A prayer for the Church in Crisis, with supplication to God for nine months:

A prayer for the Church in Crisis, with supplication to God for nine months:

The first item we must all pray for is the crisis that is in the Church.  It is a scathing entity that for a number of years the Vatican and too many segments are in a deteriorating manner and the fault lies with the leaders who are supposed to be the shepherds for you and me.  Remember what the Lord spoke to Jerimiah regarding the shepherds of that day:  “Then the Lord said to me:  Rebel Israel, is inwardly more just than traitorous Judah.  Go, proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return, rebel Israel, I will not remain angry with you; for I am merciful, says the Lord, I will not continue my wrath forever.  Only I know your guilt:  How you rebelled against the Lord your God, How you ran hither and yon to strangers under every green tree, and would not listen to my voice, says the lord.”  (Jer 3: 11 - 13).  This is the modern Catholic Church with shepherds that are not leading their flock to God.

When praying to God most want an image they can relate with.  We look at a crucifix, keep a picture of Jesus before us, or even visualize the scenes of action like the storm at the Sea of Galilee.  But when we place the Blessed Mother at the foot of our intentions, something changes in our minds, our hearts, and our petitions.  

From past articles I have alluded to how my ministry got a solid start through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God.  At a Novena of the Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, she told me to ask for wisdom as I need.  I did, and as mentioned before it was the beginning of a ministry that allowed me to preach the homily almost every Sunday, wherever I was stationed.   It wasn’t the preaching that was important, it became the impetus to reach many souls through her initial prompting.  

Throughout history, Mary’s presence, whether visual or spiritual, became the very path to Her Son into changes of duress in victories.

Recently, an article titled “Return to Our Lady” by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, on the internet, is asking many to pray and participate in a nine month Novena to our Lady of Guadalupe.  He says that our world is in need of God’s grace, and our Lady’s intercession is among the surest ways to secure it.

He is suggesting that many take this request seriously and as in all her apparitions, especially to Juan Diego, her intercession to her son, Jesus, will make a difference.  I am including his mailing address with this article if anyone did not see this article.  It is:  Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, 5250 Justin Rd, LaCrosse, WI 54601-2347  USA.

We have reached a point in our modern society where a 3rd World War is likely and the imminent reality of it is on the news daily with too many nations with their eyes and armaments aimed at Israel.  The predictions of past prophets, warning the threats from God if man does not change, will in fact become a nightmare and most of us just may be in the line of fire about to be unleashed.  

Cardinal Burke closed his request to join this Novena with this prayer:  Yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and in the Purest Heart of Saint Joseph.

As a reminder from me:  keep your rosary beads handy and reflect on each mystery with a sense of being there with her at the foot of the Cross as she holds the lifeless body of her baby boy in her arms.

This alone will touch her heart as well as ours.

Ralph B. Hathaway