My book, Heavenly Healing, not only made me an author for the first time, but taught me many lessons in the process. After reading today's Gospel and contemplating why the word "authority" spoke to me, Anne a lay apostle immediately came to mind. Heavenly Healing is a book of testimonies from lay apostles all over the world who had been blessed by the Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King. The first time I heard Anne speak, it was like drinking water from a fire hose! Jesus grabbed my heart that day, truly beginning my journey toward eternity. A few years later, after devouring every Volume, every Heaven Speaks booklet, Climbing the Mountain and Mist of Mercy, I wanted to write. I needed to write. After publishing a few articles in Christian magazines, I felt the Lord leading me to something bigger . . . I just wasn't sure what that was. Soon I found myself sitting across from Anne, interviewing her. Twelve years and four books later, our relationship has grown into a wonderful friendship, and to this day, she remains the most faith-filled woman I know (and she is the first to say she is imperfect!). God has genuinely given me a mentor to climb the mountain of holiness with.
So, why did I think of Anne when I contemplated the word "authority" in today's Gospel? Because she gives God the authority He deserves in everything she does, says and writes. It's never been about her, it's about what Jesus desires. She is constantly seeking His Will, encouraging everyone to do the same.
Matthew 20:17-28:
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day."
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, "What do you wish?" She answered him, "Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom." Jesus said in reply, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?" They said to him, "We can." He replied, "My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many."
In Anne a lay apostle's book Staying in Place, she reminds us that desiring Truth is ultimately our path to knowing God:
"Perhaps what is needed is a firmer connection to the mind of God. What is the mind of God? Well, any encounter with the Father would bring one to understand authority. The Father radiates authority. Real authority, of course, comes from Truth. Full Truth, that is. Not shades of the Truth, not self-serving slants on the Truth and certainly not the Truth arbitrated for any one given historical point of history. The Truth never changes but here is the reality of our relationship to the Truth. At given historical points, God seems to allow us to go deeper into the Truth, to discover in greater detail its unchanging elements. And it is those true elements that withstand the test of time, as Divine Mercy has withstood the test of time. It has proved itself to be a true revelation for all times. But people were not ready for it prior to its revealed moment and possibly only through time will we absorb and apply it more fully."
Lay apostles, how connected do you feel to God right now? Are you taking time this Lent to develop your relationship with Him? How does today's Gospel speak to you? My connection to Him is through our morning/spiritual readings, prayers at meals, weekly Adoration, praying the Rosary and going to Mass. The more I get to know Him, the more I feel the need to give up self-will . . . to let Him take the reins.
Thank you, Lord, for being the Authority in my life. It seems so much easier when I let You lead!
God bless,
Bonnie
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