Our Lady of Lourdes
If the heart is full of the coldness and emptiness of winter, the coming of spring may provide the opportunity to warm it up and make it flourish with beauty.
The Lord who is Life causes plants to bud and flower and beauty to rise. Having the heart of a child makes it easy to believe that when God awakens nature He also means to warm up hearts. It is easy then to imagine God making his rounds every morning, showering love upon the world, hoping every heart is open to receive it.
How to open your heart
One way to see it is to imagine that your heart opens up and you are able to see what is in it, the good and the bad. Then as you stand before the Lord, the bad falls out and it becomes easier to say, "I'm sorry," and to forgive. Sometimes we must stand before the Lord a real long time, especially when there is much pain and anger.
Hail Mary's said real slowly and word for word are a real help.
The bad stuff that falls out is like heavy stone, and dirty. So opening our hearts to God literally feels good. The only thing that is needed is our willingness put God first and be determined to persevere in opening our hearts to Him every single day.
But one cannot complete the full opening of the heart without contrite confession. For if we didn't need it, then the Lord would not have prescribed it.
On confession:
'I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.' -Psalm 32:5
'He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.' -Proverbs 28:13
'and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.' -Matthew 3:6
'Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.' -James 5:16
'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' -1 John 1:9
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Comments
I like hearing about what Mary says so I read your articles every so often. It would be nice to know who she said these things to and/or where the message came from that is in your article. It sometimes looks like you make these quotes up just for the articles if you don't list any kind of source for the quote.
Milwaukee Dental Health Examiner
Thank you for your comment. I make it so that you can click on the quote at go directly to the source. But I will add some kind of note that explains this. When you go to the site, it explains who Our Lady uses to pass on the message to the rest of us.
One may think that it's coincidence that Our Lady gives the world messages that are related to the season we are in. But if you think about it, in the Church, we celebrate mass according to the Liturgical seasons. Indeed, God who made the seasons does not speak to us outside the appropriate time or place. He finds us where we are.
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