August 25, 2021
“Dear children! With joy I am calling all of you, little children, who have responded to my call: be joy and peace. Witness with your lives Heaven, which I am bringing to you. It is time, little children, that you be a reflection of my love for all those who do not love and whose hearts hatred has conquered. Do not forget: I am with you and intercede for all of you before my Son Jesus, that He may give you His peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
A personal reflection:
As a leader in the Pilgrimage Ministry, Catholic Journeys incorporates elements and activities that reaffirm the faith, inspire devotions and foster a sense of community into every one of our Spiritual Journeys. These are essential components, tools, which our Spiritual Directors and Guides employ to lead you to a deeper spiritual life and relationship with God.
As Christians, our entire life here on Earth is a Pilgrimage, a road trip, a journey to our ultimate destination, to be united with Our Lord in Heaven. It has a starting point and a terminus; it is a metaphor of movement, and early Christians were often referred to as the followers of “the Way.” On this “Life Pilgrimage” we also have a Spiritual Director and Guide to lead us on our Journey; the Holy Spirit and Our Blessed Mother. In Mary’s message today she asks us to “witness with (our) lives Heaven, which she is bringing to (us).” She has also given us essential tools, components we must use to reach our ultimate destination.
- Prayer
- Fasting
- Holy Mass
- The Bible
- Confession
The Blessed Virgin Mary also made these promises to Saint Dominic and to all who follow that “Whatever you ask in the Rosary will be granted.”
- Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
- I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
- The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
- The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
- The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
- Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
- Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
- Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenititude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
- I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
- The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
- You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
- All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
- I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
- All who recite the Rosary are my sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ.
- Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
Today, I personally reflect deeply upon Our Lady’s message and on these tools and promises she has given us, for I have a very dear and close cousin who at this very hour, may be coming to the close of his life pilgrimage after battling the effects of Covid in the ICU for the last 8 months. I pray deeply, and I ask all of you to pray with me, either for a Miracle, or for God’s Mercy; and I know Our Lady is interceding for him, and her promises are being kept. Like a divine Road Map, or Heavenly GPS, they will always guide us on our journey.
James “Jimmy” Hyland