquire a suit for his child.” (Jesus) (May 1962)

Today’s Readings: “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”
I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.”
He said to me,
“These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, today we honor all the Saints, all the ones who made it- the great cloud of witnesses that cheers us on from Heaven including we pray our family members who have come before. The ordinary people saved by grace who have washed their robes and made them white in Your Precious Blood. Lord, as we think of all the great saints, including our patron saints perhaps, we see their great deeds and we may feel like we may never get there. But Lord, as St. Therese has taught us and as St Faustina and the Divine Mercy devotion has shown us it has never been easier to be a saint! Because we have been given especially in these times every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). But do we desire holiness or are we content with mediocrity? Let us examine ourselves and place ourselves in the Holy Hands of Our Mother Mary who will fashion us into saints, as St. Louis Marie de Montfort says, by placing us in Her mold as she fashions us into Your Likeness. As St. John tells us today, we shall be like You because we will finally see You as You are, so let us make ourselves pure as You are pure as we hope in You with all of our hearts!

No Condemnation in Him

Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Saturday of the Twenty Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

No Condemnation in Him

‘My little one, I want that not one soul be damned. You should want this together with me. For this purpose, I place in your hands a beam of light that is the Flame of Love of my heart.”

 (Mary ) (January 14, 1964 )

Today’s Readings: Brothers and sisters:
Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has freed you from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, sometimes we just don’t want to believe that there is no condemnation in You.  Because the world gives us plenty of opportunities to feel condemned and not good enough, to feel less than whatever ideal is presented to us. All we have to do is see all the self- help and diet books to understand how much we just want to feel better about ourselves. Some of us grew up with a false sense of religiosity, practical Jansenism where You are just waiting for us to mess up and are keeping a scorecard of all of our faults and sins. But that is not Your Heart for us! Lord, for us who believe in You and live in You there is no condemnation! Covered by Grace is a real thing! And we are so blessed in the Church because the Sacraments, Eucharist and Reconciliation, allow us to be touched and healed by You daily in every Catholic Church in the world! So let us be not afraid-  let us live a sacramental life and one of prayer and living in Your Word to know and understand that we are dearly beloved children of the Most- High God! There is no condemnation in those who love You Lord with trust and abandonment to Your Divine Will!

Rich in What Matters to God

Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Monday of the Twenty Ninth Week of Ordinary Time

Rich in What Matters to God

“You see My riches. I need you and I enrich you. Therefore, may our hands gather in unity since our thoughts are one and our souls are in harmony.” (Jesus) (October 15, 1962)

Today’s Readings: But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God.” (Luke 12)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, today we read about a man who is much like many of us. He makes plans and thinks to himself what to do with the material things and possessions he has. He is thinking ahead of a future with overflowing barns and eating and drinking and being merry. How many of us think like that- plans for retirement and some future time where we will have our paradise here. But it does not work that way really- even those who retire well for example will have to die and leave behind all earthly treasures. And how many times do we hear of those who die suddenly or become sick or disabled and none of those things that were so important really matter very much anymore. Lord, help us to see Your Riches, may we walk, no matter our state in life and how blessed we may be here, hand in hand with You because You are our only treasure! Living well also means dying well- living forever with You in Heaven.

If It Delays- Wait for It

Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

If It Delays- Wait for It

O heavenly Mother, I desire so much that your Flame of Love burns that I feel a great sadness and affliction because it is being delayed. O Mother, smooth out the road of those called to promote your Cause. (Mary) (July 30, 1962).

Today’s Readings: For the vision still has its time,
 presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
 if it delays, wait for it,
 it will surely come, it will not be late. (Habakkuk 1)

Prayer Meditation- Lord, I believe so many of us are waiting for many things. We may be waiting for a spouse, a baby, the right job, or the return of our health. We may be waiting for our loved ones to return to faith. We may be waiting for the darkness to lift in our minds and hearts so that we may feel Your Presence once more though we know by faith You are always there. I believe Heaven waits for us to respond to this time of Mercy and Grace poured out on us in these extraordinary times. Mercy through the Divine Mercy and Grace through The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Why Lord, does it seem so long when we are waiting? Yet the second reading today tells us what our attitude is to be while we wait. Stir into Flame Your Gifts in our souls because You did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love and self -control (2 Timothy 1)! And the Gospel offers us the promise- if we have the faith of a mustard seed we will see great things (Luke 17). So let us who are waiting do so with expectancy and hope- Your timing is not our timing but You are never late!

Nowhere to Rest Our Heads- All That You Can’t Leave Behind

Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Nowhere to Rest Our Heads- All That You Can’t Leave Behind After this, I placed my daughter C in charge of the house: “From now on, you will be the little owner of this house and I will not cook anymore.” She was surprised and asked what I would do. “Whatever you ask, I will do and I will eat whatever you give to me.” – “Mother,” she said, “you are acting like a hermit.” (Elizabeth) (1961-1962)

Today’s Readings: As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding
on their journey, someone said to him,
“I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him,
“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

Prayer Meditation- O Lord, no matter where we live and where we rest our heads the truth is that we are all pilgrims, sojourners on this Earth. We can’t take it with us so whether we are slowly giving up stuff and downsizing, retiring or changing careers or dealing with other losses little by little of health, loved ones, and our previous lives by choice or by chance the only certainty in life is You! And we say we want to follow You but do we really count the cost (Luke 14:28-29) and whether we are building on a solid foundation when we are building those lives of ours. Because to follow You is to die to ourselves so that You live through us (Galatians 2:20) and to do that means we are stripped down to all that we can’t leave behind which at the end of the day is love and nothing else. So Lord help us to live with open hands and open hearts ready to give it all in this life that we would freely enter Heaven where we will finally rest our heads and our hearts! Fiat!

Who Then Is This

Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures

Thursday of the Twenty Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Who Then Is This?

Mary: “You have no reason to fear. Although we prepared your soul, you must unceasingly feel that you are an instrument in our hands. Attribute nothing to yourself. Fear is inevitable, it is a reflection of your pride. Do you think you are capable of anything? Devote yourself fully, my little one. Recognize your nothingness. We will lead you.” (Mary) (December 1, 1962)

Today’s Readings: Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,
and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,
“John has been raised from the dead”;
others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”;
still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”
But Herod said, “John I beheaded.
Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”
And he kept trying to see him. (Luke 5)

Prayer Meditation- Lord we praise You today because we read in the Gospel about how Herod is perplexed by who Jesus is. You see, Herod thought he was in control as he had already beheaded John the Baptist. And now there was a new prophet and he was curious. Herod represents the cynicism, corruption and worldliness so present particularly in the last century and today.. Lord Jesus, when you were on the Earth You were humble and You attributed everything to the Father. And You are asking us Lord to be instruments of Your Grace in these times- not to fear as we recognize our nothingness as You lead us in Your Most Holy and Divine Will. Others may or may not say about us, who then is this, as we quietly make sacrifices and acts of reparation for the world we are in today, but let us be faithful, totally united to the Holy Trinity in all that we do for Your Glory!