12.03.2025

Holy Mass on Ash Wednesday – Year 2025

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Introduction and forgiveness

Let us begin Lent this year too.

This year, more than other times, Lent has a special meaning for us: it is the Lent of the Jubilee, it is Lent as part of the journey we are pursuing this year and which led us, also on 22 February, to renew our offering, our consecration, our desire to participate fully in Mary’s plan.

It is Lent at a time that, I think, is unique: never before has World War III been so close, never before has there been so many antichrists in power, and therefore, this year more than ever, we must live this Lent in the true sense of Lent.

It is not a time of repentance for its own sake.

Repentance as an end in itself is of no use; on the contrary, it stifles the spirit.

Rituals for their own sake suffocate life, they silence conscience, they silence that drive that God’s grace gives to step out of ourselves, to be in life. And, instead, unfortunately, we have been taught and we have learnt well: let us do many rites, let us fast, let us pray and we are fine. It’s a good way to earn our way into purgatory; it’s true, when we are fine, purgatory awaits us.

Everything I have said with respect to the Jubilee, with respect to this time, will have to be accomplished. Lent is then a time to meditate seriously on all this before God. It is forty days that should be dedicated solely to the Lord in order to understand Him, to make choices, and then, as resurrected children of God, to begin to realise them. This is Lent!

In this awareness let us prepare ourselves, not to receive the ashes, not to play the pretended humble, but let us prepare ourselves to enter this mass for what we really are: creatures before this infinite love of God. Lent should awaken even more clearly all the times we do not put God first but so many other things, even beautiful, healthy, just, sacrosanct according to the Earth, but, whether we want it or not, they all contribute to distancing us from God, from God’s will for us. This we announce to the universe. It is clear that we cannot announce it if we do not live it. This is what we want to say to all the souls in the amphitheatre and above all we say it to the Lord and to Mary Most Holy: help us to live it.

Let us get ready.

And once again God’s forgiveness, His love, descend upon all humanity, descend upon each one of you. May His love free you from all that does not allow you to encounter this love. By His grace, by His mercy, may this forgiveness remove from you everything that even falsely prevents you from feeling truly loved, prevents you from uniting with true Love, the Love sacrificed on the Cross. May His forgiveness set you free from all that, instead, binds you, from all that throws you back to Earth, from all that leads you to seek the things of the Earth and not raise your gaze to God, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Reflection

Today we read the continuation of yesterday: fatherhood and motherhood in God[1].

We have heard of the faithful sisters and brothers[2], we have heard what Jesus says[3], we have always known that one of our tasks is to return to live the relationship between man and woman in God. Several times we have said how important it is for you, sisters, to recover the dimension of woman; it is a part of your mission in this time, a part of that programme of Mary Most Holy for which we have renewed the offering so that it may reach its fullness.

The question is: Are you aware of this, do you know what God has called you to do? To cooperate with Him! Do you know that He has given you the graces from Baptism to do this? And then, why not accept this grace? Why do we only welcome a piece of it? What is it that leads us not to put this fact, that is life, at the centre? Again Jesus says: “Life…”[4] What is this life? “Life is born in the Trinitarian vortex, life is given to man…” but what is this life?

It is not that life we think of. It is not these hundred years that we live here on Earth. Life is that which pulsates within us as it pulsates in the universe – we are a microcosm – and that within us will pulsate for eternity. Here we have the opportunity to make it live, to witness it and to enjoy it for eternity. This is life, and everything we do should lead to this life, and that is all. Then, again He asks: “Are you aware of it?”[5] And then comes the question that is at the heart of what I want to say today: “Are you interested in recovering and promoting this grace?”[6]

Let us use these forty days with this question, each for yourselves and ultimately in dialogue with each other: “Are you interested?” And let me say already – I should not – but to the extent that you are interested and make concrete choices to live that grace, you will rise at Easter. If you are not interested in that grace, no one will rise at Easter, be assured of this. You will remain what you are. Grace is now granted to those who set out on the journey, to those who respond. That is only fair. This has been the case for some time, but it is becoming more and more true.

Now I talk to you as a normal priest.

Lent. Time for repentance. Repentance is not an end in itself. Could it be useful? Yes.

Why did Our Lady in Medjugorje ask for it in the beginning, as in all apparitions? Because it is the first step within each one of us to create order, to put in order the things that really matter and are really important, as opposed to those that count for nothing. Humans are so unspiritual that the Lord must start with repentance. But it only serves to put priorities on their proper place. So we, who, I believe, have taken these steps, let us take advantage of living that question: do we wish to promote this grace? If so –, because we never do it enough – who have we really put first? What comes first in our life?

We receive the ashes. We know, “remember that you are ashes and ashes you will become”. But the central point is always the same: recognise that we are creatures. And this we recognise to the extent that we draw closer to God.

It is true that we are children of God, it is true that we are made in the image and likeness of God, but it is also true that original sin has led us to be limited creatures infinitely in need of His help, of His love, infinitely in need of reminding ourselves that God is God and that we are a creature. While we do this, He floods us with love, almost knocks us out with love. However, this is dangerous, because when we feel all this love, we could come to think that we no longer need it, “by now I am full”… but we are never full! “I am fully immerged by now”… I wish we were always immerged in His love! We need it continuously. Living like this, with this constant need, our life becomes a glorification of God, it becomes a continuous thanksgiving, it becomes simple, it becomes a normal life but extraordinary at the same time; a normal life, indeed, according to the world even a little strange but one that will bring life, that will bear witness to life. For we become like that bucket, of which St Joseph speaks in a message[7], which is always under the spring and lets that love of God overflow.

So, ash means: we are a creature. We were created immortal but original sin produced death in us and we all die. The only way to get our body back the way God intended it to be is to let it rot; there is no other way, because original sin has touched it, but death has become a moment of resurrection. Is that understandable? Only Mary Most Holy was assumed into heaven, apart from Jesus Christ, with the body. We have original sin.

St Francis used to make these forty days of Lent three times a year. Lent is therefore that time that we must dedicate to God in a particular way. We must seek Him, He must be our Everything. We must start with these questions – I have proposed one[8] – to stand before Him, to look at Him, to contemplate Him; we must have Him before our eyes these forty days; and look at what we have cost this Man, and, while we look at what we have cost Him, understand how much He loves us. Look also at God the Father, who is looking at the Son, the second person of the Trinity, who suffers like this, and understand how much He loves us. Look at the Holy Spirit, who cannot move until Jesus gives Him to us. Look at all the Angels who have to see their God suffering for us, but in them the judgement towards us does not start. Maybe it is just me, but the idea of Jesus Christ suffering for someone who, perhaps, does not care about anything, makes me angry, even if it is unhealthy. The Angels do not have these feelings, but unite their suffering with that of the Lord. So should we.

So, forty days to meditate on this.

There the Way of the Cross (Via Crucis), rosaries, silence and fasting to detach ourselves from the world also have their place here; fasting from everything that is not needed, especially when we set these priorities. In these forty days, do not look for things that do not help you to meet Christ; stay, especially in these forty days, away from everything that does not bring you to Christ, from everything that is beautiful, right, useful for the Earth, but that is of no use. Everything passes away, only God remains.

It is a time of preparation, of choices. Contemplating that love, looking at what it does for us, what it has done and what it is doing, all that life I was talking about before, true Life, begins again in us. And then the desire arises in us to be resurrected in Christ, but to be resurrected not to live as we do now, but to live as God wants us to live. Then, let us make, even more in these forty days, concrete choices that we will put into practice as resurrected, real decisions, of concrete changes in life. We do not have to implement them now, but we do have to decide them now. Implement them after Easter, when new life begins in you. But it is a time of choices, it is a preparation to live as resurrected, to grasp that love of God for which everything exists, everything lives, the sky, the stars, everything, only thanks to that love, even us. Instead of saying “ah how beautiful, this love!”, try to understand it a little. “But where does this love come from?” Ask it, contemplate it.

The whole of history has been preparing for the resurrection event. We will hear it in Isaiah in these forty days. We will still, often, read our book. But everything has been prepared for the resurrection. We, however, are called to go one step further: we are called to live as resurrected and prepare for the new creation. And here we must believe. But if we believe it, we once again come back to these words: “When this grace develops in them, they become spiritually creative and thus can generate the life of God and pass it on to others. This is the identity of man and woman and only in this identity do they discover the calling to rule the universe with God.”[9] What a great offer has been made to us! Why not accept it? We are called to it. The whole story has come down to this. Now there is the next step that is ours: preparing the New Creation, it is the last time.

Let us try to think about it together and do not be afraid to look at what God is doing now, in the Foundation, among us. He has asked us to take care of what He is doing. Try to see among yourselves what He is doing, what it is that He has put before us. He has only started it, He has only shown it to us, and now He says to us: “Do you want to participate with me in this, in rewriting history, or do you want the old history?” Exchange with each other, even about concrete things: “What do you think He is doing? What does it look like to you?” Do not always make me say it, but say it yourself. If we really contemplate how much and how He loves us, how do I respond to this love? How do I dedicate myself to this love? Do I continue my life? Do I ask for help in constructing life according to my thoughts or do I participate in that life?

I seem to be digressing from what I want to say, but I have said many times, for those who know me, that the trouble in the Catholic Church, which Father Tomislav noticed in ’97, ’98, ’99 and 2000 of which he almost remained scandalised, was that all the priests, even the closest ones who followed him, who spoke of the offering, priest-ministers, could not understand that they had to offer themselves with Christ. They were offering Christ, but they were not offering themselves; they did not understand: “But in Him is everything, He does everything, He has everything, He lacks nothing.” All true things, but to rewrite history there is something missing: you are missing, we are missing, we who unite and offer ourselves with Him. There is a difference. It is He who does everything, but He needs us to give Him our body, give Him our eyes, give Him our mouth, our ears, our hands, our time, our money, our commitments, our desires, our needs. Give them to Him and He will transform them into His own and you, let Him do so.

We are all priests, and so how do we participate in Him offering Himself, in this love? I said let us contemplate Him. We can whip each other every night if we want, “I participate like this”; we can beat each other if we cannot manage it on our own; everything is possible, you decide.

I say that the most beautiful way – because I have tried it; the other things I have said I have also tried them all: they do not work – the most beautiful way is: I leave it up to Him and try to be in His hands, surrendered to let my thoughts die.

I repeat: do not be ashamed to also exchange in normal, simple things, God is doing, what He is transforming, what field He is working in, what He is proposing to you. Because I know that He does this with every single one of you. I also know that all the way that we have come so far, with the solemn offering on 22 February, is now being put to the test. It is normal, it is right. I know that each one of us in all that we have promised, in all that we have expressed, too, in our true and profound desire – not that we are liars – to live according to God’s mind, knowing what we must leave behind, is now being tested. It is right that it should be so, it is time to participate in Christ’s sacrifice, it is time to put those promises into practice and to die. One must die! It is Lent to come to the resurrection.

You will all be tried, all of you. But, I have told it many times that this is precisely the moment not to listen to the voice of trial, because if you listen to it, it becomes temptation. Leave the trial and with courage decide even more for what you have expressed. This is a most powerful exorcism. The more you are urged to do something that should not be done and you will not do it – you put even more strength into doing the right thing –, the more you will be liberated and will free your loved ones, your roots, you will become corredentors, you will empty Purgatory and contemplate the Love sacrificed in peace, understanding it, because that is what He did: Life allowed itself to be nailed to the cross. It was not a man, it was Life. He made that other believe that he was victorious, “obedient to the Father even unto death and death on a cross.”[10] This is the way.

If, on the other hand, we understand what we must do, if we hear the faithful brothers and sisters how they live[11], if it is clear to us the time in which we live, a time of false prophets, of antichrists, and we see everything as it is, – because now thanks to God we see it (there are those who do not see it, there are those who do not realise) – but we do nothing to change it, in my opinion it is serious, because those who do not see can at least not make this mistake, they do not see. Seeing and not doing, knowing and not doing, having the light and not following it, is consciously choosing the wrong, that is sin. Sinning when we do not know it is sin, but in a way we do not deserve condemnation. But when we know it and say: “But I cannot” and we sin, than it is serious; if we continue on that path then, we will find ourselves in darkness and afterwards we understand nothing more.

I conclude. I said that never before has World War III been so close.

There are a number of situations that seem to be identical to those of 1938-39 and you know what happened then. We can tell you that God has told us that He does not want to allow World War III to happen, and He is doing everything to ensure that it does not happen. He uses the faithful sisters and brothers and the Central Nucleus for this. However, He cannot avoid a big test. I do not know what it is. Happy Lent to all!

Baptism and Blessing

On all souls eager to walk with us, eager to present themselves now and say: “Lord Jesus, I am a creature, help me to receive your grace, help me to live it, to abide in this grace”, on all those who wish to walk together with Jesus Christ until the resurrection, on all those who wish to reawaken all the gifts they have received since conception, all the gifts that through Baptism were awakened in them, that made them children of God, priests, prophets and kings; on all those who wish to hand over life as we know it, to meet it in the Immaculate Heart of Mary united to Christ and carried towards the Father by the Holy Spirit; may forgiveness, love, light, strength, grace and peace descend upon you all, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And all those who wish to be baptised, who wish to be washed by the blood of Christ, I baptise you in the name of Mary and Joseph, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

I absolve you of all your sins, your limitations, your past. I imprint upon you the seal of the Holy Spirit, I give you the Sign of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and I unite you to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Universe.

I command you, Lucifer, together with your black church to disappear in the stench of sulphur, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Let us bless together.

Through this blessing, O Lord – I ask you for it together with Mary Most Holy and St Joseph – may the light of the Risen Lord be kindled within the soul of each of us. May that light be one that shows us the way in these forty days, may it be that light that banishes disintegrating energy, banishes esotericism, banishes all curses and all attacks by Lucifer and his. May this light remain alive in all our passages, may it remain alive in all our choices, may it remain alive as we contemplate Jesus, the Crucified, may it remain alive as we follow Him on Calvary, as we see Him a man, a man crushed by pain, the man of sorrows, a man who goes forth solely and exclusively out of love, your love, O Father, our love. May this light guide us and bring us through our ordeals, may it help us to always choose for life, may it help us to choose for love of you, for love of ourselves and for love of our neighbour. May this blessing descend upon every man of good will, may it descend upon all prisoners in all kinds of prisons, may it descend upon all the dying, may it descend upon all the sick, may it descend upon the last, may it descend to give true peace, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

So, truly may these days be beautiful, rich, even if tiring for you. Exchange among yourselves as I have said.

I assure you on behalf of the three of us that we will be close to each of you in your passages for what is our task: to offer ourselves to Got, to pray, to intercede. However, we can only do this, and ever more so, just on the road that leads to Christ. On all other roads we cannot help you, we are prevented from helping you and, in a certain sense, we are also commanded to turn away from those who want to travel other roads.

Let us go in peace.

[1] The topic of spiritual paternity and motherhood is explained in “Il nostro Cammino: attraverso Maria e Gesù“ (“Our journey: through Mary to Jesus”), pages 184-185

[2] See “Il nostro Cammino: attraverso Maria e Gesù”, pages 184-185

[3] See “Il nostro Cammino: attraverso Maria e Gesù”, pages 186

[4] See “Il nostro Cammino: attraverso Maria e Gesù”, pages 186

[5] See “Il nostro Cammino: attraverso Maria e Gesù”, pages 187

[6] See “Il nostro Cammino: attraverso Maria e Gesù”, pages 187

Excerpt from the mentioned book „Our journey: through Mary to Jesus“: Men and women baptised in the name of Jesus Christ have been given the grace to become children of God. When this grace develops in them, they become spiritually creative and thus can generate the life of God and pass it on to others. This is the identity of the man and woman in Christ; in that identity they discover their sublime calling to rule the universe with God. What a great offer has been made to humanity! Why then not accept it?

Thus men and women become priests, prophets and kings. This grace was imprinted in them at the moment of baptism. Are you aware of it? Are you interested in recovering and promoting this grace?

[7] See St Joseph’s Message of 19 March 2020 “Guarding Grace to Life” published on our website https://towardsthenewcreation.com in the category “Messages – 2020”.

[8] “Are you interested in recovering and promoting this grace?” from “Il nostro Cammino: attraverso Maria e Gesù” p. 187; see footnote 6

[9] See «Il nostro Cammino: attraverso Maria e Gesù» (Our journey: through Mary to Jesus) p. 186.

[10] Phil 2, 6-11

[11] See “Il nostro Cammino: attraverso Maria e Gesù”, pages 184-185.