STARTS THURSDAY 18th NOVEMBER 2010
THE GLORY OF ‘MARIAN HOLINESS OF LIFE’
1. PREPARATION FOR HEAVEN
Weekly message No. 142 (13th November 1986).
Way to heaven: holiness of life through prayer, sacrifice and conversion.
“Dear children! Today again I am calling you to pray with your whole heart and day by day to change your life. Especially, dear children, I am calling that by your prayers and sacrifices you begin to live in holiness, because I desire that each one of you who has been to this fountain of grace will come to Paradise with the special gift which you shall give me, and that is holiness. Therefore, dear children, pray and daily change your life in order to become fully holy. I shall always be close to you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
PRACTICAL:
Make an examination of conscience during this week about areas of your life in need of change.
Thursday: Trust in God’s providence.
Matthew 6:25-32.
25Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Friday: Call to change and to become like little children.
Matthew 18:1-4.
1At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, 3and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Friday: Cf. Mark 10:15.
15Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
Saturday: “You should be living saintly lives while you wait for the Day of God to come.”
2 Peter 3:11.
11Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness.
Saturday: Cf. Hebrews.l2:14.
14Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Sunday: Following the example of Christ.
1 Peter 2:21-24.
21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips. 23When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Monday: Taking up one’s cross daily in following Christ.
Luke 9:23-27.
23And he said to all, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. 25For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
Tuesday: Offering sacrifice to God in following the example of Christ.
Ephesians 5:1-2.
1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Tuesday: Cf. Romans 12:1.
1I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Wednesday: Prayer of St. Paul for Christians to “lead a life worthy of the Lord.”
Colossians 1:9-12.
9And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.