The First Gift of Christmas

The First Gift of Christmas

            In the famous Christmas movie, The Polar Express, the boy receives a bell from Santa Claus which is called “the first gift of Christmas.”  Then he is told that only those who believe in Santa Claus can hear the ringing of this bell.

            What longing in the human heart was the author of The Polar Express trying to convey?  It is the desire to have something beautiful to believe in-- beyond what we see around us.

"O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light,
sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell
 in darkness and the shadow of death."

            Around us there is so much desolation.  There are wars between nations and the war against the preborn.  Consider, for example that since 1973 the equivalent of 17.5% of our national United States population has died in the war against the preborn.  Additionally many of the elderly or disabled have fallen victim to euthanasia.  There is violence in our schools and communities.  Poverty, substance abuse, pornography, suicide, bankruptcy, and homelessness have become rampant.  Our freedom of speech and freedom of worship are being severely eroded.  Multitudes have embraced the lie that our sexuality—the gift of being created male or female in the image and likeness of God has no meaning.  This has reached the point where people are being persecuted and ostracized for stating the obvious fact that sodomy and other distortions of sexual expression are intrinsically disordered and morally destructive. Even the meaning of terms like equality and freedom has changed.  Instead of referring to the individual dignity of each person, equality is now falsely used to justify aberrant behavior and freedom is used to justify licentiousness.

            Yet despite all this desolation the longing for the beautiful remains in each of our hearts.  We desire that Someone Beautiful would come to heal our grief and restore what we have shattered.  Many centuries before Christ’s birth it was prophesied that when He came He would bring good news to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives, and set prisoners free (cf. Isaiah 61:1)  In the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus applied these words of Isaiah to Himself: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).  And now He is here, the Father’s Eternal Gift, the Radiant Dawn from on High, the true and everlasting First Gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

            He is coming for you—His beloved one.  No matter what you have done or failed to do—you are still His beloved one.  He sees your true identity, the real you!  You were created as a unique, irreplaceable male or female immortal person in His own image and likeness.  The greatest gift you could give Him this Christmas is to open your heart to His overflowing Love for you.

            Today will you open your heart to Jesus Christ, the True First Gift of Christmas, or will you allow the hole in your heart to be forever unfilled?

 

Wishing you and your loved ones

The Everlasting First Gift of Christmas,

Sister Mary Rose Reddy, DMML

Spiritual Warfare is Necessary Against Suicide

The tragedy of suicide has multiple causes but what should not be overlooked is that in some cases evil spirits have negatively influenced the victims' thought patterns.  This was brought out in a very good article that I read today: "Why are so many pastors committing suicide?"

We need to take the offense against suicide by uniting ourselves with Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother and the Holy Angels.  Together with the armies of Heaven we can resist negative thought patterns and help others to do so.  Through our prayers and love we can also reach out to help the souls who may be suffering in Purgatory because of the terrible mistake of suicide.  And united with Jesus Christ and His all Powerful Spirit we can aid with our love the grieving families and friends of those who are suffering the loss of a loved one to suicide.

A Prayer of Thanks for Your Infinite Mercy Toward Those Who've died by suicide

A Prayer of Thanks for Your Infinite Mercy Toward Those Who Have Died by Suicide

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the immeasurable gift of every person You have ever created.

We know that each of us is a beautiful irreplaceable unique image of Your perfect Beauty.

Today we offer You thanks for having created the people whose suicides we are grieving.

Thank you for the gift of their lives.

Thank you for all their heartbeats, the breaths they took, the joy and love they brought into our lives.

Thank you for their immortal souls created in Your image and likeness.

Thank you for the Gift of Your Son Jesus Who offered His Life on the Holy Cross for us.

Thank you for allowing Your Beloved Son to experience the terrible anguish that led Him to cry out to You, “My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) so that no soul would be beyond the hope of redemption.

Thank you for hearing your Son’s prayer form the Holy Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

Let God the Father take care of His people

One morning last week as I was waking up I said to God the Father, "There are so many people that I am worrying about."  He said, "Why don't you let me worry about the people since I created them and you just love them?"

Praying for Souls Who Committed Suicide

Every November 2nd the Catholic Church throughout the world prays especially for the souls in Purgatory.  At Medjugorje Our Lady said that when most people die they go to Purgatory, the next greatest number choose to go to Hell by rejecting God's Merciful Love, and the fewest go directly to Heaven.  Souls in Purgatory are all on their way to Heaven but they are expiating sins and faults that were encumbering their souls at the moment of death.  These souls need our help.  We can help them by our prayers and sacrifices.  Especially souls who have committed suicide need help.  If you are suffering anguish because of a suicide of one of your loved ones, please place all of that grief into the Heart of Jesus and offer it with His Perfect Offering to our Heavenly Father for the relief of your beloved one's soul.  It will become a very powerful prayer and this prayer will help your loved one to complete the "School of Love" that is Purgatory and to enter more quickly into the full bliss of seeing God face to Face in Heaven.

Jesus to the Suicidal

My Dear Beloved Child,

I love you and I, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit have loved you from all eternity as the prophet Jeremiah told you, “With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you” (Jer. 31:3).  Please, my child, reject the thoughts that urge you to take your own life.  These thoughts do not come from my Holy Spirit.  Your life is a gift not just to you but to all those others who are surrounding your earthly journey.  You were created to live in joyful union with Us forever. 

 I know that life on earth can be difficult.  Remember that I walked the roads of your world.  I sweated blood in the garden as I grieved over so many souls who would reject the Gift of My Precious Blood of Redemption that I was about to pour out on the Cross.  Please do not reject My Love! You think that you have sinned too much to be forgiven, but that is a lie! My Mercy is Infinite—that means it is greater than all the sins that can possibly be committed combined.  Even if you were the only one I would have poured out all My Blood to reassure you of my love and my mercy for you.  

 I created you in my own image and likeness and I gave you a mission on the earth which is yours alone and it is irreplaceable.  I am with you every moment.  Call on Me.  We will walk together through the sorrows of earth to the eternal joy that is awaiting you.  Call also on my Mother, Mary because I entrusted you to her Motherly Care as I was dying on the cross for you (John 19:27).  Call on all the Angels and Saints to join their prayers to yours because they are your invisible companions on the journey to eternity.  Console My Heart by accepting the cross of your earthly sorrows and trusting in My everlasting Love for you.   "Because you are precious in my eyes and glorious, and because I love you" (Isaia 43:4).

All my Love,

 Jesus Christ

Guardian Angels Want to Help Us

Every October 2^nd the Catholic Church celebrates a feast in honor of the Guardian Angels.  In the Gospel of St. Matthew Jesus tells His Apostles, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you their angels in heaven always behold the face of my Father in heaven.  For the Son of Man came to save what was lost” (Mt 18:10).

 It is very important to realize that every person has his or her own personal Guardian Angel sent by God just to watch over each of us and to inspire us to make the choices that will lead us to the everlasting joy of eternal union with God and our loved ones.  Also each person who is contemplating suicide or who has already committed suicide has a Guardian Angel.  Angels are outside of time and they have the power to bring the consolation of God to people.  We see this in the Agony in the Garden where Jesus was in such great anguish and where God the Father sent Him an angel of consolation (cf. Luke 22:43).  St. Padre Pio who was a Catholic priest who died in 1968 had the gift of always being able to see his own and other peoples’ Guardian Angels.  St. Padre Pio used to receive letters from people all over the world in many different languages.  If he did not know the language of the letter he had received, his Guardian Angel would translate it for him.  There is a whole book about this called Send Me Your Guardian Angel by Fr. Alessio Parente.  What is important to the members of LAST to know is that Padre Pio used to advise people to send him their Guardian Angels.  We can still do this now that Padre Pio is a Saint in Heaven.  I can say, “Dear Guardian Angel, please go to Padre Pio and ask him to pray for (whoever God has particularly put upon my heart).  Of course we can also pray directly to Padre Pio or more especially directly to God, but God likes it when we make use of intercessors because it is humble and respectful and increases the love power of our request.