9/30/11

Medjugorje: Seer at Famous Apparition Gave Enthralling Hints of What May Be in Her First “Secrets”

Mirjana in a serious momement
Spiritofmedjugorje.org

Seer at Famous Apparition Gave Enthralling Hints of What May Be in Her First “Secrets”

Part II

Editor’s note: In 1985, Mirjana Dragicevic Soldo gave some rare and revealing indications of what is in the secret prophecies she maintains the Blessed Mother gave her before her daily apparitions halted in 1982. This interview with Fr Petar Lubicic, the priest who will reveal the secrets to the world, is continued from the September, 2011 issue.

Father Ljubicic: Out of the ten secrets that each of you will receive – and you and Ivanka [Ivankovic] already did [now also a third named Jakov Colo] – do you know which of them will be exactly the same? I mean, which secrets will be exactly the same for you, for Ivanka, and the others?

Mirjana: No, I don’t know.

Father Ljubicic: Someone said that only three of the secrets that each of you received are identical, while all the others are different.

Mirjana: The one about the sign is identical, I am positive about that because there will not be six different signs.

Father Ljubicic: Not on the same spot.

Mirjana: The sign is the same sign. Personally, I never spoke about the secrets with any [of the others]. After all, in the same way that the secrets were entrusted to me, that is how they were entrusted to the others as well.

Father Ljubicic: Thus far I never spoke with you about the permanency of the sign. Each of you maintains persistently that it will be indestructible, permanent, and very large. Accordingly, one will be able to understand it as something tangible.

Mirjana: Yes, the sign will be indestructible and permanent. Naturally, it will be clear to everyone that it is not something constructed and erected. Nobody will be able to say that it was brought and placed in that particular spot by, let us say, someone from Medjugorje.

Father Ljubicic: The sign’s manifestation – will it be during the day or night? By asking that, am I encroaching on the secret?

Mirjana: Oh, that is a secret. I cannot answer because that touches upon… the secret already has a specific date and time.

Father Ljubicic: Does the secret have a specified minute and second?

Mirjana: I know the exact day and the hour.

Father Ljubicic: Do you anticipate that there may be some people, some souls, who will perhaps ‘feel’ something, without anyone else’s knowledge or anticipation, that something is about to happen and will, therefore, come in large numbers?

Mirjana: I do not know. But I did have the opportunity to ask Our Lady something to that effect. I do know that, during the secret’s manifestation, there will be spiritual conversions.

Father Ljubicic: There will be conversions?

Mirjana: Yes, there will be conversions.

Father Ljubicic: Do you think that [of those who will convert] a majority of them will be those who were suspicious, who doubted, who didn’t believe?...

Mirjana: There will be all kinds: those who were just suspicious, those who didn’t believe at all, and others.

Father Ljubicic: Do you think that there will still be those who will remain hardened – despite the explicit, tangible, visible signs and warnings?

Mirjana: Yes.

Father Ljubicic: There will be?

Mirjana: Yes, there will be.

Father Ljubicic: Yes, of course, just as there always were. Even today, so many see the obvious works of God, yet they simply reject Him because they are so hardened, just as the Pharisees did.

Mirjana: Those are the ones who have shut their souls to God.

Father Ljubicic: Let me touch upon Our Lady’s latest message. It seems that Our Lady is drawing attention to our greatest enemy, Satan. It seems that he is increasing his attacks, that he is attempting to create confusion and entangle the entire situation.

Mirjana: He is responsible for the unbelievers – Satan. This is why she said to bless the home with Holy Water on Saturdays. He is the one who makes people into unbelievers. Who else?

Father Ljubicic: Do you think that Godlessness is growing or decreasing today?

Mirjana: Father, it is increasing. A miracle is necessary for Godlessness to decrease.


In a later interview with the same priest, Mirjana expanded upon the other secrets, urging especially conversion of the young. They were especially the ones Mary wept over, she explained. “I now know about things that are not particularly pleasant,” said the visionary, whose daily apparitions halted in 1982, when she received the tenth secret – the first of the six to do so. “I believe that if everyone knew about these same things, each one of these people would be ‘shocked’ to their senses and would view our world in a completely different light. Of course, my greatest advice to all is to pray for all the unbelievers. You see, Mary expends the greatest amount of time talking about that very thing. We must also not forget the elderly and the infirm. They are ours, too. They sacrificed their whole lives. Many of them lived their entire lives for God and in prayer. Their senior years shouldn’t have to be sad and miserable. I cannot elaborate much more, it is hard for me [to do that]. You see, so much is tied to the secrets. If the people saw the first secret, as it was shown to me, all of them would most certainly be shaken enough to take a new and different look at themselves and everything around them.”

Father Ljubicic: The manifestation of that secret, will it only be a momentary thing or will it be something that will last for an extended period?

Mirjana: It will last for a little while.

Father Ljubicic: Little while?

Mirjana: Little.

Father Ljubicic: Will its effect be lasting and permanent or will its effect be momentary and passing?

Mirjana: How can I explain that without encroaching on the secret? Let me just say that it won’t be good at all, it won’t be pleasant.

Father Ljubicic: After that, if anyone were to come here knowing that such and such had occurred, will that person be able to see anything – any evidence that something indeed did happen here?

Mirjana: Yes, yes, yes.

Father Ljubicic: It will be visible?

Mirjana: Yes.

Father Ljubicic: This whole situation: it seems that she is trying to prepare us and to ‘dress’ us with saintliness, God’s Love and perfection, so that we may greet Our Lord when He comes. Is there anything that signals something of that nature?

Mirjana: Just as any mother, she cares for her children. She wants us to come and meet God the Father well-prepared. She doesn’t want us to weep and wail when it’s too late. God said that He forgives at any time – providing the soul repents sincerely. All she asks for, the one thing she waits for, is for all of us to repent so that we may be forgiven. What follows are the secrets that are really unpleasant. I would be happy if everyone would finally understand that. I cannot tell [the secrets], but once they begin to be fulfilled, then it will be too late.

Father Ljubicic: Will the interval between the first and second secret be lengthy?

Mirjana: That varies according to the secrets. What I mean is that, for example, the time between the first and second secrets is of a certain period, between the second and third is of different length. For example, and I stress: for example, the first secret may take place today and the second one already tomorrow.

Father Ljubicic: Tell me, what do you think about the people who are specially inspired by God, I mean persons who are having genuine mystical experiences, the mysterious experiences? I am talking about those to whom God is showing and saying something, in a variety of ways – things that will occur in the future. Can you make a connection between them and the present world situation?

Mirjana: I believe that they, too, were chosen by Mary – just as we were. All of us were not chosen because we are somehow better than the rest – not at all. I simply mean that all of them were chosen to help people, to focus the people’s attention [on God], to tell people [about Him and all that will happen], to instruct the ones around them in some way, to talk with them and to tell them what Mary says. To do and say the same things that she tells us. Perhaps people will listen to them. The main task for all of us [seers] is to spread the faith in God.
spiritdaily
Sources:  http://www.spiritofmedjugorje.org/     http://www.spiritdaily.com/                                  

9/29/11

Daily Grace: Walking the Walk, A Call to Witness


Daily Grace: Walking the Walk, A Call to Witness: For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me...

September 29, Feast of the Holy Archangels


Prayer For Help Against Spiritual Enemies

9/28/11

Interview with Fr. Petar from Medjugorje


Uploaded by davidtlig on Sep 28, 2011
Fr Petar Ljubicic is a central figure in the Medjugorje events. He is the priest to whom the visionary, Mirjana, will announce the Secrets ten days before they take place. He will announce them to the world three days before.
Fr Petar joined the 2011 True Life in God pilgrimage in Rome and agreed to give this interview during it.

Priest" Says Jesus Condemned him to Hell

Fr. Steven Scheier

Priest" Says Jesus Condemned him to Hell

Fr. Steven Scheir was casual in his faith, lax in his prayers, and sought popularity with his peers. He said for a priest to fill the pews and keep the money coming in he had to tell people what they wanted to hear. So he did just that. He told his parishioners all about peace, love, and joy while excluding the role and purpose of the Church and the truth appertaining to faith and the morals revealed by God. He explains what happened when death almost claimed him during a car accident and he came before our Lord Jesus Christ...
VIDEO:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1xFfFy0PlM

I spoke to a priest who was condemned to Hell by Jesus ChristI
By M. Dimond

A few months ago I was able to speak a few times to a Fr. Steven Scheier. Many years ago Fr. Scheier was attempting to pass another car with his Ford Thunderbird and ran head-on into a pickup truck. The violent collision snapped his neck and tore half his scalp away. Fr. Scheier was immediately airlifted by helicopter to a hospital, while the paramedics worked desperately to save his life. Barely alive, he slipped into the stillness of death. What occurred next would forever change Fr. Scheier.

Suddenly, he found himself alone, in another dimension. Something he described as a vast spiritual void.

Fr. Scheier: “I was before the Judgment Seat of Almighty God… Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord [whom I could hear but not see] went through all my unconfessed, unforgiven mortal sins. There was much said in regards to my life. The only thing that I did when I heard about particular instances was internally say, ‘Yes, Yes, that’s true.’ There was no rebuttal. At the end of his speaking, God said, ‘The sentence that you will have for all eternity is Hell.’
“I thought internally, ‘I know this is what I deserve.’
 It was if I had pronounced the sentence myself. I had chosen my destiny, he was just honoring that decision.

“The next voice I heard was that of a female. I didn’t see her either, but she said, ‘Son, would you please spare his life and his eternal soul.’

“The male voice said, ‘Mother, he has been a priest for twelve years for himself, and not for me. Let him reap the punishment he deserves.’

“There was a short pause and the female voice said, ‘But Son, if we give to him special graces and strengths, and come to him in ways that he is not familiar with, we can see if he bears fruit… If he does not, then Your will be done’.

“Then there was a very short pause and the male voice said ‘Mother, he’s yours.’”

Despite only a 15% chance of surviving, and injuries that should have left him paralyzed for life, Fr. Scheier defied all odds and made an unexplainable recovery.

Fr. Scheier recalls that he indeed deserved to go to Hell, for he had not fulfilled his duty as a priest: “I could not stand peer pressure. In other words, I wanted to be one of the guys. Now the priests at this time seemed to find a need to be just one of the guys, too, a lay person. And that was shown more from the pulpit than any place else in my dealings with priests and laity – because priests would get up and talk about peace, love and joy, not morality, dogma, and what the Church is all about – because this made one unpopular and God help us if a priest was unpopular – because that would mean that the money didn’t come in. So to keep the money coming in you had to tell the people what they wanted to hear.”

September 29th Feast of the Archangels Saint Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael


September 29th Feast of Saint Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels

The liturgy celebrates the feast of these three archangels who are venerated in the tradition of the Church. Michael (Who is like God?) was the archangel who fought against Satan and all his evil angels, defending all the friends of God. He is the protector of all humanity from the snares of the devil. Gabriel (Strength of God) announced to Zachariah the forthcoming birth of John the Baptist, and to Mary, the birth of Jesus. His greeting to the Virgin, "Hail, full of grace," is one of the most familiar and frequent prayers of the Christian people. Raphael (Medicine of God) is the archangel who took care of Tobias on his journey.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that, "[T]he existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls "angels" is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the ananimity of Tradition."

Angels are pure, created spirits. The name angel means servant or messenger of God. Angels are celestial or heavenly beings, on a higher order than human beings. Angels have no bodies and do not depend on matter for their existence or activity. They are distinct from saints, which men can become. Angels have intellect and will, and are immortal. They are a vast multitude, but each is an individual person. Archangels are one of the nine choirs of angels listed in the Bible. In ascending order, the choirs or classes are 1) Angels, 2) Archangels, 3) Principalities, 4) Powers, 5) Virtues, 6) Dominations, 7) Thrones, 8) Cherubim, and 9) Seraphim.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Michael

The name of the archangel Michael means, in Hebrew, who is like unto God? and he is also known as "the prince of the heavenly host." He is usually pictured as a strong warrior, dressed in armor and wearing sandals. His name appears in Scripture four times, twice in the Book of Daniel, and once each in the Epistle of St. Jude and the Book of Revelation. From Revelation we learn of the battle in heaven, with St. Michael and his angels combatting Lucifer and the other fallen angels (or devils). We invoke St. Michael to help us in our fight against Satan; to rescue souls from Satan, especially at the hour of death; to be the champion of the Jews in the Old Testament and now Christians; and to bring souls to judgment.


Patron: Against temptations; against powers of evil; artists; bakers; bankers; battle; boatmen; cemeteries; coopers; endangered children; dying; Emergency Medical Technicians; fencing; grocers; hatmakers; holy death; knights; mariners; mountaineers; paramedics; paratroopers; police officers; radiologists; sailors; the sick; security forces; soldiers; against storms at sea; swordsmiths; those in need of protection.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

St. Gabriel

St. Gabriel's name means "God is my strength". Biblically he appears three times as a messenger. He had been sent to Daniel to explain a vision concerning the Messiah. He appeared to Zachary when he was offering incense in the Temple, to foretell the birth of his son, St. John the Baptist. St. Gabriel is most known as the angel chosen by God to be the messenger of the Annunciation, to announce to mankind the mystery of the Incarnation.

The angel's salutation to our Lady, so simple and yet so full of meaning, Hail Mary, full of grace, has become the constant and familiar prayer of all Christian people.

Patron: Ambassadors; broadcasting; childbirth; clergy; communications; diplomats; messengers; philatelists; postal workers; public relations; radio workers; secular clergy; stamp collectors; telecommunications.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

St. Raphael

Our knowledge of the Archangel Raphael comes to us from the book of Tobit. His mission as wonderful healer and fellow traveller with the youthful Tobias has caused him to be invoked for journeys and at critical moments in life. Tradition also holds that Raphael is the angel that stirred the waters at the healing sheep pool in Bethesda. His name means "God has healed".

Patron: Blind; bodily ills; counselors; druggists; eye problems; guardian angels; happy meetings; healers; health inspectors; health technicians; love; lovers; mental illness; nurses; pharmacists; physicians; shepherds; against sickness; therapists; travellers; young people; young people leaving home for the first time.

9/27/11

Visionaries Unite in appeal to Parishioners

Marija, Mirjana and Ivan on June 24th 2010,
 the 29th anniversary of the apparitions.
 In local author Kresimir Sego's new book
 all three visionaries issue warnings
 on materialism, and call all in the parish to put God first.

http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/1749/visionaries-unite-in-appeal-to-parishioners/

by Jakob Marschner

9/25/11

Our Lady's Medjugorje Message to Marija of September 25, 2011




Our Lady’s September message to Marija

Dear children! I call you, for this time to be for all of you, a time of witnessing. You, who live in the love of God and have experienced his gifts, witness them with your words and life that they may be for the joy and encouragement to others in faith. I am with you and incessantly intercede before God for all of you that your faith may always be alive and joyful, and in the love of God. Thank you for having responded to my call. September 25, 2011

Mass & Healing Service with Fr. Joe Whalen

Fr. Joseph Whalen, MS

September 29th 

FEAST OF THE HOLY ARCHANGELS
 
Thursday evening 7:00pm

National Shrine of Divine Mercy

2 Prospect Hill Road

Stockbridge, MA 01263

Mass and Healing Service

Fr. Joseph Whalen, MS

Exposition-Confessions-Benediction

Fr. John Welch, MS

9/23/11

Medjugorje: Mirjana ill for three days after Apparition.



Mirjana ill for three days after apparition
By Jakob Marschner on Sep 23, 2011

Seeing the Virgin Mary’s deep sadness because of humanity’s lack of response to her presence and graces made Medjugorje seer Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo think she would not survive an apparition in 2007. Afterwards Mirjana was ill for three days, constantly seeing the Virgin’s face before her eyes and strongly feeling her pain, she reveals in a new book.

Mirjana: "It hurts to see her cry, but it is even more agonizing to see the indescribable pain and sadness in her face, when her face winces with pain, when the pain is so strong that I do not need to see her tears to understand in how much pain she is."

Medjugorje visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo has had an apparition during which she thought she would die. While surviving her experience, Mirjana was ill for three days after the apparition, she tells in local author Kresimir Sego’s new book, “A Conversation with the Visionaries”.

Sego introduces the topic by recalling an apparition during the Winter 2007-08:

- Last Winter after an apparition, you said that Our Lady was sad, as sad as she had never been during any of her apparitions. What saddened her the most?

“She is most sad when she sees we are not going down the right path. She loves us like a mother and everyone is special and important to her. She takes care of each and everyone of us individually. She is most sad when she sees her children choose the path om doom rather than salvation”, Mirjana replies.

“It hurts to see her cry, but it is even more agonizing to see the indescribable pain and sadness in her face, when her face winces with pain, when the pain is so strong that I do not need to see her tears to understand in how much pain she is.”

The Virgin Mary’s pain springs from humanity’s general lack of response to all that she gives and all that she offers, Mirjana further reveals:

Mirjana: “Somehow the faith arose within me that we could wipe away her tears and lessen her pain. When I say we, I mean all of us, not only the visionaries and the priests. When Our Lady says “dear children”, then she speaks to all mankind. All people are her dear children”

“I can depict the pain she feels by looking at her face, and all because of us. She gives us so much and does so much for us and, yet, we don’t to make even the smallest step forward – not for her but for ourselves; this is terrible”.

Mirjana next describes what is likely to be her apparition on December 2nd 2007. Introduced by Sego only to have taken place in the Winter, from how Mirjana has described her apparitions the one on December 2nd is the only one from the period to have deep sorrow as the overall theme.

“During the apparition that you have mentioned, I felt as if I was going to die, I thought that I would not be able to survive. I was ill for three days after that apparition. Then God gave me the strength not to see her face constantly before my eyes and not to feel her pain so strongly”", Mirjana tells Kresimir Sego.

“Somehow the faith arose within me that we could wipe away her tears and lessen her pain. When I say we, I mean all of us, not only the visionaries and the priests. When Our Lady says “dear children”, then she speaks to all mankind. All people are her dear children”.

According to Mirjana’s descriptions, the Virgin Mary was “very sad” throughout the apparition on December 2nd 2007. “Her eyes were filled with tears throughout the whole time”, Mirjana revealed about the apparition.

“I asked Our Lady painfully not to leave us and not to give up on us. Our Lady painfully smiled to my request and left. This time she did not finish her message with the words “Thank you”, Mirjana further said.

Cenacolo Community in Medjugorje where Mirjana's apparitions were taking place in the Winter 2007-08

The Virgin Mary’s sadness on December 2nd 2007 was accompanied by the following message:

“Dear children! Today, while I am looking at your hearts, my heart is filled with pain and shudder. My children, stop for a moment and look in to your hearts. Is my Son – your God truly in the first place? Are His commandments truly the measure of your life? I am warning you again. Without faith there is no God’s nearness. God’s word which is the light of salvation and the light of common sense. ”
Source  http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/

Model and TV presenter Ania Golędzinowska tells Paolo Gambi why she left the world of glitzy celebrity for Medjugorje

Ania Goledzinowska: I left Itlay without telling anyone.





Model and TV presenter Ania Golędzinowska tells Paolo Gambi why she left the world of glitzy celebrity for Medjugorje

By Paolo Gambi on Thursday, 22 September 2011

The model who gave up Chanel for a life of prayer


As Silvio Berlusconi grapples with the greatest crisis the Italian republic has ever seen, a member of his extended family has gone on a long retreat to Medjugorje. Ania GolÄ™dzinowska, the Polish girlfriend of Paolo Enrico Beretta, the Italian prime minister’s nephew (he is the son of Silvio Berlusconi’s late sister, Maria Antonietta), has moved to the town in Bosnia and Herzegovina to lead a life of prayer.

How did you end up in Medjugorje?

The first time I was invited by a friend who also paid for the trip. I had a sort of an allergy for priests and the Church. But that first trip changed my life, so much so that for the following two years I was no longer able to live serenely, because I realised that I had never been really happy in my entire life. What I was living was an illusion, not true happiness. I became depressed. I had a privileged life that I no longer liked. Instead, I wanted simple, normal things. One morning I woke up, called a friend and asked him to find me a place to stay in Medjugorje – or I would have jumped out of the window. I left Italy with two bags without telling anyone. And here I am.

How long have you been in Medjugorje and when are you going to come back to Italy?

I’ve been here almost three months. Actually, my first thought was to come here just for a few days, because on June 25 I should have started a PR job in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, at the billionaire Flavio Briatore’s club. But June 25 was also the 30th anniversary of the apparitions in Medjugorje. After five days here I terminated the contract and have decided to remain. I am in a Marian community and I live with priests and nuns.

How do you spend your day?

I wake up at five in the morning. We climb the mountain Podbrdo to recite a rosary, then we go down, we have prayers, then Holy Mass. Until noon we work. I clean the rooms and bathrooms, then I do the ironing, or peel potatoes. We also have a vegetable garden and chickens. After that we recite another rosary. In the afternoon we rest, then at six there are other prayers.

You’re spending the summer in a place of prayer, far enough away from everything and everyone. Don’t you miss Formentera, Sardinia and other places like that?

Absolutely not. Many of my old friends cannot comprehend what I am doing. They don’t understand how I can be happy doing what maybe my cleaning lady did before. In fact, I think I have never been so happy. I feel like when I was a child, when I was little and I lived with my poor and simple family. Everything

I do makes me feel satisfied. I feel loved by God and by those around me, without having to disguise myself by what I have never been. I know that people are close to me for who I really am, not for profit. I left everything. I get dressed with the “clothes of Providence”, which sometimes the pilgrims leave here, because my clothes did not fit in Medjugorje. I could not come here wearing Chanel shoes…

What was the reaction of your boyfriend, Paolo Enrico Beretta?

At first he was shocked. For almost two weeks he did not know where I was. We met again a month later, when I returned to Milan to terminate the lease of the house and to sell the car: I decided to move permanently to Medjugorje. We met, we talked a lot and he understood my choices. He told me he respects them and that he will always and in any case be close to me until I will be ready to come back. And he knows very well that this can happen in a year as in four. Meanwhile, he is preparing to visit me. Now I do what the Lord wants from me. If the Lord wants me to come back, I shall come back to Italy. But I do not think this will happen in the near future.

In the newspapers we read that you have chosen chastity. Again, one would wonder if your boyfriend welcomed your choice.

He is perhaps the only man who has always respected me. We have had a chaste relationship, even though we have known each other for three years. Maybe that’s why our relationship is so deep. I decided to create an association “pure hearts” for those who have chosen to live in chastity until marriage, respecting God and themselves. As a sign recognition there are numbered rings for all members.

Why do so many people in the Italian showbusiness world go to Medjugorje?

I don’t know. Some do it for advertising, but there are also those who really need to find answers. In the end we are all people, and newspapers usually don’t tell stories about regular people. I believe that today’s world urges us to seek the truth, because we live in a false reality.

Where did your story begin?

It’s a long story and I have written about it in the book Con occhi di bambina (“Through the eyes of a child”). It begins when I was a little princess who dreamed of a castle and of her prince, but I found myself kicked out of the enchanted castle when I was four years old. I had to struggle with insincere people, harassment, abuse, drugs and much else besides.

It’s reported that in 2008, wearing just a bikini, you came out of a cake donated to prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and sang “Happy birthday” to him. After Medjugorje would you do that again?

After Medjugorje I would not do many things, but I do not regret anything. I had to live the good and the bad things of my past in order to give testimony today that you can change, that real life is something else. Jesus came and died for sinners, not for healthy people. I am the first of sinners. I do not want to lose the privilege of enjoying the mercy of the Lord.

From parties, perhaps with cocaine, to Our Lady… Do you think you want to escape from the world?

I have had nothing to do with drugs for about six years. I do not want to escape from the world, I know that the real battle is out in everyday life. But first I have to heal my soul to help others, to fight in the battlefield for the only true King, who is God.

From Medjugorje what do you want to tell our readers?

Three things: love, forgive and do not judge. Just as you want to be forgiven, also others have the right to a second chance. Forgive, but do not do it for others: do it for yourself. You must empty the hatred and the resentment that you hold in your heart. Only then can God work in you. Otherwise he has nowhere to put the graces that he has reserved. If you decide to come to Medjugorje do not expect to see the sun spinning or other miracles. The real miracle is your departure. Our Lady will take care of all the rest.

Open your heart.

Paolo Gambi is a contributing editor of The Catholic Herald

9/22/11

Daily Grace: Patiently you wait for me....


Daily Grace: Patiently you wait for me....: They suppressed their consciences; they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven, and did not keep in mind just judgments. Daniel 13:...

Fr. Jozo Zovko, A Priest is not born of an Angel



Priest not born of an Angel
says Fr Jozo Zovko ofm

“A priest is not born of an angel but of
a mother. He is chosen from amongst the
people, is anointed with the Sacrament of
Priesthood and returned back to the people,
to the Church – into their care, their prayer
and their love. The priest is a sign of the
omnipotence of our God. Pray for priests.
Love them. Support them. Help them to be
holy. We are weak and fragile. If your knees
are not bent in prayer for us, we stumble and fall. We need your prayer.” - Fr. Jozo Zovko ofm

9/20/11

Medjugorje: Testimony of Patrick Latta Part 1

Medjugorje: Testimony of Patrick Latta Part 2

Medjugorje: Testimony of Patrick Latta Part 3

Our Lady's apparition to Marija draws 5000 Italians

Marija during her apparition in Tregnago
on September 16, 2011

http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/

It was as if the entire population of Tregnago had gathered in the church when Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti had a public apparition in the Italian town on Friday. Ten priests heard confessions while Marija consoled the sick with testimonies of recent healing miracles in Medjugorje.

Miracles in Medjugorje


Tucked in the mountains in Bosnia-Herzegovina there's a little village called Medjugorje. And for millions around the world the most important event of our time is happening there.
http://www.kypost.com/dpps/news/local_news/miracles-in-medjugorje_6749341

Holy Spirit Continues to Build Church, Says Pope Benedict


Holy Spirit Continues to Build Church, Says Pope

Offers Bishops a Reflection on Charisms

ROME, SEPT. 15, 2011 (Zenit.org).- As the Holy Spirit continues to build the Church and inspire new charisms, it is the role of the bishop to accept the gifts with gratitude, but also to discern and judge their validity, says Benedict XVI. The Pope said this today to a group of some 100 newly ordained bishops upon receiving them in audience this morning in the apostolic palace in Castel Gandolfo. The bishops are taking part in an annual course organized jointly by the Congregation for Bishops and Congregation for Eastern Churches.

In his address, the Holy Father reflected on the role of the bishop with regard to "the charisms that the Spirit arouses for the edification of the Church."

Reminding the bishops that "episcopal consecration has conferred on you the plenitude of the sacrament of holy orders," he noted that they are "placed at the service of the common priesthood of the faithful, of their spiritual growth and their sanctity."

"Because of this," the Pontiff continued, "bishops have the task of watching and working to ensure that the baptized increase in grace, in accordance with the charisms the Holy Spirit causes to arise in their hearts and communities."

Benedict XVI referred to the Second Vatican Council, noting that it "recalled that the Holy Spirit, while unifying in the communion and ministry of the Church, provides and directs her with different hierarchical and charismatic gifts and embellishes her with their fruits."

He mentioned the recent World Youth Day as a sign of the "fecundity of the charisms of the Church," and said that this is a demonstration of "a vitality that reinforces the work of evangelization and the presence of Christ in the world."

"We are able to see -- and we can almost touch -- that the Holy Spirit is still present in the Church today, and that He creates charisms and unity," the Pope added.

"Always bear in mind the fact that the gifts of the Spirit -- be they extraordinary or simple and humble -- are always given freely for the edification of all," the Holy Father continued. "The bishop, as a visible sign of the unity of his particular Church, has the duty of unifying and harmonizing charismatic diversity, favoring reciprocity between the hierarchical and the baptismal priesthood."

He urged the prelates to "accept, therefore, the charisms with gratitude for the sanctification of the Church and the vitality of the apostolate."

However, he cautioned that acceptance of charisms is "inseparable from the discernment that is proper to the mission of the bishop": "Vatican Council II said as much when it gave pastoral ministry the task of judging the genuineness of charisms and their proper use, not extinguishing the Spirit but testing and retaining what is good."

"Therefore," he added, "it must always be clear that no charism can dispense from deferring and submitting to the pastors of the Church."

"By accepting, judging and ordering the different gifts and charisms," the Pope said, "the bishop carries out a great and valuable service to the priesthood of the faithful and to the vitality of the Church, which will shine as the Lord's Bride, clothed in the sanctity of her children."
Come Holy Spirit   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnWJfg-ts-g&feature=related

9/19/11

Fr. Joseph Whalen MS - LaSalette Prayer


FEAST OF OUR LADY OF LaSALETTE - SEPTEMBER 19th  http://www.straphaeloil.com/daily_updates
 
Mélanie and Maximin, the two children privileged to see Mary in 1846, came from the town of Corps near Grenoble, in a poor part of south-eastern France. Maximin Giraud was eleven years old at the time and Mélanie Calvat fourteen. On Saturday 19 September, they were looking after their employer's cattle, high up on the pasture above La Salette, a village near Corps, when they saw a wonderful apparition of Mary. A globe of light opened to reveal a resplendent woman seated on a stone with her head in her hands. The children later described her as very tall and beautiful, wearing a long, white, pearl studded, sleeved dress, and a white shawl, with a tiara of light on her head. Hanging from her neck was a large crucifix adorned with a small hammer and pincers, with a brilliantly shining figure of Christ on it. The hammer indicates the sins of humankind, which drove the nails into Jesus' hands and feet. The open pliers recall how these nails are mercifully removed and remind us of our obligation to repent of our sins and become reconciled with Christ, her son. The whole effect was as if she was made of light.

Speaking tearfully she told them that unless people repented she would be forced to let go the arm of her Son because it had become so heavy. Mary went on to complain that she had to pray ceaselessly to her Son for them, but the people still worked on Sundays and blasphemed her Son's Holy Name. She also spoke of coming punishments for these sins, including crop blights and famine. She asked that people start obeying the Second and Third Commandment, namely to cease using her Son's name in vain and keeping holy Sunday, the Lord's day. Then she crossed the brook, walked slowly to the top of the hill and rose more than a yard in the air. There she turned and gazed in the direction of Rome and said once again: "Very well, my children, make this known to all my people." She confided a secret to each of the children, which they were not to divulge, although eventually these secrets were made known to Pope Pius IX.

Finally she asked the children to spread her message before disappearing. When the children returned home they told their story, an account of which was taken down in writing the next day. They faced much opposition in making known Mary's message, but they maintained their story with resolution. The local Bishop too faced quite a degree of opposition in investigating the apparition, and it was only after four years, and having set up two commissions of inquiry, that Mgr de Bruillard, as bishop of Grenoble, approved of devotion to Our Lady of Salette, in the following terms.

The Virgin having told us the reasons for God's anger, all our sins, especially sins against the Second and Third Commandments. She asked that this message of conversion and reconcilliation be made known to all people and that we turn from sin and back to Almighty God. The apparition in La Salette, September 19, 1846 was approved: November 16, 1851.

"We declare that the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to two shepherds, on September 19, 1846, on a mountain in the Alps in the parish of La Salette, bears in itself all the marks of truth and that the faithful are justified in believing without question in its truth. And so, to mark our lively gratitude to God and the glorious Virgin Mary, we authorise the apparition of Our Lady of La Salette."

The La Salette message is timeless, although Our Lady spoke these words over 160 years ago, her message is as relevant today as it was in 1846.

"My children, you will make this known to all my people." September 19, 1846

9/18/11

My Lord, My God, My All


LIFE MEANS...

"For, to me, 'life' means Christ." -Philippians 1:21

What does life mean to you? Some of us would answer: "Life" means family, friends, and work. Life means church on Sunday, Thanksgiving dinners, a new car, or a wedding in the family.

Paul doesn't talk like this. He bluntly asserts: "Life" means Christ. Paul had "come to rate all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge" of his Lord Jesus Christ (Phil 3:8). For Jesus' sake, he "accounted all else rubbish so that Christ may be" his Wealth (Phil 3:8).

Is Christ a part of your life, or your whole life? Does everything in your life have meaning only insofar as it is God's will? Is Christ it, all of it? Are you looking forward to death so you can be home with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8) and see Him face to face? (1 Cor 13:12; 1 Jn 3:2) Are you attached to the things of the world, or have you counted them all as "rubbish so that Christ may" be your Wealth? (Phil 3:8) Have you chosen the better part, that is, sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to His words? (Lk 10:39, 42)

Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All! You are the Way, the Truth, and the only Reason for living (Jn 14:6).

Prayer:-- Jesus, I give You all of my life so You can be all of my life.
Promise:-- "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways above your ways and My thoughts above your thoughts." -Is 55:8-9
Praise:-- Praise You, risen Jesus. You are my Life, my Wealth, the Way, the Truth, my All!

9/17/11

The Sister and the Saint

Mr. Geo Bianchini, Mrs. Maria Esperanza Medrano de Bianchini
 and Sister Margaret Sims
 in front of Saint Joseph’s Convent. Framingham, Massachusetts, EE.UU.
4-26-93

The Sister and the Saint

May 26, 2010 ... Her name is Sr. Margaret Catherine Sims and this is Betania II. It's a 109-acre religious retreat in Medway, Massachusetts that attracts Catholics ...

http://www.necn.com/05/26/10/The-Sister-and-the-Saint/landing_newengland.html?blockID=242072&feedID=4206

A CHANGE OF PACE


A CHANGE OF PACE, The Writing of Dorothy Vining   http://www.musingsat85.com/myblog/
Just for a hopefully uplifting change of pace we have here a verse from an old poem and a scene from an old movie — the kind of thing we oldsters were raised with!
Here is the first verse of the poem Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919)
Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow it’s mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.
*Bob Hope was 52 (1903-2003) and Jimmy Cagney (1899-1996) was 56 when this scene from The Seven Little Foys was filmed. These “youngsters” can show modern tappers a thing or two. And yet, they were not known primarily for their dancing! Go ahead! Laugh! Enjoy!

Flee, Seek, Fight, and Hold


"Man of God that you are, flee from all this." -1 Timothy 6:11

Paul commanded Timothy to do four things (1 Tm 6:11-12): 1) flee, 2) seek, 3) fight, and 4) hold.

 Christians encourage each other to "hold on," "hang in there," and persevere. Sometimes we realize that to hold our ground, we must obey Paul's third commandment to Timothy. We must fight the evil one (see Eph 6:12-13). Some Christians even understand that the basis of holding and fighting is seeking. Jesus promised: "Seek first His kingship over you, His way of holiness, and all these things will be given you besides" (Mt 6:33).

Yet, how many Christians are aware of Paul's first commandment to Timothy? The greatest "seekers," "fighters," and "holders" are the greatest "flee-ers." We don't flee the Lord. We love Him. We don't flee the devil. We attack him, and he flees from us (Jas 4:7). However, we do flee what Paul calls "all this" (1 Tm 6:11). We flee the "love of money" (1 Tm 6:10), wanting to be rich (1 Tm 6:9), discontent (1 Tm 6:6), false teaching (1 Tm 6:3), bickering (1 Tm 6:5), and injustice to employees, especially Christian ones (1 Tm 6:2).

In effect, we must flee a secularized, self-centered, pleasure-seeking lifestyle. If we "flee all this," we will seek first God's kingdom, victoriously "fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tm 6:12), and hold on to everlasting life (1 Tm 6:12).

Prayer:--- Father, send the Holy Spirit to teach me to properly flee.
Promise:--- Jesus "journeyed through towns and villages preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God." -Lk 8:1

Medjugorje: At Cross Mountain

9/16/11

Pilgrims Walked 1500 miles from Lithuania to Medjugorje

 Group of ninety pilgrims of different age walk
1500 miles from Lithuania to Medjugorje.

Walked from Lithuania to Medjugorje

date: 15.09.2011.

The group of ninety pilgrims of different age walked from Lithuania to Medjugorje. They started their journey on June 24, 2011 and there were 29 pilgrims who started their journey and more were joining along the way as well. They all walked 1500 miles on their way to Medjugorje and arrived on September 11, 2011, all healthy and alive, just in time to climb the Cross Mountain for the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross. They carried huge, heavy wooden cross that they brought in their hands from Lithuania to the top of Cross Mountain.

Fr. Robert Jolic, the main celebrant of the Holy Mass on Cross Mountain, greeted this group in a special way and thanked them for their extraordinary sacrifice and great act of love and devotion. This group walked from Lithuania to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Pilgrims in this group carried huge and heavy wooden cross in their hands, along with two statues – Statue of Sacred Heart of Jesus and Statue of Blessed Virgin Mary.
Medjugorje Official

Highway spurs hope of growth for Medjugorje

The European Class A route E 73 paving its way through Bosnia. Medjugorje
 will be connected by the end of 2013



September 16, 2011
Highway spurs hope of growth for Medjugorje

A new piece of highway will connect Medjugorje to the Croatian border and the Adriatic coast by the end of 2013. Funding, permits and expropriations are in place, work beginning in early 2012. Prime Minister expects “opportunities for accellerated growth for Medjugorje”.
Full story    http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/

9/14/11

Exalation of the Holy Cross - Medjugorje


Christ was truly crucified for our sins. For if you would deny it, this place refuses you visibly, and blessed Golgotha, in which we are now assembled for the sake of Him who was here crucified: and the whole world has since been filled with pieces of the wood of the Cross. But He was crucified not for sins of His own, but that we might delivered from our sins. As thou as Man he was at that times despised of men, and was buffeted, yet He was acknowledged by the Creation as God: for when the sun saw his Lord dishonored, he grew dim and trembled, not enduring the sight.
Let us, therefore, not be ashamed of the Cross of Christ. You openly seal it upon your forehead that the devils may behold th royal sign and flee trembling far away. Make then this sign at eating and drinking, at sitting, at lying down, at rising up, at speaking, at walking: in a word, at every act.
For He who was here crucified is in heaven above. If after being crucified and buried He had remained in the tomb, we should have had cause to be ashamed. But, in fact, He who was crucified on Golgotha here, has ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives on the East.
For after having gone down hence into Hades, and come up again to us, He ascended again from us into heaven, His father addressing Him, and saying, "Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."
From the Fourth Catethetical Lecture by Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. Died 386 AD.

9/11/11

HE KNOWS MY NAME


WE REMEMBER--YOU ARE FOREVER IN OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS.

9/10/11

A Catholic Mom in Hawaii: God Bless America - Remembering September 11th#links


A Catholic Mom in Hawaii: God Bless America - Remembering September 11th#links

MYSTIC UP FOR SAINTHOOD WARNED OF BIN LADEN THREE TIMES BEFORE ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11

Maria Esperanza

SPIRITDAILY

MYSTIC UP FOR SAINTHOOD WARNED OF BIN LADEN THREE TIMES BEFORE ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11

It was Venezuelan mystic Maria Esperanza -- whose cause for sainthood is now under investigation by the diocesan tribunal -- who in December of 2000 claimed to Spirit Daily that enemies were on American soil -- one of them a "small" enemy -- and planning to strike. Our headline: "World-known mystic Maria Esperanza warns U.S. of foreign danger, sees world 'saddened' in a short while, is concerned with the Mid-East, the Pope, and two nations." She was warning of two foreign "powers," one that she described as small, the other larger, acting in such a way as to provoke America. "The United States has to be very careful," she stated. "It has to act with a lot of prudence." As her son-in-law and interpreter explained to us at the time (ten months before September 11), "She feels in her heart that there is a certain big thing that is about to happen." He went on to say that a heaviness in her heart indicated something was on the way. She repeated this warning while in New Jersey that following March of 2001. It would be something that "will shake the world."

Then, in mid-August of 2001, her family sent Spirit Daily a fax warning that the event of which she had been speaking was about to occur -- which, of course, it did, less than three weeks later. The exact date: August 25 at 9:35 p.m. The fax said the event would occur in "three weeks or three months." It happened 17 days later.

In the frenzied day after 9/11, Maria -- who happened to be in northern Manhattan on September 11, during a long stay in the U.S.! -- said she saw a "roaring lion" behind the attacks. This is before the world knew of Al Qaeda. It later turned out that Osama means "lion." Years before, in the 1990s, she had described to pilgrims a vision she had of two large towers in New York on fire and collapsing.

Of course, no "serious" people took her seriously. It was the fringe stuff of Catholics who believe in prophecy. After September 11, Maria and her family took time to go to three places in New York City -- including St. Patrick's Cathedral -- and circle them with prayer. It later turned out that churches -- including the Vatican -- were among Al Qaeda targets. The terrorist group appeared to be the "small" entity on American soil; the second, larger "nation" has not yet been discerned, though some may wonder, in light of events, whether it is Afghanistan, Iran, or Pakistan. She described the "small" one as "very smart and powerful" and working "inside" the United States. "They have people inside already," she had warned us. We all now know, of course, that terrorists were inside America training.

She further warned that the U.S. should not go to war -- that this was precisely what the "small" group wanted. She said doing so would solve nothing and would squander the sympathy around the world felt toward the United States. She urged humility. At the time, such a notion was considered almost heresy; many devout Catholics had accepted the idea that being against war was unpatriotic (and nearly anti-Christian). Other mystics like Josyp Terelya felt war was a mistake and that instead special forces should be used.

John Paul II argued forcefully the same. At the vigil for his beatification last weekend, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the archbishop of Krakow, who was John Paul II's personal secretary for more than forty years, revealed the two occasions he saw John Paul II "really angry," but with "good reason." "In Agrigento [Sicily], he raised his voice against the mafia, and we were all a little scared," he said. "And the other occasion was during the Angelus, before the Iraq War, when he said with force: no to war, war doesn't resolve anything. I have seen war. I know what war is."

Finally, after two wars that killed hundreds of thousands (including more Americans than died in September 11) and turned much of the world against the U.S., it was special forces -- Navy Seals -- who found the master terrorist in a Pakistan "compound-hideout."

9/9/11

Vatican Insider - Medjugorje Communists Against Apparitions


09/ 8/2011

Medjugorje: Communists against apparitions

 Medjugorje

The regime tried to suppress what was happening in the village of Bosnia and Herzegovina using threats and false dossiers. Archival documents on this have been revealed in a book

Andrea TOrnielli
rome

Thirty years after the beginning of the Medjugorje phenomenon, the village in Bosnia Herzegovina, where since June 1981 a group of young people claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary, reports of the communist secret police that have come to light, show the extent of the regime’s intervention. The authorities regarded the apparitions as "an instrument of enemy counter-revolutionary action directed against the fraternity and unity of the peoples of Yugoslavia" and sought to stifle what was going on through interceptions, blackmail, threats, and the production of fake dossiers, particularly against the Franciscan monk Jozo Zovko, who followed the visionaries. Eventually the opinion of various members of the local Church was also adversely affected.

The documents were disclosed by the journalist Žarko Ivković, author of a section of the book "The mystery of Medjugorje" published by the leading Croatian daily, Vecernji List. Ivković worked in the archives of the Information Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, consulting the papers of the Yugoslav secret police, the powerful Security Service SDB (Služba državne bezbjednosti).
To scare people and prevent gatherings in Medjugorje, the Communists of ÄŒitluk, firstly organized conferences for local units of Herzegovina, who were instructed to present the Franciscans as enemies of communism. Father Jozo, in particular, as director of the “invented apparitions” deceived “the population and the children.” The pilgrims, however, continued to increase and so the government declared a state of emergency: they began searching the faithful and priests; the special police arrived from Sarajevo that forbade access to the mountain of the apparitions. Lastly, the Secret Service was also involved. The documents show that one of the main objectives was to “render” the protagonists of the events “passive.” SDB agents began spying on them, to gather information on their “hostile activities” in order to put together a dossier that would compromise them.

Particularly striking is a report dated November 1987, dedicated to the operation called “Crnica” (original name of the hill of the apparition, now known as Podbrdo). The author of the document describes to his superior the steps taken to compromise some monks considered to be the originators of the apparitions. The main tool used appears to be the Bishop of Mostar, Monsignor Pavao Žanić, who, after appearing initially open to the possibility that this was a supernatural event, had become the most determined enemy. It has now become apparent that his hostility was fed by a series of documents put together ​​by the men of the SDB, which were circulated among the Mostar, the Vatican and some European countries. In particular, Father Jozo Zovko was said to have had a number of love escapades, closely monitored by the secret police even before the apparitions of Medjugorje because of the effect his homilies had on the young, he was also arrested and beaten.

The second part of the plan, using the ancient conflict that exists in Herzegovina between the secular clergy and Franciscans, foresaw creating chaos in the local Church by turning everyone against everyone. The report shows how the Bishop Žanić was willing to accept any document against the Franciscans and against the apparitions, even if of dubious origin. “From this document - Ivković observed – it appears that the secret police were aware of the positions of the Bishop and directly influenced his actions.”

These documents will also be scrutinized by the Holy See committee called upon to pronounce itself on Medjugorje, which two years ago Benedict XVI entrusted to the leadership of Cardinal Camillo Ruini.

“Even at that time it was not hard to guess that the Communist regime had tried to interfere heavily with the Medjugorje facts. These documents should make the Church reflect on the difficult and certainly not peaceful conditions under which the Bishop of Mostar had to work,” said Antonio Socci, a journalist and writer, author of a book titled almost in the same way as that published by Vecernji List (“Medjugorje Mystery” Piemme editions). The revelations that emerge from the archives of the secret police do not surprise him.

“In the beginning - explains Socci - the Franciscans of Medjugorje were very hard with the visionaries, they feared that it was a trap, an invention of the regime. While the bishop of Mostar, Pavao Žanić, was more understanding and open. He also went to celebrate Mass in Medjugorje and defended the young people. Then from January 1982 his position completely changed. The Church should reflect on the fact that certain decisions were certainly not made serenely, but were heavily influenced.”

“The young people- adds the writer - were intimidated, threatened. Their poor families who were in danger of losing their jobs were also threatened. The visionary Mirjana told me that the police came to pick her up at school and questioned the friends she had gone out with. At that time nobody thought that communism would fall: the prospect for these children was that of a life always under the control and pressure of the regime. Yet they did not move an inch, continuing to tell of what they had seen and continue to see.”

How much did this intervention by the regime weigh on the initial opinion of the local ecclesiastical authorities? Socci says, “In the Vatican there was a man who was well acquainted with certain methods having experienced them personally and he never gave in. This man was Pope John Paul II. But the attempt to destroy Medjugorje may have had some influence on those who did not know how the communist police worked, and so the mud thrown by the regime on these young people and on those who followed them in the parish did have some effect.”

Žanić, who was the Bishop at that time, was opposed. But also his successor, the current pastor of Mostar, Ratko Peric, is of the same opinion, in other words very much in contrast with the apparitions. “I respect the position of Monsignor Peric - Socci concluded - but I ask myself how he can be so firmly opposed without ever having wanted to meet or interview the visionaries. The fact that he was not called to be part of the commission appointed by the Pope seems eloquent to me.”

Healing Ministry: Fr. Peter Rookey and Fr. Joseph Whalen

L to R Fr. Peter Rookey & Fr. Joseph Whalen

Fr, Peter Rookey        http://frrookeyicm.org/prayer_requests

Fr. Joseph Whalen
http://www.straphaeloil.com/

A Message from Fr. Rookey
Put out into the deep, and lower your nets. . . When they had done so, they enclosed a great number of fishes. . . . All were amazed. . . Henceforth thou shalt catch men. (Lk 5). As we now embark on our new venture with the INTER-NET we are reminded of another Peter, and his above experience with another kind of NET, which was to herald his mission to catch many men for Christ. As we too put out into the deep with this website, our humble and fervent prayer is that Jesus will use it to mercifully net many precious souls for his heavenly kingdom. We also pray that the Lord will bless all of you and your dear ones with his gentle, gracious touch, and grant you that peace and joy which He alone can give.
God love you,
Fr. Peter, OSM

Rev. Joseph F. Whalen, M.S.
Fr. Joseph Whalen, M.S. was born in Quincy, Massachusetts and received his call to the priesthood late in life. He entered Pope John XXlll Seminary, a seminary for delayed vocations, and completed four years of advanced graduate studies. On September 9, 1989, at the age of 66, he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest by Bishop Alfred Hughes and became a La Salette Missionary. His dramatic life story is a story of "how God writes straight with crooked lines!" His ministries are many and he is a champion of the sick, the elderly, drug addicts, alcoholics, families, and those in need. The charism of the La Salette's is Reconcilliation ... of compassion and mercy to the repentant;he is noted for his ability to hear confessions hour upon hour. He gives us a tremendous story of Almighty God's love, grace and mercy in the circumstances of his own life; he is also the founder of the renowned Archangel St. Raphael Holy Healing Ministry. Father’s message is to realize that It’s Never Too Late to Live. Fr. Whalen conducts many healing services every year and his St. Raphael Healing Ministry is international. Fr. Whalen has spent his entire priesthood witnessing Christ’s healing presence and helping countless people to find hope in the midst of life's many challenges.

Daily Grace: All Generations Shall Call You Blessed


Daily Grace: All Generations Shall Call You Blessed: "Your birth, O Blessed Virgin Mary, fills the whole world with a sweet consolation and a holy joy, because of you was born our Jesus, our God...

Medjugorje: New Documents have been revealed that show how communist government repressed visionaries.


New documents have been revealed showing how the communist regime of Yugoslavia tried to suppress the movement behind the apparitions of Medjugorje.
In the book “The Mystery of Medjugorje,” the Croatian journalist Žarko Ivković explains how the government would spy, blackmail, and even threaten Church officials, particularly the Franciscan friar Jozo Zovko, who was the spiritual director of the visionaries.
The journalist Ivković uncovered these documents by researching through the archives of the powerful secret state security service called the SDB.
State authorities considered the apparitions an instrument to be used against the government of Yugoslavia. Evidence shows how the State used wiretapping, blackmail, and created false dossiers against members of the Church and to stop followers of the apparitions.
During this time period, Bishop Zanic was a leading critic of the apparitions and according to the book was influenced by these false documents created by the government.
The documents will now be studied by the Vatican commission assigned to investigate the apparitions of Medjugorje, which was created by Benedict XVI in 2010. Romereports

9/8/11

Tribute to Saint Padre Pio


07/09/2011 16:16:15: Seeing is believing!..Padre Pio is sign for our times...This video shows footage of Saint Pio's incorrupt body on public display in San Giovanni Rotondo Italy...It certainly
reinforces belief in God and the existence of the after life in paradise....Padre Pio, a humble Capuchin priest from San Giovanni Rotondo, was blessed by God in many wonderful and mysterious ways. The most dramatic was the stigmata. Padre Pio bore the wounds of Christ for fifty years! Padre Pio, who died in 1968 at age 81, bore a "stigmata," or wounds like those Jesus suffered at his crucifixion, on his hands and feet. He was made a saint in 2002
Church officials exhumed the body in 2008 and they said there was no sign of the so-called stigmata on his limbs after an initial examination, and that the body was in good condition......Padre Pio pray for us!
If you have a devotion to the Divine Merc, please have a listen to this version of the Divine Mercy chaplet...

9/6/11

Forgiveness Prepares Us For a Peaceful Death



My Dear People,
Forgiveness Sets Us Free

Unforgiveness at the moment of death is what binds most people immediately to Purgatory. Only Divine Mercy exists in Heaven; not unforgiveness. Even little forgotten unforgivenesses keep us bound in suffering after death. When my mom was dying in the final stages of cancer,she was in a coma. A few days before her death, she was calling out for her oldest sister. I knew immediately what needed to be done. I drove to my aunt’s house many miles away, picked her up,and drove her to visit with my mom. I told my aunt all she had to do is to announce her presence with my mom. When my aunt entered the room where my mom was in a coma, she told her that she was here to say good bye.

It was very moving, but it was enough to bring peace to my mother. She did not call out for her older sister any more after that visit. Whatever was unforgiven inside of my mom’s heart with her sister,was mended on that day before she died. Don’t wait until your deathbed to start mending fences in your family. Ask Jesus to be the source and summit for forgiveness in your life. It will bring you a more peaceful death.

Entrusting you to the care of Our Lady,

~Fr. Mark Bozada~

May we always be ready to forgive one another as Christ forgives us.

August 2011 in Medjugorje, The presence of so many Priests.


The Presence of so many Priests, they overflow to the rows in front of the Rotunda Alter. 


Medjugorje: August was the busiest month since the apparitions began.


Last August was the busiest month since the apparitions began
date: 03.09.2011.

The number of more than four hundred thousand (406,300) Holy Communions that were given during last August is more than all of the previous statistics in the last thirty years of Medjugorje.

In accordance with that, the number of priests who celebrated Holy Masses in Medjugore was more than seven thousand – 7,280, in average 234 daily. The river of pilgrims continues in the first days of September as well. According to the record of Information Office there are bigger groups of pilgrims from Poland, Belgium, Slovakia, Lebanon, Spain, Argentina, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, the United States and England.

*We met Fr. Frank Gindro from Denmark and asked him to share his experience with us. He said that he feels special presence of Our Lady here, “It is a feeling I did not have for a long time. I pray for people in my country that have lost hope in their lives. I will come back to Medjugorje!”

*Kim Beck from the United States is in Medjugorje for the first time. She said: “I cannot describe how great I feel here. I can feel such love of God that is so evident here. I did not go to confession yet, but I will go this evening. Holy Mass is something really special here.
 I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and that is moving me so much. The other evening I went to the International Holy Mass and we said Rosary before the Mass. I simply do not have words to describe that emotion and love of our Lord.”

She said how that experience is important for many pilgrims: “Medjugorje is going to change hearts of people, their souls and that love of God will be given to them and they will be able to see what way they should take in their lives and then, they will witness that to the whole world. I think that we can change the world to better from Medjugorje”, said Kim.
Medjugorje Official

9/4/11

Dear Family of Mary!


Dear Family of Mary!

"Dear children; with all my heart and soul full of faith and love in the Heavenly Father, I gave my Son to you and am giving him to you anew. My Son has brought you, the people of the entire world, to know the only true God and his love. He has led you on the way of truth and made you brothers. Therefore, my children, do not wander, do not close your heart before that truth, hope and love. Everything around you is passing and everything is falling apart, only the glory of God remains. Therefore, renounce everything that distances you from the Lord. Adore him alone, because he is the only true God. I am with you and I will remain with you. I am especially praying for the shepherds that they may be worthy representatives of my Son and may lead you with love on the way of truth. Thank you." (September 2, 2011)

As we begin to respond to this message from Our Lady, I want to continue with Ivan's words on June 24, 2011. This one paragraph captures so well Ivan's clear perception of the spiritual state of things in our world. Like Our Lady, he pleads with us to set everything aside that does not bring us closer to God. Only God matters now. Only God:

"There is something else. Our Lady comes here because she wants to offer us hope....because today's world is hopeless. There is no hope. Many live just day by day expecting what the next day will bring. And Our Lady comes to us bringing new hope, not fear, not punishment, not criticism. She comes to us because she wants to lead us to her own Son. And we can find peace and the hope in her Son alone. And Our Lady says, 'Dear children, don't talk about peace but start living peace. Don't talk about prayer, start living prayer. Only if you bring peace and prayer back into your families will your families be spiritually healed.' This world needs to be spiritually healed because this world is spiritually sick. This world is not going through an economic crisis or recession; it is a question of a spiritual recession. Every kind of spiritual recession produces all the other kinds of recessions: spiritual, family, and any other kind. Why? Because man is empty. Man is used up because he has abused his relationship with God. He has turned towards the world. So we can say that families, mankind, lost their credibility and dignity, according to the most important virtues that God gives us." (Ivan Dragicevic, on June 24, 2011)

*Everything around us is falling apart! That is true. Everything based on human wisdom, human understanding, human values, is falling apart. Only when we live according to God's values will life make sense. Only God will last. Our Lady is with us to bring us back to God.

In Jesus and Mary,
Cathy Nolan
Mary TV