Happy New Year in the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary!
As I write this to you, there is a fire burning in my heart after spending 4 days in Saint Louis at SEEK24 with 24K young adults last week.
As a mother of 2 young adults, and a youth minister for many years, I have a sincere love for this generation of young people who God is raising to be Torchbearers for Mary and Jesus Christ. Spending time with them in prayer and celebration gave me an even deeper love and a renewed hope for our young Church.
The theme this year at SEEK was BE THE LIGHT, and it was clear that the Holy Spirit was moving with Our Lady’s Flame of Love. Members of the movement went with missionary hearts, to spread the Flame and share the light of Jesus with countless people. Each person shared the Flame of Love in their own unique way and it was a beautiful example of the power of grace and the Holy Spirit work through each one of us to minister to the needs of another. Those who attended were eager and hungry to learn and receive the Flame of Love for themselves and it was pretty much non-stop for 5 days! It was a momentous occasion for the Flame of Love Movement US, as we believe this event alone has ignited the hearts of an entire generation, who are in many ways on the front lines of this war on families.
“Sadly, too many people today are living apart from the light – in a world of illusions, a world of fleeting shadows and promises unfulfilled. If you look to Jesus, if you live the Truth that is Jesus, you will have in you the light that reveals the truths and values on which to build your own happiness, while building a world of justice, peace and solidarity. Remember what Jesus said: “I am the light of the world; those who follow me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (cf. Jn 8:12).”
Saint John Paul the Great – St. Louis, January 26, 1999
We consider SEEK a practice run for Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, when 80k Catholics are expected to join in celebration of the Holy Eucharist for adoration, healing, and revival. Soon we will announce more exciting details, but please pray for the souls who will be in attendance of this epic event.
As I reflect on the last five months as your new national director, this fire in my heart has not stopped burning. I can’t express in words how truly humbled and amazed I am to see the purifying effects of the Flame of Love work in people’s lives, my own included! I have taken this time to learn, pray, and I have tried to cooperate with the many graces I have been offered during this transition of change and explosive growth. It is with great joy that I announce: The theme for 2024 is “Let this flame go from heart to heart.”
In 2024, I want to encourage us to embrace a “little way” as taught by Carmelite Saint, St. Therese of Lisieux, in spreading the Flame and get back to the mission of simply spreading grace!
This theme was taken from my favorite diary quote.
Mary: “With this Flame full of graces that I give you from my heart, ignite all the hearts of the entire country. Let this flame go from heart to heart. This is the miracle becoming the blaze whose dazzling light will blind Satan. This is the fire of love of union which I obtained from the heavenly father through the merits of the wounds of my Divine Son.”
Pg 28 THE MIRACLE OF THE FLAME OF LOVE
I believe this quote is a concise and powerful summary of the entire diary and message of the Flame of Love and a call to action to “ignite all the hearts”.
May we accept this as gift and a personal mission from Our Lady, allow this Flame to transform us so that it can go out to the world, spreading grace… heart to heart. The purifying and transformative effects of this grace in our hearts is the miracle becoming the blaze whose dazzling light will blind satan!
Grace and mercy transforming our lives in nothing new. What is different and sets the Flame of Love apart is that the power of these graces corresponds to the needs of those who receive it. we know that “where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more,” Romans 5:20. The Flame is shared heart to heart, given for ALL souls, not just for Catholics, for this particular time in salvation history. It’s through the very witness of our lives, by our prayer, sacrifice, and desire that we spread and ignite the Flame of Love. We will be going deeper into these 3 basic means to spread the Flame of Love throughout this year.
On our National Cenacle on Jan 16th, I will share a very simple “little way” to the Flame of Love called the ABC’s to the Flame of Love, which was very well received during our trial run at SEEK. Also, I’ll offer encouragement about this call to “Let this Flame Go from heart to heart”, so please join us.
My prayer for you is that you would receive Mother Mary and Her Flame for yourself, your family, and all those who you are in contact with. We can not give, what we ourselves have not received. I pray that as we receive more of these graces, we will allow Mary to reveal Jesus to us in a deeply personal way so that He can touch the places of our hearts that need transformation. We are all in need of healing, in need of Jesus.
“Without the interior light of grace I would have undoubtedly pitied myself, but in the midst of darkness I found myself divinely illumined.”
St. Thérèse of Lisieux
I sincerely thank you for your prayers for me and my family as we begin together a new chapter in the US Flame of Love Movement. I pray for you all! United, transformed, and enflamed by LOVE, we will see the victory of the Immaculate and Sacred Hearts.
Oh Blessed Lady, spread the effects of grace of thy Flame of Love over all of humanity!
Jill Metz, US National Director