12/31/08

Fr. Jozo's Meditation on Our Lady's Medjugorje Message of Dec. 25, 2008--A Must Read.


Message of December 25, 2008
“Dear children! You are running, working, gathering – but without blessing. You are not praying! Today I call you to stop in front of the manger and to meditate on Jesus, Whom I give to you today also, to bless you and to help you to comprehend that, without Him, you have no future. Therefore, little children, surrender your lives into the hands of Jesus, for Him to lead you and protect you from every evil. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

*Dear brothers and sisters, my dear praying family!
The Queen of Peace said these words on the very Christmas day. What grief, what sorrow and what pain are radiating from these words! We have learnt to live for days and weeks, for months and years like all other PAGANS OR SOME ROUTINE CHRISTIANS who live as if there were no God. Yes, She watches my everyday life, the beginning of my day, of a new workday or feast, it does not matter. Each of these days is the same as that of other people in my midst whom I do not influence. In all this race of mine I, too, have got the aims and the means I use to realise them. I do not think of or count on blessing. I do not start my day with prayer and do not ask for blessing. I am sure only of my work, of my results, of my projects. In fact, the race that has taken hold of my heart is like an athletic discipline to which each competitor is subjected: there is the start, measuring of time, adherence to every rule, and the like. My life is conditioned by work discipline, by regulations in traffic, by regulations at work; my life is conditioned by the fashion and the trends dictated by shop-windows, television screens and various shows. Such attitude to the social environment excludes my faith and hope in God, excludes every blessing. I do not feel that God wants to act upon and change people through me. I am one of them. All of us, who know each other, are like eggs in a basket. It is here that our apostolate stops, and so does our ability to be the salt, the light and the yeast to this generation.
When I heard men and women speak shamelessly, flipping the ash off their cigarettes while doing so, I remained dumbfounded. To see how the mentality of this world, the world of consumerism of all forms and colours, has become the law of communication and false prestige among people! We are all affected by this race the Queen of Peace is speaking about.
* A believer has no time, a priest has no time, mummy has no time, doctor has no time, nobody has time. Everybody is running, but without knowing where and why. This curious disease has affected all classes and all ages.
*A man who has no time and finds no time for another man, finds no time and has no time for prayer either. I observed and studied people who speak and live as if they had no time for their family, for their children, for their friends. They lose their family and their friends. Such people do not pray. They persistently argue they have no time for prayer. They never deny God, no, but they like to say: “I am a believer, but I have no time to practice my faith, I have no time for prayer.”
Such people are unsuccessful in their family, and frustrated in the society, are a failure in their vocation whatever it might be. Such people anxiously reiterate how they failed to finish this or that job. Somehow they feel they have reached the point when they can attain their goal, but is eludes them at the last moment. They are difficult people who start looking for culprits for their failure and start accusing everybody, starting from their loved ones in the family, at the workplace and the like. This race is being intensified and spread like a plague through modern technology and communica­tions. Alienation is growing. Today you get not a letter written by a human hand that has a contact with the heart, but an SMS message which is pale and almost empty. The race alienates us from each other and breaks our nature: to be with others as a social being, to live, to sacrifice oneself for others. For a meeting with others enriches me. It brings me close to others and I am sure that I am not alone, that I have not been forgotten. A running man gets tired and as such he does not want others and to be with others.
*You are working and gathering, but all without blessing. A powerful word of the Mother. We must not shut our ears to it. We hear terrifying life stories by many: “I have been working all my life, providing and gathering, and today I am forsaken and without blessing. My family, my children do not appreciate it, do not see it, consider me frustrated, and the like. How hard and painful it is to listen to so many and such life lamentations. Why has happened what nobody wants? Because our life and work have been without blessing. Blessing comes from God. It pours out through prayer into our work and our family. The running and hurrying man does not find time for prayer, because he feels safest when watching the fruits of his hands, of his work, of his skill and career.
*You are not praying! This truth is a sickness that our family suffers from. It is a sign that we have not come to believe and accepted to live Our Lady’s messages yet. One of the messages that the Queen of Peace is daily calling us to live is the prayer of the Rosary. By praying we learn how to pray. By praying we win others over for prayer, because prayer yields magnificent fruits. It is through prayer that our deeds and our work, our day and our week, our fields and our studies, our cross and our suffering are blessed. There is no such temptation and no such weakness as could be an excuse for our putting off or missing the family prayer for any reason whatsoever. The renewal of the family, of the parish, of the Church is not possible without prayer.
*To renew prayer means to renew the family and the Church. Like our mystics said, “Prayer is the breathing of the soul”, so did She, too, repeat this truth, this experience of the Church. So the body is alive as long as it breaths. Since it is alive, it has to breathe. All the toxic, poisonous matter in the body is thrown out through breathing. Likewise our soul enjoys its full of God’s freshness and grace through prayer, and gets rid of evil habits and sin. In this way prayer changes a man. It is always fruitful. If it fails to change us, then we have to change our prayer. Prayer must run from a humble and penitent heart. Prayer starts after the reconciliation with everybody and the forgiveness to everybody both in heart and mind. So, it is an act of love and a total surrender into the will of God. Prayer educates us in humbleness and profound faith in God.
The praying man has got time and finds it more and more and takes it out for prayer, because he loves, because without prayer he cannot live.
Mother’s call on Christmas – Little children, surrender your lives into the hands of Jesus, for Him to lead you and protect you from every evil, is a powerful and a gentle call. Everything without Him is empty, a failure, a vain effort and a useless race. With Him everything is blest and successful. Simply said, protected from every evil.

My life is not filled with peace and rest without Him. Christmas is a feast that teaches me to surrender to Him and to serve Him. That is why the Mother calls us to stop before the truth of the manger, the stable, the closed door. She calls us to meditate on Jesus whom She gives to us to bless us. She, the bearer of God to man, as Benedict XVI put it so nicely, gave birth to and brought her Son to bless us and enlighten us so that we may comprehend with our heart that the world and our life have no future without Him. He became man to save us, to redeem and deliver us from every damnation and give us His peace and blessing. I need His peace and blessing. I do not want to be a damned, but a happy and blessed man: parent, priest, child, worker, etc.

This month we are going to pray for the following intentions:
1. That each of us may know how to apply the life principle of saints: Pray and work! (St Benedict). That we may not be affected by the fear and the fever of the “crisis” being announced by the people who have been building and gathering and running without God. As work belongs to human dignity, so does prayer.

2. For our praying family that we may revive the ardour for prayer and the love for the apostolate of everyday family recitation of the Rosary.

3. For blessing and peace in the new year 2009 in the Church and in the world, among peoples and nations.
That we may learn from St Francis, the 800th anniversary of whose Order the Church is celebrating, to be bearers of peace and propagators of the Gospel. That we may learn from him how to pray to and praise God.

Dear brothers and sisters, this message is a strong call and sign to us all at the beginning of a new year. Respond with love and enthusiasm to this call. We have felt the need to respond to the call of the Queen of Peace. Therefore, renew your vow and your promise.
Kneeling and praying for you is your devoted brother

Fra Jozo
Široki Brijeg., 28.12.2008.

12/26/08

Christmas- In Medjugorje.


A Christmas scene from Saint James Church in Medjugorje. Photo from Medjugorje Net.
Click on photo to enlarge.

Our Lady's Medjugorje Message of December 25, 2008



Our Lady’s Christmas message 2008
Dear children! You are running, working, gathering – but without blessing. You are not praying! Today I call you to stop in front of the manger and to meditate on Jesus, whom I give to you today also, to bless you and to help you to comprehend that, without him, you have no future. Therefore, little children, surrender your lives into the hands of Jesus, for him to lead you and protect you from every evil. Thank you for having responded to my call. December 25, 2008-by Pilgrim

Our Lady's Medjugorje message to Jakov Colo.


Today, Medjugorje Visionary Jakov Colo received his once a year annual visit from Our Lady. Here is the message he received:


Dear Children! Today, in a special way, I call you to pray for peace. Without God, you cannot have peace or live in peace. Therefore, little children, today on this day of grace, open your hearts to the King of Peace for Him to be born in you and to grant you His peace; and you, be carriers of peace in this peaceless world. Thank you for having responded to my call.


A LITTLE REFLECTION (by Sr. Isabel) Our Lady is so aware of the human condition. She knows what Advent has been like for many of us! She asks us to focus on the real reason for our celebration today, her Son, the Infant King. He is the only source of blessing, the only one in whom we have a future. Today's celebration is an opportunity for us to start over once again, and to refocus all that we do so that Jesus is the center. He is the true source of peace. As we ponder the Infant King, born in a lowly stable surrounded by the animals, the material concerns we may have take on a different perspective. In Him, we can place our trust, and in Him we will find security and the joy and peace which He wants us to have. May the New Year be one of blessings, hidden as they may be, for you and your family.

12/24/08

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS


Click here for Song.^^^
Click here for Song^^^

An Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph

"An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.'"

O HOLY NIGHT


Josh Groban --Nativity


http://www.youtube.com/v/Z_ypUnnqr8Y&autoplay=0

Josh Groban sings "O Holy Night" beautifully to the nativity scene

12/23/08

Christmas Joy


Photo by Greg Sousa, chief photographer for the Goldsboro News Argus Newspaper in North Carolina.
Click on photo to enlarge.

12/22/08

Christmas Joy


A Photo taken by Greg Sousa, chief photographer for the Goldsboro News-Argus, newspaper North Carolina.
Click on photo to enlarge.

12/21/08

Revelation-Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska


Revelation
December 21
November 29, 1936. The Mother of God has taught me how to prepare for the Feast of Christmas. I saw her today, without the Infant Jesus. She said to me: My daughter, strive after silence and humility, so that Jesus, who dwells in your heart continuously, may be able to rest. Adore Him in your heart; do not go out from your inmost being. My daughter, I shall obtain for you the grace of an interior life which will be such that, without ever leaving that interior life, you will be able to carry out all your external duties with even greater care.
Dwell with Him continuously in your own heart. He will be your strength. Communicate with creatures only insofar as is necessary and is required by your duties.

You are a dwelling place pleasing to the living God; in you He dwells continuously with love and delight. And the living presence of God, which you experience in a more vivid and distinct way, will confirm you, my daughter, in the things I have told you. Try to act in this way until Christmas Day, and then He himself will make known to you in what way you will be communing and uniting yourself with Him.
Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 785

12/20/08


Dear children! Today I call you to prepare yourselves for the coming of Jesus. In a special way, prepare your hearts. May Holy Confession be the first act of conversion for you and then, dear children, decide for holiness. May your conversion and decision for holiness begin today and not tomorrow. Little children, I call you all to the way of salvation and I desire to show you the way to Heaven. That is why, little children, be mine and Decide with me for holiness. Little children, accept prayer with seriousness and pray, pray, pray. Thank you for having responded to my call. Our Lady's message of November 25, 1998

12/18/08

What Ever Happened to Christmas ?


I hope we find God again before its to Late.


***Remarks from CBS Sunday Morning (everyone should read!) I only hope we find God again before it is too late!! The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are:

Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu .... If people want a crche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians.

I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to. In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

***Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?' In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein

12/16/08

Fr. Slavko's Advent Prayer.


God, our Father, we thank you that you sent us your Son Jesus who lived amongst us as a child and as an adult, and who gave his life for our salvation. With Mary, at the beginning of this Advent, we turn to you, merciful Father, and ask you to give us all the grace needed so our hearts may be prepared to accept your Son, Jesus Christ – as you prepared Mary’s heart for the coming of your Son.

Free us from our pride, our selfishness, our fear and distrust so that, like Mary, we open ourselves completely for you and your Son, so that our hearts can become a living place for your Son. We ask you for the the grace of a good confession, so that every confession becomes a meeting for us with your mercy and your love. Give us the grace of recognising where we have sinned, of being sincerely repentant. Cleanse us and heal all the wounds of our sins.

Bless also the confessors and fill their hearts with love and peace, so that they may all become a merciful extension of your love. Along with Mary, we ask you that we may decide, without delay, for conversion and for the path to holiness.

Free us from all bad habits that have enslaved us, that block us from deciding for the path to salvation. Father, we give you our past and our future, and ask you for the strength to do your will today. Fill our hearts, our families and our prayer groups with the spirit of prayer so that we may meet you in prayer and that through every meeting in prayer we may grow in holiness. On behalf of all those entangled in lack of faith, in distrust, in dependencies, in bad habits, and who cannot respond to your Word, we ask for your grace to free them.

Mary, we thank you that you are with us; we thank you for your prayer and intercession. Accompany us in this time of preparation so, like you, we may accept Jesus and remain loyal to Him so that some day we may reach heaven, through Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Virgin Mary Statue Weeps Blood

November 29, 2005

Believers Say Virgin Mary Statue Weeps Blood
Tear First Noticed Last Week


SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Believers say a statue of the Virgin Mary outside a California church appears to be crying a drop of blood.
The large, white statue is at the Vietnamese Catholic Church in Sacramento, Calif.
Parishioners first noticed the tear falling from the eye last Wednesday.
By Sunday morning, it had turned dark red.
Hundreds of people are coming to see the statue for themselves. Many say it's a sign from God.
The Archdiocese of Sacramento has been asked to investigate.

12/15/08

Jesus on the Cross



The cross of Jesus crucified that hangs over the Alter at Saint Anthony's Church in West Warwick, Rhode Island. " Click on photo to enlarge "

12/14/08

Let us not stifle the Spirit.


THE TRAGEDY OF TRAGEDIES" The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me." —Isaiah 61:1

The Holy Spirit wants to bring good news to the poor, heal the broken-hearted, and set captives free. Only the Holy Spirit can renew the face of the earth . However, we stifle, quench, sadden, and grieve the Spirit (Eph 4:30). Then the poor stay depressed and oppressed; the broken-hearted are shattered; the captives are chained with even more chains; and the face of the earth becomes more defaced.

One of the greatest tragedies in life is to stifle the Holy Spirit. This is the tragedy which causes so many other tragedies to continue or grow worse. Before the Lord commanded us not to stifle the Spirit, He ordered us to always Rejoice, Pray, and Thank (1 Thes 5:16-18). If we accept God's grace to always do these three things, we will not stifle the Spirit.

So, when you're about to stifle the Spirit by using your tongue for gossip rather than for evangelization; rejoice, pray, and thank. The Spirit will be stirred into flame in your life and not stifled. When you're senselessly staring at the TV, turn it off and persevere in joy, prayer, and thanks. You will have turned off the TV before it turned off the Spirit in your life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Pray always and dedicate yourself to thankfulness.-- Live in the Spirit.

12/13/08

A Smart Cat


I will not be doing any shopping this year. I am just going to sleep.
Buzzie

12/12/08

Mary was the first and greatest Evangelizer.


Mary was the first and is the greatest evangelizer. As soon as she conceived Jesus in her womb, she shared Jesus with Elizabeth and John, the baby in Elizabeth's womb.They both were filled with the Holy Spirit.

After Mary, as Our Lady of Guadalupe, came to St. Juan Diego in Mexico, eight million people came to new life in Jesus over the next seven years. As Pope Paul VI taught, Mary is the star of evangelization (On Evangelization, 82).

Mary, the greatest evangelizer, was pregnant. To effectively share the life of Jesus, we must respect, defend, and nurture life. Mary was poor. Jesus came to proclaim the good news to the poor (Lk 4:18).Mary was a healer. She was used by the Lord to heal Juan Diego's uncle. Mary was a deliverer. Her Mexican name, Tecoatlaxope, means "Crusher of the serpent-god."Our Lady of Guadalupe gives us a radical understanding of evangelization. Bringing others to Jesus involves not just programs and services, but choosing life in a culture of death and choosing poverty in the midst of out-of-control consumerism.

Evangelization means announcing the kingdom of God as we "cure the sick, raise the dead, heal the leprous, expel demons. "See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord." —Zec 2:14 Praise: -Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, faithfully walked up the hill of Calvary, and comforted her dying Son as He changed the world. Centuries later, she went to another hill in Mexico and changed the New World...TODAY in our time she has climbed cross mountain in Medjujorje to lead us to her son Jesus. Mary was the first and greatest evangelizer, but God also calls all of us to evangelize. We are all called to share the good news of Christ with all our brothers and sisters in Christ.

12/11/08

Medjugorje During the Bosnian Wars




American Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady


Scott O'Grady, the fighter pilot of the NATO forces whose plane was shot down in Bosnia in June 1995, was rescued after a successful operation in which more than forty planes and helicopters took part, a hundred soldiers and some of the best military strategists of NATO. After his return to the United States he also wrote a book about the events and the horrors he lived through after the Bosnian Serbs shot down his F-16. Describing the sufferings, hunger, thirst, cold and fear that he lived through in the course of the several days of hiding and waiting for help in the forests of Bosnia in his book Honored Return, he also brings out an interesting particular which has the most significance in the entire rescue operation.
"On the third day of my hiding out, thinking about how survival is first of all a spiritual test, I experienced something amazing and unrepeatable. All of a sudden, in the stillness of my hiding place, I remembered the accounts of my mother's friend who, before the war broke out in Bosnia, had visited Medjugorje, a little place south in the country, where there is testimony about Our Lady's apparition. That afternoon I turned to Our Lady in prayer. Immediately I felt her presence. It became more and more clear and palpable right up to the moment that I saw her. It is hard to describe in words. The vision came through the strength of my feelings, and that feeling was indescribably warm, full of bliss and peace. Someone existed that prayed and kept watch over my return home. That vision was the most important thing that happened to me in Bosnia. It gave me the courage to hold out in the most difficult moments."
Through his book the American pilot made public his own declaration given immediately after the very rescue operation: "Our Lady of Medjugorje saved me!"
Q: Is it true that Scott O'Grady, the American pilot shot down over Bosnia had some form of spititual contact?

On June 13, 1995, a Fatima anniversary day, Air Force Captain O'Grady, 31, a devout Catholic, appeared on NBC's Dateline. He described how, after miraculously surviving an attack by a Bosnian Serb missile, he encountered equal miracles in his ability to survive without the Serbs finding him after he parachuted from his destroyed F-16. Serbs saw the ‘chute and knew he survived the crash. He strongly felt some mysterious force made him invisible to the enemy. He was hiding about twenty miles south of Bihac, well behind Serbian lines. He told Jane Pauley that his faith in Our Lady and God sustained him, along with everyone's prayers. And he saw something, a phenomenon of some sort, that revealed to him was connected with Medjugorje but could not verbalize further. “I don't know what I saw, I cannot describe it in earthly terms, but I saw something”. During another interview he said that when he prayed to Our Lady of Medjugorje he could “see” her, but not as a form or image that he can explain. It was more a sense of good battling evil. “I felt her covering me with her mantle consoling and hiding me”. On his third day in Bosnia, he says, he turned himself over completely to Our Lady and praying for her continued protection and consolation. “Before long I felt a definite presence”, he wrote about his ordeal. “It only grew more and more vivid, until I could see it, shimmering in my mind’s eye! I knew I would not die. It's hard to put into words, but I saw the vision but yet, also felt it. The feeling was powerful, very warm and comforting...”Source: Michael H. Brown, The Day Will Come .

12/8/08

Please Pray for Our Priests.

Pictured here are Fr. Joe Whalen (left) with Fr. Ed Sousa Jr.



We Pray for our Priests this Advent

picture by Easter A.
Pier at Mokapu in Honolulu


The prayer below was posted by Fr. Valencheck on his blog, Adam's Ale. How important it is to pray for our priests, especially during the busiest seasons of our Church such as the Advent and Christmas! With fervent and joyful hearts, we pray...“Father Bruno’s PRAYER FOR PRIESTS” 1925


*O almighty and eternal God, look upon the face of Your Christ, and for love of Him who is the eternal High-priest, have pity on your priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which in them by the imposition of the Bishop’s hands. Keep them close to You, lest the enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation.

O Jesus, I pray You for Your faithful and fervent priests; for Your unfaithful and tepid priests; for You priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Your tempted priests; for Your lonely and desolate priests; for Your sick priests; for Your aged priests, for Your dying priests; for the souls of Your priests in purgatory. But above all I commend to You the priests dearest to me: the priest who baptized me; the priest who absolved me from my sins; the priest at whose Masses I assisted and who have me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priest who taught and instructed me or helped me and encourage me; all the priest to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly . . . O Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen

12/6/08

Helping Jesus.


At the sight of the crowds, His heart was moved with pity." —Matthew 9:36

The Lord is planning a wonderful Christmas. He promises: "No more will you weep" (Is 30:19). Our prayers will be answered immediately (Is 30:19). We will no longer be confused but know exactly which way to go (Is 30:21).


Our lives will be fruitful and life-giving (see Is 30:23-25). We will walk in the light as never before and also see the Lord healing His people.(Is 30:26).

These are just a few of Jesus' plans for Christmas. So much needs to be done to accomplish all these Christmas plans, and the Lord has decided not to do it all Himself but to send out workers to love, console, teach, lead, empower, enlighten, and heal (Mt 9:38).Will you work in His Christmas harvest? "The harvest is good but laborers are scarce" (Mt 9:37).


The Lord will give you all the authority and power to "cure the sick, raise the dead, heal the leprous, expel demons" (Mt 10:8). He'll give you wonderful gifts, and all you have to do is pass it on (see Mt 10:8). Will you work for the Lord this Advent? Do you love the Lord and His people enough to put aside your plans and reach out in Jesus' name to the sick, suffering, and lost?


Jesus needs helpers, but "everyone is busy seeking his own interests rather than those of Christ Jesus. Deny yourself (see Lk 9:23) and work with Jesus this Advent and forever.

Jesus, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." —Ps 147:3

12/5/08

I am calling you to the Light.



As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting. “Take pity on us, Son of David.” And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up with him and he said to them, “Do you believe I can do this?” They said, “Sir, we do.” Then he touched their eyes saying, “Your faith deserves this, so let it be done for you.” And their sight returned. Matthew 9 : 27-30


Dear children! In your life you have all experienced light and darkness. God grants to every person to recognize good and evil. I am calling you to the light which you should carry to all the people who are in darkness. People who are in darkness daily come into your homes. Dear children, give them the light! Thank you for having responded to my call. March 14, 1985
Posted by Pilgrim

12/2/08

Saint James Church in Medjugorje.


Beautiful Photo of Saint James Church in Medjugorje.
Photo taken from Spiritdaily.

Our Lady's Medjugorje Message to Mirjana of December 2, 2008


Dear children! In this holy time of joyful expectation, God has chosen you, the little ones, to realise his great intentions. My children, be humble. Through your humility, with his wisdom, God will make of your souls a chosen home. You will illuminate it with good works and thus, with an open heart, you will welcome the birth of my Son in all of his generous love. Thank you, dear children. December 2, 2008•


Today’s Gospel: Luke 10 : 21-22

It was then, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “I bless you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and to those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”Dear children... God has chosen you, the little ones, to realise his great intentions...

12/1/08

Please Pray for Fr. Peter and his Seminarians.


Below is a E-Mail that was sent by Father Peter Kamai to his friend Maureen in the USA in regards to the situation in Jos.-Fr. Peter pictured here celebrating Mass at Saint James Church in Medjugorje in September of 2008.


Hi Maureen, Greetings from Jos, Nigeria and many thanks for the concern. Its really bad here! Over five hundred have been killed in what is now seemingly a religious riot. Our Seminary is under siege up to now. It seems their intention is to destroy it. Already the Monastery which is next to us has been torched; their library and other buildings have been destroyed. I really dont know what the moslems are up to but its really bad. At the moment we can not come out. They have barricaded the seminary and who knows what their next plan of action is? Maureen pray for us that this mayhem will come to an end. The times are hard!!! Regards to all. - Fr. Peter

11/27/08

Johnny the Grocery Store Bagger.


Johnny, the grocery store bagger. Please watch the following video clip. It is a story of Johnny, the grocery store bagger. It is very short, but it will remind you of why and how we make an impact in what we do. You may even want to share it with others, and I hope you will. It's amazing how one young Down's Syndrome bagger made such a wonderful impact on those customers lucky enough to have Johnny bag their groceries! Click Here To View The Movie http://www.simpletruths.com/simpletruths/a.aspx?af=219&mo=stsr

Patrick and Nancy Latta of Medjugorje.


In 1991, Patrick Latta, a successful businessman and car dealer in Canada, and his wife Nancy, a commercial lawyer, received a great grace of conversion through the messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje. Leaving behind everything they had created in their material world, they moved to Medjugorje in 1993, during the height of the war. With Fr. Slavko Barbaric, OFM as their spiritual guide and confessor until his death in Nov. of 2000.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Retreat House was born, with a specific desire to support, renew, and foster vocations to the priesthood and regligious life.
Now after 15 years of living in Medjugorje and 12 years construction, streams of pilgrims from around the world come to Our Lady's Retreat House to honor her as the Queen of Peace.-- Click onto their story. http://www.homeofthesacredheart.org/MedjMagArticle.pdf

11/26/08

Expect to be Persecuted.


PRAISE IN PERSECUTION-People "will manhandle and persecute you." —Luke 21:12"

Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus can expect to be persecuted.

The Lord wants us to expect persecution. This expectation prepares and arms us for spiritual warfare. To help us expect persecution, the Lord has told us we will be manhandled, persecuted, arrested, and brought to trial because of our love for Him .

We will "be delivered up" even by our "parents, brothers, relatives and friends," and some of us will be put to death (Lk 21:16). We often react to the "good news" of persecution with denial, fear, or sadness. However, the Lord wants us to stand erect and hold our heads high.

He wants us to be like Paul and Silas, who prayed and sang hymns in the midst of suffering persecution. Even at the time of the mass apostasy and as the seven final plagues are poured out on this earth we should be "full of joy" for having "been judged worthy of ill-treatment for the sake of the Name.

Under any conditions, we can sing: "Mighty and wonderful are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Righteous and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!" In persecution, we will shout with all the angels and saints: "Alleluia! The Lord is King, our God, the Almighty! Let us rejoice and be glad, and give Him glory! For this is the wedding day of the Lamb

Praise Him always and with special enthusiasm when you're privileged to be persecuted.

Father, judge me worthy to be persecuted.

11/25/08

Our Lady's Medjugorje to Marija of November 25, 2008


Dear children!

Also today I call you, in this time of grace, to pray for little Jesus to be born in your heart. May He, who is peace itself, give peace to the entire world through you. Therefore, little children, pray without ceasing for this turbulent world without hope, so that you may become witnesses of peace for all. May hope begin to flow through your hearts as a river of grace. Thank you for having responded to my call. November 25, 2008

11/19/08

The Holy Mass-Holy,holy,holy.



HOLY MASS: A HEAVENLY EXPERIENCE--"Holy, holy, holy..." —Revelation 4:8

The book of Revelation gives us a vision that lifts our minds and our spirit from an earthly to a heavenly perspective. St. John's vision helps us to set our hearts on heaven rather than earth (Col 3:1-2). More than anything else on earth, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass enables us to have not only a heavenly perspective, but even a heavenly experience. In the Mass, Jesus is present in the Eucharist. Jesus Himself said: "I Myself am the Living Bread come down from heaven" for us to eat and never die. (Jn 6:50, 51).

In the Person of the eucharistic Jesus, "heaven is wedded to earth" (Easter Vigil Exultet). In the Mass, we join with the angels and saints as they sing, "Holy, holy, holy" (Rv 4:8). In the Mass, we spend our lives in heavenly worship and earthly charity until Jesus returns. At Mass, we "praise the Lord in His sanctuary. We wait in joyful hope for Jesus to come again and bring us with Him to heaven. In the Mass, we have "an open door to heaven as we join in the heavenly worship "around the throne" of God.

In the Mass, "the Eucharist is celebrated in communion with the whole Church in heaven and on earth. At Mass, "we have our citizenship in heaven; it is from there that we eagerly await the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice [of the Mass]...unites us even now to the Church in heaven. Go to Mass as often as possible, even daily. Experience heaven on earth.

Prayer: Jesus, I invest my life in taking up the cup of salvation, the Bread of Life, and calling upon Your name at Mass. "Whoever has, will be given more, but the one who has not will lose the little he has." —Lk 19:26

11/17/08

Medjugorje: Remembering Fr. Philip Pavich's after Confession Prayer.


Jesus, I really believe that you are the son of God and the son of Mary.
You came into the world to save sinners and I need you.
Without you I would have been lost under Satan's power of guilt and shame and condemnation.
But you came to set me free by forgiving all of my sins. You and Mary both defeated Satan and I want to share in your victories.
Satan I renounce you, you are defeated in my life and I belong to Jesus and Mary.
All my sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus. I claim my victory in Jesus name.
Thank you Jesus, Thank you Mary, Amen

Message from Purgatory


Holy souls in Purgatory, is there anything you regret when you think of your life on earth? I deeply regret wasted time.... I did not consider it so precious, so fleeting, so irretrievable. For this reason my life is worth only half of what it might have been. Oh, had I but realized it then! Would that I could return to earth, how differently I would use the time given to me! Precious time! . . .

Today I know how to appreciate you. You were purchased with the blood of Christ; you were given me for the sole purpose of loving God, sanctifying myself and edifying my neighbor. But alas! I have abused you by committing sin; I have craved vanity, pleasures and trifles; I have been dreaming dreams which now cause me bitter reproaches and remorse. Precious time . . . Wasted time . . . How heavily you weigh upon me now! How it grieves me to have lost you through my own fault! Fleeting time . . . . Time which passes so quickly on earth, but which drags so slowly in this prison of fire, in this place of excruciating torments!

Formerly, years seamed like days to me. My whole life vanished like a dream. Hours now seem like years, days like centuries. I must now suffer, weep, and wait until the last minute of wasted time is redeemed. Oh, how long shall my exile last! Irretrievable time! On earth I relied on my last years to do penance; but the thread of my life was severed as a moment when I expected least! Oh precious time! You were given me to acquire treasures and graces without number, but now you are lost for me forever.

You, who still live on earth, do not waste the gift of time, which has cost Jesus such a high price, and for which you too will have to suffer in Purgatory if you imitate our carelessness. You, who are privileged to live during a time which is preeminently devoted to the Sacred Heart, during these last centuries when He has revealed to the world His love in its fullness: intercede for us that we may obtain the merits of at least one of these days, in which His grace is so freely and abundantly offered you.

**This letter I believe was written by Saint Margret from a conversation she had with the Poor Souls in Purgatory, but the page I have has no name upon it. - Spiritdaily

11/14/08

Dr. Alveda King Says--Obama Doesn't Fulfill the Dream.


Steven Ertelt,Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) --

The niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. says Barack Obama doesn't fulfill her uncle's dream despite his election last week as president. Dr. Alveda King says Obama's pro-abortion position makes it so the civil rights struggle is not complete because unborn children are killed in abortion.
Alveda King told LifeNews.com on Tuesday that the civil rights struggle for unborn children continues and noted that abortion adversely affects the black community.
"The election of an African American president sends a powerful and historic message that what was previously unthinkable can become reality," King said.
"The battle for equal rights has reached a major milestone, but Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream of full equality remains just a dream as long as unborn children continue to be treated no better than property," she added.
While Obama has talked about reducing abortions and entering into common ground discussions about abortions involving both sides of the debate, King says his rhetoric and record don't match and that Obama will increase abortions as president.
"President-elect Obama has promised actions that will only increase the number of abortions," she said and added that pro-life advocates "must promise to redouble our efforts to resist anti-life proposals, speak up for the babies, and, above all, pray."
"We must pray with persistence and love that, in God's time, what is now deemed unthinkable will become reality - that all our brothers in sisters, from conception to natural death, will be protected in law and welcomed in society," King concluded.
"The elections are over. The pro-life battle begins anew."

11/11/08

Words of a Prophet



Words of a prophet..."The world is rapidly being divided into two camps, the comradeship of anti-Christ and the brotherhood of Christ. The lines between these two are being drawn. How long the battle will be we know not; whether swords will have to be unsheathed we know not; whether blood will have to be shed we know not; whether it will be an armed conflict we know not. But in a conflict between truth and darkness, truth cannot lose." ~Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Posted by Jackie Parkes

11/5/08

My Child Joseph-Posted by Easter of Mostly Prayers


My Child Joseph by Easter.
I see my 5 children, such beatiful children that hold the life of God... and think to myself: If I didn't have them all or a single one of them, how would life have been? There is no answer because deep inside of me, I know, there would have been no other way. I thought I'd share with you that during the mild recession in the early 90's both my husband and I lost our jobs. In that period of great material loss, the Lord told us to raise a 3rd child. My husband and I joyfully came together to procreate life in obedience to our God of Life. In no time at all, our precious 3rd child, Joseph, was born.Today, Joseph is 11 years of age and teeming with God's life. He serves at daily Mass, plays tennis with passion, happily directs little skits in the home, loves to imitate characters in good movies and animations such as Larry Boy in the Veggie Tale series, takes care of his siblings, throws the trash for me, prefers to go to Adoration to going to malls, eats ice cream with a smile on his face, takes the time to help his dad cook, rides his bike and Ripstick with much glee, washes dishes without complaining and leaves my sink clean, joyfully sings Christian music with his siblings, a true gentleman... Need I say more? God is life. We preserve life, not destroy it!

Meet my Joseph here (first 3 pictures)
Posted by Easter A. at 8:06 AM

Be a Light for Christ.



We live in a time of moral darkness. God is calling each of us to shine the Light of Christ in this current darkness to provide a bright moral compass for the lost.

In times of great darkness, we who have been set on fire with Jesus' light cannot give in to discouragement When you feel you're burning out like a smoldering wick know that "Christ will give you light.

11/3/08

A Thankful Pilgrim


The picture enclosed was given to me while I was praying for my daughter’s healing by a priest whose friend went to Medjugorje in 1988. He decided to take a picture of a beautiful rose bush located in front of St. James Church and when he developed the film this is what he found: the Virgin Mother with the Baby Jesus in Her arms!
Editor’s note: The author prefers to use a pen name because of the personal information. On the same day that she called me to see if I had received the copy of this picture she sent me, another subscriber in a different state sent me 4 copies of the same picture! I think I was being prompted to share this picture with our readers.

Miracle picture - A Thankful Pilgram

Father Jozo's Commentary on Our Lady's Message of October 25, 2008



Message of October 25, 2008

„Dear children! In a special way I call you all to pray for my intentions so that, with your prayers, you could stop the satanic plan for this world, which is further from God every day, which puts itself in God’s place and destroys all the beautiful and good in the soul of each of you. So, little children, arm yourselves with prayer and fasting so that you may become aware of how much God loves you, and do God's will. Thank you for having responded to my call.”


Dear brothers and sisters, this message found me in Italy, near the City of Bari, where a large crowd of the faithful had gathered for a whole-day prayer. It served as an outline for my preaching and for the course of the day’s programme, which started at eight o'clock in the morning and finished at nine in the evening.
To me this message is a strong call of Our Lady in these hard times for the Church so similar to those in the Middle Ages, when the dignity of man was sinking, when people were divided into three estates or ranks. The Lord was not enthusiastic over nobility or any other class. He enlightened a rich man to show a new way, and a new image of man and his dignity.
– Francis, my Church is crumbling down – said the living Lord from the crucifix. – Lord, what do you want me to do? – Help me renew the Church. – How? – Read – the Lord said to him. Francis took the Bible in his youthful hands, opened it three times and found the answer: leave everything, give up everything, and follow Jesus.
The living Jesus was speaking from the cross, the living Jesus was speaking from the Bible. The man was listening with an open heart and realised that there was no other and more exalted way. He responded to the call. – Lord – said the pauper of Assisi – since I came to know and to love you my money, my business, my horses, the knightly prestige, friends, girls have become nothing. All that is nothing but dust. You are my God and my everything!
And he entered a school of prayer. The Crucified was the only Teacher and the Book from which he learnt all wisdom and drew all the love for all creatures. Everything led him to the Creator. The happiest man walking on this earth is the man set free from the slavery to things.
Taking the helm of Peter’s ship, Pope Benedict XVI, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, exclaimed to all: “This ship is leaking on all sides.”
Many interpreted this as a piece of humour of an eighty-year-old man and a wise teacher of the Church. No, I did not see or hear it that way. I understood him as the disciples and apostles understood Peter near Caesarea Philippi when he, answering Jesus’ question – Who do you say that I am? – said: – You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
The only full answer at that moment and for all times.
And today our Peter answers in what condition the Church is.
Every divorce destroys the sacrament of love and makes a hole in the body of the Church. Every Christian who does not live his faith, that is, who lives without Mass and Sunday, without prayer and sacraments, in one word, without God, creates with his life and public sins a huge crack on the body of the Church. Young people who have fallen victim to video games and obscene programmes, victims to night time and night spots, are ruining their own selves and their families. A family that does not pray and does not bring up their children in the spirit of the Gospel is a big and always scandalous hole in the ship of the Church. Blasphemers, drug addicts, alcoholics as well as pseudo-theologians and scholars without holiness and holy life in the Church are destroying the Church.
Therefore we are called in a special way – all of us – to pray for Her intentions. The Queen of Peace is telling us again what the Church can do with her hopeful and joint prayers – stop Satan’s plan. It is him who destroys, divides, who sows weeds in the hearts of the Sons of God. He is the tempter who never sleeps. He is the destroyer of man, the Church and every God’s plan. He manages to take away more and more people every day from God or to cause them to oppose God and His plan. He puts himself first instead of God. This haughtiness manifests itself in the decadence and erosion of morals, which is best evident in the programmes of television and other media. They want to misuse everything. An immoral man has a better chance and greater support than a moral one, a spineless person more than a man of principle, especially more than a parent.
These false greats and false idols, who are put on the pedestal of pagan goddesses and gods, every day brainwash and mislead even little ones trying to convince them that the way they offer is the only way.
Pornography, drugs and the modern addiction to electronic games are mighty weapons for enslavement of today’s man. People of all ages are slaves to these vices. At a large gathering in Paris scientists reported devastating facts that pornography was a more murderous and widespread destroyer of man than drugs. That is how – through violence to life, slavery to pleasures and false entertainments – a family remains without children, and children without a family and family upbringing. In a very short time a large number of young people have abandoned every influence of religious life and education. Everything that exists, everything that is offered is permitted. Seminaries are being daily closed down, and the interest in God, the Church, the Revelation is dwindling.
Let us go back to the history of the Old Testament for a moment. The Philistines with Goliath are before Jerusalem. Professional soldiers with Goliath at the head are planning to destroy Jerusalem and subjugate Israel. The king Saul learns through reconnaissance patrols of thousands of warriors in the enemy’s camp. He is too week to resist them. He does not even count on God and His help any more. He thinks only in human terms, and pure mathematics tells him that he is going to lose the battle to the stronger enemy.
God forsakes the king who does not count on Him. He calls the young David, a shepherd. The prophet anointed him king, too. – You are going to win in my name – said the Lord to David – with your sling and the five stones. Have no fear. Face Goliath in my name. – And it was so. David believed the Lord and His word, His name. David prevails over and kills the invincible Goliath.
How to arm ourselves today? – With prayer and fasting – the Queen of Peace said to us. Our Lord also mentioned this weapon to his disciples when they had not been able to expel the devil from a possessed man. How did the prophets and the saints of the New Testament manage to be victorious? – With prayer and fasting. How did Francis renew the Church? – With prayer and fasting. What is our strength today, that Our Lady is speaking about, to stop the power of Satan? – Fasting and prayer. There is no other weapon. If you want to help your people, your family and the Church, listen to the Mother. Take up this weapon.
Let us remember the apostle Paul, too, who at the very beginning of the Church wrote to Christians: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armour of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil… Therefore, take up the full armour of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” (Eph 6:10)
Dear Mother, exalted are your words and precious your advice. You who are bruising our enemy on the head with your heel, you know best how to overpower him. Thank you for this strong message in which you call everybody.
Brothers and sisters, do not take this message as a mere piece of information. It is the only programme for our survival and our peace as believing and holy people. Do you not feel a deep gratitude that it reconfirms your calling and your vow, that it tells you again how important our praying and fasting family is for: Living Our Lady’s messages! At this moment nothing is so urgent. Respond to the call!

This month we are going to pray for the following intentions:
For the gift of the spirit of wisdom and fortitude, the gift of fasting and prayer, the gift of persistency in this consumerist environment so that our Lord may always remain in the first place: Our God and our everything!
For all those who have lost the gifts of: faith, love and hope, beauty and joy in prayer and sacrifice, that they may discover and live these graces again.
For all pilgrims, visionaries and parishioners that we may responsibly and literally live this message.
For all bishops and priests accompanying the pilgrims, that they may always be a model and good shepherds to them, who with the greatest love help them to conversion through sacraments of confession and Eucharist.

Dear brothers and sisters! This message first shocked me, then it encouraged me, because this sickness unto death – that is, multifarious apostasies and immense deviations from the path of faith, especially of our families and the young – has a remedy after all: fasting and prayer. This medicine we can administer. Luckily this gift is in our heart. Let us courageously respond to the call of the Queen of Peace.
Fasting and praying for you all, that we may succeed, is you brother fra Jozo.

30.10.2008., Široki Brijeg

11/2/08

Gianna Jessen- Abortion Survivor-Part-1


A Wonderful and Powerful Witness. Don't miss seeing Part #2.

Gianna Jessen-Abortion Survivor-Part # 2




Part# 2

Our Lady's November message to Mirjana




November message to Mirjana
Dear children, today I call you to a complete union with God. Your body is on earth, but I ask you for your soul to be all the more often in God’s nearness. You will achieve this through prayer, prayer with an open heart. In that way you will thank God for the immeasurable goodness which He gives to you through me and, with a sincere heart, you will receive the obligation to treat the souls whom you meet with equal goodness. Thank you, my children. November 2, 2008
Our Lady added: With the heart I pray to God to give strength and love to your shepherds to help you in this and to lead you.

10/30/08

Sister Briege McKenna-Miracles Do Happen.



"Miracles Do Happen" by Sister Briege McKenna

"In May of 1981, I was ministering in Rome and I had the privilege of praying with Father Tomislav Vlasic, a priest from Medjugorje. He had asked me to pray for his parish ministry back in Yugoslavia. I received one of the images I often get. I saw a white church with twin steeples. Father was sitting in the main celebrant's chair in the sanctuary of this church and streams of living water were flowing from the altar. Many people were coming and cupping the water in their hands to drink of this water.

Father Tomislav was very consoled by this image because his parish was going through hard times. The church was experiencing great difficulties. The government was less than sympathetic toward the church. It was about a month later, on June 24, that Our Lady made her first appearance to the five youths of Medjugorje"