11/28/10

Daily Grace: God's Mercy Will Give You Everything


Daily Grace: God's Mercy Will Give You Everything: "Out of love God created the heavens and the earth, The sun to shine by day, And the moon and the stars to guide by night. He created the w..."

Revelation by Saint Maria Faustina on the sacrament of Confession.


Revelation:


Today the Lord said to me, Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls.
Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1602


Today, I went to confession to Father An. [Andrasz] I did as Jesus wanted. After confession, a surge of light filled my soul. Then I heard a voice: Because you are a child, you shall remain close to My Heart. Your simplicity is more pleasing to Me than your mortifications.
Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1617

11/26/10

God will make a Way

The things that may be impossible for men pose no problem for God because, as Jesus said, "With God all things are possible."
Matthew 19:24-26 Jesus looked at them and said, " With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible...

Don Moen-God will make a way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQQrYrtD2Zs
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Janet Paschel-God will make a way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAz7K72a8ks&feature=related

11/25/10

It is good to thank the Lord


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Psalm 106
1Praise the LORD
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise? 3 Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.
4 Remember me, LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, 5 that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.

Today in Medjugorje, November 25, 2010 - Our Lady's Message


Today in Medjugorje
Photo: Saint James Church
November 25, 2010
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Our Lady of Medjugorje's November 25, 2010 Monthly Message:

"Dear children! I look at you and I see in your heart death without hope, restlessness and hunger. There is no prayer or trust in God, that is why the Most High permits me to bring you hope and joy. Open yourselves. Open your hearts to God’s mercy and He will give you everything you need and will fill your hearts with peace, because He is peace and your hope. Thank you for having responded to my call."

11/24/10

All will hate you because of ME - Luke 21:17


NOW HERE THIS" All will hate you because of Me." -Luke 21:17

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People "will manhandle and persecute you" (Lk 21:12). "You will be delivered up even by your parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death" (Lk 21:16). "Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus" will be persecuted (2 Tm 3:12). All Christians will be persecuted, and some will be martyred.
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When we hear these blunt statements from Jesus, most of us almost immediately reason that persecution and martyrdom will not happen to us. Even if they should, the persecution will be mild, and probably not for a long time. However, today's Gospel reading has never been more true. Never in the 2,000 year history of the Christian community have so many Christians been persecuted and even martyred. China, the most populous country in human history with a population of well over a billion people, is viciously shedding the blood of many Christians.
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Many Muslim nations consider it their religious duty to kill Christians who share their faith in Jesus. Secular humanists pride themselves on their tolerance of almost everything, even the worst perversions, yet make an exception for Christians, against whom they openly exhibit bigotry.
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Severe persecution against Christians is occurring now. You have good reason to expect that it will happen here to you. Rejoice! "It is your special privilege to take Christ's part - not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for Him" (Phil 1:29).
Father, may I watch and pray so that I will not fail the test (see Lk 22:40).
"Who would dare refuse You honor, or the glory due Your name, O Lord? Since You alone are holy, all nations shall come and worship in Your presence." -Rv 15:4

Da Mihi Animas: Remembering Father Slavko Barbaric, OFM#links#links


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*November 24 is the 10th anniversary of the death of Father Slavko Barbaric, OFM of Medjugorje. This saintly man was a wonderful witness to so many pilgrims.
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Dear children! Today when Heaven is near to you in a special way, I call you to prayer so that through prayer you place God in the first place. Little children, today I am near you and I bless each of you with my motherly blessing so that you have the strength and love for all the people you meet in your earthly life and that you can give God's love.
*I rejoice with you and I desire to tell you that your brother Slavko has been born into Heaven and intercedes for you. Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje message, November 25, 2000

11/23/10

What The Pope Said


Dear Friend in Christ, The media's treatment of the Catholic Church is well known .. but every now and then .. the media out does itself in how low it can go. Please watch this newest episode of The Vortex.
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The Reed of God: MEDJUGORJE TESTIMONY OF FR. DONALD CALLOWAY


The Reed of God: MEDJUGORJE TESTIMONY OF FR. DONALD CALLOWAY: "Fr. Don Calloway CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO FR. DON CALLOWAY'S PERSONAL TESTIMONY THAT HE GAVE AT THE MARIAN CONFERENCE IN LOUISVILLE, KY 10-..."

11/21/10

A Family in Crisis, Alberta Sequeira, Author, Speaker, Survivor, writes of Richie and Lori.



Photo's- Author Alberta Sequeira, and her daughter Lori Lopes.

Richie Lopes was born on January 2, 1937. He had been born into a family fighting alcoholism, a disease that had been past down from generations of family members. His mother and sister battled their addiction leaving Richie and his sibblings with little security or happy times in his young growing years. By the time I had met Richie, I was at eighteen, and he was already drinking. Being a young girl coming from a happy family life, I had no knowledge, education or awareness on what alcohol abuse was all about or what it could do to a person. It wasn't until we got married and had two daughters, Debbie and Lori, that I came to see how alcoholics can't stop at one drink. They drink until they slurr their words, get into arguements, and can't remember a thing the next day. Slowly, I became an enabler without realizing it. In the late sixties and up, I kept silent to our problems with our families. Small arguments turned into abusive moments with the girls witnesses things they shouldn't have in their lives. I should have protected them more than Richie. Our once happy, family life turned to fear, confusion and abuse. While I thought I was protecting our children and foolishly thinking they needed their father, I innocently damaged our daughter's emotionally. Instead, I brought fear into Lori's life that continued up until her death. It took a lot of strength for me to open up about our lives that I had kept behind closed door for over seventeen years to write Someone Stop This Merry-Go-Round; An Alcoholic Family in Crisis (2009). I watched a loving husband and father turn into someone I didn't know. This man who hated his family for drinking and the life he swore never to bring into our family became the same person with abusive behavior.After many times of suffering physical abuse and being lucky not to have been killed, I left a man that I once loved to survive. By then, my daughters had seen too much and lived without knowing love in a family. The horrible, sufficating disease passed down to Lori. My memoir shows how we all get on the merry-go-round to keep the abusive action going within the family. Making demands without breaking down would have stopped years of our family's mental and physical suffering.Feburay 10, 1985 at forty-five years of age, Richie died from this awful disease. Now I waited to see if my daughers would abuse alcohol.

Lori Lopes (Cahill) was born July 29, 1967 at Morton Hospital in Taunton, MA. She was my second daughter coming into the world four years after the birth of her sister, Debbie Lopes (Dutra) on May 14, 1963. I had lived in North Dighton, MA for over thirty years. Lori had a personality once she started to walk and discovered the world and the people in it. By two years old, she delighted in any comical gesture of hers to make people laugh. She continued this wonderful habit throughout her life. Our house filled with her friends since Lori seemed to be the leader of the pack. I enjoyed each moment my daughter's girlfriends, and at times the boys in the gang, come over to our house. I knew where they were and loved all the neighborhood kids.On the outside, Lori made everyone around her think that she was delighted with life and the friends she had. But, she hid her pain deep down inside her including away from me, her mother. At the age of seventeen, Lori and Debbie at the age of twenty-one lost their father when he was only forty-five years of age from cirrhosis of the liver. It wasn't until Lori's last two years that the family came to realize that she had been following the same path as her father. She had deeper problems that kept her frightened all her life, making her lose confidence in herself, and turned to alcohol abuse, and I think drugs played a part in her silent suffering. How does a parent miss the signs, especailly after losing a husband nineteen years earlier? Easily. Lori never came and told me she was hurting or had been mentally upset with past trumas in her life. It had been the physical, and mental health breakdowns that opened the door to her illness, including being bulemic. Her second marriage fell apart, and I blamed the weight loss to the stress she had been under.On November 22, 2006 after three alcoholic rehabilitation stays, Lori died at thirty-nine years of age at the Charlton Memoiral Hospital in Fall River, MA. She was laid to rest with her father at the St. Patrick Cemetery in Somerset, MA.God gave me a loving, happy, beautiful daughter who filled all our lives with joy. She left us her two children, Joe and Meagan. Debbie and her husband, Brian, took Lori's children to live with them and their children Kerri and Michael. Meagan became the nurse Lori had hoped to be and Joe became a Marine December 18, 2009. I see her each time I look in their eyes. Please, God, Not Two; This Killer Called Alcoholism (2010) is the sequel after self-publishing Someone Stop This Merry-Go-Round; An Alcoholic Family in Crisis (2009). It's a very honest, painful and emotional story of losing a child to a demon that became her killer. People say authors write to heal. I haven't healed. Every parent losing a child in any way, has to go on living. It's how we live that counts. I turned my life to speaking engagements on "The Effect of Alcoholism on the Whole Famliy." For a shy girl, who couldn't talk in public, I'm now reaching out to other families of abusers and the abusers themselves. God has a way of putting a path in front of us. We have to decide if we want to travel down it. If we open our hearts to Him, the decision is easy. My trust and love in God has me taking this dark journey along with other sufferers hoping to find a light at the end of visiting each location to give a speaking engagement. Like the alcoholics state; "It's one day at a Time." But, I know He leads me. If I stumble, I just get up and keep going. Seeing the faces of lost souls controlled by this killer, gives me peace when they hug and kiss me while thanking me for coming to talk to them.

Alberta Sequeira: http://albertasequeira.com/ Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved

11/20/10

Daily Grace: The Light of Life


Daily Grace: The Light of Life: "I have heard it said, “If you point your finger at someone, remember there are 3 more pointing at you!” We are always so quick to find fault..."

11/19/10

The Conversion of Fr. Donald Calloway



Friday, December 02, 2005
Posted by Pilgrim

The conversion of Fr Donald
The gathering on a warm September Thursday did not appear unlike any other English Mass in St James’ Church, Medjugorje. It included some 160 souls who had arrived from Birmingham in the early hours of that morning and had managed to be up and seated on time ready for 10am Mass.The priests gathered in number on the altar and the congregation were in fine voice, packed into the pews and spilling over into the aisles. Fr Donald Calloway (pictured) was the celebrant, an American priest blessed, as he said, to be in Medjugorje for his first time and celebrating his first Mass there.
During his homily, in a clear and resonant voice, Fr Donald spoke of the boy he once knew who had started experimenting with drugs at the age of 12. By his late teens the young man had sampled every drug in the book, even heroin and crack-cocaine. He just lived for the life of ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll’ and dressed and acted accordingly. Not surprisingly he had been convicted and imprisoned several times, even thrown out of three countries. The stress this young man gave his parents drove them to become Catholics! Then one day, when their son came out of his teen years, he picked up a book lying on the coffee table in his parents’ home. It was titled, The Queen of Peace Visits Medjugorje, and it was to change the 20-year-old drug addict’s life. Encouraged to join a community and ‘clean up’ – which he did – he too joined the Catholic Church.It was then that Fr Donald’s voice penetrated every listening heart in St James church, when he proclaimed: “That young man is celebrating Mass before you today!” Applause is not encouraged during Mass, but it happened – although not in the usual way – as every heart of every person present, pounded loudly with joy. Needless to say, Fr Donald was a priest in demand after Mass as he patiently attended to everyone who presented themselves, whatever their need or desire. As a high school dropout, it took Fr Donald ten years of studies in the seminary before he was ordained a priest in the order of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception – an order by his choice, because it twice contains Our Lady’s name! “Right now we have nine men in formation back in Stockbridge and all their vocations came from Medjugorje,” says Fr Donald, who is Assistant Rector of the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass. (USA).Fr Calloway is not frightened about confronting or owning up to his past life. In fact, he doesn’t have to look too far back to be reminded. Just to the tattoos still on his shoulder!
Posted by pilgrim at 12:00 AM

Fr. Donald Calloway, A New Book, No Turning Back


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In his own words, No Turning Back recounts Fr. Donald's personal story of conversion after reading a book about Our Lady.
Though today he is a devout Catholic Marian priest, Fr. Donald's early years were no indication of what was to come. Before his conversion to Catholicism, he was a high school dropout who had been kicked out of a foreign country, institutionalized twice and thrown in jail multiple times. Discovering a book on Our Lady led to his conversion and ardent love of Mary and the Church.

11/18/10

Famous Italian actress and convert, Claudia Koll on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje.


Claudia Koll on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje
date: 14.11.2010.

Famous Italian actress and convert, Claudia Koll, came to Medjugorje in the beginning of November on a pilgrimage. She gave interview to radio station “Mir” Medjugorje and she openly spoke about her life and her conversion. It felt as we had listened to the unwritten story of Mary Magdalene of our days.
She told us about all of the troubles and difficulties she had while she was growing up, all beacuse her mom had died during her birth. She was raised by her granny and had many identity crises while she was educated and at the end got completely lost in the world of movie production. After a number of obscene roles in movies, Claudia walked through the Holy door on Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, in Jubilee Year of 2000 and instantly felt that the life she had up to that moment was broken and disappeared. And then, she said: “One day there was this dramatic situation that needed to be resolved and I did not know how to handle that at all. I remember being desperate, I walked the room up and down, and just simply in one moment I started to speak to God. I prayed Our Father and I was squeezing in the palms of my hands a little crucifix that one of my friends gave to me few days prior to that. In those moments, my whole being was turned towards the God, I felt as I was tied close to the Cross and I was able to feel complete liberation. I felt as I was immersed in something like a deep peace. And I rested in that feeling. No longer was I worried, nor afraid; it felt as there was only one feeling of deep silence, something unknown to me prior to that particular moment. It was that silence that spoke to me about God, I did not see Him, but I was able to feel Him. I asked Him, ´Why did You do that, why did you console me, I do not deserve that?’ Then I said: ‘You are my Father, I prayed to you in the prayer of Our Father and I told You that I would like to meet You!’ That was my prayer!”“Lord did not take away my suffering, but He walked with me, slowly, and helped me to resolve that pain. Even more, that suffering was my journey towards Him, I started to feel desire to go back to the church. In the beginning I would just spend time in a church and enjoy silence and peace of God and that had brought me to the sacrament of Holy Eucharist. God started to heal me through the sacraments. It was a long process, with its ups and downs, but every time I would fall down, I would be getting up again.” She realised that she needs to follow Jesus and it needs to be on both of her feet, one of love and the other of truth. She would turn down all of the movie roles that were not in accordance with the spirit of Gospel. She told us interesting detail from those days: “One day I signed the contract that offered me lots of money. The role itself was not negative but I knew I shouldn’t have had signed that contract, since I was to meet those same people that I had promised to the Lord I would not meet ever again. The second I signed the contract I knew I made mistake. I was not able to say no, because I was still weak in my decisions. But, when I got the money for that project, I started to give it to the poor people in the church. I felt that money did not belong to me, it was the money of betrayal.”The following chapter of her life was how she went to do mission work, in Ethiopia where she had witnessed so much poverty, famine, little children dying all over the place. She said: “I remember one little boy whose eyes were closed not because he was blind but because he did not have any water to wash his eyes. His eyes were inflamed because of all of the dirt that was in his eyes. I used moisture tissues to clean and wash out his eyes and while his eyes were being opened, the Lord was opening mine. I realised I lived in a luxurious home, I had expensive carpets, silver cutlery and none of that was able to save my life. I started to see everything in a different way and I realised I needed to give part of my wealth to those who were poor. “After she came back, she visited the shrine of Divine Mercy and she was able to discover the message of Divine Mercy. “I realised that the Lord was saying to me ‘Claudia, if you fell down, that was because you trusted too much in your own abilities, trust me!’ For me, that was what ‘Jesus, I trust in you’ meant. I needed to realise that my conversion was going to happen together with Jesus and I should have trusted in my Lord more, from the beginning. I think that genuine faith is the one Abraham had, he hoped and believed beyond and against every hope and belief”, says Claudia. Claudia also spoke about her relationship and devotion towards Our Lady. “Our Lady was always present in my life, ever since I was born. I remember watching a movie about Our Lady from Fatima, it was when I was 8, 10 years old, I do not remember exactly. And I remember saying how Our Lady was not just a statue, she was a woman. I was really impressed that Our Lady gave such important tasks to the visionaries. I remember, as I was going back home after seeing that movie, I was reciting a little prayer in my heart to Our Lady and I told her ‘I want to live with you and come to you, bring me closer to You as You brought Jacinta.’ I was asking from Our Lady to die, and Lord did not answer that prayer, but I think He wants me now to witness for Him, and all of the experiences I had are just evident proofs of Divine Mercy. “Claudia mentioned how Our Lady was with her all along her conversion, and she feels strongly about Medjugorje and apparitions to the visionaries. In the moments of apparitions, she feels powerful presence of Our Lady. Describing one such event she said: “I could see that it was raining, but I did not feel rain drops on my umbrella at all. I think it is such a wonderful experience to feel Our Lady with heart. It never occurred to me to look for the signs, to look in the sky. I think that this encounter takes place in the depths of our hearts. I do not even want to look into the face of the visionary, I am only interested in my own prayer and encounter with Our Lady. “Claudia emphasises especially the love she feels now through Our Lady’s presence. The love in a completely new way. The journey to that new experience had several stages. This is just one of them. “When my conversion began, first people that Lord would place in front of me were those who had AIDS. And it was through one of such young man, through his suffering that I got to know Christ’s love. I started to think about Jesus in a Garden of Gethsemane, and his sweat of blood, how he must have feared death. On the other hand, this young man was lying in a bed and he was in a very bad state. He was unable to speak because illness affected speech centre in his brain. But his eyes spoke about his fears. And when I took his hand, I felt great love in my heart. The love I never felt before, strong and gentle. It was that love that converted me. When I look into my past now, I think about how many times Jesus entered such areas of my life. But my eyes were blind, closed and I was not able to recognise Him. When my conversion started, I realised that Jesus was present in all those who were suffering.”Claudia Koll is the founder of Association “The Works of the Father” that is dedicated to missionary work in Africa. She is building a house for disabled people called Little Lourdes. In the world of Arts, she is the Head of the Academy of Arts that was founded on the principles from the Letter to the Artists of late Holy Father John Paul II. Through this Academy, she wants to help young people to enter into the world of fame and spectacle in a healthy, Christian way. It is interesting that music from Medjugorje regularly plays inside this Academy.

11/17/10

Medjugorje: Angels over the Vineyards


Photo: Fr. Donald Calloway at the Notre Dame Conference 2004


Angels Over the Vineyards
By Cathy Karem

It was a beautiful fall evening in September, 2005. Father Donald Calloway, the spiritual director for another group from the US, walked into Pansion Nada, where he and his group were staying and where I always stay when coming to Medjugorje. I was sitting at a table having a cup of coffee after awaiting my husband’s phone call from the States.
Fr. Calloway looked at me and said, “Excuse me, could you please come outside with me for a minute?” I said, “Sure, Father.” I didn’t know why or what, but I followed him out the front door to the driveway, which is located right across the street from the vineyards, and to the right of Mount Krizevac. He pointed up into the sky and he said, “ What do you see?” I looked and I gasped, “Oh my gosh, Father. There’s angels!” they were going around in a circle in the sky. It looked like they were playing chase! All of a sudden a huge bolt of lightening and a big thunder boom struck the sky and everyone who had started gathering for this heavenly spectacle gasped with awe.
The angels kept chasing one another in a circular motion and we then noticed inside the big circle of angels was a smaller circle of baby angels chasing one another. After what seemed about 10 minutes or so, another huge bolt of lightening lit up the sky and a huge boom of thunder clapped. That was number two. We all screamed with excitement again! Priests and pilgrims were running out of their rooms and were gathering to see this beautiful heavenly display. Everyone was “ooohing” and “awing” and saying, “Wow! Look at these angels!!!” These precious little heavenly creatures were having a great time playing “Catch me if you can” over the vineyards.
Now, after what seemed to be another 10 minutes had gone by, the third and biggest bolt of lightening struck. It seemed to cover the entire sky. You could see the whole village of Bikavici. The thunder bolt was so loud it seemed to shake the earth!
Everyone was so excited! And with that, the angels were gone! The sky went black and everybody was silent. You could have heard a pin drop. It seemed like the heavens opened up and they were called back to the Heavenly Court.
Why? How??? I kept asking myself. I remembered that Ivan had called us to the Blue Cross for a message and apparition of the Blessed Mother this night and I couldn’t go on this particular evening because I had to wait for my husband’s phone call from the States. As a rule, I would never have missed Her call to the Blue Cross, but I knew, after having missed my husband’s call the previous night, that our Blessed Mother would want me to be considerate and be there this time for my husband’s phone call. When I go to Medjugorje I usually stay a month, so I knew that in all probability that the Blessed Mother would call us again to the Blue Cross, and I would go then.
Boy am I glad that I listened to my heart and that I had awaited his phone call !
Our Blessed Mother has called me to come to Medjugorje many times, and I have been very blessed and privileged to have been able to answer Her call. I have seen the Miracle of the Sun many times, my rosaries have turned gold, and many other beautiful miracles have happened, but never in all my days had I seen a visual miracle of heavenly creatures like these angels!
Our Blessed Mother gives us so many blessings and miracles from Her Son Jesus, but they don’t always hit us like streaks of lightening and bolts of thunder. But this was definitely a gift and all I can say is that miracles do
happen and they come in many shapes and forms, but we must open our hearts to receive them.
This beautiful place called Medjugorje is truly a precious and indescribable gift to the world. How God loves us so much to have sent His Heavenly Queen, our Heavenly Mother all these years to help us through our lives. This place called Medjugorje has truly marked me and millions of other people. Mary’s presence is there! And you can feel Her wrap Her loving arms around you.
I must add something very important to this story… THANK YOU, Blessed Mother and Jesus for loving me!
Editor’s note: Cathy is from Louisville, Kentucky.
Source of this article....http://www.spiritofmedjugorje.org/july2006.htm

Video: Medjugorje Inspired Pro-Life Art



Joanne Von Zwehl

Medjugorje Inspired Pro-Life Art....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMndfcasyw8
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All children of Christ unite and fight for life.

11/16/10

Joanne Von Zwehl, My Silent Plea


JoAnne Von Zwehl wrote this beautiful pro-life poem

My Silent Plea (Pro Life Poem)
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Today I had nightmare, It was scary as can be. From inside my mothers womb I was taken so violently. No longer would I live and feel Gods life in me. I knew it was a nightmare. That was not Gods plan for me. He wove me in your womb. So I may be a blessing to all humanity. I feel, I touch, I am alive. Mammy tell me it cant be. Today I had a nighmare. I would be taken from thee. Let me stay another day. Let me grow to be me. God so loved me. He gave me life. Please don’t take my life from me.
Medjugorje Inspired Pro-Life Art....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMndfcasyw8

11/15/10

What Do You Want Me to do for You? Luke 18:41


What do you want Me to do for you?" -Luke 18:41
One of the most important questions in life is Jesus' question to the blind beggar of Jericho: "What do you want Me to do for you?" The blind beggar correctly answered Jesus: "I want to see" (Lk 18:41).
The beggar could have easily responded to Jesus by asking for money or food instead of sight. Compare the blind beggar with the lame man in Acts who did not ask for healing, but for money (Acts 3:3). What do we want Jesus to do for us? Do we want to be just richer or more comfortable, but still spiritually blind? Do we want to be healed, lukewarm Christians, or unrepentant sinners who now feel better about themselves? Some people seem content with the prospect of being the healthiest people in hell. Jesus loves us too much to provide only our secondary needs. He doesn't want to help us beggars without healing our blindnesses. Jesus is reluctant to bless us without also converting us, to heal us without leading us to repentance, and to make us feel good without making us holy.What do you want Jesus to do for you? Is that what Jesus wants to do?Prayer: Jesus, give me the desires of Your heart. Promise: "Happy is the man who reads this prophetic message, and happy are those who hear it and heed what is written in it, for the appointed time is near!" -Rv 1:3

11/13/10

Cardinal Schonborn said of Medjugorje


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.

11/11/10

About Fr. John Randall, A Crusader for the Holy Spirit.





Photos: Fr. John Randall
Saint Charles Borromeo Church


Charismatic Body of Christ Meeting with Fr. John Randall every Thursday evening starting at 7:00 p.m. at Saint Charles Borromeo Church, 178 Dexter Street, Providence, R.I


LIFE IN THE SPIRIT SEMINARS are also available to anyone who wishes to attend. All are invited to come and join Fr. Randall for an evening of prayer, witnessing and healing, beginning with the celebration of the Holy Mass.


Father Randall is the author of: In God's Providence - The Birth of a Catholic Charismatic Parish The Book of Revelation: What Does It Really Say?-Wisdom Instructs Her Children: The Power of the Spirit and the Word-Mary, Barrier or Bridge?-Pope John Paul Scriptural Rosary (20 decades) Spiritual Warfare, The Twenty-First Decade---Fr. Randall's New Book,- No Spirit, No Church,- is now available at all Catholic Book Stores in Rhode Island.You may write to Fr. John Randall at PO Box 114006, North Providence, Rhode Island 02911 USA

11/9/10

Medjugorje Visionary Ivan in Bogota, Columbia.




Below are 4 links of Medjugorje visionary Ivan in, Bogota, Columbia
Thousands upon thousands greeted Ivan and Our Lady this week.

Advent Day of Reflection with Our Lady of Guadalupe


ST.PIUS X CHURCH Westerly Rhode Island To host Advent Day of Reflection with Our Lady of Guadalupe.
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Talks and Music Presented by:Marty Rotella Musician, Songwriter, Speaker, Producer, EWTN Guest http://www.martyrotella.com/ Saturday, December 11, 2010 Time: 8:00 am ~ 3:15 pm Confession / Adoration / Cost: $15.00 (includes lunch) ~ at the door $20.00 Day begins with 8:00 am Mass … Ends with Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3:00 pm Registration and Coffee Downstairs Following Mass For further information please contact: Val Sistare 401-322-1138 ô€‚Š E-mail: sis1170@cox.net Deb Carey : 401-596-7103 ô€‚Š E-mail: dmcarey@cox.net Please make checks payable to: St. Pius X Church and...Deadline for headcount: December 4, 2010 Mail to: Valerie Sistare 8 Stenton Avenue ô€‚Š Westerly, RI 02891 Name:_______________________________________________________________________________________________Address:_____________________________________________________________________________________________City:_____________________________________________ State:_____________ Zip:_____________________________Phone:___________________________________________ Email: _____________________________________________Amount Enclosed: _____________________________________________________________________________________

11/8/10

Visit to Medjugorje


A visit to Medjugorje with Melisa:


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When I visited Medjugorje the first time in Spring of 2009, I stayed only 3 days. I came back home inexplicablely changed, something had happened to me while I was there, and everyone noticed the change when I came back home. I began paying attention to our Lady's messages and tried to live them in my life as a full time employee and graduate student at Catholic University.


11/7/10

Spirit Song


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Let the son of God enfold you with his Spirit and His love.
Let his Holy Spirit descend upon your life and make it whole.

Revelation from Saint Maria Faustina


Revelation:

Advice of the Rev. Dr. Sopocko.
Without humility, we cannot be pleasing to God. Practice the third degree of humility; that is, not only must one refrain from explaining and defending oneself when reproached with something, but one should rejoice at the humiliation.


*If the things you are telling me really come from God, prepare your soul for great suffering. You will encounter disapproval and persecution. They will look upon you as a hysteric and an eccentric, but the Lord will lavish His graces upon you.

*True works of God always meet opposition and are marked by suffering. If God wants to accomplish something, sooner or later He will do so in spite of the difficulties. Your part, in the meantime, is to arm yourself with great patience.
Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 270

11/6/10

Medjugorje: Spanish Author Maria Vallejo- Nagera testimony of her conversion experience in Medjugorje.


by Maria Vallejo-Nágera



London was a beautiful city in which to live while the war raged all over Bosnia. I remember feeling very safe and really blessed while I watched in horror the documentaries and the TV news that informed the audience about the magnitude of the violence of that cruel war. I am so glad that we are so far from the danger, I thought with relief while I watched my two twin little daughters playing safely in our London living room. As a Spaniard I have heard so many times from my parents about the criminal events that took place during the Civil war in my country. Both of them were young children when hate, blood and anger swept all over my country, but the painful memories remained with them through their lives. “I remember being starving for so many months,” my father used to tell me when he was in his fifties. “That is why I hate it when you, my child, leave a single piece of food on your plate. If you only knew what war is you would never do that! If you only knew what it is to starve you would never reject a crumb of bread…” I knew then that I have been really blessed in my life for not having had to go through that kind of hell, and when the war erupted in the former Yugoslavia I just knew that I had been blessed all over again.

Horrified by the news I watched on TV, I was dumb-struck when two of my best friends told me that they were embarking on a trip to a little, lost village called Medjugorje in the mountains of Bosnia-Herzegovina. “Are you nuts?”, I asked them with a shocked expression in my face, while we ate a very expensive lunch in a very trendy restaurant in London. “That country is at war!” “Yes, I know,” said one of the two. “But precisely where we go, nothing really has happened…, yet.”
“How come?” I asked in disbelief. “Everything has been bombarded in that area. They have exploded the bridge in Mostar.” And then they told me all about Medjugorje: the apparitions that had been taking place for so long, the young and stubborn visionaries who over and over again affirmed that they saw Our Lady, the miracles, father Jozo, the military forces of Tito´s regime that tried desperately to stop them, the promises of Our Lady during the war, etc…
“We are definitely going there,” she insisted in spite of my demands to recover mental order. “What for!” I exclaimed in shock. “Are you now two silly, naïve ladies that want to play Mother Teresa or what?” “No, we just want to pray there,” they told me in a low and shy tone of voice. “But… but… you can pray here, in London, where there is no war and where you can find churches everywhere!”
*I have to admit that at that time, even having been considered a Catholic all my life, my faith was tepid. I was a “Sunday Catholic”, always bored at the celebration of the Mass, not really understanding most of its parts, and always trying to make excuses to avoid going to the church. My parents have raised me Catholic, the schools I attended were Catholic, but no real feeling of God lived in our family or in our hearts. I like to describe my family as “social Catholics”: we attended Mass every Sunday, yes, but with no real feelings, only going through the motions, flowing with the Spanish catholic crowd. If all of our friends and family members were churchgoers in Madrid, we were going to do the same no matter what. I remember trying fiercely to convince my two friends during that trendy lunch that they were going to explore a senseless, ridiculous way to approach God. We were rich, we were young, we were happy healthy mothers of beautiful children, we had attractive husbands that adored us. In other words, we had the world in our hands. At least that was what it seemed. I was angry. how could two wonderful, intelligent ladies with young children under their care say such stupidities? Were they crazy? I tried really hard to make them understand that their idea to travel to Bosnia in such a tremendous moment of its history could be the worst decision of their lives. In my astonishment I just could not understand why they had decided to do such a crazy, ridiculous thing.I started to try to explain to them the dangers they were going to encounter, the pain that would come over their children and their husbands if something bad happened to them while they were “meeting God,”, etc. I was being hard on them, trying to be sincere and honest. They ate their pasta with their eyes focused on it, with shame in their faces and humbleness in their hearts. The more they went dumb, the angrier I got. “You are just two romantic, crazy women! And to make matters worse, you are not even Catholics! You are just two ridiculous Anglicans that believe the lies of six Catholic liars from a lost village in the middle of the war,” I said in disdain to put an end to our conversation. “Why do you consider us crazy?” asked one of my friends with eyes filled with sadness. “Because we want to pray in a holy place? Because we are thirsty for the love of God? Because we want to help the suffering in a moment of grace?” “No,” I answered with haste. “You are stupid because you are going to be killed in a place where six great liars have convinced a bunch of ignorant pilgrims that they see Our Lady!
* That´s why!” In that precise moment I sensed that someone was very close to me, almost touching my back with its presence. It was a very strange feeling that I never had felt before. It was more like a soft, kind voice of a woman trying to climb into my heart. “Why are you so scared to meet me?”,she said in this sweet, tender tone. “Do not be afraid, my child. I am here waiting for you. I call you from Medjugorje. I have been calling you all your life. Come to me. I am eager to see you next to me.” I fell into a deep silence and jumped on my chair. I glanced back from our table and went rigid. “Who has spoken to me? What is going on?” I said out loud raising my eyebrows. What the…?”
My two Anglican English friends looked at me with surprise. “Who has talked to me in…, in… Spanish?” I asked again, filled with awe, seeing that no one was at my back. The restaurant was packed with people, yes, but all of them looked English to me, and they were not even paying attention to us. “What are you talking about?” said one of my friends. “No one has said anything to you in Spanish. Actually, you were the only one talking, especially to us, and by the way: in a very harsh proper English way…” I started to shiver… Something or “someone” was there at the restaurant talking to me in Spanish, but I could not see anyone at all. The presence was getting deeper and deeper into my heart and into my intellect, and her voice was as clear as crystal, soft and tender. “Come, come to me, my child. Do not fear…,” she kept saying. And there and then I said some words that up to now I just don’t know why I said them. They were definitely going to change my life forever, my family, my profession and my faith. “Guys, “I said in a very shy, confused voice. “I just don’t know why on earth I am saying this, but…, but…, I am coming with you to Bosnia, to that hidden little place you are telling me about. Please take me with you.” One of my friends left her cutlery on the plate with a start, and the other looked at me raising both eyebrows. “What did you say?” she eventually said in disbelief. “I am coming with you, and I don´t know why…” “WOW!” they exclaimed in astonishment. “And why this sudden change of mind, may we ask?” “I just…, know I am coming with you. But I will go only on one condition…” “And what is that?”“I will go when the war is over. I am too scared to go now. Remember: only when the war finishes… Only then you must, you MUST, take me with you.” They both look at each other with bewilderment, and after a long minute of silence, one of the two said: “we will do as you please.”
*Two and a half years after, I was boarding and airplane at Gatwick airport, heading to Split with a bunch of unknown people, my two friends, a priest and my best Spanish girlfriend, whom I convinced to come along. I was still scared to death. Deep in my heart I was convinced that the whole idea was a gruesome stupidity and that the whole story was just a big bag of lies. Even with those feelings in my heart, I just could not forget that strange experience I felt while I was in the restaurant in London two and a half years before. The reality of that memory had stayed every day since it happened, and I knew it had been real and important. I did not know very much about Medjugorje apart from what my two friends told me about it. Actually, they went to Medjugorje some weeks after that lunch, and they returned four or five times more after that. I always went to visit them in their London homes after every pilgrimage and the beautiful changes that I perceived in them astonished me to extreme limits. They were the same wonderful, lovely people, but now with hearts full of joy, hope and faith. They were really happy and with an unstoppable desire to tell the world how and why they had converted. I hid in my heart the fear and doubts that I was feeling all the way through. An impelling wish to go with them as soon the war got over was something I had not been prepared for. At last, the big day arrived and off we went to Split.
* My first day at Medjugorje was filled with disappointed. The little village was nothing but a little village. I got grumpy the minute we arrived and immediately thought that my trip was going to be a silly, immature ripoff. I tried to be polite to everyone, though. I made nice conversation with my new group of adventurers and tried to take advantage of having the company of a lovely, intelligent and very holy Irish priest with the group. He was extraordinarily kind to me, having enough patience to explain the most relevant information about Medjugorje and introducing me to wonderful Franciscan priests that were his friends in the village. We did that first day what every pilgrim does: we went to hear the English morning Mass in Saint James Church, we prayed the Rosary as we climbed Mount Podbrdo and we had lunch at Colombo’s. In the afternoon we just wandered around the shops and joined the huge groups of pilgrims in the Rosary of the parish. I have to admit that until then, I had never prayed the Rosary before. My family was not a devout Catholic family, as I have said before, and as far I could remember, to pray the Rosary was a very long and boring thing to do. Actually, when we climbed Podbrdo that morning I just though how bored I was and how eternal a Rosary could be for me. The next morning I just wanted to skip the morning Mass. “Didn’t we attend yesterday?” I asked my friend when she complained about my rejection to join them for morning Mass. “I will go next Sunday. Today is Monday and it is not compulsory.”But I went anyway when the rest of the group begged me to do so. Off we went then.
*Just when the Mass was over, our Irish priest advised us to hurry because the young visionary Jakov was going to give testimony of his extraordinary experiences with Our Lady in the huge auditorium in the back of the church. That sounded interesting, so off I went with my friends, driven by curiosity more that by faith.
* I remember very well that we were walking in open air, just in front of that long line of confessionary boxes that are situated outside the big Saint James Church of Medjugorje. It was a sunny, beautiful day, with some sparse white cotton clouds in the sky. I was walking in haste between my Spanish best friend and a French lady that was in our group, when out of the blue I felt this urge to look up to that beautiful spring sky. I did not see anything out of order or anything supernatural, like many pilgrims have admitted to seeing in Medjugorje. I did not see, but felt an extraordinary experience of love. In my heart what happened to me lasted 10 minutes, but in reality, only three seconds passed. Believe me when I tell you that those three seconds changed my life forever. What I felt was that an immense, indescribable love poured all over me. It was not physical, but spiritual. I went completely rigid; I stopped my walk and stared at those beautiful clouds. Time seemed to have come to a halt. Nothing moved around me: the people, the birds, the noises… Everything went quiet, still… The love that surrounded me, that filled my skin, my eyes, my clothes, my head…, was something so, so powerful that I realized I wanted to follow it to till the end. My head was soaked with a huge understanding, an incredible light, that told me with no doubt that what was pouring over me was the eternal and perfect love of Jesus. I remember that I sensed a male voice in my heart that said to me: “My child, this is how I love you. This is how I love ALL AND EACH of you.” In my heart I just knew it was Jesus talking directly to me. I wanted to cry, I wanted to die! I remember that inside my brain I said to him: “Oh, my Lord…, my poor Lord Jesus! If this is the way you love us, I think it is an unfair love…” “And why do you say that, my child?” “Because it is humanly impossible to return this perfect, humongous, and eternal love. It is so unfair for you!” “My child, you cannot and you will not understand. Yes, no one realizes how much I love each and every one of you. But this Love is real, and I give it to every single human being.” “OH! Please, please, take me now with you!” I said, feeling my eyes welling up with joy and fear at the same time. “I don’t want to live anymore without this love!” But then everything went back to “reality.” The experience was gone and there I was, completely confused, wanting to explain to every person in the world what had happened to me, how much God loves us. I wanted to run to a little corner and call my husband, who was in London completely far from me, from my wonderful experience.
* I wanted to die of shame, I wanted to hide from the eyes of God. I felt the sadness and the shame of realizing how ungrateful I had been all my life with God. In Spain I had become a literally a little celebrity due to my first novel, which almost won the most important literary prize. It came out 5th among 400 novels, and it sold so well. But that novel had been very hard on the Church. Actually, I was cruel and coldhearted toward the priesthood in general. I had made fun of them and I had been cruel to them with my writings. I was so ashamed. I understood what a huge mistake my first novel had been. And to make matters worse, it had been very popular in my country, where many readers had bought the book and made a bestseller of it. I was so repentant that I wanted to scream with pain. But I did not say a word then. As only three seconds had really passed my friends did not notice anything, and I was scared to death to tell them. I remember walking to Jakov´s lecture in a daze of fear, shame, happiness and confusion. Jakov’s testimony was lovely, beautiful and touching, and it was then when I started to cry with long, sorrowful tears. Everyone in my group though that I was touched by Jakov´s words. If only they had known the truth! It took me six months to tell my dear Irish priest and my husband about this experience. I know very well that my conversion began that spring morning, the moment I felt in my heart for the first time and with the power of a snowstorm the immense love of God. I know it was in Medjugorje, while I walked by the confessionals outside the church. I know I will never be the same. There is a Maria before and a Maria after that moment. I came back to my London home filled with excitement, love and information about Catholicism. From that extraordinary moment in my life, I just felt this unknown need to know about God. I felt pushed by a tender force to attend Mass every day in London. The Mass started to be the most important thing in my life. Suddenly nothing mattered more to me than to Holy Communion. In fact, the day I had to skip Mass for any kind of a problem, I was uneasy, uncomfortable and sad. Information about my religion began to pour into my life with the force of the wind. I tried hard to find the right priest to confess to every month, the wisest priest to ask questions of and the right moment to pray at home with my sweet and wonderful family.
* My husband was very much impressed with my new faith. Our growth in faith has not always been an easy path. It has taken him five years and three pilgrimages to Medjugorje, (one of them was a retreat with father Jozo), to understand clearly what had happened to me. As a result of my conversion, my children pray with us from the heart. They are believers and we are very happy indeed as a Catholic, united little family. Our Lady lives with us in our home through prayers and fasting. They do not always accompany me to the daily Mass, but they don’t skip the Sunday and Feast day Masses. . We talk a lot about God at home, and finally I found the right time to bring them to Medjugorje. They all loved the experience of that pilgrimage. But there was another huge change in my life.
* My profession as a writer changed completely since that moment. God erased my guilt through confession, but He asked me also to repair, and most of all, to help Him with the talent He has entrusted to me: to write. Since then, I have written 5 more novels, all of them with the message of our God’s love. I have been very successful in my work, even though I have had to take many humiliations and criticisms by unbelievers, and especially by the atheistic press of my country. But my intentions are pure and my wish is to help my Lord. I will never forget the immense gift of love I received in Medjugorje. I just pray to the Lord that I will be able to be up to the standards of being a worker for Him, with Him and in Him.
by Maria Vallejo-Nagera http://www.mariavallejonagera.com/
for www.medjugorje.net - February 12th 2007........Video in English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DUxYo8OCU8&feature=related
Video in Spanish...http://gloria.tv/?media=9952

11/4/10

The Prayer of Saint Gertrude the Great for the Souls in Purgatory.


Our Lord dictated the following prayer to St. Gertrude the Great to release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory each time it is said.

*"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."

St. Gertrude's life was the mystic life of the Cloister – a Benedictine nun. She meditated on the Passion of Christ, which many times brought a flood of tears to her eyes. She did many penances and Our Lord appeared to her many times. She had a tender love for the Blessed Virgin and was very devoted to the suffering souls in Purgatory. She died in 1334. Her feast day is November 16th.
Approval and recommendation (sgd.) M. Cardinal Pahiarca at Lisbon, Portugal, on March 4, 1936.

11/2/10

All Souls Day


Prayer of Saint Gertrude the Great:
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Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most precious blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
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Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let the perpetual light shine upon them. And may the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Our Lady's message of November 2, 2010 to Mirjana


Dear children; With motherly perseverance and love I am bringing you the light of life to destroy the darkness of death in you. Do not reject me, my children. Stop and look within yourselves and see how sinful you are. Be aware of your sins and pray for forgiveness. My children, you do not desire to accept that you are weak and little, but you can be strong and great by doing God’s will. Give me your cleansed hearts that I may illuminate them with the light of life, my Son. Thank you. Medjugorje message, November 2, 2010
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Sing Hallelujah to the Lord:
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11/1/10

Back from the Dead, Reborn into the Light

Photo: Jeff Markin & Dr. Crandall
Video: a must-read miracle
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They called a time of death on Jeff. Then, his doctor heard the Lord say, 'Pray for him.'