November 1, 2013 A.D.
God’s creation and our cemetery were the setting for prayer, reflection and life as we celebrated our traditional Feast of Morta last night. While rain threatened, the Community continued to pray in the cemetery as clouds and wind swept around us. Prayers were spoken for loved ones and relatives; for those who lived on these lands before us, asking for their intercession. There were prayers offered for the souls in purgatory, for the founding fathers and their intercession, for supporters of the mission who have died and for those who have been to these holy grounds as pilgrims. The prayers continued to pour out from the hearts of all gathered, and as darkness fell there was a tangible peace as we began the Rosary. While the Rosary was being prayed, each Community member picked up a leaf around them, the leaf representing sin in our lives. One by one, each Community member knelt by the fire and silently prayed. With trust and hope, the leaf was placed in the fire and consumed in the flames; a sign of the old self dying.
While the Rosary is prayed and leaves are being prayerfully placed in the fire, children are carefully selecting and placing sticks in the coals and patiently waiting for the moment when a lifeless stick becomes a burning light in the darkness. Our children look forward to the Feast of Morta every year and the mystical moments this night always unfolds. Faith, joy and life are the memories the Community has of this night, while most of society celebrates atheistic views, darkness, and death.
Our Lady wants us to experience joy in prayer, as She said on September 25, 2000:
Prayer opens the mind and heart to experiences that create memories. Two young girls pull their burning sticks out of the fire and make their way into the dark to put on a spectacular light show. What a joy it is for them to be surrounded by prayer, lovingly remembering those they have known who have died, members of our community, and to be able to live in hope, joyfully alive in God’s creation; a witness to a seamless way of life to eternity.
In living a way of life, transforming the messages into life, we live the seamless life that Our Lady spoke of in 1986:
One of the children makes their sparkler “dance,” while one of the men in the community demonstrates to the others the magnitude of possibilities a sparkler is capable of; the youngest children, just one and two years old, watch in awe and wonder. Our children are free, not confined to the worldly traditions of the night, built on false joys and empty memories. These children are alive with joy among the living and the dead. They know those in the cemetery are not truly dead, but live on, looking down on them from Heaven through the window of prayer.
The following is an excerpt from the booklet Judge With Right Judgment, by a Friend of Medjugorje, in which he explains the richness that a cemetery adds to our way of life and what society has lost in leaving the “family cemetery” behind:
We can benefit greatly by remembering our loved ones as our own saints and advocates. Our structure is a life created with God. We are not in and out of a world, sometimes with and sometimes without God. Our cemetery was part of building our house. We planned it with the house—our whole world with God, with the thought of Heaven and our connection with it. It is not strange to us that cemeteries have to do with life and are a major part of a thriving community. We are rich, rich in a way of life, shown to us by Our Lady.”
May you experience the same joys and richness of life in your family.
In the joy and love of Our Lady,
Medjugorje.com
Caritas of Birmingham,
Operated by The Community of Caritas
Judge With Right Judgement
by A Friend of Medjugorje
For more about your home, life and the witness of Our Lady’s ‘Way of Life.’
More for your spiritual nourishment, see below:
Our Last Sunrise Together on Earth – August 2, 2013 Radio Wave Show
Goodbye Papa Tony: Proud to Be My Father’s Son – December 2, 2012 Radio Wave Show
All Hallow’s Eve with the Community of Caritas, October 31, 2012, click here
Goodbye Andrea – April 2, 2012 Radio Wave Show
Building A World Without God, click here
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1 thought on “We Are Called to Light up the Darkness”
What a beautiful night. I am not sure if Halloween has always been an evil celebration but it definitely is now. God bless the community at Caritas. You are in our prayers.