My dear children! (Fr. Marinko Shakota, OFM)

Message from July 25, 2024

“My dear children! With joy I chose you and lead you, because in you, little children, I see people of faith, hope and prayer. Let you, little children, be guided by the pride that you are Mine, and I lead you to Him, Who is the way, the truth and the life, and I am with you, so that peace may prevail in you and around you, because with that intention God sends Me you. Thank you for responding to My call.”

“My dear children!”

In this message, the Mother of God added the word “Mine” to the usual words she uses at the beginning of messages. Why? Isn’t it clear from the words “dear children” that we are Her? Maybe to explain to us who we are? Because maybe we forgot? Or to express His love for us even more strongly? “With joy I chose you and lead you, because in you, little children, I see people of faith, hope and prayer.” Some say that the Mother of God is repeated in the epistles. Indeed, and in this She tells us that she has chosen us – although this time she adds “with joy.” But why does the Mother of God repeat some words? Maybe because we easily forget Her and Her words? Yes, this is one of our key problems – we forget what happened, what God gave us, did for us, what the Mother of God did for us… When we forget what was given to us, it is a sign that we are ungrateful and, accordingly , unfair to the truth. And not only that. By forgetting, we distance ourselves from the Mother of God and cease to be Her helpers. Why did the Mother of God choose us with joy and why does She lead us on a path that lasts 43 years? Here we learn about the Mother of God: She sees. She sees that there is good and positive in us, she sees that we are people of faith, hope and prayer. How do we see ourselves? How do we see others around us? What do we see in them? Do we look like the Mother of God? Maybe I only see weaknesses in others and don’t want to deal with them? What would happen if I saw in others what the Mother of God sees in us?”Let you be proud, little children, that you are Mine.” Why does the Mother of God speak of pride? Why does She want us to be proud that we are Her? First of all, let’s distinguish pride from arrogance and vanity. Unlike arrogance and vanity, which are misguided, pride is a positive value. Pride is the awareness that we are what we are. The opposite of pride is forgetfulness, loss of awareness of one’s value and shame due to some weaknesses. Maybe there is some reason why Our Lady wants us to be proud today? Maybe someone wants to extinguish our pride? How proud our ancestors were that they were Christians! They were not ashamed of their faith. They knew who they were, and they were ready to prove it to everyone. By emphasizing the weaknesses of some Christians, especially priests, many ideologies seem to want to impose a sense of guilt and an inferiority complex on today’s Christians. And indeed, some Christians in the West are ashamed of their belonging to the Church and renounce it, because they do not want to belong to a Church that has weaknesses in itself. As a call to pride, Mother encourages us! How it lifts our spirits! How it heals us! Oh, thank you, Mother, for not abandoning us because of our weaknesses! Thank you that, despite all our sins and imperfections, You still say that You chose us, that You count on us in Your plans to spread peace throughout the world! Thank you that You are not ashamed of us, but speak openly and emphasize that we are Your children! Will we be ashamed of the Mother? Will we be ashamed to be Her children? Are we going to give her up? Whom to be ashamed of? For the sake of whom and for the sake of denying Her? “…and I lead you to Him, who is the way, the truth and the life.” Some Christians have no or not very good attitude towards Mary. The reason: because Jesus is the only one who matters, that is, because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. What a pity that they think so! Because Mary clearly tells us in this message that Her only task and role is to lead us to Jesus, Who is the way, the truth and the life! If God needed a Mother and if Jesus entrusted Her to us (John…) from the Cross and gave Her to us as a mother, then we also need a Mother on the way to God. Jesus said, “He that hath ears, let him hear.” Blessed are those who understand this! “I lead you to Him.” Mary does what Jesus wants: “Come to Him!” This reminds us of Jesus’ school, which has several steps. The first step is prayer: to come to Jesus. Come to the Eucharist, read the Gospel, worship Jesus, pray in front of the Cross… The prayer “come to Jesus” is crucial today, because many Christians do not come to Jesus, do not participate in the Eucharist… If they do not come to Jesus, they move away from Him, they forget Him. And also: they remain alone, only with their own strength, only in their mind, only in human lov