Marge Steinhage Fenelon

Mary cares for our souls in a way that no human mother ever could—even the most wonderful, loving one! It is that burning charity that motivates her to work tirelessly for our salvation. She wants our salvation so desperately that she appeared many times over the centuries, sharing messages of hope and calling for prayer and conversion. Her desire that all should be saved is born of a mother’s deep and lasting love for her children.

Because you are God’s child, you are a saint in the making. Also, because you are God’s child, you are Mary’s child. The two go hand in hand. Mary does not love you because you are a saint; she loves you whether or not you are a saint. She loves you even if you were the most wretched, hateful sinner to ever walk the earth! If you need help, she will help you. If you call out to her, she will come to your rescue. If you are ill, she will cure you. It may not happen in exactly the timing and manner in which you prefer, but it will happen.

A childlike person has a heart that is both uncomplicated and wise, loving, and trusting in God as Father. A childlike person feels sheltered and safe in God’s love, with a sound faith and confidence in both God and in his own strength (which has been given to him by God). He lives his life peacefully and without worry about the past or future. A truly childlike person can cope with, and even overcome, anxiety. A child knows that whatever happens to him at every moment was foreseen for him by the Father and will contribute to his formation.

Mary cares for our souls in a way that no human mother ever could—even the most wonderful, loving one! It is that burning charity that motivates her to work tirelessly for our salvation. She wants our salvation so desperately that she appeared many times over the centuries, sharing messages of hope and calling for prayer and conversion. When she appeared to two children on September 19, 1846, in La Salette, France, our Lady told them, “I want that everybody be saved, the good as well as the bad. I am the Mother of Love, the Mother of all; you are all my children.

The past can only hurt you if you let it. Sounds simple in principle, but it is complicated to apply. The counselor taught me something he called “mindfulness.” In a nutshell, it is a method of focusing on the here and now and separating the past from the present and the other from the self. Here is what it looks like in action. When a bad memory surfaced and my emotions began to get out of control, I was to stop, call upon God’s grace, and focus on something in my immediate environment, preferably something pleasant. The idea was to pause and separate what was then from what is now.