Come and see

Fr. John McCaffery ofm
http://www.crownofstars.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Come and See...

• An appeal from Fr John McCaffery OFM

Whether you are a priest, lay person or religious, I would like you to read these few words. As you know it was Jesus himself who was the first to apply the title Mother of Christ to the Church when he said: “My brothers and sisters are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” (Luke 8 : 21)

We are all called to grow into a spiritual maturity resembling Mary and this is brought home to us by St Francis of Assisi when he wrote to his brothers: “We are Mothers of Christ when we carry him in our hearts and our bodies through divine love and a pure sincere conscience: we give birth to him through holy works which should shine as an example before others.”

Today, Mary as a Mother is concerned about us, a concern which shines through her messages at Medjugorje. These messages are based on the Gospel and on the official teaching of the Church, and so are sound, orthodox and Catholic in content.

On this basis alone a Catholic is not only free to adopt the messages of Medjugorje, but is in fact called to live them, which are nothing less than the challenge of the Gospel. This inspires us today to greater prayer, penance and, as a result, to peace in public and private life.

Can an obedient Catholic accept the contents of private revelation prior to an official judgment of the Church on the apparitions? The answer is yes ­ provided the person tales the trouble to examine the orthodoxy of the messages and finds nothing incompatible with the Gospel or Church teaching.

If you have avoided Medjugorje – then, please, I beg you to do so no longer. At least read and reflect on the messages. Mary is simply begging us to take the Gospel to our hearts and to live it with passion and conviction. Yes it is a challenge, but is there anything wrong in that?

May the Lord and his Mother bless you.

• Fr John McCaffery OFM

Posted by pilgrim at 10:00 AM   http://www.crownofstars.blogspot.com/

Father Jozo Zovko is going to serve in Zagreb

Fr. Jozo Zovko

Father Jozo is going to serve in Zagreb
by Jakob Marschner on Nov 30, 2011

World-famous Medjugorje priest Fr. Jozo Zovko relocates from Austria to Croatia. From December or early next year he will live in the Franciscan monastery in Zagreb. Fr. Jozo has all the usual rights of a priest but has accepted not to talk about Medjugorje in public until the Vatican Commission has finished its work.
Before long Fr. Jozo Zovko will again be able to greet his Franciscan brothers in Croatian when he meets them in his home monastery....More  http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/3753/father-jozo-is-going-to-serve-in-zagreb/ 

Jesus Rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. - Luke 10:21

THE TRUE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

"Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit." -Luke 10:21

God's plan, including His plan for Christmas, is hidden from the learned and the clever, and revealed to the merest children (Lk 10:21). This does not mean that Christmas is for kids. "Merest children" are not people young in age; they are adults who completely depend on the Lord and have become "merest children" by the Spirit. Thus, Christmas is neither for kids nor adults, but for people of any age who have become new creations, transformed by the Holy Spirit. The true Christmas spirit is the Holy Spirit. Christmas is for those Living in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit of Christmas is "a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord" (Is 11:2). It is primarily a Spirit of justice. If we have and give the true Christmas Spirit, the poor and afflicted will be judged with justice (Is 11:4). If we have the true Christmas Spirit, we are leading people to Christ, Who will then give these people His heart for the poor and for justice.

The true Christmas spirit is the Holy Spirit leading us to depend totally on Jesus and to give justice to the poor and oppressed. The true Christmas spirit is that of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph at the manger in Bethlehem.

 Father, may I unlearn the worldly Christmas and learn the real one.

Come Emmauel

28/11/2011 20:04:38: Dwell within our hearts, Pure Savior of the world.
come, emmanuel

Medjugorje priest did not believe at first...

Fr. Branimir Musa
http://www.crownofstars.blogspot.com/

Monday, November 28, 2011

Medjugorje priest did not believe at first...

Fr Branimir Musa OFM, Superior of the Franciscan Monastery at Humac (near Medjugorje) reveals that there was a time he did not believe in the Medjugorje phenomenon.

• At the beginning I did not believe in Medjugorje. I was a student at the time and for me Medjugorje was at a distance. At that time I looked at Medjugorje from a political perspective. There were problems in Poland, in Kosovo, in America. Then I thought it was the last steps of the Communists who were trying to stay in power. They wanted to create fear and make themselves stronger in that way.

When I came to Medjugorje for the first time I just came to examine; I was like Thomas; I wanted to put my finger in the palm. I came to Medjugorje and I saw so many people there and they were praying, but it was my own pride and selfishness.
I said to myself, “Let the old ladies pray, that feeling will soon be gone.” But when I became a priest and started hearing Confessions, then, against the will of the bishops and priests, conversion starts happening. People just start living different lives. That is so positive and that’s what the miracle is, that’s the strength that cannot be defined.

You can just say that God is working. But there is something else: if you are not ready to allow Jesus and Our Lady to come into your heart, conversion will never happen. If you are not going to pray in the way that God prays, that prayer won’t exist.

Very often it happens that when we are praying we just talk to ourselves, we are just putting our wishes on a piece of paper. We just have to abandon ourselves to God and say, “Here I am. Do with me whatever you want, and I want what you want me to do.”

Medjugorje has been happening now for many years. I know all the priests who have worked there. So many priests came there from different other places, and I can really say to you that everything would have fallen apart had not the Spirit of God been there, if it was not the wish of God and Our Lady. If it depended on our strength, nothing would have happened there. However, you see millions of people coming there. It’s really hard to say how many people have visited Medjugorje so far, we just know how many Holy Communions are distributed. One priest in America said to me, “The Rosary was not prayed in my church at all, but since Medjugorje, people started praying the Rosary, so I started praying the Rosary with them. Now, every evening we pray the Rosary in our church.”

I spent five and a half years in Medjugorje and we really worked hard there, hard work: confession, prayer Holy Mass, meeting pilgrims, talking with people, and that gave us a tremendous amount of joy.

If I had not been sent to Medjugorje I don’t know what would have happened to me. Medjugorje helped me to be a joyful person, to try to understand my priesthood in the right way. Medjugorje helped me to meet all of you.

When it comes to who have been to Medjugorje already, or maybe have heard what is happening there, I would say to you: “You are the messengers, the heralds of the message: Let us return to Christ.” Our Lady says to us: “My children, the joy is in my Son, the hope is in my Son, and the solution of problems is in my Son.”

Medjugorje truly is a gift, and Medjugorje lives in the world of today, and from what I have seen, thanks be to God that this is so. When it comes to the opinion of the official Church you have to be wise and to understand that the Church has to make the step aside and wait. For example, if you work in a company and you are a person who makes decisions, you won’t make an important decision straight away, You will take some time for that and reflect upon it.

What is the position of Medjugorje in the Church? We never advertised. We never actually wrote about what is happening. Not many things were published. There was a kind of rule: Come and see... and I think it is very good when people come and see. I know that it is good and necessary to send, as often as possible, reports to the Church, so that the Church may consider it in a more serious way. The Church has many difficult problems, it’s not easy for the Church. Take into consideration our human weaknesses and you will see and realise how many problems there are. We should not criticise each other, we should not criticise our priests and our bishops. What we have to do is to decide to fix that house together, as God said to St Francis: “Go and fix my Church.” So each one of us has to go and start fixing the Church with prayer and faith.

The initiative to pray always comes from God. God says, “Listen, Israel.” The initiative always comes from God so that things are good. What does it mean to pray? It means to speak, to listen, and it means to act. Listen to what God is saying, what God wants from me, what God wants me to be. It’s true that we say to God, “God, I want this, God, I want that.” But God already knows that I need all this, so to pray means to think in the way God thinks, to be one with Him, and to act towards people in the way that God wants. God won’t punish and God always acts in a positive way. If we act together with God then we will act in a positive way as well. We have to be people of hope and people of good will, not be cold-hearted, but to be warm-hearted. I have to embrace you and say to you, “I love you because God has created you.”
Posted by pilgrim at 11:02 AM   http://www.crownofstars.blogspot.com/

Revelation from Saint Maria Faustina--Confession--Fountain of God's Mercy

~REVELATION~

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

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

Divine Mercy Shop in Medjugorje

Daily Grace: Prepare the way of the Lord.

Daily Grace: Prepare the way of the Lord.: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be fill...

Our Lady's message to Marija of November 25, 2011

Marija Lunetti

Dear children! Today I desire to give you hope and joy. Everything that is around you, little children, leads you towards worldly things but I desire to lead you towards a time of grace, so that through this time you may be all the closer to my Son, that he can lead you towards his love and eternal life, for which every heart yearns. You, little children, pray and may this time for you be one of grace for your soul. Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje message, November 25, 2011

Jesus I Believe  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfVV9DcihWc&feature=related

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

O Gracious God, we give you thanks for your overflowing generosity to us. Thank you for the blessings of the food we eat and especially for this feast today. Thank you for our home and family and friends, especially for the presence of those gathered here. Thank you for our health, our work and our play. Please send help to those who are hungry, alone, sick and suffering war and violence. Open our hearts to your love. We ask your blessing through Christ your son. Amen.

Song: Give Thanks.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBpv-ZzcQD8

Dear Family of Mary

Father and Doctor Erich shares his testimony in
 Vienna Used with permission from Christian Stelzer

November 24, 2011
Dear Family of Mary!

"Dear children! Today when Heaven is near to you in a special way, I call you to prayer so that through prayer you place God in the first place. Little children, today I am near you and I bless each of you with my motherly blessing so that you have the strength and love for all the people you meet in your earthly life and that you can give God's love. I rejoice with you and I desire to tell you that your brother Slavko has been born into Heaven and intercedes for you. Thank you for having responded to my call." (November 25, 2000)

Today is the anniversary of the death of  Fr. Slavko Barbaric, O.F.M. Fr. Slavko died on Mount Krizevac after completing the Way of the Cross. He remains with us all as an example and an intercessor. Thank you, Fr. Slavko.
Today I want to share this beautiful testimony given in Vienna at St. Stephens Cathedral, on November 17, 2011. Dr. (Rev.) Erich Cohen (I am not sure of the spelling of his name) shared of his journey from a family with no faith to the priesthood. His story is intertwined with Fr. Slavko in a special way. (The video of this testimony may be found at www.marytv.tv on the video entitled "Ivan's sharing" in the video player entitled Ivan & Cardinal Schoenborn in St. Stephens Cathedral.)

Witness of Dr. Erich Coehn at St. Stephens Cathedral, November 17, 2011:

Yes May Jesus Christ be praised! I am happy that so many people have come to give honor to the Mother of God. In a message she told us: "Be witnesses" and so I wish to give witness to the glory of God and to the Mother of God, who has done so much good in my life.

I come from a family in Tyrol in which faith played no role whatsoever. We were very far away from God, but there was a woman, my Grandmother. She was praying. She was praying for us. She has interceded for us and through her intercession much good has come. She became old, and forgetful. She even forgot to pray, we could say. But in me, God had listened to her, and he planted the seed of faith in my heart.

It began with a crisis. I was in love, and I was looking for the meaning in life. I was thinking about what is important and what is not important. And I found a passage from the Bible in my memory, and it said, "Do unto others what you would have done unto you." And so I thought, if this is in the Bible, I don't need to reflect much more. I will read the Bible, it will be quicker. So I started to spend a lot of time with the Bible, and take a lot of time to read it. I was about 20 years old. I was a student. People came to me, like the Jehovah's Witnesses or the sect of Moon, and they invited me to walk with them, and I actually walked with those sects for a time. It was not easy to get out of those sects. It was not easy.

But I had a very strong experience, and I felt the love of God. And that experience brought me to search for this God. Where does he live, this God? I was allowed to experience God while in the sect of Moon and the Jehovah's Witnesses. I woke up one day and I knew where my home was. I began to know who I was and whom I belonged to. I don't know why. I was living in Innsbruck, in the middle of the city. I went to the window, and the whole city was full of people. There were people on both sides if the street. And I said to them, "Why are you standing in the middle of the street?" And they said, "The Pope is coming to Innsbruck." And I said, "OK." I was standing on the road, and truly, the Pope came in the pope mobile. And he drove straight past the house I was living in and was so close to me. I have never been with him since then. He was 2 meters away, the road was a very narrow one and I was so close to him. And then I went to celebrate the Mass of the Pope, with everybody. It was a very deep experience.

In the spiritual battle [in my soul], the topic was, "Is Jesus really present in the Eucharist or is it just a piece of bread?" That was my spiritual battle. I decided that Jesus is present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. I decided He was there. And I was a member of the Catholic Church from then on. Every Sunday I went to Mass after that, and I was in love with God. I can say that as the Mass continued, when the Pope held up the Cross and he said, "Behold your mother, Behold your son," I didn't know what to do with Our Lady at the time. I didn't understand the Mother of God.

But I was busy with Hildegard of Bingen, and her medicine. And in one of her writings she spoke about Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. And I read in a brochure of Fatima something about this [Heaven, Hell and Purgatory] as well. And when I looked it up, it matched [with what Hildegard had written]. And so I thought "How could the visionaries of Fatima know something of Hildegard of Bingen?" So what happened in Fatima must be true. And that is how I found the Mother of God.

I began to pray the Rosary. Praying the Rosary brought freedom in me, a deliverance in me. When I prayed it for the first time, there was truly dirt and dust around me, and I felt that the dirt and dust was around me and in my soul. I knew it. And I saw that the Rosary is the strongest prayer of protection because we take refuge under Our Lady's mantle. So how did I reach Medjugorje?

My sister did not have much faith and she was talking badly about Medjugorje and making jokes about it. And I said, "If my sister speaks badly about Medjugorje there must be something to it." So how would I get there? I asked and found out about a lady from Innsbruck who did trips to Medjugorje. And that lady didn't do trips in 1993 because there was a war. So she told me to go to Herbert Lebeirer and he told me a bus from the north of Germany, from Bingen, was going to Medjugorje. So I took that bus from Bingen. Just as Hildegard of Bingen was the one to show me the path to Our Lady first, I happened to take a bus from Bingen to go to Medjugorje for the first time - a little detail.

I had a good friend who is a Carthusian. At the time he was a Merciful Brother. He gave me a "Golden Book". He said that when the time has come, then read a bit in that Golden Book. Well without knowing it, I was beginning the Consecration. I didn't know that Medjugorje actually existed, but on the 30th day of that Consecration, I was in Medjugorje. And during the apparition time I made my Consecration to Mary. This is how I arrived in Medjugorje.

I became active in prayer groups, prayer circles. For me this was a very special time because the family of the prayer circle kept me in the faith, encouraged me and carried me. And so I can say that prayer groups, prayer circles are very important now.

Then I finished my studies. I became a medical doctor. After studies, after I began to work, I thought to open my own medical practice. [But first] I thought I would pray a bit, and so I went to the Community of the Beatitudes and lived for a while in Austria. I liked the group very much and I wanted to enter them, and to stay there. But I went to Medjugorje for one year and then things were done I thought. I was going to get married, perhaps stay in Medjugorje as a doctor. There were very few of them at the time. And I was happy with that plan, with what I thought would be my life.

*But on one Friday we were doing the Way of the Cross, in November. It was the 24th of November. It was a day when it was raining. And I thought to myself, would I do the Way of the Cross on Krizevac or wouldn't I? It was wet, cold and slippery, and I didn't feel like going. So I had my little battle and I said, "Yes, I will join the Way of the Cross with the parish."

*And when I reached the top, Fr. Slavko was before me, with the group of the parish. When I arrived at the 13th Station, I saw young people running, upset, and I thought they were completely crazy, because in the rain you don't run on that slippery earth, on Krizevac, it is very foolish. But I went up and I saw a priest sort of sitting between the rocks. I saw Fr. Slavko was dying. He was already dying. We prayed together and in that moment, it was a mystical moment I must say, the rain stopped, a little rainbow appeared over the church. We all saw it. The clouds had full sun on them. I knew Fr. Slavko had joined heaven.

*Six of us carried him down. It was very difficult to carry him down. He was dead, but from the back he banged my back, knocked on my back with his arm. And I remembered that when I spoke with him for the first time that I perhaps had a vocation, he knocked my chest with his hand. First he knocked my heart in my chest, and this time he banged me on my back, saying, "Come on, get going!" And then I went down into the church and without a reason I started to cry for one or two hours in the church. And since that moment, Fr. Slavko has interceded for a great gift for me, a great grace. It is not to look at myself, but to trust in God and serve man. That was the beginning of my path to the priesthood. I then decided to be a priest.

I left the community. I went to Rome. I went to the seminary. I went to the diocese. I became a deacon, I was consecrated. And three years ago, I became a priest. And so I can say that the Mother of God has always been my companion, all my life. Until now she has guided me. She has protected me in very difficult situations. I want to encourage you to always accept this protection. She is here for us. She helps us. She is a great grace. And the vocation for many goes through Medjugorje these days. I want to thank the Mother of God for everything she has done for us and all she is doing for us through her presence. I want to thank Fr. Slavko for his graces and his help. And I want to thank Blessed John Paul II; I want to thank him, who gave birth to me into the Church. He bore me into the Church.

I wish you a beautiful evening full of blessings. And may the Mother of God live in your hearts together with Jesus! (Reverend and Doctor Erich Cohen, Vienna, 11/17/2011)

On this Thanksgiving Day in the USA, we all give thanks for Fr. Slavko Barbaric and his steadfast witness to Our Lady of Medjugorje. And we thank Our Lady for her steadfast love for each of us!

Have a blessed day in Jesus and Mary!
Cathy Nolan
http://www.marytv.tv/

A Reflection for Today

 apostleshipofprayer on Nov 22, 2011 Reflection for 11/23/11
 “Long live Christ the King!”

Blessed Miguel Pro  

Today the Church celebrates the optional memorial of Miguel Augustin Pro, priest and martyr.

Miguel Agustin Pro was born January 13, 1891, in Mexico. From his childhood, he was known for his high spirits and happy personality. The son of an affluent mining engineer and a pious and charitable mother, Miguel had a special affinity for the working classes.

At 20, he became a Jesuit novice and shortly afterwards was exiled due to the Mexican revolution. He traveled to the United States, Spain, Nicaragua and Belgium, where he was ordained in 1925. Father Pro suffered greatly from a severe stomach disorder. When his health did not improve after several surgeries, his superiors permitted him to return to Mexico in 1926.

At this time, the revolutionary government in Mexico had banned all religious practice. The churches were closed and priests were in hiding. The government was particularly focused on finding and persecuting priests. Father Pro became a great master of disguise and spent the remainder of his life in a secret ministry to the Mexican Catholics who helped hide him from the authorities. In addition to fulfilling their spiritual needs, Fr. Pro also assisted the poor of Mexico City with their temporal needs. In all that he did, he remained filled with the joy of serving Christ, his King.

Falsely accused in a bombing attempt on the President-elect, Pro became a wanted man. On November 18, 1927, he was arrested and sentenced to death without the benefit of any legal process.On November 23, the day of his death, Father Pro prayed, forgave his executioners, bravely refused a blindfold, and faced the firing squad with his arms extended in the form of a cross, proclaiming, "Viva Cristo Rey!" ("Long Live Christ the King!)

A Prayer Composed by Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J.

According to one of Fr. Pro’s biographers, Rec. M.D. Forrest, M.S.C., the following was composed shortly before his death:

"Does our life become from day to day more painful, more oppressive, more replete with afflictions? Blessed be He a thousand times who desires it so. If life be harder, love makes it also stronger, and only this love, grounded on suffering, can carry the Cross of my Lord Jesus Christ. Love without egotism, without relying on self, but enkindling in the depth of the heart an ardent thirst to love and suffer for all those around us: a thirst that neither misfortune nor contempt can extinguish... I believe, O Lord; but strengthen my faith... Heart of Jesus, I love Thee; but increase my love. Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee; but give greater vigor to my confidence. Heart of Jesus, I give my heart to Thee; but so enclose it in Thee that it may never be separated from Thee. Heart of Jesus, I am all Thine; but take care of my promise so that I may be able to put it in practice even unto the complete sacrifice of my life."

Dear Family of Mary - The homily of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn:

Cardinal Christoph Schonborn speaks of Our Lady of Medjugorje! 2011
Used with permission from Christian Stelzer

November 23, 2011
St. Clement I
St. Columban
Blessed Agustin Pro

Dear Family of Mary!

I have transcribed the homily of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, given on November 17, 2011 at St. Stephens Cathedral. It is very moving. There is much to pray over in his words. (Remember this is a transcription of a talk translated into English from German. It may be a little rough, but it is so moving! You can also view it on our webpage, http://www.marytv.tv/.  )

The homily of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn:

Praised be Jesus Christ! May you always be praised!

Dear brothers and sisters, here in the Cathedral, via radio, television, all of you who are connected with us, united with us, dear brothers in the priesthood, in the deaconate, dear brothers and sisters from Croatia! --
There is a moment when the pilgrims go to Jerusalem, and that moment is one of the greatest moments of joy. It is like the pilgrims of Santiago of Compostela when they are on the Monte de Gozo - Mountain of Joy, after hundreds and perhaps thousands of kilometers, they see the aim of their pilgrimage for the first time. This is the same on the Mount of Olives when the pilgrims come and see Jerusalem for the first time from the Mount of Olives. This is the place where the pilgrims break out in jubilation and sing the Psalm "How I rejoiced when I heard them say 'Let us go unto the house of the Lord!' Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem, great city, built so strongly and sturdily. To you all the peoples come!" (cf. Psalm 122)

Today is one of those moments. Like on the Monte de Gozo, from the Mount of Olives, when I look into the Cathedral, when we see all of you brothers and sisters from the presbytery here, we can only rejoice! How much did I rejoice when I was told we go together to the mountain of the Lord. Yes, how I rejoiced when I was told we may go on pilgrimage to the Mother of God, to come to her who comes to us, who is with us. To come to the Lord who is with us!

And Jesus bursts into tears...incomprehensible for the apostles and the disciples, now at the goal of the pilgrimage, with His gaze resting upon Jerusalem, Jesus breaks into tears, He cries. The tears of Jesus...

Here in front of us we see the Icon, the beloved Icon of Maria Posc. Why is it here? Because she cried. It is the miracle of tears. In 1697 in Eastern Hungary, Maria Posc. Floods of tears flowed for days from her eyes. Soldiers came and took the icon apart to look for the trick, the cheat. It was only the piece of wood, the painting, and she cried. She cried. The tears of Jesus... the tears of the Mother of God...

Why did Jesus cry over Jerusalem? Because they did not recognize the hour, the hour of their visitation, of their grace. The hour of grace. Because they didn't recognize what brings them peace, what is their happiness. Brothers and sisters...how is it today with Jesus? Is He crying over us? Is He crying over Austria? Over Europe? Is the Mother of God crying?

Brothers and sisters, sin, sin, sin is the reason He cries. Sin is the reason why Mary cries. Oh, had you only recognized what makes for peace, in what is your happiness. Sin is unhappiness. And it is being sold as happiness. You convince yourself that it is happiness and so it remains hidden before your eyes. How painful when we do not see any longer in what is our happiness, what truly brings us peace, what God wants to give us because He wants to make us happy. Grace, the grace He wishes to bestow on us and give to us.

Brothers and sisters, may we, should we, today, ask ourselves the question through the Gospel that the Church is presenting to us today? "Lord, am I today a reason for you for tears? Am I a reason for your crying? Am I the reason why you cry? Are we Christians the reason for you to shed tears? Do you have joy in me? Are you joyful with me, or am I for you a reason of sorrow and pain? We may ask ourselves this question. Do I bring joy to Jesus with my life? Can the Gospa be joyful about me and about my life?

Jesus did not remain with His tears. He didn't stop there. Jesus does not stop at the tears that He sheds over us. He doesn't stop at the tears that He sheds over us, over our sins. He walked down from that hill, down into Jerusalem. He walked into the city, into His beloved city, into the temple, the House of His Father. Instead of stopping at His tears, He gave His life. He went to the Mount of Olives and He took everything upon Himself, all our guilt, all our failure, all our sins, the sin of the Church, the sin of the world. He carried it all up onto the Cross. And therefore, we must never stop with our sins. We must go beyond and ask Jesus "What did You do with our sins? You changed them. You transformed them. You redeemed us from our sins. You gave us new life.

The reading from the book of the Maccabees, the Church loves this book because it puts before our eyes so clearly what the early Christians lived and what many Christians in communist countries lived, in persecution, bitter, torturous, cruel persecution. When King Antiochus wanted to erase the Jewish religion, he only wanted to allow a state religion, meaning a state cult, like the cult of Lenin, or Stalin, or Hitler. Nothing else was allowed to exist next to it. And many fell from their faith. Many adapted, compromised. Adapted to the times they were living in. "We have to go with the signs of the times, we have to be fashionable, modern. We have to get rid of these old burdens, this old stuff." This is how they joined with the pagans and sacrificed to the Gods. They became modern, very up to date for their time.

 But a few said, "No. We will stay with the Faith of our fathers. We will stay with the Faith we have been given. We will stay with the alliance that He made with us." They risked their lives for that. Two days ago we had the reading of the old Eleazar. At 87 years old, he preferred to give his life rather than give a bad example to the young people. We shall hear of the 7 sons of the mother who died the death of martyrdom, in order to stay faithful to the faith. We must ask ourselves what about our faith? How is our faith life? Have we adapted so much that we can be pushed right under the door, without a profile, without character, without edges, without strength? Many tell us we have to be fashionable, we have to be modern; we have to adapt to our times, that finally the church must be modern so that she can be accepted by the people of today, the modern people.

But what must we give up in order to be accepted? And will we truly be accepted when we have totally adapted? Is it not exactly the opposite, precisely the opposite? But the Church teaches us the story of the Maccabees, those who were faithful to Faith, those who did not adapt, those who kept the alliance with God. They were the ones who became the carriers of hope for the others. Of course, they paid the price of great suffering. This [is like the] testimonies of faith in our neighboring countries, the communist countries, the testimonies of faith in the times of the Nazis, and the testimonies of faith today.

Brothers and sisters, I will just give a little example, a small example. In a school in Vienna, in one high school, I was visiting the religion class and in the corridor a pupil talked to me. He said, "Mr. Cardinal, I have faith and I am very lonely here." That is the situation of many young Christians today in our country, in our midst, and it takes courage [for them] and [they] need strengthening, and [they] need intercession so that [these] young people who are living in a surrounding in which it is completely normal to adapt so that we live as is usual, that they may stand firm for the Faith and live according to the Faith. For to live that today, you need the courage of heroism like at the times of the Maccabees. That young man was not killed, nor did he kill anyone because that is not the path of a Christian. Mattathias did it, but that is not the path for a Christian. But apparently Heaven wants to strengthen us for something. Obviously the Mother of God wishes to strengthen and fortify her children in Faith, to give them courage to stand for the faith, to stand by the faith and to stand up for faith.

When the Mother of God sends such strong signs today, signs of her turning towards us, of her Motherly care for us and about us, so that she talks to us as children, beloved children, then she wishes to encourage us and give us the strength for that.

I could not be at the Youth Festival in Medjugorje this year, I could be there with the heart, with the many, many young people...Or the two million who drove to Madrid in the boiling heat of the summer, not to the beach (perhaps afterwards also) but in order to be with the Holy Father together, to listen to him, to hear him, and to pray with him. That is hope!! And the Lord rejoices about that, the Gospa rejoices about that. Over that she does not shed any tears. But all the same, we need the witness of the tears of Jesus.

Lord, when you look at me, when I look at you, I know that you have reason to cry about me, but I know also that you also came to free us from our sins. You died for us, for our sins and you wish to show us the burden and weight sin has, it cost You Your life. We are so precious to You that we cost You Your life. Gospa wishes that we, her beloved children, that we may be happy. Oh may you recognize what makes for peace. How many times does she speak of peace? She wishes that we would have peace, first in us, then among us between us. When the Lord now will renew His sacrifice in our midst, His giving up of Himself for every one of us, then we may ask Him, "Lord, grant me the grace to be the reason for your joy! Show me how I can be joy for You. Your mother shows us how we can be joy for You. She shows us through her path to peace. Amen."
(Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, St. Stephens Cathedral, November 17, 2011, Homily)

In Jesus and Mary!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2011

Medjugorje: 11th Anniversary of Fr. Slavko’s death

11th Anniversary of Fr. Slavko’s death
date: 21.11.2011.

On Thursday, November 24, we will commemorate the 11th anniversary of Fr. Slavko Barbaric’s death. Fr. Slavko was born on March 11, 1946 in Dragicina, and he was educated in Cerin, Visoko and Sarajevo. He graduated in Graz and received his doctor’s degree in Freiburg. He was ordained in 1971, and since that time he was active in several Herzegovinian parishes. He became familiar with the events in Medjugorje in 1982, and from that time became servant of Our Lady in everything he did: prayer, talks and testimonies, prayer encounters throughout the world, his fatherly love and acceptance of all pilgrims, his care for addicts, poor and abandoned children. He also organised various events like: Peace Walk, seminar for priests, Youth Festival, seminar for married couples, seminars of prayer, fasting and silence. All of these events became essential part of Medjugorje programme.

Fr. Slavko died on November 24, 2000, after having completed prayer of the Way of the Cross on Cross Mountain. He was buried in Kovacica cemetery.

We will commemorate his death by climbing Cross Mountain and praying the Way of the Cross at 2 p.m., and celebrating Holy Mass at 6 p.m. in the church of St. James.

~Our Lady's Message of November 25, 2000~
"Dear children! Today when Heaven is near to you in a special way, I call you to prayer so that through prayer you place God in the first place. Little children, today I am near you and I bless each of you with my motherly blessing so that you have the strength and love for all the people you meet in your earthly life and that you can give God’s love.
 *I rejoice with you and I desire to tell you that your brother Slavko has been born into Heaven and intercedes for you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
Medjugorje Official

President Kennedy's Last Speech before his Assassination.

Irapuato — 22/11/2011 04:15:35:
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time (18:30 UTC) on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was fatally shot while traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas governor John Connally, and the latter's wife, Nellie, in a Presidential motorcade.

Dear Family of Mary




(c)Christian Stelzer, 2011
Ivan encounters Our Lady in Vienna 2011

 
November 22, 2011
St. Cecilia
Dear Family of Mary!

On November 17, 2011, St. Stephen's Cathedral was packed with people, young and old, who came to honor Our Lady of Medjugorje for 30 years of apparitions. They came to give thanks to her and to greet her when she appeared to Ivan Dragicevic. Among those grateful people was Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, who was present for the whole event and presided over Holy Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Clearly, all the people present, including the Cardinal, were aware of Our Lady's visitation during these days of grace.

And something amazed Denis that day. It was the Gospel reading for November 17, Luke 19: 41-44. When Denis realized that this was the Gospel to be read for Mass he went bananas! This Gospel was very meaningful to him. He later remarked to the Cardinal about this Gospel and the Cardinal told him it was the Church's reading for the day, the Gospel for November 17- Cycle A! And he said that the reason the event was on November 17, 2011 was because this was the only day Ivan was available to come to Vienna. So Denis realized God had arranged the whole thing.

 The Gospel:
"As Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If this day you only knew what makes for peace - but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." (Luke 19:41-44)

Truly, this is a word for our world today. Our Lady has been visiting Planet Earth for 30 years now, and still only a tiny percentage of the Church knows about her coming and even less believe and are listening to her. She comes as the Queen of Peace, and offers the world the way back to God. But her visitation has been ignored by so many. Though there were a couple thousand in the church in Vienna and many thousands of us gathered on the internet to welcome her coming, there are so many more who need to recognize this visitation. (Denis wrote about this sad fact in an article on our website - see  http://www.marytv.tv/ - News from Denis - Nov. 2. 2011 letter, the PS. He refers to Fr. Gabriel Amorth's lament of the apathy in the church in regards to Our Lady of Medjugorje and her messages.)

Then, after Mass, Ivan shared with us this message given to us by Mother Mary during the apparition:

"Dear Children, today I call you to prayer. Especially when Satan desires war and hate, I call you again my small children to pray, pray, pray that God will give you peace. Offer peace to every heart and be carriers of peace in this faithless world. I am with you and I pray before God for every one of you. And you, do not be afraid because whoever prays has no fear of evil and has no hatred in the heart. Thank you my dear children for having responded to my call." (Message through Ivan, given at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna on November 17, 2011)

We are made aware immediately in this message of a grave threat to humankind and to peace. Our Lady tells us "Satan desires war and hate..." She tells us we live in "this faithless world". She calls us to "pray, pray, pray" that God will give us peace. She tells us not to be afraid "because whoever prays has no fear of evil and has no hatred in the heart." Her words are serious. Like the Gospel from Luke, Our Lady speaks to us of grave realities. We live in a time when evil threatens.
But for us, the time of visitation is not over. She tells us, "I am with you and I pray before God for every one of you." Like Jesus, Our Lady will stay with us to help us in this time of decision, in this time of visitation. She is showing us, as did Jesus, her Son, what makes for peace!
The event in Vienna seems prophetic in that the situation that God's children find themselves in is adequately described to us and the call from God (through Our Lady) has been given. We are called to "Offer peace to every heart and be carriers of peace in this faithless world". This is the call being given to all of us who have responded to Our Lady of Medjugorje. The devastation that Jesus foresaw in Jerusalem need not have happened, if the people of His day had recognized His coming. The evils that threaten us today need not happen if we recognize Our Lady's coming. We can help her to turn things around and usher in the new springtime. But we must not grow complacent. Our hope is in living her messages.

Our Lady spoke to us an urgent word. Pray, pray, pray! Be carriers of peace in this faithless world! She is depending on us to respond for the sake of her other children. May we recognize the time of our visitation!

In Jesus and Mary!
Cathy Nolan
© Mary TV

PS. I will transcribe Cardinal Schonborn's homily for tomorrow! He spoke so well to our hearts about how to respond to Jesus and Mary!
PPS. The videos of the entire event in Vienna are posted on our home page! Enjoy!
http://www.marytv.tv/

Happy Feast Day of The Presentation Of Mary

If we learn to live our entire life as an encounter with the God of love, as Mary did, we will find our lives transformed by the Son whom she bore for the whole world.

The Virgin Mary’s apparitions in Medjugorje are an opportunity that God gives to today’s disoriented man.

Visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti in Varese
on November 20, Photo: Fabio Calanca
Varese News

* PAPAL CHAPLIN EMBRACES MEDJUGORJE *
By Jakob Marschner

The Virgin Mary’s apparitions in Medjugorje are an opportunity that God gives today’s disoriented man, and the arrival of hope, a chaplain to the Pope and director of the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate told 5,000 people gathered for a day-long prayer meeting with Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti on November 20.


The embrace was coming from the heart of Rome when Monsignor Giacomo Martinelli addressed 5,000 faithful in the sports hall of Varese 55 kilometers north of Milan, Italy, on Sunday.

Monsignor Martinelli is director of the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate and has served as the Pope’s chaplain since 1997, his history with the Diocese of Rome dating back to 1994.

“The apparitions of Our Lady Immaculate in Medjugorje are an opportunity that God gives today’s disoriented man, and the arrival of hope, a chance to resume their journey of faith for the people in a country that unfortunately was left with serious social and familial consequences of human failings” Monsignor Martinelli said with a reference to the Bosnian war, according to local news agency Varese News.

The prayer meeting in Lombardia lasted all day, and was attended by Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti whose apparition lasted about 10 minutes, the Milan-based national newspaper Il Giorno reports. This makes it a long apparition for Marija with whom 3 minutes apparitions are not unusual.

Spirit Daily is circulating this story
http://is.gd/pMrJ4i

Today, Let us adore and give praise and honor to the Lord.

The Miracle of Medjugorje

Uploaded by SurrenderTG on Sep 8, 2010
"The Miracle of Medjugorje" is a new HD movie that focuses on the most prevalent but yet often overlooked miracle. That miracle is the miracles of millions upon millions of people returning to God as a result of the Blessed Mother calling all living souls to return to God.

What is causing so many people to put God in the first place in their lives? Are you ready for Jesus? Is Medjugorje connection to Our Lady of Fatima?

See the first few days of this story told in detail. Hear about the miracle of the word MIR (Peace) appearing in the sky.

See Mirjana's yearly apparition on March 18th 2010 and commentary on what she sees and feels.

Listen to all six visionaries talked. Hear the visionaries talk about the first miraculous medical cure a blind man, and Ivanka embracing her deceased mother.

See for yourself the miracle of gold rosaries, the miracle of weeping bronze statue and see actual footage of the miracle of the sun and hear true testimony to phenomenon.

But most important of all see the biggest miracle of all, thousands of people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for more than 29 years , praying day and night, confessing and converting their life's back to God.

Hear about Mary's role in helping bring you to Her Son Jesus. She tells us about opening our hearts to Jesus, praying from the heart, and the power of prayer and fasting.

Let s focus on what the Blessed Mother is telling us to do through her messages from heaven.

"Pray Pray Pray!"

Without the Holy Spirit there is No Church

Uploaded by vatican on May 23, 2010

There is no Church without Pentecost, the Pope said this morning before the Recitation of the Regina Coeli, from the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square. " Benedict XVI explained that the Church constantly lives in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit without which it would exhaust its strength, like a sailboat if the wind were to fail." And Pentecost is renewed especially in some moments, on a local and universal level, both in small gatherings and large encounters, from the Second Vatican Council to local prayer meetings "in which young people clearly feel the Gods call to root their lives in love". And there is no Pentecost without the Virgin Mary - concluded the pope, so it has always been ..

Fr. John Randall



* Suggested Reading *   Father John Randall's book,--No Spirit, No Church

Comments: Fr. John Randall tells it like it is, no Spirit, no Church! It is a journal of his ministry of fifty-five years, focusing on the dying of a seminary and the rising to new life of two parishes in the inner city.
My heart was set on fire by this account, and it will enkindle your heart as well. - Father George Kosicki, C.B.S.

I'm really grateful that Fr. Randall has put a lifetime of experience and wisdom into his new book. This is truly a gift for the Church. - Ralph Martin

Fr. Randall has stood beside me for the past forty years as a fellow disciple of Jesus, working for the renewal of priestly and parish life. This book is his account of that journey. - Fr. Bob Bedard, C.C.-Founder of the Companions of the Cross

*No Spirit, No Church.  By Father John Randall, STD (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Koinonia Enterprises, 2009)

Father John Randall has been involved in the Charismatic Renewal since its beginning. He has had many experiences regarding the Holy Spirit's role in the Church as well as first hand experience on what happens when the Spirit is excluded from religious formation. All too often Catholics can think that they are doing the work of the Holy Spirit when they are really doing their own work. What is not of the Spirit is doomed to failure; what is of the Spirit cannot be suppressed.

No Spirit, No Church is Father Randall's personal journey as a Roman Catholic priest. The book is filled with stories of conversion, including Father Randall's, and of anecdotes that show how the Holy Spirit is moving in the Church and how He wants to move.

Father Randall drives home the point that the Holy Spirit's role is to glorify Jesus. Jesus is Lord! That truth must be recognized and taught if the Church is to grow. Being relevant to the world all too often means conforming to the world. It means, as Father Randall points out, that the Church is not so much in the world as that the world is in the Church. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit brings hope. Even as God purifies the Church until the true followers and believers remain, those embracing the truths of the faith will grow stronger through adversity. Father Randall sees our age as similar to the one in which St. Francis of Assisi lived, and he sees God calling us in the same way that He called St. Francis. "Go and rebuild My Church which, as you can see, is falling into ruin."

Father Randall does not sugarcoat what is happening in the Church today, nor does he fall into despair or discouragement. The Holy Spirit is still in charge. This book will give the reader hope that God is moving in a world that largely ignores Him. We have to put our finger to the wind, as Father Randall says, and see where He is active. He may be closer than we suspect.

By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them. Matthew 7:16

The north side of St. JamesChurch
where 36 new confessionals are
under constuction.

Medjugorje Expands to 61 Confessionals
by Jakob Marschner

Always famous for the long lines of people waiting to go to confession, Medjugorje is now building 36 more outdoor confessionals to facilitate more privacy and fewer open air confessions. When construction is finished, there will be confessionals both north and south of St. James’ Church.

When the apparitions began in Medjugorje, one of the first visible changes was the sudden stream of people who wanted to go to confession. This stream never stopped and so, for many years now, Medjugorje has been known as ‘the world’s confessional’.

At the moment this status is being expressed in construction work beside the local St. James’ Church. By building 36 new confessionals the parish of Medjugorje will take the total number to 61, more than doubling today’s 25 confessionals.

Earlier this week, parish staff removed all of the outdoor benches on the north side of St. James’ Church where the candles are lit. A webbed and metal fence was been put up, and construction of the new confessionals on that side of the church began in the configuration of a U with passageways to walk.

The new confessionals are intended to minimize need of open air confessions
Parish staff officials tell Medjugorje Today that the change is needed, citing reasons of privacy among many other factors leading to the decision to build the new confessionals.
 Conditions during the warmer months of the year when more than 300 priests are oftentimes willing to hear confessions also influenced the decision, parish staff members said.

Barbara Camenga reported from Medjugorje
Spirit Daily is circulating this story
http://is.gd/5YYq32

Daily Grace: Honor Your Father And Your Mother

Daily Grace Blog:   http://dailygrace001.blogspot.com/

Daily Grace: Honor Your Father And Your Mother: I came across this video clip today and it spoke volumes to me because there have been a few times recently where I have witnesses adult c...

~About Daily Grace~
A Catholic wife, mother, grandmother , business partner and first degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The purpose of this blog is to encourage both women and men to look for the daily graces in our everyday lives and to share the messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje. On December 8, 2009, I made my Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, something I would like to encourage others to look into. Mary, most holy, please intercede for the needs of each person who visits here today. Protect them in your motherly mantle and hold them close to your Immaculate Heart.

View her complete profile  http://www.blogger.com/profile/02243579752950295851

Video: Ivan and Cardinal Schoenborn at Saint Stephens Catheral

Ivan and Cardinal Schoenborn at Saint Stephens Catheral in Vienna

http://www.marytv.tv/

Ivan, No Hope Without God

Ivan in live streaming-No hope without God
by Jakob Marschner

All continents were represented via online live stream when the Cathedral in Vienna was turned into a little Medjugorje for a day. Before his 8 minutes long apparition, visionary Ivan Dragicevic said that the Virgin Mary has come to bring hope to a world without hope because God has been abandoned.

Ivan in the Cathedral in Vienna in September 2010. We are awaiting photos as well as video from Ivan's apparition on Thursday

The Virgin Mary has come as a teacher and there are no weekends in her school of conversion, Medjugorje visionary Ivan Dragicevic reiterated before his live streamed apparition of the Virgin Mary in the Cathedral of Vienna, Austria, on November 17.

During his eight minutes long apparition Ivan indeed resembled the pupil in love with his teacher – with frequent gazes of delight on top of a thoroughly polite demeanor with much smiling and nodding, obviosuly engaged in a familiar and friendly conversation. Before that he had told the packed Cathedral and all the viewers worldwide present via MaryTV’s live stream why the Virgin Mary is appearing at this time:

“Our Lady wants to take the tears from our faces. She wants to bring us hope because the world is without hope because we have abandoned God. Therefore our Mother comes to bring us the divine medicine. She wants to heal us from our illnesses with her motherly love and warmth. She is coming to us. She wants to lead us to her Son. Only in her Son is peace” Ivan said.

“There is so much talk about economic recession but obviously it is not just an economic recession but also a spiritual recession. Our Lady comes to us to show us a new way. She wants to get sinful people out of this recession. She is our Mother and she is so concerned of our salvation”.

Emphasizing the Rosary, Ivan described prayer as the cure to the many illnesses faced by individuals, families and whole societies:

“She wants to lead us out of darkness into light, into hope. She says society is sick in a spiritual sense. Families and societies are sick. But with the return of prayer in families, spiritual healing can take place. Our Lady says we need healing in societies and families and then there will be so much more love” Ivan said.

“Prayer is needed to know God. Prayer must become a friendship with Jesus – that we may be full of joy and peace for every word we pray”.

Ivan also reitereated the Virgin Mary’s calls to fasting and reading the Bible:

“Put the Bible in a visible place in your homes. Read the Bible. Through reading the Bible, Jesus will be born in your hearts and in your families” the visionary said.

After the evening’s Mass presided over by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Ivan said that the Virgin Mary had been “very happy and joyful”. Ivan also told that, in a special way, he had entrusted the diocese of Vienna to the Virgin Mary who had then “prayed in a very special way for this diocese and for the needs of this diocese”. Ivan then passed on this message from the Virgin Mary:

“Dear children, today I call you to prayer. In a special way because Satan wants war, I call you again, my little children, pray, pray that God will give you peace. Be witnesses to everyone in this world, and be carriers of God’s peace. I am with you and I pray in front of God for each person who is here. And you, do not be afraid because the one who prays is not afraid of evil and has no hatred in the heart. Thank you, dear children, for coming back and having followed my call.”"In truth this evening when we have been together in prayer has been full of the Holy Spirit. May we continue in our families what we have started tonight. I hope the seed we have sown will bear good fruit. Thank you!” Ivan ended his description.
 http://is.gd/kGaKYT

Ave Maria--The Angelic Salutation is sung by Hayley Westenra

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" -Luke 1, 28.

Revelation from Saint Sister Faustina

~REVELATION~

Today, I heard these words: You see how weak you are, so when shall I be able to count on you? I answered, "Jesus, be always with me, for I am Your little child. Jesus, You know what little children do."

I have understood that at certain and most difficult moments I shall be alone, deserted by everyone, and that I must face all the storms and fight with all the strength of my soul, even with those from whom I expected to get help.

But I am not alone, because Jesus is with me, and with Him I fear nothing. I am well aware of everything, and I know what God is demanding of me. Suffering, contempt, ridicule, persecution, and humiliation will be my constant lot. I know no other way. For sincere love-ingratitude; this is my path, marked out by the footprints of Jesus.

My Jesus, my strength and my only hope, in You alone is all my hope. My trust will not be frustrated.

Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 746

The healing gifts of the Spirit offers hope.

Frank Kelly

The healing gift of the spirit offers hope


Tuesday, 15 November 2011 11:24
Published on Tuesday, 15 November 2011 11:24
Written by Christine Bordelon

The way Frank Kelly tells it, he was a blue-collar worker just like the apostles when God decided to tap him to help others.
Today, the 63-year-old from Massachusetts travels nationwide giving testimony of surviving being hit by a drunk driver at 16, being electrocuted as an adult and living with rheumatoid arthritis.
He always has a smile on his face, a witness to the contentment one can obtain through God.
“When you are doing God’s work, a peace comes over you,” he said.

Four hundred people went to see him Nov. 10 during a Mass and healing service at St. Dominic Church in Lakeview that lasted until 1 a.m. He also visited the Sisters of Mount Carmel on Nov. 14.

He says he plants the seeds of truth in people and invites them to prayer. Constant prayer has reinforced what he heard as a boy in confession: we are all made in God’s image and likeness, and any offense is offensive to God. Culture labels everything as addiction, and nothing is considered a sin. Kelly says addiction is sin, and confession gets to its root.“Prayer time is important,” he said. “We are rooted to pray. It’s something of deep love. If you are really in love with someone, you will communicate with them and they will communicate with you.”

Strong faith background
He is the sixth of 12 children from a devout Irish Catholic family outside of Boston. He speaks of attending daily Mass and novenas and was instilled a knowledge of and faith in the saints as role models.
They had the same problems as we do,” he said of the saints. “They are just like you and I. Look how they started and look how they turned out.”
Padre Pio is among his favorites. In fact, he attributes his family’s sustenance after his father’s heart attack directly to St. Pio, when a traveling priest delivered groceries and a specific flour his mother used – King Arthur’s flour – to his home.
“I knew it had a lot to do with Padre Pio,” he said.

Life changed in an instant
While insulating pipe at New England Medical Center (now Tufts) in 1985, he was electrocuted from a live wire left exposed by an electrician.
“I hit the ceiling and the electricity came through my body again,” Kelly said. “I passed out and didn’t know what happened.”
With no treatment for electrocution, he was left to die. In fact, a fourth-year medical student was sent to record the time of his death on his death certificate. When he sat up and told the student that he had to go to the bathroom, the student ran out the room. The doctors couldn’t explain why he was alive but recommended a pacemaker because of the damage the electricity caused his heart.

Kelly had his beloved saints working for him. St. James the Greater Church was near the medical center, and he said he often prayed to him as the patron saint of construction workers. Then, he said Padre Pio appeared to him when he was hesitant about getting a pacemaker and said, “Be at total peace and everything will be fine.”
When he left the hospital, Kelly couldn’t stop praying. He now spends hours in prayer each day, sometimes saying 60 rosaries.
He recalls his mom saying, “Praying is nothing but God instructing you.” As he prayed, he said God began teaching him more about the saints and giving him a gift of knowledge and healing. It’s the saint he uses to help people overcome their difficulties.

Not unusual to be a healer

While some are skeptical of his ministry, Kelly said he has been surrounded by healers his entire life. As a child, he attended novenas to Our Lady of Perpetual Help given by Redemptorist Father Edward McDonough in Roxbury, Mass. Father McDonough gained a reputation for his healing services. “The healings were just incredible,” Kelly said. “We were fortunate to grow up with it.”
Kelly initially resisted God’s intercession through him to help others but was sent a few signs as reinforcement.
A few years after he was electrocuted, a friend took him to see Josephite Father Robert DeGrandis, another priest known for his healing ministry. Father DeGrandis nudged him to move forward with his ministry, “You truly are Roman Catholic, but you are constipated, and we’re going to get it out of you.”
That same night he prayed over a woman who found emotional healing. Father DeGrandis advised him to pray for a good spiritual director and to be obedient to the Catholic Church. Today, Jesuit Father Ronald Tacelli is his spiritual advisor.
“If God’s calling you to do it, then you do it,” Padre Pio said. “It’s a peace that comes over you that no man can give you.”

God provides

Since 1990, he has been in full-time ministry helping others.
“Ask the Father anything in my name, and I will give it to you,” he said. “If you ever ask him, you are imitating him and acting like him. God gives you what you need.”
Kelly said he doesn’t turn down invitations to speak and meets people with every imaginable difficulty from illness, to depression, to marital problems and addiction. After he prays over them, he gives them saints to pray to. When people ask how he knows so much about each person, he says, “I don’t. God knows that.”
He enjoys working with young people the most at confirmation retreats. St. Francis Xavier said to bring the word of God to the young and they will bring the adults.
His frequent traveling companion Gerry Gouthro said he was at a confirmation retreat with Kelly when three teenage girls dressed immodestly came out crying after Kelly spoke to them. Gouth­ro asked why and one said, “He scares us. He tells me things my mom doesn’t even know.” Gouthro responded, “He’s only telling you that Jesus wants you to know to help you in life.”

Kelly retells his experiences in the book, ”Short Circuit to God,” and gives all proceeds to missionary priests in India and those studying for the priesthood in Ghana. While he doesn’t charge to speak, if he is given a stipend, he said he donates it to charity.
He lives modestly with traveling companions driving him from place to place and lodging with those who invite him to speak.
“God takes care of me,” he said. “I’ve never charged to go anywhere.”
Kelly considers his healing gifts as part of the “walk that the Lord wanted me to do. When you say yes to God, he’s in complete control. That’s what I’m doing.”
Learn more about Kelly at http://www.frankkellyministry.com/.

Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarionherald.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Video:  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgt68s_frank-kelly-s-electrocution_webcam

"Mother Teresa's "Famous" National Prayer Breakfast Speech"



Peggy Noonan



Still, Small Voice

Crisis Magazine: February 1, 1998

Now that I have spoken of things to keep in mind as you write and give a speech, I want to talk about somebody who broke almost all the rules and still gave a speech that was deeply memorable and enormously powerful. I do this to inspire you: Ultimately your own way is the best way, and mistakes are not always mistakes.






   

On February 3, 1994, Mother Teresa came to Washington and gave a speech that left the entire audience dazzled and part of it dismayed,  including a United States senator who turned to his wife after Mother Teresa concluded and said, “Is my jaw up yet?

”But not everyone applauded. The president and first lady, seated within a few feet of Mother Teresa on the dais, were not applauding. Nor were the vice president and Mrs. Gore. They looked like seated statues at Madame Tussaud’s. They glistened in the lights and moved not a muscle, looking at the speaker in a determinedly semi-pleasant way.

 Read Full Story Here>> http://peggynoonan.com/article.php?article=31

The Day Mother Teresa Put Communist Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua In His Place

"The Day Mother Teresa Put a Communist In His Place"
Nov 11th, 2011 by Omar F. A. Gutierrez

There is a story that I heard a couple of days ago that I find just so thrillingly wonderful I had to share. This story about Mother Teresa and the Communist Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua comes from this phenomenal clip http://www.msgrjohnesseff.net/?p=276 from Kris McGregor of http://www.discerninghearts.com/  Kris is a dear friend and is doing amazing work for the Church through her audio treasury.

The story in the clip is told by Msgr. John Esseff, one of the holiest men alive, Mother’s confessor, and the man who gave Mother Teresa her last retreat before she died. Kris was able to get the good Msgr. to share his reflections on Mother, so the story I’m about to tell is just one of several he shares. The good Msgr. paints a picture so colorful and personal that it can give you chills at times. You might want to consider keeping a box of tissues close by, too. Note also that you can hear Msgr. speaking about the devotion to the Sacred Heart as well as his reflection on meeting Padre Pio at his website.  http://www.msgrjohnesseff.net/

Alright, so here’s the story. Mother Teresa had gone to Nicaragua with some of her sisters in order to help those suffering from an earthquake in the capital, Managua. At the time, Nicaragua was run by the Sandinista Communist regime, headed by Daniel Ortega. According to Msgr. Esseff, Communists in general and Ortega and Castro in particular just loved Mother and would take every opportunity to be seen with her and have events with her.

At one rally, Ortega, who was supposed to introduce Mother Teresa to the expectant crowd, went on a long tirade about President Reagan and what a horrible person he was. He went on and on about communism and the government, etc. When he had finished, he invited Mother up to the microphone. There she was, that diminutive Albanian so full of life and love and she said, “President Reagan really needs prayers, doesn’t he.”

“Yes, he really does, Mother,” was the response from Ortega who thought then that he had scored big.

But then Mother said to him, “And so do you. I was talking to your wife, and you are a Catholic.”

Nervous now, Ortega affirmed that he was Catholic. You know those hairs that stand up at the back of your neck when you know you’re in trouble, that sinking feeling in the gut? I like to think that Ortega was experiencing that just then.

“You are a Catholic, but you don’t have your children baptized. I want to be their godmother. Your wife told me you haven’t had them baptized. Let’s go baptize them right now, because if you can’t run your family, you can’t run the country.”

Friends, this is called getting shot in the face with the bazooka of truth. I like to imagine what Ortega looked like as the blood rushed to his face and head. But who could be mad at little Mother?

Listen to the rest of this amazing reflection on Mother from Msgr Esseff.

One last thing, Ortega’s wife Rosario Murillo is a staunchly pro-life woman who saw to widespread bans on abortion in Nicaragua. About radical feminism she once wrote:

Their values represent the Old Society, exclusive, unjust, and impoverishing… where men and women…prefer to raise pets instead of children, and depopulate and disharmonize the Earth.

This is junk feminism, and furthermore, as I already said, it is in the hands of women who neither live as women, nor know the feminine soul, individual or collective. They ignore our daily battles; they are not the flesh and bone of a woman. They have no family ties or stable affections; they disdain those blessed ties of unconditional affection, indispensible for healthy human development.

They don’t admit that women opt for routes that are constructive for women, with an inclusive conscience, a maternal instinct, and a sense of family, of a couple, and of human brotherhood. They do not accept that men and women believe in a different future, and that we work together, creating the indispensable difference between today and tomorrow.

So maybe Señora Murillo knew exactly what she was doing when she told Mother Teresa about the kids, a possibility that makes this story even better. Behind every great man is a woman…and a surprised mother-in-law.

Jesus of Nazareth is Passing By

Jesus, son of David have pity on me!

Meditation: Luke 18:35-43

“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by!” (Luke 18:37)

What faith! As soon as the blind man heard that Jesus was passing by, he called out at the top of his lungs: “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!” (Luke 18:38). He was not going to let fear or shame make him miss the biggest moment of his life. In fact, when the people told him to be quiet, he shouted even louder: “Son of David, have pity on me!”(18:39). Jesus was so impressed with this man’s faith and persistence that he answered: “Have sight; your faith has saved you” (18:42).

If you had an opportunity to be that close to Jesus as he passed by, wouldn’t you cry out to him as well? The truth is, this is what happens every time you go to Mass! From the moment of consecration on, Jesus is truly present on the altar under the signs of bread and wine. He is there, passing right before your eyes! So go ahead and call out to him — in your heart, of course! Go ahead and ask him to heal you and your loved ones. Don’t let fear or shame hold you back. Just repeat this blind man’s plea, and then trust that he will answer you.

What will Jesus’ response be? He will say the same thing that he said to the blind man: “Your faith has saved you.”

Did you know that the Greek word for “saved” here can also mean “healed”? That’s right. Jesus can bring healing to your life. As you persist in calling out to him at Mass, not only will your faith be built up and your soul saved; your life can be healed as well. The pain of old wounds can be lessened. Anxiety, bitterness, and cynicism can fall away. Even physical ailments may be resolved. So fix your spiritual eyes on Jesus at the altar. Gaze on him as he passes by, and cry out to him. This consistent focus on Jesus can bring you closer to him in this life, and open the door of heaven itself!

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! As I gaze upon you today, pass by me with your healing touch, and save me. I love you, Lord.”

1 Maccabees 1:10-15,41-43, 54-57,62-63;
Psalm 119:53,61, 134,150,155,158
http://en.gloria.tv/?media=215058