March 12, 2010 Dear Family of Mary! "Today I invite you to decide for God once again, and to choose him before everything else and above everything else, so that he may perform miracles in your life, and that, day by day, your life may become joy with him." (January 25, 1990) Our Lady urges us to put God in the first place in our lives. She knows the first commandment! It is written on her Heart! God is the first and only one in her life. And she urges us to put God before everything else also. This is the first commandment, the covenant that the Lord wants to establish with us. We cannot have other gods in our lives and still live the covenant with God. In Exodus 34 the Lord gives the Israelite people the terms of His covenant with them, through Moses. He also warns them not to make covenants with other "gods". "You shall not worship any other god, for the Lord is 'the Jealous One'; a jealous God is He. Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of that land; else, when they render their wanton worship to their gods and sacrifice to them, one of them may invite you and you may partake of his sacrifice" (Ex 34:14-15). In prayer the Lord seemed to explain what these covenants with the "inhabitants of the land" might be. They can be agreements that we make with demons disguised as friendly thoughts, who seduce us to accept their 'help' when we are in difficult moments. We make these agreements when we have been hurt or threatened and we feel the need to protect ourselves from harm. We may bind ourselves to 'other' gods and become enslaved to those 'helpers'. Bad fruit comes of it. We can become enslaved to that agreement from then on. We can detect the false covenants we are tempted to make if we watch our thoughts whenever we feel disappointed, humiliated or threatened. At those moments, what thoughts enter our minds? They often employ the word 'never'. "I am so humiliated. I will never trust my friend again." "I am so hurt I will never go to that parish again." "I am so sad. I will never listen to what I get in prayer again." You see the pattern. When we have been hurt or suffer in any way we can turn off our trust in God and turn to the negative, to selfishness and self-concern. These promises make a covenant with the anti-christ, the non-God who is just waiting to put us in the bondage of unforgiveness and mistrust. 'Never' and 'no' are key words in these negative covenants. At moments of pain, when we are challenged, we need to maintain our covenant with the Lord. Instead of turning to agreements with the negatives, we can stay connected to the Lord through praise and gratitude. 'Praise God' and 'Thank you, Lord" are covenant words, they express trust in the Lord no matter what is happening at the moment. These words maintain the covenant and keep the lines of communication open with God, so He can bless us and turn all to good. As an example, the Lord showed me that long ago I made a covenant with anxiety. I used worry and anxiety as a "side" covenant. Anxiety was a slave driver that made me work harder and harder, because I thought that is how all would be well. I didn't have enough trust in the Lord. In prayer the Lord showed me that I needed to break that covenant with anxiety because it was an attachment to the evil spirit of anxiety, disguised as a helper. It was manifesting itself in me through physical agitation, and the manifestations were a sign to me that I was not free. He told me to break that covenant with anxiety, three times, in the name of Jesus and to pray for the Holy Spirit of peace. Denis prayed with me. It was a freeing moment. (Confession is also important in this process. It is also important to have a spiritual director who can help us discern these covenants and show us how to pray. Even a good prayer partner can be of help.) This is just one example of making a covenant with the inhabitants of the land. We are called to be completely attached to God, with no side attachments! Our trust is in the Lord, not in any other power. As it says in Psalm 11: "In the Lord I take refuge" (v.1). Through prayer and discernment, we can break all our unholy covenants and live in total union with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What freedom awaits us! Lent is a good time to clean house, and rid ourselves of all our covenants with non-Gods! May we be like Our Lady, completely united to and dependent upon the Lord! In Jesus and Mary! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2010 Mary TV
