8/26/16

Priest 2013-2: Surrendering to the Holy Spirit - CONF 229


Fr. Larry Richards of the diocese of Erie in the sixth talk for the 2013 Priest's Retreat at Mother of the Redeemer Retreat Center in Bloomington, Indiana titled Becoming the Priest God has Called us to be. In this talk he reflects on the need to surrender to the Holy Spirit to be a good priest, to be an icon of Christ.
To Download Audio go to http://airmaria.com?p=39048

8/25/16

Medjugorje: Our Lady's message of August 25, 2016 to Marija

"Dear children! Today I desire to share Heavenly joy with you. You, little children, open the door of your heart so that hope, peace and love, which only God gives, may grow in your heart. Little children, you are too bound to the earth and earthly things, that is why, Satan is rolling you like the wind rolls the waves of the sea. Therefore, may the chain of your life be prayer with the heart and Adoration of my Son Jesus. Give over your future to Him so that, in Him, you may be joy and an example with your lives to others. Thank you for having responded to my call."

8/24/16

Randall Sullivan was an atheist, but now he believes

Randall Sullivan was an atheist, but now he believes after experiencing a vision on Cross Mountain.
Randall Sullivan was an atheist, but now he believes after experiencing a vision on Cross Mountain.

 Highlights

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
8/23/2016 (1 day ago)
Published in Living Faith

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Sullivan started his day interviewing visionary Mirjana. He explained the interview went poorly and she kicked him out of her house.

Within nothing more to do for the day, Sullivan decided to climb Cross Mountain. The day was hot and sunny, almost too hot for a climb. Few people seemed willing to make the hike up the path, but Sullivan went anyway.

As he climbed, he heard beautiful melodious voices singing in French. He came upon a party of French nuns, singing and praying the Stations of the Cross. Sullivan decided to join their party for awhile. 

The pleasant experience was interrupted by a developing thunderstorm which engulfed the mountain. Soon, it was raining. Thunder and lightning crashed everywhere. Sullivan suddenly felt and urge to kneel and pray, which he did for the first time in his life. 

As he prayed, a pretty, young woman appeared to him. She comforted him in the storm and placed a hat on his head. The moment was so peaceful and surreal, that Sullivan closed his eyes to take it in. When he opened his eyes, everything was gone. The brilliant sun was hot. The nuns were nowhere to be seen. The young woman had disappeared. He had no hat. Nobody else saw anything. Not the nuns, not the storm, nothing. For everyone else, it was an ordinary day in every way. 

Sullivan realized he'd just experienced a miracle. From that moment on, he became a believer. 

Sullivan is now a believer in the miracles of Medjugorje, having witnessed one firsthand. Of critics he says, "There is no single word I discovered that so instantly could produce a rapturous smile a derisive snort or an uncomfortable silence in the Vatican as "Medjugorje" What fascinated me was that those that extolled Medjugorje as a place of sacred virtue of unparalleled power all had made pilgrimages to experience the village first hand while those who scoffed knew only what they had read or heard. The priests inclined to to dismiss reports of miracles at Medjugorje (first as an insult to their intelligence and second as an embarrassment to the church) all seemed curiously muted."


8/17/16

Fr. Joe Whalen's Funeral

A few moments from the week of August 8th 2016:
 
We took note of the license plate of the hearse U-1 that transported Fr. Joe to Vermont after his funeral at the LaSalette headquarters in Hartford, CT. (August 11, 2016)

The burial was Friday morning (August 12th)and we were under a flood watch with torrential rains. The rain poured down at morning Mass but the skies cleared at 10:00 AM for the burial, it was overcast and the air was very still. Msgr. Lavalley began the readings, suddenly there was a warm, strong breeze that lasted a few seconds. It turned Msgr. Lavalley's funeral book to a different page, he told me afterwards, that he was moved to read that reading too. It happened to be John 19: 25-30, Fr. Joe's favorite reading when he preached about Our Lady of LaSalette. He loved this reading!

After the burial I was standing by Fr. Joe's grave talking to a friend. Suddenly we heard engines in the sky and looked up. My friend was astounded! He said that flying over Fr. Joe's grave were five
World War ll NAVY Fighter planes! There are less than 150 of those still useable to fly and they were outfitted to land on carriers at sea. He said they were extremely rare. (Fr. Joe was a World War ll NAVY vet) I then told him that five was one of Fr. Joe's favorite numbers and he always referenced it to the five wounds of Christ.
Fr. Joe gave us some wonderful signs that he is now watching over us.
He was a fighter for Christ, Our Lady and for us! We now have a powerful intercessor in heaven!
 
Fr. John Welch gave a beautiful homily


Rev. Joseph F. Whalen, M.S.
Born: July 14, 1923
Profession: July 14, 1985
Ordination: September 9, 1989
Death: August 8, 2016

In all ages, priests have been held in the highest honor; yet the priests of the New Testament far exceed all others. For the power of consecrating and offering the Body and Blood of our Lord and of forgiving sins, which has been conferred on them, not only has nothing equal or like to it on earth, but even surpasses human reason and understanding.
They are the life line between God and man we must always protect and help them.
 
As someone previously has written:
"A calling where the pay is never great, the hours never short, and the hurdles never few. It didn't seem to matter to this priest. A life of greatness precisely because he sought no greatness at all."
 
THE KISS OF CHRIST
 
Lo, there He hangs,
Dying figure pinned against the wood.
God, grant that I might love Him
even as I should.
I draw a little closer to share His love divine,
and I softly hear Him whisper,
“Oh foolish child of mine, if now I should embrace you,
My hands would stain you red,
and if I bent to kiss you,
My thorns would pierce your head.”
‘Twas then I learned in meekness
That Love demands a price;
‘Twas then I knew that sorrow was just
The Kiss of Christ.
From the Desk of Sr. Emmanuel Maillard
Medjugorje, 15 August 2016, 
Assumption of the Holy Mother of God
 

Dear Children of Medjugorje, Praised be Jesus and Mary!
1. On 2 August 2016, Mirjana received her monthly apparition at the Blue Cross, in the presence of a large crowd of young people who came for the Youth Festival. After the apparition, she conveyed the following message: 
 
"Dear children! I have come to you - among you - for you to give me your concerns so that I may offer them to my Son; that I may intercede for you before Him for your good. I know that each of you has his concerns, his trials. Therefore I am inviting you in a motherly way: come to the table of my Son. He is breaking bread for you; He is giving Himself to you; He is giving you hope; He is asking for more faith, hope and serenity from you. He is seeking of you to battle within against egoism, judgment and human weaknesses. Therefore, as a mother, I am saying: pray; because prayer gives you strength for the interior battle. My Son, when He was little, often said to me that there will be many who will love me and call me 'mother'. Among you, I feel love. Thank you. For the sake of that love I am imploring my Son that none of you, my children, will return home the same as he came; that you may take with you all the more hope, mercy and love; that you may be my apostles of love who will witness with their lives that the Heavenly Father is the source of life and not of death. Dear children, anew, in a motherly way I am imploring you, pray for the chosen ones of my Son, for their blessed hands - for your shepherds - that they may preach my Son with all the more love and in this way bring about conversions. Thank you."

2. The Youth Festival was beautiful. 

With the World Youth Day being in Poland, we expected there to be fewer young people than there were, but we were pleasantly surprised by their number, barely less than last year. 70 countries were represented on the 1st day, and over 400 priests were present at the altar (instead of 500 last year). We made a short five-minute video of the highlights available at:



 
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0015SZ9YXanlELQ3G23fdSNz9fkQWXOXKmL8gKeXlficPU1mgD5_QcUDgRv6wp00rSnluSSXy99AW_Mh3WXuEMEvfqulCHE2kEC_4-Gd7kgKWgpCFf27n3Ffx5qBKjX8wBxzKL4D9t0MVgs2cKG1xAHZ-_ld0eVwYgBmTm-jcfhx7LwEQMLBpyyPnaGNAe77prLL61vVeDd2F4=&c=VT2XHnaInNq1uaPFYlwdOMQ0Lzu5XtrXEQLPkcaTdBrcFVjKQK9vuw==&ch=pNMI0upLAI1qaoGuWm615xekJ7uCrPjq_YJwpcl5nP3Tkbc4uc3AoA==

 
3. Franciscans

In the Province of Herzegovina, it is common for Franciscan priests to be moved around to different countries. With great regret we have to say goodbye to Father Boris, who was in charge of the French-speaking pilgrims! We are pleased that the pastor, Father Marinko Sakota, will be staying! 

He has transformed the parish and he knows how to deal with the crowds of pilgrims speaking different languages, from all cultures and traditions. May Our Lady keep him with us for a long time! Many people have asked us for news of Father Jozo Zovko. He is still with the Franciscans in Zagreb, Croatia. But during the summer, his Community asked him to restore a former monastery in ruins on the island of Badija, the aim being to restore the monastery's former spiritual influence. Despite his fatigue, his health is still good at the age of 75. Let us continue to pray for him! Who knows what the Lord is preparing him for in the future?
     
4. The Blessed Mother constantly stresses the need to pray as a family! 

On the evening of August 12th, surrounded by many pilgrims on the mountain, Ivan received this message: "Dear children, today I invite you once again to persevere in prayer. Pray, dear children, and above all persevere in praying as a family. Today I pray with you for the family. I desire holiness in families, for there to be more holy families who pray and live the words of my Son, as well as the messages that I give you..."


5. A major event, not widely known... Vicka is in the Holy Land!

Over the years, Vicka has traveled 8 times to Israel, but privately, with Italian families. Then the Mother of God made her understand that the time had come to convey her messages to her people. So Vicka made her 9th pilgrimage in August 2013. Charbel Maroun, a young 27-year-old Catholic Israeli Arab, organized the trip. (In Galilee particularly, there are many Catholics born in Israel, who speak perfect Hebrew and Arabic, and often another language).

In the Holy Land, there are at least 7 Catholic and Orthodox rites. Wanting to do everything in agreement with the Authorities, both religious and civilian, Charbel had already obtained permission from the Patriarch of Jerusalem and all the bishops. To inform them about Medjugorje, he gave talks to the bishops and the 40 priests involved during their annual retreat at Tiberias. He also visited 80 Catholic parishes. The bishops were pleased and gave the green light for Vicka to come. Charbel's team had prepared a piece of land for the arrival of 18,000 people. The preparation alone cost 140,000 euros, and they did not have one cent. But Providence took care of them, as is the case for all those who "seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness!"



However, suddenly on August 17, two days before flying to Tel Aviv, Vicka had to undergo surgery in Zagreb for her back, and the doctors prescribed complete rest. When Charbel heard this news, he was overcome with shock! After all these costly preparations, everything had collapsed. But the Gospa had her plan: that very evening, during the apparition, she said to Vicka: "Arise and go to my people!" 

On August 19, Vicka flew to Israel. However, the civil authorities did not authorize her to land in Tel Aviv, and the entire plane with her. It was therefore necessary to very quickly organize another solution. The aircraft was forced to land in Jordan. They had prepared a special car for Vicka, like a "Pope mobile", with the flag of the Vatican. And that is how she arrived in Nazareth. The reception was amazing! The crowd was larger than when the Pope visited! 18,000 people. Among them was an impressive number of Muslims.

The State of Israel feared a terrorist attack, so 400 Israeli soldiers were dispatched for the protection of Vicka. As a result, all these soldiers heard the words of Vicka and the messages of Our Lady. When Vicka walked past their ranks, as they sought her blessing, she stopped for a long time to bless them, 2 by 2, as usual, thus delaying the entire program... In living memory, this was the largest Marian gathering ever seen in Israel. The Israeli Police were amazed to witness the order and peace prevailing among the people. They said they had not seen such a thing before.

On August 20, Our Lady appeared in the cave of Nazareth. She told Vicka many things about the childhood of Jesus in this house and she expressed her joy to "be back home". But she was anxious seeing the situation of the churches in Galilee. Easy to understand why. Satan had done everything to prevent the meeting. On the eve of this day, August 19, two missiles fell on the northern part of Israel and destroyed many houses. The same day, another missile fell close to Nazareth. These events generated a great deal of fear among the Israeli soldiers who said that they would no longer be able to protect Vicka and the crowd. The Police as a result wanted to block the meeting. But the believers wouldn't give up, and refused to give in to fear. The meeting was able to take place in peace.

On August 21, during the apparition in Nazareth, Syria was attacked with chemical weapons, which resulted in 1400 deaths. This was the 1st chemical attack since World War II. Vicka did not know about this. However, she was surprised by an unusual occurrence during the apparition: Our Lady turned her back, and placing herself in the direction of Syria and Lebanon, she blessed these two countries, one after the other. Let us remember this period where the situation was critical. We were on the verge of a third world war! It seems that the Mother of God, through this blessing, prevented the war. A few weeks later, on 7 September, Pope Francis issued his call for a day of prayer and fasting.


When Our Lady appeared in Jerusalem, there was an incredible deployment of security. There, after having blessed the Patriarch, the bishops, the priests and the people, Our Lady said a single sentence: "The heart of the Church is sick."

On August 25th, in Bethlehem, 10,000 people were waiting for Vicka to arrive, including the Patriarch, the bishops, and a large number of priests and nuns. The Patriarch dedicated the country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Addressing the Blessed Mother in his homily, he said: "2000 years ago, the people of Bethlehem did not want you. But today, we say to you: "We welcome you! You are most welcome!" In response to this welcome, Our Lady said during the apparition: "I will never forsake you. I am here, do not be afraid!"

In those days, the Marian movement of the Apostles of Divine Mercy was born. The goal of its members is to represent the Virgin of Medjugorje in the Holy Land. Today, over 3 years later, 1500 people gather each month to pray together. Among them, there are many young people and students. Their impact is remarkable: reformation of the faith in families, baptism of many Muslims, Hebrew prayer groups, street evangelization, etc. In Tel Aviv they show active charity toward the most abandoned Jews.

Vicka's coming was an act of prophetic significance, and we have not finished seeing its fruits in the Middle East! (See PS1)

Dearest Gospa, 
like the people of Bethlehem, we in turn say to you, "You are most welcome in our lives! Please, help us never reject you and your motherly instructions!"
Sister Emmanuel +
(Translated from French)

8/12/16

President of Croatia Kolinda Kitarovic To Climb Apparition Hill



Confirmed: President of Croatia Kolinda Kitarovic To Climb Apparition Hill in Medjugorje Friday Night! Also Visits Cenacolo





President of Croatia
President of Croatia

President of Croatia Kolinda Kitarovic  to Climb  Apparition Hill at Medjugorje.

Visionary Ivan  announced that he will be joined by President of Croatia Kolinda Kitarovic to climb Apparition Hill. They climb Friday  night.
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic arrived in Medjugorje, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, for a private three-day visit to that popular Marian shrine.
On Thursday morning, the Croatian president met with representatives of the Franciscan order in charge of the Medjugorje parish.
Mystic Post first learned of this  news event on Tuesday from a source close to one a visionary.

8/8/16

Father Joe Whalen Dies

Father Joe Whalen Dies

From the Mail (courtesy Mary Ann Wichmann]:
REV. JOSEPH F. WHALEN, M.S. – HARTFORD – Rev. Joseph F. Whalen, M.S.,93 [see at bottom for his incredible story], died August 8th,in in Hartford, CT. Fr. Joe was born in Quincy, MA on July 14, 1923, the son of Clarence and Emily Whalen, and was educated within the Quincy school district. He served his country proudly as a 1st Class Pharmacist Mate with the United States Navy during World War II. He was in charge of the health and welfare of all the crew members of a submarine chasing vessel, which protected and laid smoke screens around US war ships throughout the Mediterranean Sea. His ship was part of the southern invasion of France. After the Navy he worked for the telephone company for 32 1/2 years. He married Frances (Vance) in October of 1948 and started raising a family. He was the proud father of three daughters and two sons. In his late fifties God called him into the priesthood and he entered Pope John XXIII seminary at the age of 60. On September 9, 1989 he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest by Bishop Alfred Hughes and became a LaSalette Missionary priest. He was the oldest of seven brothers, all predeceased him. He presided over all their funerals in the first seven years of his priesthood. He had the privilege of baptizing seven of his twelve grand children. He was always willing to help his family and friends with any problem. He was heard many times saying, “There are no such thing as strangers, only friends you haven’t met!” Each and every person was special to him and he had a unique way of showing God’s love for that person. He was noted for his ability to hear confessions hour after hour.
He was the founder of the St. Raphael Healing Ministry and traveled world wide conducting many Masses and healing services. His ministries were many and he was always a champion of the sick, the elderly, drug addicts, alcoholics and families. He retired at the age of 91. Many people come and go in our lives, but very few make a worthwhile, memorable impression, like Fr. Joe. His humility, integrity, hard work and jovial spirit will continue to inspire those who knew him to love God, be kind to your neighbor and never give up hope. Fr. Joe will be sorely missed, both by his family, colleagues and by his many friends, whom he helped and inspired.  But as he has earned his eternal rest from this life, this priest, father, and friend should know the world is most definitely a better place because of his good works and kindness for others. His life is a story of “How God writes straight with crooked lines!” Fr. Whalen spent his entire priesthood witnessing Jesus Christ’s healing love and helping countless people find hope in the midst of life’s many challenges. Fr. Joe is survived by his daughters, Joan Berg, Audrey and husband Allen Hayward, Barbie and husband Wayne Cahill, and two sons, Mark and wife Rosemary Whalen, Michael and wife Lynn Whalen, all residing in Massachusetts. His grandchildren, Jennifer Laskey, Mark Laskey, Hillary Hayward, Brendan Hayward, Shannon Whalen, Mark Whalen Jr., Joseph Gillan, Renee Gillan, John Berg, Julia Whalen, Katie Cahill, and Greg Cahill. His dear colleagues and friends, Fr. John O’Neill, M.S. and Fr. John E. Welch, M.S. Also his dear friend and assistant Mary Ann Wichmann of Vermont. He was predeceased by his former wife Frances, parents and six brothers, George, Paul, James, John, Thomas and Leo. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Day, Date, at Time at Place,Catholic Church in City. Burial will be when, at St. Francis Xavier in Winooski, VT with Msgr. Richard Lavalley. Local arrangements are with the Funeral Home in City. Online condolences can be shared with the family at website.
[From our archives:
Spirit Daily
__________________________________________
Once An Alcoholic, Now A Late Vocation, Priest Sees Miracles With Archangel 
by Michael H. Brown
Ten years ago my wife and I were in Medjugorje and heard an extraordinary sermon by a luminous, white-bearded, almost St. Nicholas-like priest who was with a group from Chicago and was up there in the pulpit telling a riveting story. It was about a man who had risen from the despair of alcoholism to become a priest — at the age of 66! It was a story about a fantastically successful late vocation.
At the end of the sermon, this priest, this homilist, shocked everyone by explaining thathe was the man he was talking about, the alcoholic. He was the one who had risen from the pits. He was the late vocation. We didn’t get his name at the time — weren’t even sure exactly what city he was from — but the homily was unforgettable.
Months later, back in New York State, we were trying to find a priest to bless the apartment in which we were living when we first married. It was awkward. It was a new city, and we didn’t know any priests to approach. These days, it is an odd request. Some priests have not even been trained to do so. And we really wanted that. We had even asked folks to help us find the right priest but still had no luck when the phone rang one day, the feast of Corpus Christi. It was a priest from Connecticut who identified himself as Father Joseph Whalen. I had never heard of him before. He said that someone at my publisher’s told him to call. They knew I was doing research on angels and he was sort of an expert on the Archangel Raphael.
That was his ministry, he told me; he distributed specially anointed healing oil and St. Raphael cards that many claimed caused miraculous effects.
He was going to be in the area that day, he told me. Would I mind if he stopped in?
By all means, I said. But first I had to go to Mass. It was a feast day.
Don’t bother, he told me; he would say Mass in our apartment. He would bless it. Finally we had a priest to anoint our apartment!
Later that day, when Father Whalen and two companions arrived, I opened the door only to find that he was the same priest we had seen at Medjugorje — the one who had been with the pilgrim group and had given that tremendous homily!
Out of the 27,000 active parish priests in the United States, and more than 160 in our own little diocese, here he was at our door.
As I was soon to learn, it was only the beginning of extraordinary events that regularly occur around him. His story? Father Whalen was born July 14, 1923, in Quincy, Massachusetts, the oldest of seven boys. His uncle was a bishop who wanted him to be a priest. He wanted nothing to do with it. As a teenager he worked as a clam-digger — and started drinking whiskey with the men. After graduating from high school, he served in the Navy on a submarine chaser, hunting German subs. And drinking more. By this time he was developing shakes and even blackouts. “Many nights I staggered back on board the ship with my clothes ripped or a shoe missing,” he recounts. “Countless nights in nameless ports around the world, I woke up in filthy, alcohol-stained clothes — too drunk to care where or how I slept.”
You get the point. He had turned into an alcoholic at a young age and it grew. After a year in the maritime service, Whalen was hired by the New England Telephone Company as a office equipment installer. By this time he was also married to a woman named Frances and they had children. Over the next 32 years he worked his way up to second-level management.
But there was constantly the alcohol, and it would end his marriage. “Frances was always running interference and apologizing for my stinking behavior,” he now recalls of his former wife, who died a while back. “I would slur my words and stagger around yelling at everyone who crossed my path. My filthy and obnoxious behavior sent everyone into hiding.”
Finally Frances dragged Whalen into court, where their marriage ended in a bitter divorce.
“I was loaded with guilt and remorse for my lifestyle and for my terrible behavior toward my wife and children. My soul was so stained, my actions so depraved, that I prayed to get cancer and die.”
Desperate for help, Whalen went to a Franciscan shrine to see a priest named Father Henry Lawler, who took him to his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The day he met Father Lawler was the last day that Joe Whalen had a drink.
The priest also heard the future priest’s Confession (his first in 15 years) and told him to go to church and speak to Jesus.
“I did,” remembers Father Whalen. “I fell on my knees and surrendered to Him, as best I could. That’s when I started to go back to church.”
And that’s when things began to happen. Whalen, not yet a priest, became fascinated by angels, developing a special devotion to Raphael and the Book of Tobit. He read the Bible cover to cover. He read Thomas Aquinas. Along the way, he met a mystical, cloistered nun named Sister Mary Michael of the Precious Blood Monastery in Manchester, New Hampshire.
“At our first meeting, sister looked deeply into my glazed, alcoholic eyes and said softly, ‘Joseph, I see you as a priest.’ Tears began to stream down my face. ‘What do you mean?You must be kidding!’ I was bawling my eyes out as I remembered the uncle who once spoke to me about becoming a priest.” Sister Mary Michael said she could see Jesus pardoning Whalen’s sins and opening the skies to let his mother, who always wanted one of her sons to be a priest, peeking down at his ordination. He knew then that he had a calling.
All he could think of was how unworthy he was. But she kept saying, “Don’t talk like that,” and shortly after, in 1983, Whalen began receiving visions. “After prayers, with my eyes closed but before going to sleep, I would first see pinpoints of light, then whole fields of brilliant bluish light, pulsating like a kaleidoscope. Then the visions would disappear. The visions continued every night for seven months. Sometimes I would see Jesus suspended from the Cross, one heart with two circlets of thorns around it, or two hearts with thorns around them. Many times I would see a big white dove heading toward me as the field of vision became an intense blue-white. In the last vision I saw two angels suspended with their wings fluttering and a dove gliding toward them.”
To make a long story short: Joe Whalen entered a seminary and became a priest. His marriage was officially annulled because of the alcoholism that had predated it and he spent four years in graduate studies at Pope John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts — where he was the only one in a class of 19 who was a divorced alcoholic with only a high school education! He was ordained on January 28, 1989, and at the age of 80 is a very active priest — even traveling nationally. A more uplifting, devout priest you will not find. He is a ringing testimony to the value of late vocations, a clarion call for the Church to pay close attention to those who may heed a call late in life at this time when priests are in such short supply.
The prayer cards? They show Raphael (below) appearing to Tobiah and have a special prayer requesting the great angel’s intercession. Nearly ten years ago Father Whalen already had gathered the written testimonies of eighty people who claimed relief or outright healing from seizures, leukemia, heart problems, and cancerous tumors. No one knows what the count is now. “I just can’t tell you how wonderful it is to experience the prayer power and miraculous workings of the St. Raphael prayer card,” wrote a woman named Ginny. “And day by day I have felt the lump disappearing. My doctor tells me I am one of those people who they cannot explain but I am very much aware of what has happened through faith in St. Raphael.”
“I was diagnosed with leukemia found in my blood tests,” wrote another. “I had been sick for some time until my wife obtained a St. Raphael card from a friend who told us to pray for healing. My family began to pray, and when I went back for more blood tests, the leukemia was gone!” Claimed a woman identified only as Mildred: “My 15-year-old grand-daughter, Laurie, had cancerous lumps all over her body. They all disappeared. Now she has only scars. Her cancer is in remission.”
Naturally, we can’t verify all these claims. There are more. There are accounts of healing for lesser problems also. There are calcium deposits that have gone, there are habits that have been kicked, there are emotions — like Father Whalen’s own — that have been repaired. This is a man of faith, a man who prays for 12 hours over vats of holy oil, a man who was praying on a stormy day at a St. Pio shrine in Barto, Pennsylvania, recently when, according to one witness, the clouds suddenly parted (see below) and a ray of sun illuminated the luminous priest!
They swear the clouds formed an image of Padre Pio.
Ah, yes, Father Joe Whalen — now at St. James Church in Danielson, Connecticut. He dispenses healing oil and the special St. Raphael prayer cards everywhere he goes as a Missionary of LaSalette, which is celebrated September 19.
One heckuva a priest — the one God sent to bless our apartment when there was no one else, the one who presided over his former wife’s funeral, and has baptized five of his grandchildren. The drop-down drunk who is now a hero to his children.
And to us.
“God does draw with crooked lines, you know that,” says the priest, who stopped in on us again last week. As for his calling: he urges the Church to promote late vocations at this time of crisis and still thinks of that nun who has been cloistered for more than fifty years now and with whom he remains in touch.
“When I visited Sister Mary Michael again, she said, ‘Joseph, I am convinced that your mother got a glimpse of your ordination,” recalls the priest. “Jesus surely parted the skies to allow her to look down from Heaven and see the fulfillment of her prayers.”

8/6/16

Medjugorje, Youth Festival 2016


Published on Aug 5, 2016
Pictures : Children of Medjugorje and djani Medjugorje

The Medjugorje Message: A message to Medjugorje from Cardinal Schönborn

The Medjugorje Message: A message to Medjugorje from Cardinal Schönborn: Once again, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has sent a message of encouragement to the youth and families gathered at Medjugorje for the annua...

8/4/16

Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Immaculate Heart of Blessed Virgin Mary

O Most Holy Virgin Mother, we listen with grief to the complaints of your most Immaculate Heart surrounded with the thorns placed therein at every moment by the blasphemies and ingratitude of ungrateful humanity. We are moved by the ardent desire of loving you as Our Mother and of promoting a true devotion to your Immaculate Heart.

We therefore kneel before you to manifest the sorrow we feel for the grievances that people cause you, and to atone by our prayers and sacrifices for the offenses with which they return return your love. Obtain for them and for us the pardon of so many sins. Hasten the conversion of sinners that they may love Jesus and cease to offend the Lord, already so much offended. Turn your eyes of mercy toward us, that we may love God with all our heart on earth and enjoy Him forever in heaven. Amen.

8/2/16

August 02, 2016 message from Our Lady of Medjugorje through Mirjana


      
       (c) Mateo Ivankovic 2016

JMJ
August 2, 2016

Dear Family of Mary!

August 02, 2016 message from Our Lady of Medjugorje through Mirjana:
 
"Dear children, I have come to you - among you - for you to give me your concerns so that I may offer them to my Son; that I may intercede for you before Him for your good.

I know that each of you has his concerns, his trials. Therefore I am inviting you in a motherly way: come to the table of my Son. He is breaking bread for you; He is giving Himself to you; He is giving you hope; He is asking for more faith, hope and serenity from you. He is seeking of you to battle within against egoism, judgement and human weaknesses. Therefore, as a mother, I am saying: pray; because prayer gives you strength for the interior battle.

My Son, when He was little, often said to me that there will be many who will love me and call me 'mother'. Among you, I feel love. Thank you. For the sake of that love I am imploring my Son that none of you, my children, will return home the same as he came; that you may take with you all the more hope, mercy and love; that you may be my apostles of love who will witness with their lives that the Heavenly Father is the source of life and not of death.

Dear children, anew, in a motherly way I am imploring you, pray for the chosen ones of my Son, for their blessed hands - for your shepherds - that they may preach my Son with all the more love and in this way bring about conversions. Thank you."
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
© Mary TV 2016

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"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world."
Saint John Paul II
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8/1/16

Medjugorje Youth Festival


    
       (c) Mary TV 2014  (Youth Festival)

JMJ
August 1, 2016
St. Alphonsus Liguori
Dear Family of Mary!
May 16, 1985
"Dear children! I am calling you to a more active prayer and attendance at Holy Mass. I wish your Mass to be an experience of God. I wish especially to say to the young people: be open to the Holy Spirit because God wishes to draw you to Himself in these days when satan is at work. Thank you for having responded to my call."
Our Lady has a special place in her heart for young people. Didn't she choose six young people to be her visionaries in Medjugorje? I often marvel at how loyal and dedicated the visionaries have been to Our Lady and her call. From the first day they spoke to her, 35 years ago, they have remained steadfast in their commitment to Our Lady and her coming to them. I suspect she knew that young people would be able to adapt to the life of a visionary much easier than older persons. Young people are available in a way that older people are not!
In June of 1983 Our Lady also organized a group of young people through Jelena Vasilj to become a prayer group especially molded by Our Lady through Jelena.
(June 1983) Jelena received the following message: Our Lady says:
"I want a prayer group here. I will lead the group and will give the group rules of consecration. Everyone else in the world can consecrate themselves according to these rules. Think it over for a month, but tell them about the conditions I am giving:"
"First of all, let them renounce everything and place themselves completely into God's hands. Let each one of them renounce any fear because, if you surrender yourself to God, there is no place for any fear whatsoever. All difficulties that they will meet, will be for their spiritual growth and for the glory of God. I invite the young and single people, because those who are married have their obligations. But anyone who wishes to participate in this program can follow it at least partially. I will lead the group."
Obviously, Our Lady wanted to take these young people under her wing, and train them for prayer. Again she showed her special love for young people.
Also, Our Lady gave a message to Pope John Paul II through the visionaries:
Friday, September 16, 1983
"Pray, pray, pray! Do not be discouraged. Be in peace because God gives you the grace to defeat satan."

"In my messages, I recommend to everyone, and to the Holy Father in particular, to spread the message which I have received from my Son here at Medjugorje. I wish to entrust to the Pope, the word with which I came here: 'MIR', (peace in Croatian), which he must spread everywhere. And here is a message which is especially for him: That he bring together the Christian people, through his words and his preaching; that he spread particularly among the young people, the messages which he has received from the Father in his prayers, when God inspires him."
The next year Pope John Paul II organized a gathering of young people in Rome that developed into the World Youth Day movement.
In 1984 at the close of the Holy Year of Redemption, over 300,000 young people from around the world responded to the invitation of His Holiness John Paul II for an International Jubilee of youth on Palm Sunday in St. Peter's square. Looking out to the crowds who answered his invitation he said, "What a fantastic spectacle is presented on this stage by your gathering here today! Who claimed that today's youth has lost their sense of values? Is it really true that they cannot be counted on?" It was at this gathering that the Holy Father entrusted to the youth what is now known as the World Youth Day Cross, to be carried throughout the world as a symbol of the love of Christ for humanity.
The following Palm Sunday, coinciding with the United Nation's International Year of the Youth, Our Holy Father took the opportunity to welcome the youth of the world to Rome again. Later, announcing the institution of World Youth Day on December 20, 1985, and the first official WYD was held in 1986. (http://worldyouthday.com/about-wyd/wyd-history)
I do not think it is a coincidence that Our Lady gave the September 16, 1983 message to the Holy Father, and in 1984 he began to gather youth to encourage and teach them.
Then in 1990 the first Youth Festival took place. Here is what Fr. Marinko Sakota, the pastor of St. James, said about the Youth Festival:
The August 1, the opening day of the 27th Youth Festival is approaching, the event that late Fr. Slavko Barbaric initiated in 1990. Our radio hosted people who spoke about the history of this event, but also about Fr. Slavko's relationship with the youth. Fr. Marinko Sakota, parish priest from Medjugorje, who has been conducting this Festival for the last few years said:
"Fr. Slavko received this idea from the others, it was not originally his idea, but he was the one who accepted it and realised it. Fr. Slavko was listening to the young people, his ears were opened for their needs. It all began in 1990, with few hundred young people who gathered here. Their wish was to have the spiritual renewal held in the summer, with music and prayer and he accomplished that. The beginnings were in little steps, but those little steps can lead to major, huge results.
"Dozens of thousands of young people gather each year in Medjugorje from all over the world. Even though they are different, they function as one, all of the day they are out in the sun, not bothered by the heat, as thy know what is the reason of their coming here:
"Once a young person experiences love and peace, nothing can bother them anymore, nothing can be a problem for them. They feel good here. They feel at home, with the Mother, loved and protected. This is the experience of the Youth Festival. When I was younger, regardless of where I used to be, I was always coming here for this event when Fr. Slavko led it. This was like a spiritual renewal for me. I felt this was something that helped me renew in the spiritual terms", said Fr. Marinko. (http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/news/the-27th-youth-festival-to-start,8123.htm l )
 The Youth Festival is an initiative of Our Lady. She loves young people, and has always worked to provide spiritual protection and guidance for the young. Through the visionaries she came to give us all her messages, young though they were. She encouraged Pope John Paul II to shepherd the young people in the entire Church. And through Fr. Slavko she began the Youth Festivals that have helped thousands of young people to meet Jesus and His Mother, and to find true meaning in their lives.
Today marks the beginning of the 27th Youth Festival in Medjugorje! Mary TV will stream as much of the festival as possible each day! Here is the schedule for August 1. Join us as we participate in this miraculous week of prayer, witnessing and Eucharistic celebration!
August 1, 2016
Day One of the Youth Festival
Evening Rosary: 18.00 (Medj) -  (12:00 pm EDT)
Solemn Opening of the Festival : 19.00 -(1:00 pm EDT)
Adoration : 21.00-22.00 (3:00 pm EDT)
(We will not have Hour of Mercy this week. Daily Rosary today will be 16:00 Medj - and there is no English Mass during the festival)
Let's pray for the young people gathering for the festival. May God pour out His amazing Mercy upon them, healing them, converting them, speaking to their hearts and drawing them to Himself!! May Mercy flow over everyone gathered in Medjugorje!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2016