Reflection on the Message of February 25, 2007

OPEN YOUR HEART TO THE GOD'S MERCY

"Dear children! Open your heart to God’s mercy in this Lenten time. The Heavenly Father desires to deliver each of you from the slavery of sin. Therefore, little children, make good use of this time and through meeting with God in confession, leave sin and decide for holiness. Do this out of love for Jesus, who redeemed you all with His blood, that you may be happy and in peace. Do not forget, little children: your freedom is your weakness, therefore follow my messages with seriousness. Thank you for having responded to my call." Message of February 25, 2007

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God ceaselessly searches and calls men to His side, so they can live and find the fullness of bliss in Him. His merciful love was manifested when He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us and save us by His passion, death and resurrection. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3, 16)

“Open your hearts to the God’s mercy in this time of Lent”, Virgin Mary is saying to us. Where, if not in the God’s mercy, can a man find salvation and hope? We can ask ourselves: why is it so hard to believe in the God’s mercy? By believing in the God’s mercy, we return to the very roots of sin. The hardest thing for a man is to admit his own sins. When a man does not feel himself a sinner, he will not feel the need to beseech the God’s mercy. On the other hand, the world and every single human being wail for mercy, forgiveness and love.

In the depths of the God’s heart there is a yearning and a desire to save His own creature from the slavery of sin. Although the awareness of the sin is decreasing, it nevertheless remains a reality which exists and whose consequences are damaging us and our families daily. Most often, a man is haunted by the very thing he denies, by the very thing he is running from. Only if he has enough courage to stand up to the thing which hurts him most, which is most embarrassing for him – only then does the process of healing and deliverance begin. However, it is also the hardest step for a man. For a drug, gambling or alcohol addict, the hardest thing is to admit his addiction. Only when he admits it, he becomes a winner fighting for his freedom, only then he becomes a free man.

Mother Mary, who invited us to confess more often, in this message invites us also to seek the shelter of the God’s mercy in the sacrament of the holy confession, through which God forgives our sins, and also gives us strength to fight and to persist on the path of peace, freedom and conversion.

“Your freedom is your weakness”, Virgin Mary is saying to us. The time of the Lent is the time which warns us we did not reach our goal yet. The Lent is telling us we are still in the desert. In this desert, we are not yet safe. We always have the possibility to fall, to lose our freedom or to sell it for a little happiness, pleasure and joy which the sin promises us. God does not want to give us just a little of something, he wants to give us everything, His own self. The freedom which God gives us is a gift, a burden and a responsibility. In such freedom, we are responsible in every moment, and we cannot be released from that responsibility.

On this road of life, we are not alone and deserted, nor are we left to ourselves. We should take sincerely the words of the Heavenly Mother, so we can meet Jesus and walk the path of holiness, peace and freedom.

Fra Ljubo Kurtovic
Medugorje, February 26th 2007