Today I received in my email, Our Lady of Medjugorje's latest message dated today February 25th:

                                         Dear Children!       

At this time, in a special way I

call you:  'pray with the heart.'  Little children,

you speak much and pray little.  Read and 

meditate on Sacred Scripture, and may the

words written in it be life for you.  I encourage

and love you, so that in God you may find your

peace and the joy of living.  Thank you for

having responded to my call."

Our Lady's message is perfect timing for Lent and all that is going on in our country regarding the HHS Mandate and abortion.  Twice now I have called my local state representative who is pro-choice.  She did not come to the phone when I asked, so her receptionist took down my message and promised to have her call me back.  I have yet to hear back but my message was clear:

Vote against the HHS Mandate 

(100% of the dioceses have done so which means 181 bishops have spoken against this.)

Vote yes to HB 4117: for basic safety regulations in abortion 

clinics that perform more than 50 abortions per year.

Vote yes to HB 786: that women past 6 weeks gestation, 

be offered to view an ultrasound picture of her baby.

I'm joining in the Rosary Across America daily novena to pray for an end to the violation against conscience and religious freedom!  Are you?

Resources:

Medjugorje.com

Catholic Vote

Blessings,

Noreen

Happy Thanksgiving!

I received this email from Medjugorje.com this morning and loved Our Lady's message and felt it was so fitting to celebrating Thanksgiving with our loved ones:

Our Lady said on August 25, 1988:

"Dear children, today I invite you all to rejoice in the life which God gives you.  Little children, rejoice in God the Creator because he has created you so wonderfully.  Pray that your life be a joyful thanksgiving, which flows out of your heart like a river of joy.  Little children, give thanks unceasingly for all that you possess, for each little gift which God has given you, so that a joyful blessing always comes down from God upon your life.  Thank you for having responded to my call."


I pray that everyone who reads this post to hear Our Lady's message and I pray that your life be a joyful thanksgiving!

Blessings,
Noreen

My Journey with Our Blessed Mother

     How do you explain why we, as Catholics, believe in Purgatory?  This word is not in the bible yet we are taught to believe in Purgatory.  I do believe because it makes sense to me logically and I trust my church but I have a desire to know more.

     I know this issue was discussed at the early church councils and there are a couple of verses that seem to infer "a purging through fire."   But where does it originate?

     From books, I've learned that Our Lady has shown the visionaries Heaven, Purgatory and Hell.  St. Faustina was brought to Purgatory by her Guardian Angel and wrote about in it her book, The Diary of Sister Faustina.  (Which I have and still need to read.)

      I am now reading The Visions of the Children~ The Apparitions of the Blessed Mother at Medjugorje and read about the children's visits to Purgatory and Our Lady's messages regarding Purgatory... and I was in tears.  Not knowing if my loved ones who have died are there?  Our Lady of Medjugorje, who appears in Bosnia Herzegovina, tells us about the souls in purgatory who have been forgotten by their loved ones on earth.  "The Blessed Mother said the souls in purgatory are very lonely.  She asked that all the pilgrims pray for their beloved dead by name.  She said the souls in purgatory can see their loved ones on earth.  Most people today have forgotten or don't know about purgatory.  Souls there are very, very lonely.  The Blessed Mother wants her faithful ones to pray for them by name."

     I've had the habit of "offering up the good I've done to the souls in Purgatory" and to pray for them during mass.  I will say each name in my head of my family members, neighbors, friend's parent's who have died during my lifetime.  But I feel as if that's not enough...I feel an urgency about this that I cannot explain.
     Of course, there is the St. Gertrude Prayer taught to her by Our Lord:  Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."
     
     I also pray the prayers given by Our Lord to St. Bridget of Sweden every day and have been for 9 months now, even though the duration is 12 years for this devotion.




  
     What have you learned of Purgatory?  What do you do for the souls of Purgatory?


May God Richly Bless You,
noreen