Thursday, April 26, 2018
OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL
Jonah,
Chapter 1, verse 16:
16
Seized with great fear of the LORD, the men offered
sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
Those leaders, who stop seeking new challenges; stop
growing, inevitably stop leading. John Maxwell states, “When we stop
sacrificing, we stop succeeding.”[1]
If
you want to become a great leader, you must be willing to make sacrifices.
1.
There
is no success without sacrifice. Every person who has achieved any success in
life has made sacrifices to do so.
2.
Leaders
are often asked to give up more than others. Leaders have to give up their
rights. Leaders need to learn how to put others ahead of themselves. It’s not
easy, but you need to give up more than the people you lead.
3.
You
must keep giving up, to stay up. John Maxwell takes the Law of Sacrifice even
further when he states that ‘If leaders have to give up to go up, then they
have to give up even more to stay up’. Today’s success is the greatest thread
to tomorrow’s success. There’s always a cost involved in moving forward. The
day you stop being willing to pay the price is the day when you stop creating
the results you desire.
4.
The
higher the level of leadership, the greater the sacrifice. You’ve probably
noticed that the higher the position, the fewer the number of people able to
step in. It’s not because there’s lack of capable people. It’s simply because
there’s not enough people willing to pay the price. From my childhood I
remember learning about the utopia of communism – they tried to make everybody
equal. Everybody should have the same rights and the same pay. The problem with
this is the law of sacrifice. There will always be some who will be willing to
sacrifice more, while others will not be willing to do anything extra. No
philosophy of equality will ever be able to overcome this mindset. It’s the
inner job. You must decide for yourself how much time, effort or other
sacrifice you’re going to assign to a specific job, project or task. The Law of
Sacrifice states that those who do, will go up. And those who continue doing
this, will stay up.[2]
On the Feast of Saint Mark, April 25 1467, the people of Genazzano, Italy witnessed a marvellous sight. A cloud descended upon an ancient church dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel. When the cloud disappeared, an image of Our Lady and the Child Jesus was revealed which had not been there before. The image, on a paper-thin sheet, was suspended miraculously. Soon after the image's appearance many miracles were attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Because of this, Pope Paul II ordered an investigation and the results have been preserved. It was later discovered that the very same image had been seen in a church dedicated to the Annunciation in Scutari, Albania. The image in this church was said to have arrived there in a miraculous manner. Now, the image had been transported from Albania miraculously to avoid sacrilege from Moslem invasion. A commission of enquiry determined that a portrait from the church was indeed missing. An empty space the same size as the portrait was displayed for all to see. Many miracles continue to be attributed to Our Lady of Good Counsel. Pope Saint Pius V, for example, credited victory in the Battle of Lepanto to Her intercession. Several Popes have approved the miraculous image. In 1682 Pope Innocent XI had the portrait crowned with gold. On July 2 1753 Pope Benedict XIV approved the Scapular of Our Lady of Good Counsel, and was the first to wear it.
I
sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
Daily Devotions
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Please
pray for me and this ministry
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