September 17, 2019 A.D.
Our Lady said through Medjugorje visionary Ivan on September 13, 2019:
“…I desire, in a special way, to call you to pray for the family and holiness in the family. Dear children, pray, pray, pray…”
The family today, as always in history, is the core of society. When the core becomes rotten, so too does society.
A pair of doves rest on a steeple near St. James Church in Medjugorje. Nature speaks to us of faithfulness, grace and the Providence of God.
The core of society is the family. The church, the nation, the world finds its strength or weakness depending on the state of the family. A number of years ago, a Friend of Medjugorje was attending a daily morning Mass in Birmingham, Alabama. During the prayers of the faithful, the priest had the custom of allowing the congregation to offer their own petitions. One person said, “We pray for an end to abortion…”, another person prayed, “We pray for more vocations to the priesthood and the religious life…” To the surprise and shock of those gathered at Mass, a Friend of Medjugorje prayed out loud, “We pray for an end to the scourge of divorce!”
Needless to say, it was a rather unorthodox prayer. A Friend of Medjugorje said afterwards that as he listened to the prayers being offered he realized that people were missing the point. The cure for abortion and the cure for vocations is the family. Often people pray for the wrong things. Does God make use of all prayers? Certainly. Is it good to pray for an end to abortion and for vocations? Certainly. But our prayers show the focus of our hearts. Our Lady is trying to focus our hearts on the most important things, which will not just outlaw abortion, but stop abortion at the root cause; which will not just give us a large quantity of priests and religious, but vocations that know commitment and true love of God’s people.
Our Lady gives us an indication of the right things to pray for when She tells us, “…I desire, in a special way, to call you to pray for the family and holiness in the family. Dear children, pray, pray, pray…” You can take it as the straight truth from Heaven that this is an important intention when a Heavenly Being comes to speak these words to us. In these days, pray for the most important things. Make it a daily prayer that Our Lady’s intentions for the family will be realized. Pray it throughout the day as a constant litany of prayer to Our Lady.
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More for Your Spiritual Nourishment:
• The Love that Has No Boundaries, by a Friend of Medjugorje, April 2, 2011
• No More Divorce!, Radio WAVE with a Friend of Medjugorje, April 2, 2011
• Sin, Despair, Pain and Loneliness, by a Friend of Medjugorje, November 2, 2011
