June 2021 Allocutio

“When you make your contact you must put into it all the faith you can!”

Fr. Paul Churchill

I can hear Our Lady gathering us around her. She, our heavenly mother, is encouraging us, saying to us, “Look, Jesus deserves the best from us. He did all he could, indeed died for us and now we, as his family, must take up the cause of the Kingdom for which he died.

“He came to get us to be true brothers and sisters to everyone. He showed that no matter how disfigured anyone is, no matter how much a sinner or wounded, he or she is our brother and sister and we should reach out to them with love and care.

“Look how good my Son was in putting up with his mistreatment. He was cruelly treated, misjudged and condemned by those he had come to help. I was close by him in that final ordeal. I heard him say those words, ‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do’. He was a true brother to us all. Now let us help promote what he died for, the Kingdom of love of our Heavenly Father!

“I draw to your attention the disposition of heart that lay in my servant Frank Duff. He wanted to reach out to every soul whom God loves. He sought to befriend everyone. Even the stranger and odd person! Remember that title, ‘You came to visit me when others called me mad!’ In this he followed the way of my Son who would seek out anyone, even the most rejected and unwanted in society. Why? Because, as he said, ‘You have one Father in Heaven and you are all brothers and sisters’ (Mt 23:8-10).

“It hurts my heart to see my children so divided at times. So I ask you to take up Jesus’ work and promote his Kingdom. The more you can get souls to come in contact with Jesus and learn from him, the better you will achieve this. Jesus is the great Universal Brother. Only around him can a genuine unity in the human family take place. We must promote his command to love one another as he has loved us.

“Remember what he told you about sowing the Word. Sow and the seed will grow. And even if it seems to you so little do not give up. Remember what he said about that mustard seed that is so small. It grows to be a great plant. Look what he did with those few loaves of the young boy (Jn 6:9)! So seek out opportunities to sow his word and have no doubt. For as the prophet wrote, ‘Yes, as the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do!’ (Is 55:10-11)”

Frank Duff has said that our Catholic faith is a jewel of great price, the answer to the puzzle of the world, the key to eternal life. It should be our overmastering instinct to explain its treasures. Each person has the right to be offered the fullness of the Christian message.

Yes, they have the right to know because they are all children of God their Father. This is about their destiny and how to claim it. So how can we not bring that good news to all! We must seek opportunities.

So Frank says, “Be sure of this much, if anyone volunteers to help Our Blessed Lady in a whole-hearted way, she will fill his efforts with her power”. Let us listen to her call to action, to go out and sow the Word in every way we can. Sow it and it will bear fruit. The more numerous the contacts the more we will have conversions. And then, to quote Frank, “When you make your contact you must put into it all the faith you can!”

You might feel inadequate. Actually that is a good place to start because you know you can do nothing on your own. But since you are volunteering to work with and for Our Lady in the cause of her Son you can come to her as a good mother and explain it all to her. “I don’t know all sides of my faith. I have a tendency to put my foot in it. I am so easily discouraged and can slink off into a hole.”

When you talk to Our Lady in confidence and hold nothing back you may begin to experience her love and reassurance and she will begin to help you and build you up step by step. You might hear her say, for example, “My son told his disciples to go out in pairs. You must never be on your own. You need never be on your own. And that is the value of my Legion system”.

So let us gather with her and keep close and be alert to her advice. Don’t be worried if results seem slow to come. For thirty years Jesus did no ministry. Something was building in him under Mary’s watchful eyes. But once he began, well … we know the rest!