Mark Dohle
Well-Known Member
We are freer than we know, but in ways that we may not understand
“Dear children! My call for you is prayer. May prayer be a joy for you and a wreath which binds you to God. Little children, trials will come and you will not be strong, and sin will reign but, if you are mine, you will win, because your refuge will be the Heart of my Son Jesus. Therefore, little children, return to prayer until prayer becomes life for you in the day and the night.
Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Medjugorje, the words of the Queen of Peace.
Last message of July 25, 2019
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One of the last things people often think about is that our lives are actually about a spiritual battle. A war that I am often wounded in, and I would think this is true for my fellow travelers as well.
So yes, I can fail in many ways, and often, thankfully, it is the same struggles, not something new every week! The problem is not falling, but what we do with it. Do we begin again in faith and trust, or do we lay there feeling sorry for ourselves, or worse, contempt. Sin is a self-wounding that can end in the death of our souls. This can happen over time, when we forget our connection with the Lord, what he calls us to, and most importantly, the connection we experience when we pray from the heart.
I am not strong, yet with grace, I can make one choice at a time, do one loving action or react lovingly, one person at a time. Jesus is our refuge. His Heart is a heart that is truly human, filled with compassion and empathy for the human struggle. There is nothing that he does not understand, and his love and care can be trusted. Yet we all have to go through many trials in our lives. There is no escape. What we do with them is our choice.
We are freer than we know, but in ways that we may not understand. What we do every day. How we live and relate to others, as well as ourselves will lead us towards greater freedom and life, or towards bondage and death.
It is difficult today to always know what the right thing to say, or do. Yet we are called to love others and to speak the truth. Many think attacking others is the way to speak the truth. Well, that is not working very well at this time. All we hear for the most part are people attacking one another in the name of truth.
Jesus tells us to see the one before us, to love them, and when speaking the truth be gentle and kind. One way to be with another is to simply listen. So many are yelled at so much, that all they know is to yell back. Jesus only yelled when he was actually trying to make a breakthrough, not to harm or hurt. He showed only compassion for the human condition, but always let others know that sin does them harm, it wounds the soul, of all involved.
Sometimes it is only by prayer that we learn about how to love and treat others, because we learn how the Lord treats us, always with compassion, mercy, and kindness. He calls us to a deep life of union with Him because that is our true home, any other place will be ‘hell’.
We grow in freedom one choice at a time. Our lives are important, and the present moment, the present choice, is the next step up towards freedom, or down towards bondage. To make the choice to begin again, is always a step upwards.—Br.MD
