9/30/10

Revelation: Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska



Revelation:
O my Jesus, give me strength to endure suffering so that I may not make a wry face when I drink the cup of bitterness. Help me Yourself to make my sacrifice pleasing to You. May it not be tainted by my self-love, even though it extend over many years. May purity of intention make it pleasing to You, fresh and full of life. This life of mine is a ceaseless struggle, a constant effort to do Your holy will; but may everything that is in me, both my misery and my strength, give praise to You, O Lord.



When I met with the Lord, I said to Him, "You are fooling me, Jesus; You show me the open gate of heaven, and again You leave me on earth."


The Lord said to me, When, in heaven, you see these present days, you will rejoice and will want to see as many of them as possible. I am not surprised, My daughter, that you cannot understand this now, because your heart is overflowing with pain and longing for Me.


Your vigilance pleases Me. Let My Word be enough for you; it will not be long now.
And my soul found itself once again in exile. I lovingly united myself to the will of God, submitting myself to His gracious decrees.
Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1787

The Holy Spirit Changed her Life


Western Catholic Reporter
September 20, 2010
Holy Spirit changed her life, attitude
Jamaican-born Anne Bates' journey back to God took many trials, twists and turns

WCR PHOTO RAMON GONZALEZ

Anne Bates told a charismatic prayer breakfast the Holy Spirit led her to Jesus.
RAMON GONZALEZWESTERN CATHOLIC REPORTER
Edmonton - Growing up in Jamaica, Anne Bates had an uneasy relationship with God. In fact, when Bates was in her mid-teens, she stopped attending church altogether. So did her whole family.
"None of us went to Mass for the next 15 or more years," Bates revealed before a crowd of 100 Sept. 11. "But God helped me even when I didn't really know him."
Bates, a member of St. Charles Parish for the past 29 years and a mother of three, recounted her story of grace-filled conversions and miracles at the charismatic prayer breakfast at the Chateau Louis Conference Centre.
She is currently a lector and choir member at St. Charles, a lector at St. Benedict Chapel and a lay minister for the Catholic Communion service at Grace Manor.
Bates was born in Jamaica. Her father was a Jamaican Catholic, her mother an English Methodist. The family attended Catholic Mass and Bates and her two brothers were baptized and confirmed in the Catholic faith.
Suddenly, the Bates abandoned their faith and went without God for years. Bates, however, reverted to her childhood faith after she and her husband Roger moved to Edmonton in the mid-1970s.
"It was in the spring of 1981 that I first felt a call to start going back to church," she said at the breakfast. "We had everything but there was still emptiness."
Bates attended a Good Friday service at St. Charles Church in 1981 but felt strange. Nobody spoke to her. "I felt like I didn't belong and I didn't come back."
But at Christmas that year she felt the call again and so she took her eldest daughter and went to Christmas Eve Mass.
WELCOMING PRIEST
This time a friendly, engaging priest made her feel welcome. She started to volunteer and to attend Mass regularly.
"As I became more and more involved and felt that I belonged in the Church, I started to gradually change, to become a gentler, kinder person," Bates recalled.
Nine months after returning to her faith, Bates entered the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. "I was becoming a much happier person now that I was growing in faith."
Her husband followed her and joined the RCIA the following year. He was welcomed into the faith in 1985. The Bates' children grew in grace too, receiving the sacraments and becoming altar servers.
Soon Bates' parents began attending church and two years later her then 69-year-old mother, a Methodist, decided to join the RCIA and convert to the Catholic Church, sponsored by her 73-year-old Catholic husband.
"Within five years of my Good Friday Mass in 1981, we were all attending church and involved in ministry, and there had been two conversions to the faith," Bates said at the breakfast.
GRACE-FILLED DEATH
When Bates' dad fell ill in September 1996, the whole parish prayed for him until he got better. When he died the following month, he died a "grace-filled death" thanks to the prayers of the community and to the parish priest who prepared him for a holy death.
Later that year, Bates went into what she termed a "desert experience," a two-year period of "absolute spiritual dryness." She still went to church and prayed, but "there was no sense of God." She felt empty.
In the spring of 1998 she was invited to attend a Life in the Spirit seminar, which she said changed her life. "I started to experience a great closeness to the Lord, knowing him to be right by me at all times," she said.
"So here I was (in) 1998. I had already been a good Catholic Christian for 16 or so years and I felt that I had just been reborn - I had just started living."
NEWMAN COURSES
She took courses at Newman Theological College and through her prayer group she studied the Elijah House Inner Healing program, which continued her interior healing while providing her with tools to help others.
"I was just delighting in my new personal relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit and that's when he gave me my heart's desire," she said of her lifelong desire to visit the Holy Land.
The Bates didn't have the money for such a trip, but God provided and they were able to go in 2000. Since then, they have gone on two more pilgrimages, including one to Fatima.
"Being open to the Holy Spirit and inviting the Spirit to be active in me, has made all the difference," Bates said at the prayer breakfast. "It is only with fullness of the Spirit that we can truly have a personal relationship with Jesus."
Bates possesses the gift of healing and once a woman who was suffering from a terrible pain in the centre of her palms was cured through her.
Following her talk, she spent time praying over people who wanted her healing touch. Some fell to the floor and rested in the Spirit.

9/29/10

The Reed of God: A Witness to God's Infinite Mercy by Jeff Gares th...


The Reed of God: A Witness to God's Infinite Mercy by Jeff Gares th...: "TO JESUS THROUGH MARY - UPON HEARING OF OUR LADY OF MEDJUGORJE - A Witness to God's Infinite Mercy by Jeff Gares Posted by Fr. James Farfaglia..."
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Excerpt: - My teenage years followed, and in order to dull the interior pain that I felt, I began to experiment with all kinds of different remedies to try and alleviate that pain. I was pretty popular and a decent athlete so I always had girlfriends and that meant fornication for me. I also began to drink a lot of beer in my junior and senior years, which led to all kinds of drunken revelry. I also began to experiment with Ouija Boards, and I began to see “shadow” type figures on occasion. This fad did not last long, but I believe it opened the door for demons to cling ferociously to me......

Respond to the Mothers Call to Come, She'll hook you

Father Neil Buchlein from Hurricane, West Virginia in the United States has been to Medjugorje 19 times since 2002. He's called Medjugorje the 'septic tank of the world for sin.'
Medjugorje) Homily September 26, 2010
"We are all blessed, you and I, and my brother priests behind me. All of us have responded to the Mother’s call to come, to come and deepen our faith, to come and deepen our love in Her Son. We have come to be blessed; we have come to draw strength. How many are here for the first time? Please raise your hand. Praise God, wow, a lot of you for the first time.
Father Neil, from Hurricane, West Virginia in the United States has been to Medjugorje 19 times since 2002. He's called Medjugorje the 'septic tank of the world for sin.'
“This is my 19th trip since 2002; I would like to think that Blessed Mother has a lot more work for me to do, to become more refined. She hooked me back in 2002, and I try to be obedient to Mother Mary.
“We are challenged today. We were challenged yesterday by the message (September 25, 2010 monthly message for the world) we received from Our Blessed Mother, and I think very, very timely with our Gospel passage today.

“Because, what happened? Well, Father Abraham send someone to my brothers so they don’t have to go through this. We sent them Moses, we sent them the prophets, and they didn’t change. What more do you want? Do you think they are going to believe someone risen from the dead? The challenge to us is to repent, and how do we repent? We turn away! We turn away from what the world is preaching. We turn away from our sinfulness, which, you and I are going to constantly be in battle with. We are in a battle. The message yesterday from Our Blessed Mother tells us, we still have work to do.

“Look at our First Reading; ‘Woe to the complacent in Zion lying upon beds of ivory, stretched comfortably on their couches. They eat lambs taken from the flock and calves taken from the stall, improvising to the music of the harp.’ Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Come on, this is not Heaven, and we are looking for Heaven here on earth. We are not to be living what the world is preaching to us today. And, that is what we are looking at.

“What happens, we come here to Medjugorje to be blessed, and we come to Medjugorje to receive strength and power to go out there and do battle. But, you know what happens? It is real easy to do it here. You leave here, you get on the plane, and you go home and Wham! You are scratching your head saying, ‘I need to get to Medjugorje.’ And, I have heard the voice saying, ‘Neil, you were just there last week.’
“Okay, listen to what She had to say, ‘Today I am with you and bless you all with my motherly blessing of peace, and I urge you to live your life of faith even more… (But Mom!) because you are still weak and are not humble. I urge you, little children, to speak less… (Wow!) and to work more on your personal conversion so that your witness may be fruitful. And may your life be unceasingly prayerful. Thank you for having responded to my call.’

“I urge you to speak less, and to work more. We are still weak, that’s right we are. Why are we weak? Why are we slacking off? Why will we leave here after having received so much blessing and strength, and go home and slack off? We have become complacent. We want to lay down on that bed of ivory and eat calves and lambs. And, we say someone else will do the battle. We are all in this together, this is a battle and we must continue to fight. We cannot become complacent.

“How can we become more united to Christ? You have one very, very powerful Sacrament that has to take place while you are here. You have to receive it! And, I’m not speaking of the Eucharist, which is also very important. How can you receive God’s Blessing if you are coated, covered, and sinking in sin? Do you know what this is out here? (Father points to the Confessionals) This is the septic tank of the world for sin, because it just floats and God takes it.

“We want to love God, we want to praise God. We don’t want to be complacent, but, satan and the world says, ‘It’s no big deal, it is no big deal.’ Face your weakness. Face your sin. Dump it while you are here. If you don’t go to Confession while you are here, you have missed out! Missed it! Wow, I’m glad I’m not in West Virginia in Father’s parish, he’s a kook!!!
“Think about it. When your drain is plugged up in the kitchen sink, you reach for Drano, or a snake to get things moving. You don’t go, ‘Oh well…’ No, but that’s what we do with what; with our soul. We have Eternal Life that we are looking for; this is our goal not this world. This is a means to an end and yes, at times it is difficult, but we have everything at our disposal.

“We have 29 years of messages. But, what do I do? ‘Oh, did you see the message from yesterday? Oh, well you know, humph! She was a little bit insulting. You know She urges us, and is telling us to speak less. Maybe on the Second of the Month, maybe She will say something to Mirjana that will be a little bit kinder. I like kind messages.’ That’s what we get wrapped into, that’s how we become lazy and complacent. ‘Oh, humph, it doesn’t fit me!’

‘No, we have the messages. Do you realize in reading the messages, there were times when She appeared, that She did not say anything; She was crying. Yeah, crying! Because of what? Because, we are not getting it, that’s why. And, that’s why we have been called, and thank you for saying yes.

“Some of you might have thought, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll go to Medjugorje, so and so have been, so I will go.’ No! You have been called.
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You are here for a reason or reasons, just like I and my brother priests are. And, we need your prayers because, you know what? If we fall down, guess what, there is no Eucharist. Without Eucharist, what do we have? Nothing!
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“So, take every opportunity, don’t be going out buying stuff, and stuff, and stuff. You are here to pray, you are here to dump your sins. Do it, revel in the moment, be amazed, be thankful. Go home and live the messages. Go home and don’t talk about Medjugorje, you live Medjugorje and show it by your actions. You are going to be out there and people are going to go, ‘You haven’t changed a bit.’ You want change. Change from sinfulness to God’s Mercy and Love and Grace. The Mother rejoices, the Son rejoices and let us continue with our celebration rejoicing that Our God loves us unconditionally, but does not like the sin. So, make God really happy while you are here. Go and dump the sin!"For a previous homily by Father Neil posted on Medjugorje.com titled Medjugorje: The Septic Tank of the World for Sin visit this page.
source-Medjugorje Com

9/28/10

Jesus Loves Us.


Jesus loves us. He even died for us. He loves us more than we love ourselves. He can do all things, even the impossible (Lk 1:37). All we need do is give Him a chance and open the door by an act of faith.

"When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit He saves" (Ps 34:18-19).

9/27/10

A Reflection by Sr. Isabel of Our Lady's message of September 25, 2010


Message of September 25, 2010
Dear children! Today I am with you and bless you all with my motherly blessing of peace, and I urge you to live your life of faith even more, because you are still weak and are not humble. I urge you, little children, to speak less and to work more on your personal conversion so that your witness may be fruitful. And may your life be unceasing prayer. Thank you for having responded to my call.
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A Little Reflection ( by Sr. Isabel )
As we move into another season of the year when, around here, the leaves begin to change color and the grass turns brown, Our Lady blesses us with her motherly blessing of peace. The changing of the season reminds us that we, too, must change so that new life can come forth from us in order that we become true and authentic witnesses of God's action in our lives. Our Lady urges us to grow in our faith and to live it with even greater effort than in the past. She knows that the obstacles to growing in faith are our own weaknesses and lack of humility. It takes humility for us to admit our weaknesses and to accept God's grace for change. Words that are not met with actions which bear testimony to the truth of our words do not bear fruit. Rather, they turn others away from us and from God. Hence, Our Lady reminds us to speak less and to work on personal conversion. It takes ongoing and consistent prayer, daily prayer, to respond to the graces that God wants to give us so that we can change and bear fruit to His honor and glory.
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9/26/10

Surprised by Medjugorje


Skeptical journalist surprised by Medjugorje
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I recently spent three days in Medjugorje. And, as a journalist, I have never felt so useless before. For the first time in my career I realise my words cannot express what I would like to share. Call me unskilled or incompetent if you will, but when I try to describe what I have found inside me since my visit to the town I cannot find the words. Source http://www.crownofstars.blogspot.com/

9/24/10

Medjugorje Visionaries Ivan and Marija at Vienna Cathedral


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VIENNA
September 23, 2010


Mary TV was privileged to stream, LIVE, an evening of prayer at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna on Thursday, September 23, 2010! Featured at this historic Cathedral, called the Dome.

The witness given by the Cenacolo Community in Austria who were joined by Mother Elvira, the founder
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A young woman who shared about her complete healing from paralysis in Medjugorje.

*The witnesses of Ivan and Marija, visionaries from Medjugorje.
*The Rosary and the apparition with Our Lady.

Holy Mass.
Adoration conducted by Cardinal Schoenborn, himself!

All was beautifully translated into English for us by Milona Von Hapsburg de Rambures
It was an exquisite evening with Our Mother, the Queen of Peace!


Watch this event in our “Video Library” & "Apparitions" areas! http://www.marytv.tv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=26

9/22/10

Thy Kingdom Come


"THY KINGDOM COME"

"He sent them forth to proclaim the reign of God and heal the afflicted." -Luke 9:2

Jesus did not send us to proclaim a denomination, an institution, or even an individualistic idea of salvation. Jesus sent us to proclaim His reign, His kingdom. He taught us to pray for His kingdom to come (Mt 6:10). He promised that, if we sought first His kingdom, all our needs would be given us besides (Mt 6:33).

Although each individual must accept salvation in Jesus, the Lord is doing much more than changing the lives of isolated individuals. Through His death and resurrection, He has irreversibly conquered Satan's kingdom of darkness and definitively established the new worldwide kingdom of light. "He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Col 1:13).

Therefore, God's kingdom should dominate our consciousness. Marriage, celibacy (Mt 19:12), healing, the Eucharist (Mt 26:29), work, and money make sense only in the light of His kingdom. The Lord made of us "a kingdom, and priests to serve our God," and we "shall reign on the earth" (Rv 5:10).


Prayer: Jesus, give me Your mind (1 Cor 2:16). May Your kingdom be more important to me than my most important individual concerns.

9/20/10

The Word of God


Daily Bread
Take heed, therefore, how you hear." -Luke 8:18"
Morning after morning," the Lord wants to open our ears that we may hear His Word (see Is 50:4).
For the Lord to get His way, we must open ourselves to His word each day by celebrating Mass and/or reading the Bible. This is the first step in receiving daily revelation from the Lord. The second step is to commit ourselves to share whatever the Lord reveals to us. As long as we don't put God's revelation under the bushel basket of fear and selfishness or under the bed of apathy, the Lord will enlighten us daily with His word (see Lk 8:16).
For instance, you will receive some insight, encouragement, nourishment, teaching, clarity, direction, conviction, confirmation, etc. from reading this page and the Scriptures listed on this page. If you give as a gift what has been given to you (Mt 10:8), you will receive more light and strength from God's word. If you don't share it, you can lose even the little you thought you had (Lk 8:18).You can receive daily the life-giving word of God by deciding to expose yourself to the light of God's word and to let that light shine through you. Decide daily for God's word.
Prayer: Father, may Your word be more valuable to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces (Ps 119:72). - " Come Holy Spirit "

Fr. John Hay, Don't put off recieving the Sacrament of the Sick


Wichita, Kan., Sep 18, 2010 / 01:11 pm (CNA).-
Don’t wait until the anesthesiologist is ready to put the mask on you before you think about the Sacrament of the Sick, says Fr. John Hay from the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas. He urges everyone to seek an anointing before they are admitted to a hospital.

“It is a sacrament given to help us bear the suffering – the sickness that we have – to be able to unite that suffering to the suffering of Jesus Christ,” Fr. Hay said.
“And then it’s not suffering for suffering’s sake, it can actually become redemptive. We enter into the suffering of Jesus Christ – and that gives us a new power, a new strength, from the power of his grace, to help us carry our load, our cross, whatever sickness that might be.”
In addition, he said, it can be a comfort for the faithful going into surgery to have already received the sacrament.
Father Hay is the chaplain of the St. Paul Parish Newman Center at Wichita State University but his duties include a part-time chaplaincy of the Wesley Medical Center. Two of the three Catholic hospitals, Via Christi Hospital on North St. Francis and Via Christi Hospital on Harry, have full-time chaplains.
Fr. Hay makes rounds at Wesley twice a week and is on call for emergencies. Because he’s part-time there he asks that Catholics who are going to Wesley to request an anointing from their pastor before they go into surgery. “I can catch them beforehand, but it’s not always the case,” he said. “Oftentimes I’m seeing them after their surgery.”When people see a priest walking into a room wearing a purple stole and carrying a black case, Fr. Hay said, you’ll often hear them say, “Oh, it must be bad, we had to call the priest.”
That’s not necessarily true, he said. “It doesn’t mean they’re taking their last breath, but that their sickness merits their receiving the sacrament that Jesus has given to his church.”
Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Sick – just as he instituted the Eucharist, Fr. Hay said.
In Matthew 6:13, he added, “Jesus sent the disciples out. The disciples came back…they had laid their hands on many, they had cured the sick and anointed them with oil.”Father Hay said the faithful need to understand that receiving the sacrament doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to be cured of their physical ailment, “but it does give them a grace and a strength – if we cooperate, just as we always have to cooperate with God’s grace – if we cooperate, then it’s a new strength to bear that sickness, that illness, whatever that might be.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says in chapter 1514 that the sacrament is not only for those who are dying but for those who are in danger of death, he said.
“Anytime we undergo a surgery and anesthesia is administered, there’s always an outside chance that something could happen,” he said. “Because there is that danger there, that certainly would warrant receiving the sacrament of the sick.”
Father Hay reminded those who are in need or who might be in need to go to their pastor for the sacrament.
“Unlike Padre Pio, who could be in two places at once,” he said, “I can’t!”
Printed with permission from the Catholic Advance, newspaper for the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas.

9/19/10

Dove Shaped cloud formed over Bristol ahead of Pope.


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The dove shaped cloud formed over Bristol ahead of the Pope Benedict State visit - and the wind even allowed it to fly across the sky
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The Bible tells the story in which a dove was released by Noah after the great flood in order to find land.
The dove came back carrying an olive branch in its beak, proof for Noah that humans could soon resume a normal life.

9/18/10

Fr. Joe Whalen's Prayer in honor of Our Lady of LaSalette.


Fr. Joe on our Lady of La Salette.- In honor of her feast day tomorrow, God Bless!

YouTube - Fr.JosephWhalenMS_LaSalette_prayer_(640x480).mp4

Bishop Hilarius Datus Lega Comes to Medjugorje


Bishop Hilarius Datus Lega, bishop of Diocese Manokwari – Sorong from West Papua, Indonesia came to Medjugorje for the first time. He was ordained as Bishop in 2003 and he is normally very busy throughout the year, but he accepted the invitation of his friends who came to Europe. He heard about Medjugorje in the very beginning, he thinks it might have been already in 1981.
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“Medjugorje is the world centre, place of prayer and peace”, says Bishop Hilarius and adds, “People are coming here because Our Lady is really appearing here, this is the place of renewal, conversion, new beginning. Medjugorje attracts many people; I can see personal relationship, this is all work of God, something that he does through His Blessed Mother and visionaries, I really like everything I see here. God is always at work, whether we see that or not, God’s message needs to be announced all over the place”, said Bishop Hilarius at the end, who will stay in Medjugorje for three days. Source-Medjugorje Official 9-17-2010

9/17/10

Revelation: Saint Maria Faustina


Revelation

I feel considerable improvement in my health. Jesus is bringing me from the gates of death to life, because there was so little left but for me to die, and lo, the Lord grants me the fullness of life. Although I am still to remain in the sanatorium, I am almost completely well.

I see that the will of God has not yet been fulfilled in me, and that is why I must live, for I know that if I fulfill everything the Lord has planned for me in this world, He will not leave me in exile any longer, for heaven is my home.

*But before we go to our Homeland, we must fulfill the will of God on earth; that is, trials and struggles must run their full course in us.
Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 897

9/16/10

Fr. Robert Barron will begin broadcasting a weekly national television show on WGN America.


Fr. Robert Barron of the Archdiocese of Chicago will begin broadcasting a weekly national television show on WGN America to reach Catholics and others searching for Christ.
He will be the first priest since Archbishop Fulton Sheen to have a regular, national program on a commercial television network. Fr. Barron, a professor at University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, runs the global media ministry called “Word on Fire.” His WGN America show will be titled “Word on Fire with Father Barron.”
It will premier at 8:30 a.m. Central Time on Sunday, October 3rd It will also run on WGN Chicago at 9:30 a.m.“Now is the time to reach out to Catholics and others who are searching for meaning in their lives or who have left the Church because they are disillusioned,” Fr. Barron said. “In each episode, our mission will be to encourage believers and bring the transformative power of the Gospel to the culture.”Read the entire story.

9/15/10

The Sun in Medjugorje - May 10, 2010


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K8K5GFWFME
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May 2010 This is a personal video shot with a mobile phone around 6:40 PM, 10 May 10, 2010, just outside St. James church in Medjugorje (Bosnia & Herzegovina ...

Medjugorje: Exaltation of the Holy Cross


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On Sunday, September 12, 2010 we celebrated the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross in parish of Medjugorje. The Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross is traditionally celebrated on first Sunday after the feast of Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary.

9/13/10

Dominik and the Youth Festival: Surprising Event took place in Medjugorje on August 3rd, 2010.

Kravice Waterfall near Medjugorje

Dominik and the Youth Festival


A surprising event took place in Medjugorje on August 3rd. Since the articles on the internet about the events spread many errors, I wanted to make a serious inquiry before writing about it. So, below I have written the facts as I received them from Dominik’s family.

Dominik Juros, a young Slovakian of 16, born in a Catholic family from the village of Hran, came to the Youth Festival this summer with other young people from his area. During the preceding months, Dominik went through a period of inner rebellion, mostly concerning faith. He no longer wanted to serve at Mass as altar boy; and he refused to pray with his parents.
Although this group had signed up for a pilgrimage, they were not really interested in the Youth Festival or in God in general. They behaved more like tourists on vacation.
On August 3rd, the heat was extreme in Medjugorje. The group decided to go swimming at the waterfalls of Kravica with Janko, their guide, rather than follow the program of the Festival. Dominik slipped into the icy water, and sank 9 or 10 feet deep. He managed to surface several times, but no one noticed that he was drowning. Instead, people around him thought he was playing a game. Ten minutes later, Janko began to worry because he could no longer see him! So he swam to the spot where he had last seen him.
With the help of a few people, Janko was able to pull Dominik out of the water. But his heart had stopped. It took 15 to 20 minutes of resuscitation to make it beat again, but on the way to Mostar’s hospital, his heart stopped beating again. His lungs no longer worked. At the hospital Dominik was put into an induced coma and his vital bodily functions were taken over by medical devices.
The next day, his parents rushed from Slovakia to Mostar. After hearing what had happened, all the young people at the Festival started praying fervently for him, and this beautiful chain of love continued day and night! Even Dominik’s bus companions, suddenly seized by the fear of God, started to pray. Each went to Confession and they attended Mass with great piety.
On August 5th, surrounded by his family and with a lot of prayers, Dominik showed unexpected signs of awareness. Although unconscious, he would press his mother’s hand or shed tears. He woke up on August 7th, and his organs revived. His first reaction was to cry, begging his parents to forgive him. He grabbed the hand of his mother and asked her to pray with him, and to pray a lot. He wanted to confess his sins, so they asked a priest to come. He was then transferred to a hospital in Slovakia, where he began walking and talking freely. Four weeks later, he was back in school. His Slovakian doctor reports that Dominik’s recovery is shocking, considering what he endured.
Dominik shared some interesting aspects of his experience. For instance, although unconscious at the time, when he was taken out of the water, he saw his parents in Slovakia sitting in front of television, and he knew what they were doing and where they were going. On August 8th, according to people present and his own words, he became hypersensitive, felt intense inner struggles, and had unusual perceptions.
According to Dominik, while he was between life and death, he felt threatened by “dark figures” present in the hospital, some standing at the door and others causing havoc in the room, accusing him. These figures were constantly trying to prevent his mother from praying at his bedside. Dominik’s face lit up when he felt the presence of a person full of light, peace and joy, who he thinks was the Blessed Mother. When someone entered his room carrying some water, he knew that it was Holy Water and thought “Oh, blessed water! That will help me now!” He said he could perceive the prayers of his family as peaceful, positive, very helpful and full of life.
Dominik was able to see Purgatory. There he saw two young people, from a neighboring town, suffering. He saw that they had burned a car and later were killed in an accident. He saw Angels, splendid beings dressed in white, with beautiful faces. He said he saw Jesus face to face and said that Jesus had the most beautiful eyes. When his family was praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at his bedside, he asked them, “Can you smell that wonderful fragrance?” “What fragrance?” His mother asked. “The blood of Jesus! It has a wonderful fragrance!” He answered.
There are many details to the story that will not fit here, however it is important to note that Dominik’s mother consecrated him to Our Lady at his conception.
Dominick often repeated that we should love each other and forgive one another; that love is the most important thing in life. He insistently asked members of his family to treat each other with much more love, even in the smallest things, and to always forgive and to have no enemies. With his short, but sweet taste of Heaven, Dominik regretted that the medical team had saved his life!
We know that normally, after a few minutes under water, the brain is damaged for lack of oxygen. But in Dominik’s case, only God knows whether it is, medically, a miracle. This is of little importance! What is beautiful in this event, is that it happened when 40,000 youth of the Festival were praying in Medjugorje. The Lord used this teenager, going through a crisis, to put all his friends on their knees, (those present in Medjugorje and those in Slovakia), to inspire them to go to Confession and to turn their hearts to God. Moreover, to some of those kids who put earthly things in the first place of their life, and who thought they could make it without God, Dominik’s experience revealed another world, other values, and reminded them of the most vital commandment of Jesus: “Love one another as I have loved you!”
Dominik does not remember everything, but the effect of grace is very obvious in his life. He has turned into a young man who today prays profoundly, who lives his faith with fervor, and who happily joins his parents and family in prayer. He shows great reverence for the Cross of Jesus and for Our Lady. All his relatives are grateful for what the mercy of God did for him. Even his grandfather, a former obstinate opponent of Medjugorje, now wants to come. Magnificat!
Sources-Children of Medjugorje Newsletter of September 12, 2010 Sr Emanuel has published this story in her latest newsletter after speaking with the family..... Also http://deaconjohn1987.multiply.com/journal/item/11075

9/12/10

Activate the Gifts of the Holy Spirit


Western Catholic Reporter

September 6, 2010
Activate the Holy Spirit's spiritual gifts
U.S. Catholic evangelist encourages CCO missionaries to put Christ on campus

CCN PHOTO DEBORAH GYAPONG
CCO human resources director Michael Hall says young people are 'looking for truth but they don't know where to find it.'
DEBORAH GYAPONG CANADIAN CATHOLIC NEWS
OTTAWA -

All Catholics have received spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit, but they need to have them activated, says a Catholic evangelist.
The gifts most Catholics receive at Baptism and Confirmation lie dormant their whole lives, said Peter Herbeck, of Renewal Ministries, an international Catholic evangelistic organization based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
"What is dormant is now being activated," Herbeck said in an interview Aug. 27, before leading a retreat for Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) staff Aug. 27-28 in Ottawa. Over 60 missionary staff came for a week of formation before they hit 10 university campuses across Canada to evangelize Catholic youth.
For the first time, CCO will have missionaries at the University of Calgary and St. Mary's University in Halifax.
Herbeck also said the Church is undergoing a "serious pruning," especially in western countries with the priestly sexual abuse scandals. "The old things are being cut away, old ways of doing things."
But the pruning is meant to make way for new growth, he said. The Holy Spirit will "give new energy" to a Church that has become in some places "stale, flat and lukewarm."
Herbeck focused the retreat on rediscovering the Church's charismatic dimension in order to bring about what Pope John Paul II called the New Pentecost.
"The Holy Spirit is the power source of the Church's evangelization," Herbeck said. At Pentecost the Spirit fell like tongues of fire and thrust the first disciples "out into the marketplace to declare the beauty and majesty of Jesus."
Herbeck described CCO as "one of the signs of the times," according to Pope John Paul II's description of new movements as living signs of what the Spirit is doing. CCO, like other new movements has the "passion and gifting" to help people encounter Jesus Christ personally, Herbeck said.
PASSION FOR ORTHODOXY
Another sign is the way CCO and other new movements draw people into small groups to interact, share their love for each other and deepen their faith. These new movements also have a passion for orthodoxy, he said.
"Some organizations like CCO are able to meet young people during their university years when many lose their faith."
They provide a "Christ presence" on campus, and like other new movements focus on conversion, communion, orthodoxy and mission.
Another aspect of the new movements is they empower the laity in a way that is not in conflict with the priesthood, but complementary to it, he said.
EMERGING CHARISMS
They are bringing about the re-emergence of the charisms that were present in the early Church, such as prophesy, administration, words of knowledge, healings and other supernatural gifts.

Peter Herbeck
"There is no evangelization without the gifts of the Holy Spirit," he said.
Herbeck grew up Catholic, one of seven children. His family lived one block from the church, but he did not find his faith engaging in his teen years.
In the late 1970s, he attended a Catholic charismatic conference at Notre Dame with 30,000 attendees. He could see the life in them, though what they spoke about was like Greek to him. He began to earnestly pray for faith as he felt a hunger for God grow in him. He prayed for a living faith like that of the first Apostles.
As the conference drew to a close on Sunday, he was still crying out in his heart for a deeper relationship with God. A stranger approached him after the Eucharist. Herbeck can still remember his nametag and that he was from Indianapolis.
"When I saw you, I felt the Lord touching my heart to speak to you," the man said. "The Lord wants you to know the faith that you seek will be granted to you because Jesus Christ loves you."
The man prayed for him and Herbeck became overwhelmed by the presence of God, by an overflowing of the Holy Spirit that brought tears but also cleansed, refreshed and empowered him.
SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH
CCO human resources director Michael Hall described young people today as "looking for truth but they don't know where to find it."
"They are trying to figure out truth and they are trying to figure out love," he said. They want to care for the world, especially those in the developing world. We speak to them of the love of one's neighbour and how the "only source of that is God himself."

9/10/10

Dear Family of Mary

Photo: Courtesy of Pilgrim

September 10, 2010 Dear Family of Mary!

"Dear children! Today I invite you to offer your crosses and suffering for my intentions. Little children, I am your mother and I wish to help you by seeking for you the grace from God. Little children, offer your sufferings as a gift to God so that they may become a most beautiful flower of joy. Therefore little children, pray that you may understand that suffering can become joy, and the cross a way of joy." (September 25, 1996)

I want to share with you a beautiful email I received last night from Amanda. She is a young mother and lives in sparsely populated farm country. She is newly pregnant with her second baby! She shares a recent and beautiful experience of God: "Praise be Jesus! I just wanted to share something with you both to fill your heart with joy! I have been extremely nauseated, dizzy, vomiting - the whole bit - with this pregnancy again, but in (rare) good moments I am so, so grateful for the chance to suffer. 'This is your chance to save souls!' I felt Jesus say to me. Today I finally could lie down and have some silent prayer time, and it was so beautiful. Spiritually, things are so poor right now. There is no daily Mass this week, and even if there was, I can't make most of them because I am too sick. And no adoration has been available for weeks. I haven't had my silent prayer time on a normal basis because I have to sleep when Mariam sleeps. But this prayer time was so very beautiful."First, I felt Mary really tell me she was my Mother. Truly my mother! Then she reminded me that the most important thing in life is prayer -- in whatever form it needs to take for you. Prayer, prayer, prayer. Prayer is our fortress -- our only fortress. The whole world, and its activism, and the flesh and the devil are constantly trying to steal this mysterious jewel away from us. But we must 'Cling to the Rosary as the creeper clings to the tree, for without Our Lady, we cannot stand' as Mother Teresa always said and lived. The only thing that matters in the end is God's holy will in every little event of life. His sacred designs are all that will stand when it is all over."I had given up on praying this. It just seems like a total impossibility. I will go forward with faith and just pray for God's will, and really take up the Rosary with more of my heart." "Offer your sufferings as a gift to God so that they may become a most beautiful flower of joy."In Jesus and Mary! Cathy Nolan

PS. Please pray and offer up whatever you can for Mary TV right now. We have the opportunity to go to Vienna to film and stream an evening with Ivan and Marija in the Cathedral there. It is again a bit undertaking, and we need back up!! Pray, pray, pray!!

Revelation: Saint Maria Faustina


Revelation:
O my Jesus, my Master and Director, strengthen and enlighten me in these difficult moments of my life. I expect no help from people; all my hope is in You. I feel alone in the face of Your demands, O Lord. Despite the fears and qualms of my nature, I am fulfilling Your holy will and desire to fulfill it as faithfully as possible throughout my life and in my death.


Jesus, with You I can do all things. Do with me as You please; only give me Your merciful Heart and that is enough for me.


O Jesus my Lord, help me. Let what You have planned before all ages happen to me. I am ready at each beckoning of Your holy will. Enlighten my mind that I may know Your will. O God, You who pervade my soul, You know that I desire nothing but Your glory.
O Divine Will, You are the delight of my heart, the food of my soul, the light of my intellect, the omnipotent strength of my will; for when I unite myself with Your will, O Lord, Your power works through me and takes the place of my feeble will. Each day, I seek to carry out God's wishes.
Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 650

Da Mihi Animas: Miracle of Medjugorje#links#links#links#links

Secrets of Medjugorje:

9/9/10

Put Our Lady's Words Into Action




Saturday, September 4, 2010 Father Francis Ferry of Donegal, Ireland gave a homily in Medjugorje at St. James Church. Before Mass, he attended a talk given by the visionary Ivan and he spoke about the messages that Ivan had stressed in his testimony.




Father Ferry said, ‘We need to change ourselves first and experience peace through prayer. We need to witness this peace to our families, in our villages and cities, and then the world will change.’ He received his vocation to the priesthood here in Medjugorje while on pilgrimage to this Holy place. He had been away from the Sacraments of the Church for many years.


Father Ferry’s first pilgrimage to Medjugorje was not planned. He had become lost while traveling and ended up here. He knew Our Lady had planned it that way. He was ordained a priest three years ago. Father gave the pilgrims attending Holy Mass some good advice.
Father Francis Ferry, one of many vocations received through a pilgrimage to Medjugorje.
“It is good being in Medjugorje again. This is my twenty-eighth time. My first trip was in 1995. You that have been here fifty times, it means nothing, if you do not listen and put into action Our Lady’s words. It would be better to come once and hear Her message and respond to Her call. Remember, She thanks us for responding to Her call.”



Father was asking the pilgrims to respond concretely to Our Lady. Father Ferry is one of many vocations birthed through Medjugorje. We believe one of thousands; the actual number of vocations that began in Medjugorje may never be known.




Cardinal Schönborn, from Austria once stated, ‘If I was an opponent of Medjugorje, I’d have to close down my seminary, since almost all the candidates have received their call to the priesthood through Medjugorje.’ Yet another testament of the power of what God is doing through Our Lady, here in Medjugorje. Source-Medjugorje Com

9/8/10

Mountain Top Group Baffled by Medjugorje Events.

ABOUT THIS PHOTO, TAKEN ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 by PILGRIM. This image is an attempt to photograph the ‘spinning sun’ phenomenon often seen at Medjugorje. The photo was taken in the late afternoon of September 19, 2006, from the home of Nancy and Patrick Latta. To the left of the frame can be seen the concrete Cross on top of Mt Krizevac. This was included intentionally so as to locate the phenomenon. What is unusual about the image is that the sun seems to break through the contour of the mountain as if descending. It appears to be forward of the mountain ridge. It’s size, allowing for flare, is also disproportionate. The sun was ‘spinning’ at the time – intensely. The camera lens was a Canon 300m 2.8. The photo has not been modified or enhanced other than to add the black border to assist definition.
Posted by pilgrim
http://www.crownofstars.blogspot.com/

Mountain Top group baffled by Medjugorje events.
By JILL WHALEN ( Staff Writer) Published:
September 8, 2o10

John Yuscavage is a man of science, always looking for explanations for life's hows and whys.
But the Mountain Top man is baffled by the events that unfurled before him and others during a recent trip to Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He said he saw the sun spin. He watched as it changed colors, too. And he witnessed rosary chains turn to a gold color.
"My question is scientifically - or common sense - how can that be explained? It can't. The sun spinning? That's like an everyday event at Medjugorje. How is science going to explain that? They can't," said Yuscavage, who has a doctorate degree in physical chemistry and has read many books and other published accounts about Medjugorje's mysterious events.
Medjugorje is a place known to many for its miracles. It's said to be the site where apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary first appeared to six Croatian children in 1981 and continue to appear to a few "visionaries" each month, offering messages of faith, peace and love.
John and his wife, Donna Yuscavage, were among 22 area individuals who visited Medjugorje in May. Since their return, they've been meeting each month and jotting down the miracles they saw.
John Yuscavage, who owns Triangle Pharmacy in Mountaintop with his brother, Joseph, referred to the minutes from the group's first meeting. Three pages of typed notes show accounts of flower petals falling from the sky, rosaries turning color and people being healed of their medical ailments.
"One lady had a lump, and when she came back it was gone," Donna Yuscavage said. Another was pain-free and able to walk without a brace on her leg after the visit, she said.
Donna, too, said she witnessed unexplained events, including a priest who seemed to read her mind and the spinning sun.
"I saw what a lot of people see. The sun starts spinning clockwise. It turned pink and then baby blue, and these things started shooting out of it like rays," she recalled.
John said his experience was similar - and he's bothered that he can't explain what caused it.
"I am looking for facts," he said. "I am looking as a scientist and as a skeptic. The numbers are there. The facts are in the numbers. Millions of rosaries have changed in color. Millions of people have seen the sun spin. Villagers see it. We saw it. In fact, 21 of the 22 people we went with saw it. What I'm saying is the evidence is overwhelming that this is happening."
Arlene Krajewski, Mountain Top, didn't have high expectations for her visit, but secretly hoped she would experience "something" in Medjugorje.
"I experienced the sun spinning," she said, noting it had a blue hue around it the first evening she was there. "It was also pulsating."
Another day, she said it appeared white with a pink glow.
"It didn't hurt my eyes at all. It was amazing," she said. "I got goose bumps."
Krajewski said she has always gone to church on a regular basis, but her experiences in Medjugorje strengthened her faith.
Her husband, Henry Krajewski, also had an extraordinary experience, she said. A Mass was being celebrated inside a Medjugorje church as Henry aimed his camera at the sun. He didn't capture the sun on his camera, but images from the indoor Mass, she explained.
John Yuscavage also saw what the camera had captured and asked Henry what was going on.
"He said, 'We just watched the Mass.' There was a Croatian Mass going on at that time in the church," John remembered.
With all the "supernatural" occurrences, John said he hopes an investigation is done.
"The evidence is overwhelming that this stuff is happening," he said.
According to published reports, the Vatican formed a commission earlier this year to investigate claims that the Blessed Virgin Mary appears in Medjugorje. The Catholic church has not investigated or recognized the sightings, although Medjugorje is visited by pilgrims from all faiths annually.
"What we saw, what we experienced, will be with us for the rest of our lives," John Yuscavage said. "We are a family. Most of us will be going back. jwhalen@standardspeaker.com
source of article-spiritdaily

9/6/10

A Catholic Mom in Hawaii: The Prayer#links

A Catholic Mom in Hawaii: The Prayer#links

Fire on Cross Mountain


Fire on Cross Mountain August 14, 2010






A 'little' replay on Cross Mountain of what the village would have seen nearly 29 years ago in October 1981. The only difference is that fire was supernatural and when the villagers climbed the mountain nothing was consumed. Our Lady was showing this mountain, this place is Holy Ground and many climb these mountains without shoes as sacrifices. Moses also saw a “fire” on the mountain. A burning bush yet it did not consume the bush. Moses was told to take his shoes off for he was on Holy Ground. Do you not think Our Lady is laying before us Biblical scenes to call us back to the Bible? Here in Medjugorje if you are open, it is like walking through Bible scenes. The crowds longing for Jesus in his day are here longing for Our Lady. The signs they saw in His days are here and will climax with the great sign on the holy Apparition Mountain. What did you think about today? More important than just to think, recollect in prayer the time in which we live. The August 14th fire in the picture was real and did consume. But a fire of supernatural origin waits for you Your heart Our Lady wants to burn. Burn for love. Love is Her Son. She is here to help you, ask Her, She is close. Be on your knees today when she comes. She speaks to you.
October 28, 1981...
Regarding the fire that hundreds of people saw that burned but did not consume anything:
"The fire, seen by the faithful, was of a supernatural character. It is one of the signs, a forerunner of the great sign."
From Medjugorje With Love,
Source-Medjugorje Com

9/5/10

The Reed of God: Blessed Chiara Luce Badano


The Reed of God: Blessed Chiara Luce Badano: "Blessed Chiara Luce Badano Blessed Chiara Luce Badano, pray for us! By Christopher Stefanick. Sometimes we’d prefer that our lives be a d..."
.
Sometimes we’d prefer that our lives be a different story than the one God seems to be writing. In our fragile existence it doesn’t take much to turn a romance into a drama, or an adventure into a tragedy. At a glance, the story of Chiara Badano—an only child conceived after 11 years of marriage, who died at 18 after a bout with a painful form of bone cancer—looks like an empty tragedy, but not from the perspective of the Divine Author.

9/4/10

Can't Get No Satisfaction



"I CAN'T GET NO SATISFACTION""
At the moment you are completely satisfied." -1 Corinthians 4:8

In the USA, it has been legal for decades to murder millions of babies each year. Our country is struggling to protect the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The Catholic Church has been publicly racked by scandal and is suffering a serious shortage of priests. The body of Christ has been fractured by centuries of disunity. The name of God is routinely taken in vain on the airwaves. Sexual sin is flaunted. "That is the present state of affairs" (1 Cor 4:13).

Why do we tolerate this? Don't we know who we are? We are disciples of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Him we have immeasurable power (Eph 1:19). In Jesus we can conquer evil (Rm 8:37; 1 Jn 5:5) and attack the gates of hell, which cannot withstand us (Mt 16:18).Are you "satisfied"? (1 Cor 4:8) Are you fighting hard for the faith or hardly fighting? (Jude 3) Are you a spiritual sluggard or a spiritual slugger? Repent deeply. Put out into the deep (Lk 5:4) in your discipleship. Fast more intensely. Pray without ceasing (1 Thes 5:17) and without losing heart (Lk 18:1).

Throw yourself into your marriage and parenting. Teach your children the faith (Prv 22:6). Have more children and raise them to be committed disciples of Jesus. Reach new levels in forgiveness. Bear insults patiently (1 Cor 4:12); refuse to tolerate evil (Rm 12:9). Do not grow lazy and satisfied, for you serve Almighty God (Rm 12:11). "I am writing you in this way not to shame you but to admonish you" (1 Cor 4:14).
Prayer: Jesus, why do I settle for defeat when You are my Captain? Replace my lethargy with zeal and fervor for You.

9/2/10

Our Lady's Medjugorje Message to Mirjana


Dear children, I am beside you because I desire to help you to overcome trials, which this time of purification puts before you. My children, one of those is not to forgive and not to ask for forgiveness. Every sin offends Love and distances you from it – and Love is my Son. Therefore, my children, if you desire to walk with me towards the peace of God’s love, you must learn to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. Thank you. Medjugorje message, September 2, 2010