“JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY SAVIOUR”  (1/1/97 & 24/6/97)

 

The subject of this Meditation is the title of two Messages. And I believe they are very important in these times of the great apostasy, as Our Lady defines them.

She tells us: “I am bringing you to Jesus: Because my duty as Mother is that of bringing Jesus to you and of bringing you all to Jesus. I am the way along which you must travel if you want to reach your Lord and Saviour”. (2/2/89) And again: “To all humanity, with the strength of an anguished Mother, who sees the mortal dangers threatening it, I want to cry out: ‘Open wide the gates to Christ who is coming. He alone is God with you. He alone is your Redeemer. He alone is your Saviour!’” (3/25/83).

 

Even in Father Stefano’s times, I have always tried to expand upon themes taken from the Messages, in order to convey the Light Jesus has brought into the world to scatter the darkness. I believe it is important to insist above all on the jewels of this Light and namely on the gifts which God has given the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of the Saviour.

The messages also speak about Light and darkness, as it is described in the Prologue of the Gospel of Saint John. In these times too many people are insisting on the “darkness”. Surely there are too many things that make us sad. Therefore, I believe it is very important to keep in mind those messages where She insists that She is always next to us, in fact She “lives with us” and therefore, with Her beside us we have nothing to fear. Our Mother invites us to enter into the Refuge of Her Immaculate Heart, where we will be protected from the storm of the present and future times. In other words, in the refuge of Her Heart we will always remain in the true Faith. She has also promised us that She will stay close to us both during persecutions and in the great trials which will precede the coming of the Lord.

Jesus Himself had foretold his Passion to the Apostles, not to frighten them, but “Now I have told you this – he said – before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.” (Jn 14:29).

John Paul II, who was aware of the situation in the Church and as a true prophet knew its future, cried out “Be not afraid”.

Shortly before Jesus died, he said: “Do not let your Hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in Me” (Jn 14:1).

 

Bearing this in mind, I have preferred to meditate on Jesus, The Only Saviour.

If we read the Gospels, we see that many disciples followed him with love, even though they were surrounded by the evil Pharisees who were scattered throughout the Holy Land. His true disciples followed Him because they were happy to be in His presence, full of goodness, mercy and love and at the same time for His Power of God made man. This strengthened them in their future persecutions as well. When Saints Felicity and Perpetua were in prison, Perpetua was giving birth to her child, and she was crying out in suffering as all mothers do. One of the guards made fun of her and said: “If you're crying now, how will you endure the wild beasts when they are let loose against you?” She responded: “Now it is I who am suffering what I am suffering, but then Christ will suffer for me.” Then she went away happily towards her martyrdom.

When St. Lorenzo Ruiz, the father of 7 children, who was canonized in 1987, was given the drastic command: “Deny God Christ, otherwise we will kill you”, he responded with heroic courage: “Had I a thousand lives, I would rather be killed in order never to deny God Christ, my only Saviour”.

And then he shed his blood for Jesus. What an example this is for us!

St. Augustine wrote: “Walk with confidence with Christ; never look back, never stop along the way, never go the other way… Walk in Christ, walk and sing, full of joy!”.

 

It is through our prayer, made with Our Heavenly Mother, with daily Mass, Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Rosary, the offering of our sufferings to God and our fraternal love, that we will remain at peace. How is this possible with the fear that so many people today insist upon with regard to the future? Only if we are united to Jesus, our only Saviour, especially in these turbulent times. Let us not anticipate our future: today we are in good hands, that is, every day of our lives!

In 1st Jan. 1997, we read:

-“He is God with us… From God, He became man, to become the only Saviour of man. And so, I have been called to be the Mother of the Redeemer, united to Him in a special way… My motherly task is that of leading you all to Jesus Christ, your God and your Redeemer… Jesus Christ is the only Saviour. His Word, contained in the Gospel, leads you to salvation, because it is a word of Truth and of Life.”

Psalm 51: “Restore to me the gladness of your salvation”

This is our prayer! This is what Jesus did throughout his life: He restored to us the joy of our salvation. While they were crucifying Him, He said in a loud voice: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”. And from the Cross, with the authority and joy of Saviour, He said to the Good Thief: “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” We read in the Gospel that Jesus was filled with joy whenever a sinner was converted. But even the sinner was filled with the joy of being forgiven, that is, saved: from that moment on he followed Jesus without the fear of being persecuted. In Jesus’ company he was sure he would not fail. This should also be the foundation of our peace and our present and future security.

Jesus is our only salvation. In his last will, pronounced after the Last Supper, he said: “Cut off from me, you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). And he often repeats that He is the only way to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Our Mother says: “This is the task entrusted to the Church. This is what her ministers, her consecrated ones, and all her faithful must do today: with the courage of martyrs and the strength of confessors of the faith, there is need to announce to the whole world the good news that Jesus Christ alone is your Saviour and your Redeemer! Only Jesus Christ can bring you to peace.” (27/10/86)

 

FROM SCRIPTURE:

The Gospels of Jesus’ Childhood speak about his future role as saviour. In Saint Matthew, the name of Jesus means “Yahweh saves”.

Saint Luke has Him called “saviour”: “Today, in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord (2:22)… “He has established for us a saving power” (1:69)… “My eyes have seen the salvation which you have made ready in the sight of the nations” (2:30)… The Baptist said: “All humanity will see the salvation of God” (3:6).

 

At the beginning of his preaching, Jesus is immediately revealed as our Saviour, at first with meaningful actions: he saves the sick by healing them, he saves Peter who walks upon the waters and the disciples who are at the mercy of the storm. The most important thing is to believe in Him. Indeed, it is precisely the sick’s Faith in Him that saves them.

But Jesus came to give humanity a much more important salvation: the adulterous woman is saved because he forgives her sins and salvation enters into Zacchaeus’ house because he repents of his sins.

Salvation is the purpose of Jesus’ life: He came to earth to save what was lost (Lk 19:10), to save the world and not to condemn it. He is the door: whoever enters through Him will be saved.

 The salvation of humanity is a great endeavour, because sin exposes us to the danger of eternal perdition. In the parable of the seed Jesus tells us that Satan is ready to do everything he can to make us lose our way and prevent us from being saved.

Jesus wants us all to be saved, as the parable of the “lost” sheep describes, in fact he was sent precisely in order to save everyone.

 

Our response must be prompt and sure: “I tell you, unless you repent, you will all perish as they did” (Lk 13:3). We must enter through the narrow door if we want to belong to those who will be saved, and “anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Mt 24:13).

 

The salvation Jesus offers is presented as a paradox: “Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, will save it (Lk 9:24). This is the law. Even Jesus submitted to it: He who saved others didn’t save himself at the hour of his Crucifixion.

In his speech to the Sanhedrin, Saint Peter openly proclaims the early Church’s faith in the Saviour Jesus: “… Jesus… is the Stone which you, the builders, rejected but which has become the cornerstone. Only in him is there salvation, for of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved” (Acts 4:10-12).

After the Last Supper, Jesus says: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6).

 

Our Mother insists: “Jesus Crucified is your salvation (14/9/95). It is only Jesus Crucified who must today be preached and exalted by you in every part of the world. Jesus Crucified is your Redeemer and Saviour. Jesus Crucified is your God, lifted up on the gibbet for your salvation.”

 

Saint Paul wrote: “He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties, powers – all things were created through him and for him. He exists before all things and in him all things hold together, and he is the Head of the Body, that is, the Church. He is the Beginning, the first-born from the dead, so that he should be supreme in every way” (Col 1:15-18).

The Gospel itself is a “message of salvation” (Acts 13:26). Everyone is invited to believe, in order to save themselves “from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40). The condition for salvation is faith in the Lord Jesus and the invocation of his name. Once the Gospel is proposed to them by the apostolic word, people must make a choice which will determine their fate: salvation or perdition, life or death. Those who believe and confess their faith in Jesus will be saved (Rm 10:9).

Therefore, Christians must faithfully cherish the word that can save their souls; they must nourish their Faith through the knowledge of Scripture and their faith must bear fruit in good deeds; they must work in fear and trembling to achieve their salvation. This implies a constant practice of wholesome virtues, thanks to which they will grow in view of salvation. There is no room for carelessness, because salvation is offered to us at every moment of our lives.

Jesus is Mercy, infinite Goodness and tenderness towards all, especially for sinners and those who suffer. He is God’s caress, the caress of a true and perhaps only friend, who has a boundless love for everyone, even those who don’t know it. His Mercy is so great that he has always tried to save even Judas until the very end. He has learnt, or rather, experienced all of this from his Father from Eternity.

In her Messages Our Lady tells us that Her Immaculate Heart will coincide with the triumph of Divine Mercy. For this reason, it was very comforting when Pope Francis established the year of mercy. I follow his teachings, which aren’t reported and commented by journalists or by the clergy who have other aims, and I find them very valuable. Just as Jesus told Saint Faustina that He himself used to speak instead of the Priest who dictated the Spiritual Retreat to the nuns, so today it is God who speaks to us through the Holy Father. God is doing everything he can in order to save everyone in his Infinite Mercy: sinners, those who are suffering, refugees, those who are far away – as Our Lady calls them-. Let us recall that Saint Catherine of Siena, in just as troubled times, said that “the Pope is the sweet Christ on earth”. After Saint Faustina complained – perhaps unjustly – about a certain priest, Jesus told her: “If you look at the chalice, you risk losing me, who am inside the chalice”. That is to say, even if the Priest has many shortcomings, and unfortunately scandals at times, in the Sacraments he always works in persona Christi.

This is how, in these times, we must repeat the introductory prayer of the Mass of 22 February, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter: “amongst the turmoil of the world, let the Church not be shaken – that is us – which you have founded on the rock with the profession of Faith of the Apostle Peter.” Therefore, we must not be afraid. Jesus has the situation of the church and today’s world under control. He saves us from the abyss, or, as the Good Shepherd, he will pick us up when we have fallen, because he doesn’t want to lose any one of his children or brothers. He uses our humiliation and the awareness that we are nothing, in order to make it the foundation of our most secure friendship, in union with Him, the Father and the Holy Spirit. So then let us confess our nothingness, let us ask the Holy Spirit to teach us through the one Word, that is, Jesus’ Word, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Mediatrix and dispenser of everything Jesus has merited with the cooperation of his Mother.

In praying the Rosary, we will love him and contemplate him with the Heart of the One who conceived him, carried him for nine months and accompanied him throughout his life. In Heaven She is now Queen and dispenser of all the Treasures of the Most Holy Trinity.

Our Mother tells us: “Jesus Crucified is your Redeemer and Saviour. ‘The Father has so loved the world that He has given his only-begotten Son.’ Jesus is the precious gift of the love of the Father; He is the obedient and docile Servant; He is the meek and silent Lamb who is led to his death; He is the Redeemer and Saviour of all humanity… Jesus Crucified is your Redeemer and Saviour. Today the purpose of his entire life is fulfilled, and the Will of the Father is carried out to complete perfection, because He immolates Himself as a victim for your salvation. Look, today, with love and with immense gratitude, in a spirit of joy and consolation, upon Him whom they have pierced. He is the true Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world; He is the High Priest who enters once and for all into the sanctuary to obtain for you, with his blood, an eternal redemption. He is your Pasch: the Bridge which makes it possible for you to pass form sin to grace, from death to life, from slavery to freedom.” (17/4/92)

Jesus tell us lovingly: “No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). And again, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (Jn 6:54).

In his Catechesis of 4 February 1998, Saint John Paul II said: “Christ reveals himself throughout his earthly life as the Saviour sent by the Father for the salvation of the world. His very name, “Jesus”, expresses this mission. It actually means: “God saves”.

It is a name he was given as a result of heavenly instruction: both Mary and Joseph receive the order to call him by this name. In the message to Joseph the meaning of the name is explained: ‘for he will save his people from their sins’. (Mt 1:21) Jesus thus appears as the universal Saviour: all human beings, according to the divine plan, are ransomed, freed and saved by him. Paul says: ‘Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus’ (Rm 3:23-24). Salvation is a gift that can be received by each one to the extent of his free consent and voluntary co-operation…”

 

 

 

And once again St. John Paul II: “I would like to conclude with a wonderful passage from the Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, by St Louis de Montfort, which proclaims the Christological faith of the Church: “Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of everything [...] He is the only teacher from whom we must learn; the only Lord on whom we should depend; the only Head to whom we should be united and the only model that we should imitate. He is the only Physician that can heal us; the only Shepherd that can feed us; the only Way that can lead us; the only Truth that we can believe; the only Life that can animate us. He alone is everything to us and he alone can satisfy all our desires [...] Each one of the faithful who is not united to him is like a branch broken from the stem of the vine. It falls and withers and is fit only to be burnt. If we live in Jesus and Jesus lives in us, we need not fear damnation. Neither angels in heaven nor men on earth, nor devils in hell, no creature whatever can harm us, for no creature can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Through him, with him and in him we can do all things and render all honour and glory to the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit; we can become perfect and be for our neighbour a fragrance of eternal life” (n. 61).  

 

Our Mother tells us on 24 June 1997: “Let yourselves be carried in my Immaculate Heart to the encounter with Jesus Christ, your Redeemer and your only Saviour. Jesus Christ is the only Saviour, because He is the Eternal Word of the Father, who was incarnated in my virginal womb, was born, grew up and died upon the Cross for your redemption and your salvation. Jesus Christ is the only Savior, because He is the Life.  Life is possessed by Him because He is God.  Life is given to all by Him because He has obtained it for you by immolating Himself on the Cross for you.”

 

To be practical in our spiritual life

Let us recall the passage from the Gospel of St. Luke (17:11-19): out of the 10 lepers, only one returned to thank Jesus. Our Saviour comments: “Has none but the foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” In our own little world, for each one of us, in everything we do, do we experience the need for Jesus our Saviour? It isn’t the fact of being Catholic, practising Catholics or Priests which makes us feel this need automatically. The nine lepers who didn’t come back to Jesus after been healed; they were Jews who observed all the details of their laws, but they saw Him only as an opportunity for their dream of being healed to come true. Even if we are practising Catholics, or Priests, we risk becoming like the nine lepers who indeed encountered Jesus and obtained benefits, but weren’t saved. It is only by believing, thanking, loving and adoring Christ with all our hearts – as the ex-Samaritan leper did – that we can find salvation: that is, by encountering Jesus Himself in Confession, in the Eucharist and in prayer. Jesus warns us: “Whoever is not with me is against me!”

There are only two possible attitudes we can have before Jesus: either we are with Him and “like Him”, or we are against Him, and therefore on the road to “ruin”.

John Paul II: “Open the door to Christ”.

Let us open the door of our mind to Jesus in order to say together with St. Paul: “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 3:16). We must think as Jesus thought, both regarding the errors to be condemned, and regarding the truths to believe in and practise. If we do not have the mind of Christ, we are in error.

Let us open the door of our heart to Jesus. St. Paul exhorts: “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5). The Pope once said to the youth: “Be inflamed in love for Jesus”.

Let us open the door of our life to Jesus. St. Paul says: “Act like Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5). Jesus says: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15). Let us cry out along with St. Peter: “Master, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life!” (Jn 6:68).

 

Pope Francis suggests how we can follow Jesus our only Saviour in our everyday lives: (9 January 2017) “Christian life is simple, we don’t need strange or difficult things, we just have to put Jesus at the centre of our daily life. After Christmas, a new liturgical season begins, ordinary time: at the centre of Christian life there is always Jesus, the first and last Word of the Father, “the Lord of the universe”, the “Saviour of the world. There is no other, he is the One”:

 “And this is the centre of our life: Jesus Christ who manifests himself, shows himself, and we are invited to know him, to recognize him in life, in the many circumstances of life…: the centre is Jesus Christ: without Jesus Christ there are no saints! We should ask a question: is the centre of my life Jesus Christ? What is my relationship with Jesus Christ?”

We must ask ourselves: “Does it interest me to know Jesus or perhaps am I more interested in soap operas or gossip or ambitions or knowing about other people’s lives?”. “To know Jesus, there is prayer, the Holy Spirit”, but there is also the Gospel, which you should always take with you and read a passage from it every day. This is the seed. It is the Holy Spirit who makes the seed sprout and grow”. The second task is to adore Jesus. Not only ask and thank him for something.

“The prayer of silent adoration” and “then we must remove from our heard the other things that we adore, that interest us more. There must be God alone”. “Other things are useful if I am able to adore God alone”: “There is a little prayer that we pray, the Gloria: ‘Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit’, but we often say it mechanically, like parrots. Instead, this prayer is adoration, glory: I adore the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Adore with little prayers, in silence before the grandeur of God, adore Jesus and say: ‘You are the only One, you are the beginning and the end, and I want to be with you for all my life, for all eternity. You are the only One”.

 

 

 

SECOND PART

 

WITH THE HELP OF OUR MOTHER, WE MUST BRING EVERYONE TO JESUS, OUR ONLY SAVIOUR

 

Last year, in the two Mediations, we spoke about Our Lady as Mediatrix and Co-redemptrix. A few years ago, we talked about “vicarious suffering”.

We attempted to demonstrate that if we want to grow in holiness, each one of us must enter into the Heart of the Most Blessed Virgin, and take refuge in Her, that is, in her most chaste womb. In this way, we can be born again in a life of perfection which Jesus himself desires from every member of his Mystical Body. The Mother of Jesus is indispensable for our life in Jesus, always with Him and through Him. As Montfort clearly says, a soul who seeks to acquire intimate union with Jesus will find it more surely, more sweetly and without running any risks by having recourse first of all to Our Lady and by consecrating ourselves forever and without reserve to Her Immaculate Heart.

Jesus associated his Mother with his work as Saviour, and he wants us as well, -especially us Priests- with the help of the Most Blessed Virgin, to make up, as Saint Paul says, what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.

Our Mother summarizes this in the following message:

 

“Help me yet save many of my poor lost children. With your little hands give strength to the merciful hands of your heavenly Mother. For this I ask you all to heed my anguished appeal. Each new priest who unites himself to my Immaculate Heart gives your Mother new strength to lead you all to salvation.” (21/1/78)

“Seek out those who are far away; sustain the weak; pardon the sinners; console the afflicted; bring comfort to the sick; guide the uncertain; protect the little ones. Take everyone into your priestly arms, and carry them to the secure refuge of my Immaculate Heart. Jesus Christ is the only Saviour, because He is the Way. He leads you to the Father in his Spirit of Love… There is no other name given under heaven in which we can find salvation.” (24/6/97)

“I am for you the perfect model of your co-operation in the redemptive work accomplished by my Son. In fact, as Mother of Jesus, I have become intimately associated with Him in his work of redemption… My role as true Mother and Co-redemptrix will become manifest to all. I want to carry out this action today through you, my beloved sons. This is why I have wanted to withdraw myself into the desert of your life, where I have set up my safe refuge. In this way I mould you as Mother so that, through you, I may carry out the great work of co-redemption. And so, I call you to prayer, to the perfect offering of yourselves, to suffering, to self-immolation. I lead you along the way of the Cross, and gently I help you to climb Calvary in order to transform you all into sacrificial victims, pleasing to the Father, for the salvation of the world.” (13/7/80)

 

Our Lady forms us to suffering (15/9/86)

“I am forming you to suffering, by saying Yes with you to the Heavenly Father, who is asking this of you, as your personal collaboration in the redemption carried out by my Son Jesus. In this I, your heavenly Mother, was an example and model for you, by my perfect co-operation in all the suffering of the Son, so that I became the first to collaborate in his work, through my motherly suffering. I became true Co-redemptrix, and now I am able to offer myself as an example to each one of you in the giving of your own personal sufferings to the Lord, to assist everyone in walking along the way of good and of salvation. It is for this reason that, in these bloody times of purification, my motherly task if that of forming you, above all, to suffering.

I am also helping you to suffer, by my motherly presence, which is urging you to transform all your suffering into a perfect gift of love. For this, I am training you in docility, in gentleness, in humility of heart. I am helping you to suffer, with the joy of giving yourselves to your brothers, as Jesus gave Himself. Then you will carry your cross with joy; your suffering will become sweet, and it will be the sure road which will lead you to true peace of heart.

I comfort you in all sufferings, with the assurance that I am at your side, just as I was beneath the Cross of Jesus. Today, when sufferings are increasing from all sides, everyone will become aware, in an ever stronger way, of the presence of your heavenly Mother. Because this is my mission, as Mother and Co-redemptrix: to gather every drop of your suffering, to transform it into a precious gift of love and of reparation and to offer it, each day, to the justice of God. Only in this way can we break open together the golden door of the divine Heart of my Son Jesus, so that He may be able to cause to descend soon, upon the Church and upon humanity, the river of grace and of fire of his merciful love, which will make all things new.”

 

Our Mother is still asking of us our contribution in the work of co-redemption” 13/7/80… “Assent to my plan, beloved sons, and allow yourselves to be formed by your Mother. Thus I am able, more and more, to associate you with my maternal work of co-redemption. Jesus is the only Redeemer because He alone is the mediator between God and men. He has however willed to take into partnership in his redemptive work all those who have been redeemed by Him, so that the merciful work of his love may shine forth in a greater and more wonderful way. Thus you, who have been redeemed, can co-operate with Him in his redemptive work. He in you, who are so intimately united with Him so as to form his very Mystical Body, can gather in your day the fruit of what He accomplished once for all on Calvary. I am for you the perfect model of your co-operation in the redemptive work accomplished by my Son.” (13/7/80)

 

By administering the Sacraments we co-operate with Our Mother for the salvation of humanity

Jesus saved us by his Birth, Death and Resurrection. We can benefit from his Salvation through the Sacraments where – as St. John Paul II wrote – his Most Holy Mother is always present.

 

In the Preface of one of the Masses dedicated to Our Lady, we pray:

“By the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, and without losing the glory of virginity, she brought forth into the world Jesus Christ, your Word made man and the fountain of living water, from which all humanity may satisfy their thirst of communion and love…Even the Church, by the sacraments of the new Covenant, offers to all men the pure and cleansing water flowing from the Redeemer’s side, so that by drawing with faith from this endless fountain, they may be filled with your Spirit and meet the same Christ our Saviour.” (Mass #31).

 

Obviously, the first and necessary Sacrament for our salvation is Baptism, where the power of Jesus’ sacrifice makes us God’s children.

Unfortunately, every day we sin and we need Jesus to save us, that is, forgive our sins. We must help our faithful to believe that Confession is necessary, especially for the forgiveness of serious sins, if we want to benefit from the whole work of Redemption. Confession is important also for venial sins: in fact, it can almost be called a “mini Baptism”, because of its purifying consequences. The first ones to benefit from this Sacrament should be us Priests.

In Our Lady’s apparitions at Lourdes, Our Mother insisted that we go and wash at the fountain.

We read in the book of the Messages, on 11 February: “I come from heaven to give you, my sick children, the medicine you need in order to be healed: go, and wash at the fountain! Wash yourselves at the spring of living water which flows from the pierced Heart of my Son Jesus and which the Church still gives you today through the sacraments, especially that of Reconciliation. Wash yourselves often at this fountain because you have need of it to be purified of sin and to heal the wounds which evil leaves in your lives. Wash yourselves at this fountain that you may become always purer.";(11/2/77);

 

It is sad that few Priest use the Confessional nowadays.

When Father Stefano Gobbi spoke about the need to go to confession, he told the faithful to “push” their priests into the confessional.

 

In addition, it is especially the Eucharistic Sacrifice that bears within it the whole work of Salvation. Just as our salvation began with the miracle worked by the Holy Spirit in the Incarnation of the Word in the Virgin Mary’s womb, so in the Mass the Priest “begets” Jesus the Saviour, because by the power of the Holy Spirit the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of the Lord, “shed for the forgiveness of sins”: therefore, the power of the redeeming Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross is renewed. That is why it is necessary to celebrate or participate in Holy Mass, for our salvation and the salvation of others.

Our Mother explains this miracle to us:

“Just as I am Mother of the Incarnation, so also am I Mother of the Redemption, a redemption which was carried out from the moment of the incarnation up to the moment of his death on the Cross, where, because of the humanity which He had assumed, Jesus was able to carry out that which, as God, it was not possible for Him to do: to suffer, to undergo his passion and to die, offering Himself as a perfect ransom to the Father and making a worthy and just reparation to his justice…Look at Jesus as He loves, works, prays, suffers and immolates Himself, from his descent into my virginal womb to his ascent upon the Cross, in this his unceasing priestly action, so that you may understand how I am above all Mother of Jesus, the Priest. I am therefore also true Mother of the Most Blessed Eucharist.

Not because I beget Him again to this mysterious reality upon the altar. That task is reserved only to you, my beloved sons!

Nevertheless, it is a task which assimilates you very closely to my maternal function because you also, during Holy Mass and by means of the words of consecration, truly beget my Son. For me, the cold manger of a poor and bare cave received Him; for you, it is now the cold stone of an altar which welcomes Him. …And He becomes present in order to continue the work of the incarnation and redemption and in order to accomplish, in mystery, the Sacrifice of Calvary, which He was able to offer to the Father because of his human nature, assumed with the body which I had given Him. Thus in the Eucharist, Jesus becomes present with his divinity and with his glorious body, that body given to Him by your heavenly Mother, a true body, born of the Virgin Mary… “ (8/8/86).

 

Saint Aelred, Abbot, said: “There is no greater or evident sign of Christ’s birth than when we daily receive his Body and Blood at the holy Altar, where we daily see immolated for us, him, who was once born for us of the Virgin.”.

 

How beautiful it is when a priest approaches the Altar and kisses it, in the awareness that he is tenderly kissing Jesus himself, and invites our Most Blessed Mother to be present at this perfect Sacrifice. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, not only do we perform the miracle of the “transubstantiation”, but we also unite ourselves with Jesus, the High Priest, for the salvation of the world. During the celebration of Holy Mass, it is important that we associate ourselves with the feelings Jesus had both on the Cross and during his entire life:  that is, the desire to save all men.

 

Through Eucharistic Adoration we co-operate in the salvation of humanity in a remarkable way

 

In his letter to the Bishop of Liege, Saint John Paul II wrote: “It is invaluable to converse with Christ and, leaning against Jesus’ breast like his beloved disciple, we can feel the infinite love of his Heart. We learn to know more deeply the One who gave himself totally, in the different mysteries of his divine and human life, so that we may become disciples and in turn enter into this great act of giving, for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. “Following Christ is not an outward imitation, since it touches man at the very depths of his being” (Veritatis splendor, 21). We are called to learn from him, to let the Spirit act within us and to fulfil the mission entrusted to us…

Closeness to Christ in silence and contemplation does not distance us from our contemporaries but, on the contrary, makes us attentive and open to human joy and distress and broadens our heart on a global scale. It unites us with our brothers and sisters in humanity and particularly with children, who are the Lord’s dearly beloved. Through adoration, the Christian mysteriously contributes to the radical transformation of the world and to the sowing of the Gospel. Anyone who prays to the Savior draws the whole world with him and raises it to God. Those who stand before the Lord are therefore fulfilling an eminent service. They are presenting to Christ all those who do not know him or are far from him: they keep watch in his presence on their behalf. (#5)…  I therefore encourage Christians regularly to visit Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, for we are all called to abide in the presence of God, thanks to him who is with us until the end of time. In contemplation, Christians will perceive ever more profoundly that the paschal mystery is at the heart of all Christian life. This practice leads them to join more intensely in the paschal mystery and to make the Eucharistic sacrifice, the perfect gift, the center of their life in accordance with their specific vocation, for it “confers an incomparable dignity upon the Christian people” (Paul VI, Mysterium fidei, n. 67); in fact, during the Eucharist, we are welcomed by Christ, we receive his forgiveness, we are nourished by his word and his bread, we are then sent out on mission in the world; thus each one is called to witness to what he has received and to do the same for his brethren.” (#7)

 

Therefore, according to St. John Paul II, our adoration before the Tabernacle can become more powerful for the salvation of our brethren than any other work of apostolate. This thought should console our brothers who are sick and elderly.

Our Mother tells us: “Jesus is surrounded today by an emptiness, which has been brought about especially by you priests who, in your apostolic activity, often go about uselessly and very much on the periphery, going after things which are less important and more secondary and forgetting that the center of your priestly day should be here, before the tabernacle, where Jesus is present and is kept especially for you.”

Father Nazareno, the MMP martyr, used to spend hours in adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament. He even predicted his future burial before the Tabernacle, when he said, in one of his sermons: “You will look for me… but you will only find me before the Tabernacle”.

In every Cenacle we associate ourselves with the Most Blessed Virgin in order to implore that the Second Pentecost may soon come. Since I began the work of leading the Cenacles, with Father Stefano’s approval, I have always begun with the exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

“And so, my beloved ones and children consecrated to my Heart, it is you who must be today a clarion call for the full return of the whole Church Militant to Jesus present in the Eucharist. Because there alone is to be found the spring of living water which will purify its aridity and renew the desert to which it has been reduced; there alone is to be found the secret of life which will open up for it a second Pentecost of grace and of light; there alone is to be found the fount of its renewed holiness: Jesus in the Eucharist! It is not your pastoral plans and your discussion; it is not the human means on which you put your reliance and so much assurance, but it is only Jesus in the Eucharist which will give to the whole Church the strength of a complete renewal.” (8/8/86)

 

We are reflecting how, with Jesus, we also become missionaries

 

While we listen to the Popes’ quotes, let us think, first of all, how in the Blessed Virgin’s apparitions, She has always insisted on praying for sinners. The three children of Fatima accepted Her request to offer themselves up as victims for the salvation of sinners.

 

Paul VI said …that the church “is not an end unto herself, but rather is fervently concerned to be completely of Christ, in Christ and for Christ, as well as completely of men, among men and for men.” (Gaudium et spes 22)

 

From John Paul II’s “Redemptor Missio”: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross”. (Phil 2:5-8). The mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption is thus described as a total self-emptying which leads Christ to experience fully the human condition and to accept totally the Father’s plan. This is an emptying of self which is permeated by love and expresses love. The (our) mission follows this same path and leads to the foot of the cross. The missionary is required to “renounce himself and everything that up to this point he considered as his own, and to make himself everything to everyone.” This he does by a poverty which sets him free for the Gospel, overcoming attachment to the people and things about him, so that he may become a brother to those to whom he is sent and thus bring them Christ the Saviour… It is precisely because he is “sent” that the missionary experiences the consoling presence of Christ, who is with him at every moment of life – “Do not be afraid… for I am with you” (Acts 18:9-10). (88)

 

The Holy Father’s words are summarized in many messages, which we are fortunate to have in the MMP, when we are told to be detached from everything and everyone in order to follow Her alone, who will help us to co-operate in the salvation of others.

This takes place, as our Mother insists, above all in the Cenacles. We have a confirmation of this in Saint John Paul II, whom Father Stefano made Protector of the MMP. He wrote “Like the apostles after Christ’s Ascension, the Church must gather in the Upper Room “together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14), in order to pray for the Spirit and to gain strength and courage to carry out the missionary mandate. We too, like the apostles, need to be transformed and guided by the Spirit. On the eve of the third millennium the whole Church is invited to live more intensely the mystery of Christ by gratefully co-operating in the work of salvation. The Church does this together with Mary and following the example of Mary, the Church’s Mother and model: Mary is the model of that maternal love which should inspire all who co-operate in the Church’s apostolic mission for the rebirth of humanity. Therefore, “strengthened by the presence of Christ, the Church journeys through time toward the consummation of the ages and goes to meet the Lord who comes. But on this journey …she proceeds along the path already trodden by the Virgin Mary”. To “Mary’s mediation, wholly oriented toward Christ and tending to the revelation of his salvific power,” I entrust the Church and, in particular, those who commit themselves to carrying out the missionary mandate in today’s world. (92)

 

Our Mother tells us: (28/11/79) “Your priestly prayer, offered with me and joined to your suffering, has incalculable power. Indeed, it has the capacity to bring about a far-reaching chain reaction for good, in which the good effects spread and multiply everywhere in souls. Through it, you will always be able to re-establish equilibrium and to equalize the balance of the scale of God’s justice. Precious is your life of prayer: the Liturgy of the Hours, meditation, the holy rosary, but above all the lived-out celebration of Mass which truly renews the Sacrifice of the Cross. Oh! What weight Holy Mass has to compensate for, and to destroy, the evil which is daily brought about by so many sins and by such a widespread rejection of God! And so I have called you to trust. Now that darkness covers everything and the forces of evil are being unleashed with horrible fury, you must above all grow in trust. God alone ever has been, and still is, in every circumstance, the Victor. God conquers especially when He appears defeated…”

 

Jesus loves us: therefore he saved us

In order to persevere in joy along this very difficult path, we need to feel in our hearts that Jesus loves us:

“Beloved sons, how Jesus loves you! His divine Heart is a furnace of most ardent love for you. For love of you, the Word descended from the bosom of the Father to my virginal motherly womb and was made Man. For love of you, Jesus lived a life which was humble, poor, hidden and spent in prayer and in work. For love of you, Jesus took upon Himself suffering, humiliation and marginalization. For love of you, Jesus became the Man of Sorrows and offered Himself as a victim on the Cross. For love of you, He allowed Himself to be condemned, mocked, tortured, crucified and killed. For love of you, He rose again and ascended into heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father. For love of you, Jesus remains ever present in your midst in the state of a victim in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

For love of you, He has even given you his Mother.” (11/9/88)

 

So then, every day, when we look at the Cross, it will be natural for us to thank Jesus who has saved us, by suffering and dying on the Cross. All of us have sinned and have benefited from his sorrowful and redemptive love. Our thanksgiving reaches its summit each time we offer him to the Father in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

I often remember my Mother who, after the Consecration, used to quietly repeat, thinking that nobody could hear her: “Father I offer you the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus, in atonement for my sins and those of the whole world.”

Our Catechism teaches us that from every sin there are two consequences: Guilt and penalty. Jesus takes away the guilt when we repent of our sins and above all through Sacramental Confession. But if we are not careful, at our death we will have to atone for all the penalty connected to every sin, which hasn’t been satisfied yet. Now we are still in time, by offering prayers, sacrifices, acts of charity and suffering. But the most perfect way is by offering Jesus himself to the Father during the Eucharistic Sacrifice for the atonement of our sins and those of the whole world.

 

A story tells us how, at the death of a nun, while her Superior was trying to finalize the arrangements for her funeral, the deceased herself appeared to her and said: “the Lord has sent me to tell you that you don’t have to pray for me, because I am already in Heaven”. The superior, who knew her well, replied: “You? How can this be possible?” The deceased answered: “When I presented myself to Jesus for my first judgment, He said to me, “Come, daughter, to enjoy eternal joy”. At the question I asked in my heart, because I knew I was very imperfect, He responded: every time you attended Holy Mass, you always offered me to the Father for the atonement of your sins. Therefore, I have already atoned for all your sins.”