Cervantes: Blessed Virgin Mary on the value of sufferings to convert sinners

EVERY wish in the stifling pandemic revolves around going back to "normalcy." It's a wish for lives spent through some work in pursuit of things that could provide comfort, leisure, pleasure. Such lives are not necessarily sinful despite seeming hedonism, but they're not lives saints had lived.

Let's recall the conversation between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the seven-year-old Jacinta during the Fatima apparitions in 1917:

The Blessed Mother asked Jacinta: "Would you like to offer yourselves to God, to make sacrifices and to accept willingly all the sufferings it may please Him to send you, in order to make reparation for so many sins which offend the Divine Majesty, to obtain the conversion of sinners, and to make amends for all the blasphemies and offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary?"

Jacinta replied: "Yes, we should like that very much."

And the Blessed Mother then said: "You will soon have much to suffer, but the grace of God will help you and give you the strength you need."

From this, we learn from no less than the Mother of God not only what makes people saints, but why hardships have value, why Our Lord Jesus Christ willingly suffered up to His death on the cross. Now in our times of tribulations, in this era of the apocalypse, there have been mounting calls for sainthood among earthlings, that's us, amid warnings being relayed through believable Catholic mystics that many are in danger of landing in hell.

Our Blessed Mother has aired such a call for saintliness in her messages from Medjugorje where she has continued to appear to some visionaries since 1981. Here, I share some of her messages appealing to each one:

"I want you to comprehend that God has chosen each one of you in order to use you for the great plan of the salvation of mankind. You cannot comprehend how great your role is in God’s plan.

"There are many plans that I cannot fulfill without you... I cannot do anything without you. I want to draw you closer to the Heart of Jesus. Therefore, dear little children, pray that you may comprehend the greatness of this message that I give you."

"Dear children, without you I am not able to help the world. I desire that you cooperate with me in everything, even in the smallest things."

"Today I am calling on you to decide whether or not you wish to live the messages that I am giving you. I wish you to be active in living and spreading these messages."

Noted Catholic authors Dr. Kelly Bowring and Vincent Murray, in their book Dear Children which compiles Marian messages from Medjugorje, summarized what our Blessed Mother wants us to do to comply with her appeals: increase our faith, convert our hearts and to reconcile with God and all others, pray without ceasing, fast twice a week, accept God’s peace in our hearts, in our families, and in our world.

The authors added: "And to not delay! Keep in mind that there are ten secrets (revealed to the visionaries of Medjugorje), which will soon be revealed, and which will occur in our lifetimes. Some of these events will affect all of humanity. Now is the time to change the direction of your life toward God, and continue in His grace, and try to live in His Will. Then you can have every hope that your soul will be saved and that God will protect you and your loved ones. This is not the time to waver! Now is the time for a complete and serious commitment to Jesus Christ and to the messages of His Mother."

Now let me share with readers some of the messages (with corresponding dates) of the Blessed Mother from Medjugorje, covering a range of topics including how to protect ourselves through the use of sacramentals, how to pray, who and what to pray for and, rather encouragingly, to have our eyes focused on life everlasting in Heaven.

July 18, 1985 “Dear children! Today I call you to place more blessed objects in your homes and that everyone put some blessed objects on their person. Bless all the objects and thus Satan will attack you less because you will have armor against him. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

August 25, 2007 “Dear Children! Also today I call you to conversion. May Your Life, little children, be a reflection of God’s goodness and not of hatred and unfaithfulness. Pray, little children, that prayer may become life for you. In this way, in your life you will discover the peace and joy which God gives to those who have an open heart to his love. And you who are far from God’s mercy, convert so that God may not become deaf to your prayers and that it may not be too late for you. Therefore, in this time of grace, convert and put God in the first place in your life. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

October 8, 1984 “Dear children, Let all the prayers you say in your homes in the evening be for the conversion of sinners because the world is in great sin. Every evening, pray the Rosary.”

March 25, 1999 “Dear children! I call you to prayer with the heart. In a special way, little children, I call you to pray for conversion of sinners, for those who pierce my heart and the heart of my Son Jesus with the sword of hatred and daily blasphemies. Let us pray, little children, for all those who do not desire to come to know the love of God, even though they are in the Church. Let us pray that they convert, so that the Church may resurrect in love. Only with love and prayer, little children, can you live this time which is given to you for conversion. Place God in the first place, then the risen Jesus will become your friend. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

November 6, 1986 “Dear children! Today I wish to call you to pray daily for souls in purgatory. For every soul prayer and grace is necessary to reach God and the love of God. By doing this, dear children, you obtain new intercessors who will help you in life to realize that all the earthly things are not important for you, that only Heaven is that for which it is necessary to strive. Therefore, dear children, pray without ceasing that you may be able to help yourselves and the others to whom your prayers will bring joy. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

November 27, 1986 “Dear children! Again today I call you to consecrate your life to me with love, so I am able to guide you with love. I love you, dear children, with a special love and I desire to bring you all to Heaven unto God. I want you to realize that this life lasts briefly compared to the one in Heaven. Therefore, dear children, decide again today for God. Only that way will I be able to show how much you are dear to me and how much I desire all to be saved and to be with me in Heaven. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

October 25, 1987 “My dear children! Today I want to call all of you to decide for Paradise. The way is difficult for those who have not decided for God. Dear children, decide and believe that God is offering Himself to you in His fullness. You are invited and you need to answer the call of the Father, Who is calling you through me. Pray, because in prayer each one of you will be able to achieve complete love. I am blessing you and I desire to help you so that each one of you might be under my motherly mantle. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

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