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7/31/14
Youth Festival in Medjugorje
7/30/14
Prayer to Mary
Prayer
to Mary, the Bride of the Holy Spirit
Mary,
our Mother, the Bride of the Holy Spirit, protect us.
Implore
love for us, the true love of God and the Holy Spirit.
Implore
wisdom for us, the true wisdom of your Groom.
Mary,
may we not go astray,
May
we not lose hope,
May
we not extinguish our faith.
Help
us to persevere on the path to salvation.
Help
us to win the battle against the enemy.
Oh
Bride of the Holy Spirit,
Stretch
your protective mantle over us and our families,
And
bring us safely to eternity, amen.
Dear Family of Mary
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7/28/14
The Medjugorje Message: Unusual happening during apparition
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| Photo by Bernard Gallagher http://crownofstars.blogspot.com/ |
7/26/14
A Reflection: Open Your Hearts to the Holy Spirit
Our Lady of Medjugorje Message of May 23, 1985 with a Reflection by Kathleen Aparo
“Dear Children, These days I invite you especially to open your hearts to the Holy Spirit. These days the Holy Spirit acts through you in a special way. Open your hearts and abandon your life to Jesus that He may act through your hearts and strengthen your faith. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Imagine your heart open with rays of love shining out to everyone. Not just some people, everyone!! And though I might like to think I do that, I know in my wounded heart that in the blink of an eye, I can make a judgement call. I can judge, by some unknown means, how much love I’m willing to share with someone. I can make the momentous decision of whether or not to meet that person soul to soul in one casual moment. So how can I help myself to be more open and to not let my insecurities hold me back. Mary tells me and you exactly how. She asks us to invite the Holy Spirit into our hearts and then see the special ways He will act through us. Mary wants us to experience the gentle miracles of the Spirit… miracles that heal and soothe the wounds we’ve accumulated over the years… miracles that change us from the inside out. And when that happens, and our faith is strengthened, it’s then we’re moved to live more fully the one God formed in our mother’s womb.
~Kathleen Aparo
7/25/14
Legendary Priest Breaks Lengthy Silence
By Jakob Marschner
Fr. Jozo Zovko is back at writing commentaries on the Virgin Mary’s monthly message. Medjugorje’s charismatic parish priest by the time the apparitions began has been away from public spotlight for more than five years, asked to stay silent until the Vatican Commission had finished.
Among the few recent photos to emerge of Fr. Jozo Zovko, this one stems from the Autumn of 2011
Publically silent since early 2009, Fr. Jozo Zovko has now resumed his meditations or commentaries on the Virgin Mary’s monthly message given on every 25th day of the month to Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti.
Now 73 years old Fr. Jozo, the parish priest in Medjugorje when the apparitions began and quickly imprisoned by the communist regime for refusing to denounce the Virgin Mary’s appearances, has only met with very few pilgrims since February 2009. His most recent message commentary dated back even longer when he wrote the first of now three in April this year.
Fr. Jozo with visionary Mirjana Dragicevic around 1983 when the priest had just been released from 18 months of prison for refusing to denounce the apparitions in Medjugorje
Fr. Jozo’s comeback as a writer coincided almost precisely with the Vatican Commission on Medjugorje finishing its work, as this took place in January this year. His Franciscan superiors had asked him not to speak about Medjugorje in public until the Commission had finished, an order Fr. Jozo obeyed without viewing it as a punishment.
Fr. Jozo was among the key figures the Commission called and questioned. According to Medjugorje Today’s informations, the Commission members were particularly impressed by Fr. Jozo, a well-known charismatic whose talks and writings have affected very many people throughout the years.
Recent photo of Fr. Jozo Zovko
In his most recent message commentary, Fr. Jozo calls his readers to true Christian apostleship, noting that only Christians have the tools and answers needed to solve contemporary problems:
“Our time of trials and troubles – like floods, earthquakes and wars – has shown who is a Christian, and who is a man-humanist. This is the time of those who have the heart and the time for prayer, the time for good deeds. Such Christians have the eyes to see the wounds and pains, the sufferings and needs of their neighbors. And today only love – Christian, Jesus’ love – saves and that is why we must stop interpreting and making new theories why and from where problems and troubles come”. Fr. Jozo Zovko states.
“So many live unwisely, and many have lost the joy of life and are fighting against the forces of evil and darkness losing the last hope. Everything is contrary to their wishes and dreams and they simply are losing the will to live. In that night of ignorance and trial man needs God. He is the light. He is a new day. He is our safety.”
Taken in July 1981, shortly before he was arrested, this is one of the earliest known photos of Fr. Jozo with the Medjugorje visionaries. Left to right: Marija Pavlovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic, Jakov Colo, and Ivanka Ivankovic. Only Ivan Dragicevic is missing in this photo from the first summer of the apparitions
“Our generation seeks and needs its apostles. They are not the people who pride themselves on their diplomas and knowledge but the people who have changed their lives – converts. Today only true converts, or rather saints, have the opportunity to help neighbors. Today’s Samaritans watch how Levites and priests passing by the neighbors knowing they have nothing to give them because they have no time, because their time that should be devoted to the neighbor is lost” Fr. Jozo further notes.
“Such lost time makes man nervous and unhappy. Our wrong education makes the love for the neighbor difficult for us, and our conflicts make wounds on the body of the Church family. We are waiting for the good Samaritan, the Samaritan who wholeheartedly meets and helps the needy. He always has something to give and offer, and never walks without the indispensable oil and wine. He knows where the medical clinic is and to whom the patient should be taken to have his health restored.”
Fr. Jozo met Pope John Paul II in 1992. Ten years later, he was positively surprised upon receiving an apostolic blessing from the Pope in his mail. The text reads: “I grant from the heart a particular blessing to Father Jozo Zovko, o.f.m. and I invoke a new outpouring of graces and heavenly favors, and the continuous protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary”.
Since December 2011, Fr. Jozo Zovko has served in a Franciscan monastery in Zagreb, Croatia. Since he left Siroki Brijeg near Medjugorje in early 2009, the last place where he was available to pilgrims on a larger scale, he has also been in charge of rebuilding a Franciscan monastery on the Croatian island of Badija.
July 25, 2014 Message from Our Lady, through Marija:
(c) Mary TV 2014
J.M.J
July 25, 2014
Dear Family of Mary!
Here is the July 25, 2014 Message from Our Lady, through Marija:
"Dear children! You are not aware of the graces that you are living at this time in which the Most High is giving you signs for you to open and convert. Return to God and to prayer, and may prayer begin to reign in your hearts, families and communities, so that the Holy Spirit may lead and inspire you to every day be more open to God's will and to His plan for each of you. I am with you and with the saints and angels intercede for you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
Mary TV 2014
7/19/14
With extended hands Our Lady calls and invites us.
Tuesday, the 18th of March 2008
(Message given to Mirjana)
Mirjana transmitted the following:
I have never seen Our Lady address us in this manner. She extended her hands towards us and with her hands extended in this way, she said:
"Dear children, today I extend my hands towards you. Do not be afraid to accept them. They desire to give you love and peace and to help you in salvation. Therefore, my children, receive them. Fill my heart with joy and I will lead you towards holiness. The way on which I lead you is difficult and full of temptations and falls. I will be with you and my hands will hold you. Be persevering so that, at the end of the way, we can all together, in joy and love, hold the hands of my Son. Come with me; Fear not. Thank you."
7/17/14
Children of Medjugorje Newsletter July 2014
July 15 2014,
Feast of Our Lady of
Mount Carmel!
Dear Children of Medjugorje,
Praised be Jesus and
Mary!
1. On July
2nd, Mirjana received her monthly apparition in the new building near
her house. After the apparition, she shared the following message:
"Dear
children, I, the mother of all of you gathered here
and the mother of the entire world, am blessing you with a motherly blessing and
call you to set out on the way of humility. That way leads to the coming to know
the love of my Son. My Son is almighty, He is in everything. If you, my
children, do not become cognizant of this, then darkness/blindness rule in your
soul. Only humility can heal you. My children, I always lived humbly,
courageously and in hope. I knew, I became cognizant that God is in us and we
are in God. I am asking the same of you. I desire for all of you to be with me
in eternity, because you are a part of me. I will help you on your way. My love
will envelop you like a mantle and make of you apostles of my light - of God's
light. With the love that comes forth from humility you will bring light to
where darkness/blindness rule. You will be bringing my Son who is the light of
the world. I am always alongside your shepherds and I pray that they may always
be an example of humility for you. Thank you."
On
June 25th, for the 33rd Anniversary of the Apparitions, Our Lady gave
this message:
"Dear
Children! The Most High is giving me the grace that I can still be with you and
to lead you in prayer towards the way of peace. Your heart and soul thirst for
peace and love, for God and His joy. Therefore, little children, pray, pray,
pray and in prayer you will discover the wisdom of living. I bless you all and
intercede for each of you before my Son Jesus. Thank you for having responded to
my call."
2. For the feast of
Corpus Christi, a huge crowd of pilgrims and villagers took part in the
procession of the Blessed Sacrament through the village streets. What a joy it
is to see this beautiful tradition being revived in Medjugorje since the fall of
Communism! When I was a little girl (last century!) we had these processions in
the towns of France, and the children would throw rose petals where Jesus passed
by, carried with solemnity in the monstrance accompanied by songs and hymns in
his honor. Today, in many places, these processions are forbidden, replaced by
rallies of other types - some of them of a perverse nature - that certainly do
not call down divine blessings upon our streets and boulevards! Lord, have mercy
upon Europe, which has resolved to expel you from its borders, unaware that to
reject the Savior means to reject salvation, too!
On that day of Corpus Christi,
the walls of St. James, here in Medjugorje, were ringing with the magnificent
homily of an Irish celebrant at the English Mass. This priest received his
vocation in Medjugorje, and it was plain to see that the Our Lady was with him.
Here is a short extract from what he shared with us of his personal
experience:
"I was coming back from the first
International Cenacle meeting in 1992 and while I was at the Dublin Airport I
was saying a little prayer: 'Our Lady, are you pleased with my
Cenacle that I've just made and all the graces You have obtained for me? I
really felt the influx of grace from the retreat!!' ....and all of the
sudden everybody at the airport disappeared before my eyes and there was only
myself and this beautiful girl smiling radiantly at me; I didn't know who she
was and I couldn't put a name to her face. Then I heard a voice inside of me
saying: 'I am very happy and pleased with the Cenacle you have come from, and
with all the graces I have obtained for you'. Our Lady had spoken to my heart
and then I knew who this person was, she was Vicka from Medjugorje. She appeared
to me at Dublin Airport! Then I said to Our Lady: "Do you want me to speak to
her?" and she answered: "No, this is a confirmation for you that Medjugorje is
authentic and the Marian Movement is authentic."
3. To still be with us! For the 33rd anniversary of the
apparitions, we were expecting a powerful message from the Virgin Mary. These
are the words that have stayed in our minds above all: "The Most High is giving
me the grace that I can still be with you..." What does she mean by still? I am not among those who have seen or heard her, but according to
Vicka, we are far from having accomplished what she had planned to do through
her apparitions in Medjugorje. From the very beginning, Mary explained her plan
clearly: "I have come to convert the whole world and reconcile it with God." She
also said, "I have come to bring the world closer to the Heart of God." But just
a few years ago she said this: "The world is going further away from the Heart
of God every day." This remark hurts! But Mary is Mother of Hope and she (no
doubt) has obtained from God the ability to continue to come so that this plan
may be at last realized, and so that satan may not succeed in diminishing and
destroying the impact that her coming has upon us. Now the ball is in our
court!
How and when have we disappointed
her, to the point of preventing her from accomplishing all the good that she was
expecting to do through Medjugorje? We have started to pick and choose what we
want from her messages; we have allowed our consciences to be lulled to sleep by
the materialism that surrounds us. We haven't taken seriously that God should
be in the first place in our life and instead of him we have preferred earthly
wellbeing (that we lose anyway when we don't live under his blessing). To
encourage us to change our course, here is a simple testimony that dates from
the 90's.
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Picture Courtesy of
MedjugorjeToday.tv
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We know that Jakov lost his
mother about a year after the apparitions began. He was devastated, since she
was the only family he had. But the very evening of the day she died, during the
apparition, Mary said to him: "Do not weep, Jakov, your mother is with me in
Heaven!" When I heard this, I went to see Jakov to ask him what his mother had
done to go to straight to Heaven, what had there been in her life that was so
beautiful that God should have taken her so quickly like this? I guessed that
the answer might be of interest to each one of us!
But Jakov remained evasive and
said to me, "I can't think of anything special to tell you, Sr Emmanuel. There
was nothing extraordinary about my mother." I urged him to think about it some
more, knowing that not everyone goes directly to heaven, he insisted saying,
"No, I assure you, there was nothing special about my mother, she was just like
everyone else, she did everything the Gospa told us!" I had my answer! "She did
everything the Gospa told us!"
If today, despite our
luke-warmness, our wanderings and our lack of humility, the Virgin Mary has
decided to continue to come, let us not disappoint her! This is the time of
grace, so let us take hold of it! Let us not allow the enemy to rejoice at
finding in us an open door that we offer him through our compromises with sin.
Let us not give him free reign to attack, since our future is at stake, as well
as that of our children.
She is giving us a second chance.
If we desire peace rather than disaster, there is still time to "do everything
that she tells us!"
Dearest Gospa,
referring to Jesus you said, and still say to us, "Do everything He tells you".
Please, with your motherly touch, help us do everything you tell us to do
because He has made you His spokesperson. (See PS 2)
Sister
Emmanuel +
7/16/14
Does Our Lady really invite pilgrims to Medjugorje
Greetings, From ever since my first visit to Medjugorje from long time ago, I am hearing from many people/sources ( including sister Emmanuel book) that every pilgrim that visits Medjugorje is invited in person by our lady the most holy virgin Mary, like I and everyone of you invite specific people to our birthdays parties. Moreover, I personally believe in this issue, I had an awesome experience and i will tell you its story hereunder:
In my first visit to Medjugorje in summer 2000, there was a girl that came with us, this girl who is called Micha, was very skeptical about this specfic point ( the invitation of our lady in person to every pilgrim) and she used to laugh on us whenever we told her "enjoy your stay at medjugorje" because it is our lady who has invited you to this place totally like you invite your friends to your birthday party.
Days passed until the last day in our stay, when we had to climb Criczevac, when we arrived to the mount in front of the big white cross, a Lebanese priest asked us to kneel in front of the cross and pray the rosary, while doing so, Micha was bothered by a small piece of boulder/stone and therefore she was forced to move it in order to kneel properly and while doing so, guess what she found written on the other side of the stone??!!........it was her name written clearly "Micha", maybe another pilgrim who's name is Micha had written her name on this small piece of stone....
At that moment, Micha was literally motionless/speechless and from ever since this story she is a witness of the personal invitation issue and she tells her story everyday to new people... What about you?? what do you think? God bless, Joseph. - Source Medjugorje Forum
7/14/14
MAKE THE CUT
"My mission is to spread, not peace, but division." -Matthew 10:34
One church marquee proclaims, "Jesus adds and multiplies; Satan subtracts and divides." That being so, how do we understand today's Gospel? Jesus is the "Prince of Peace" (Is 9:5), so how can He say he won't bring peace?
Satan divides and conquers to just leave us broken, bitter, and alone. Jesus, on the other hand, divides and separates us from all that keeps us from a close, intimate, personal relationship with Him. He wants full communion with us and nothing less. He has come to divide us - to tear us from relationships with people and things that are keeping us from being closer to Him.
Take a few moments to examine your relationships. Are you spending time with certain people who are pulling you away from Christ? Are you spending too much time in front of the TV or wasting too much time with electronic devices or other inanimate objects that keep you from prayer time? Cut those out of your life. Be in full communion with the Prince of Peace.
Jesus wants to mean everything to you. Let Him into your life today in a bigger, more profound way. Make the cut.
Jesus, give me the grace to remove from my life those things that keep me from being close to You.
"He who will not take up his cross and come after Me is not worthy of Me." -Mt 10:38
Days here in Medjugorje are such a big grace for me
“I received my vocation in Medjugorje”
date: 11.07.2014.
A young priest, Mitja Bulic from Archdiocese Novo Mesto in Slovenia came to Medjugorje for the priest retreat for the first time. He told us that he was ordained a year ago and was in Medjugorje already for thirty times. “I gained many profound experiences at this seminar, and the theme of the seminar “Behold your mother” is very special to me, because I live with Mary all of my life, I think she is the one that guides me to Jesus. These days here in Medjugorje are such a big grace for me. These seminars help me so much in my life, and it is so necessary to have them. This is a place where I received my vocation, my prayer was awaken and I began to read the word of God. I came here for the first time when I was only six years old and already on that trip, I felt something powerful and special, something I cannot forget. This is where one feels peace and power of prayer. Regardless of where you are in Medjugorje, you feel that peace”, said a young priest from Slovenia. http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/
7/13/14
JOY OF SUFFERING
"I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us." -Romans 8:18
When we suffer, we may take a pill for pain relief. However, Paul recommends that we pray for a deeper awareness of God's glory. We need to increase our awareness of God's glory more than decrease our pain. Then we will consider our suffering as nothing compared to His glory to be revealed in us. We can even become so aware of God's glory that we consider suffering a privilege (Phil 1:29), find our joy in our suffering (Col 1:24), and even rejoice in proportion to our suffering (1 Pt 4:13).
For most people, their joy increases as their suffering decreases. For Christians aware of God's glory, our joy increases as our suffering increases. This is only possible for those deeply aware of God's glorious presence (1 Pt 2:19). This fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps 111:10), even of wisdom concerning our suffering. We find joy in suffering only when we suffer redemptively through self-sacrifice and persecution.
Most suffering should be removed through repentance, evangelization, deliverance, and/or healing. Redemptive suffering, however, should be compared to God's glory and considered nothing (see Rm 8:18). We should rejoice in redemptive suffering and even seek to increase it by living totally for Christ.
Father, give me the faith and love to pray to share more in Your sufferings (see Phil 3:10).
"So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but shall do My will, achieving the end for which I sent it." -Is 55:11
7/12/14
19th International Seminar for Priests
The experiences of participants of the 19th International Seminar for Priests
date: 09.07.2014.
The 19th International Seminar for priests is being held in Medjugorje and around 300 priests, deacons and seminarians from 25 countries have gathered here. Fr. Luka Zoric, member of Herzegovinian Franciscan Province is working in Slano and is here for the first time: “This is my first time here to participate in such spiritual retreat. One can indeed feel communion and all participants would like to experience something new, so they would be able to be more active in pastoral way. As a priest, I need to do spiritual retreat once a year, as every priest does; I do not even have to leave my house, since those retreats are held in my monastery, not just for priests but for lay people as well. But, I was never able to experience what I experienced here, this is where I really surrender to the prayer completely. Fr. Stanko Dodig, Franciscan capuchin, born in Medjugorje, is also participating. He told us that he feels everyone is so happy to be in Medjugorje and they will all return home fulfilled. “This is my third year to come for this seminar, and surely, if it wasn’t spiritually attractive for me, I would not be here again. All lectures are indeed full of spirituality. We would not be able to work without such seminars.”
http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/7/11/14
Medjugorje: No verdict yet, but faith, conversions abound
A
woman prays against a crucifix on Apparition Hill in Medjugorje,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, June 25. Millions of pilgrims from all over the
world have visited the site where six village children first claimed to
see Mary in June 1981. (CNS photo/Dado Ruvic, Reuters)
Just before departing, a devout Catholic friend told me I should be visiting Fatima or Lourdes instead. He questioned the authenticity of the apparitions in the former Yugoslavia. Another dear friend, a priest, forwarded an anti-Medjugorje article from Crisis Magazine that featured a picture of a wolf in sheep clothing.
Recalling my late parents’ admonition to ‘never look a gift-horse in the mouth’, I decided to check out Medjugorje for myself.
I knew even before making sure my seat was in a fully upright and locked position — it took five planes and a two-hour van ride to reach our destination — that the Church has neither officially condemned nor approved the activities at Medjugorje, other than saying that parishes or dioceses should not sponsor pilgrimages. The late Blessed John Paul II was reportedly a supporter of the Medjugorje visionaries.
Allow me to cut to the chase: I did not see the Blessed Virgin Mary during my week-long visit. The links on my rosary beads did not turn to gold, nor did I see the sun spinning.
What I can say is that I was absolutely stunned by the outpouring of faith and heartfelt devotion I encountered. Our visit took place during the 31st anniversary of what the reputed visionaries say was their first encounter with Our Lady back on June 24, 1981. The village was inundated with thousands of pilgrims from all over the globe.
Indisputable fruits
Every day there were long lines for confession, where priests heard penitents tell their sins in more than a dozen languages, some I’d never even heard of before. Masses were jammed and reverent. Every night at 10 p.m. the amphitheater was packed with over 15,000 pilgrims who came to adore the Eucharist.Even with such an enormous crowd, there was utter silence as the King of Kings was venerated. We knelt there in the gravel and I felt myself overcome with emotion. In the midst of such a huge crowd, packed with the sick and infirm, pilgrims of every age, and religious sisters from around the world dressed in their various habits, it seemed I was just a tiny speck, entirely insignificant in this vast sea of faithful.
It was then that I felt the Lord whisper a word of love to me that I — I who am so undeserving — am indeed precious to Him. A love beyond understanding filled my heart as tears streamed down my cheeks, so that even now as I write these words, I am brought back to that moment of profound peace. Our God loves us in spite of ourselves.
I saw fellow pilgrims climb barefoot up a 1,700-foot peak, praying the Stations of the Cross, oblivious to the sharp rocks they trod. One man was missing a leg and was making the climb using metal crutches.
I met a pediatrician and her dentist husband, who met during the Bosnian war in the 1990s when they both worked to save the children coming out of the refugee camps. They are sponsoring one of the dozens of kids who live in Medjugorje’s orphanages. I listened to former drug addicts who live in a community dedicated to helping men and women break free from the bondage of addiction. Theresa Burke, the founder of Rachel’s Vineyard, a ministry that helps women wounded by abortion, received her inspiration from Medjugorje.
The message of Medjugorje is simple. It’s a call to conversion: Pray the rosary daily from the heart. Fast on bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays or perform some other penitential act. Read the Bible. Receive the Eucharist frequently and go to confession monthly.
If more Catholics lived that way, we would surely have more peace, stronger families and an increase in vocations. I’m all for that. The Catholic Sun
The Medjugorje Message: Bearing witness...
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| Photo by Bernard Gallagher http://crownofstars.blogspot.com/ |
7/7/14
TOTAL HUMILITY
"Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart." -Matthew 11:29
Jesus is gentle and humble of heart (compare Zec 9:9). Jesus "humbled Himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross!" (Phil 2:8) Jesus humbled Himself and washed the feet of the apostles. Then He commanded: "What I just did was to give you an example: as I have done, so you must do" (Jn 13:15). Jesus has promised: "Whoever humbles himself shall be exalted" (Mt 23:12).
The Lord commands us to be humble in personal relationships. This is called "submission" (see Eph 5:21). We are to be humble in managing finances and possessions. This is called "stewardship." The Lord commands us to be humble in obeying His Word through the teachings of the Church and her Bible. This humility in receiving teaching is called "docility." In effect, the Lord wants our lives to be permeated with humility. The Lord has promised: "I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly" (Zep 3:12). "Be humbled in the sight of the Lord" (Jas 4:10).
"Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, make my heart like Yours."
"If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the evil deeds of the body, you will live." -Rm 8:13
7/4/14
Jesus is Waiting
Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. (Matthew 9:12)
Jesus could just as easily have been saying those who thinkthey are well do not need a physician. Look at the difference between Matthew and the Pharisees who were hounding Jesus! Matthew must have known that Jesus was offering him something he needed because he immediately left everything behind to become a disciple. But it seems that the Pharisees remained closed to the life Jesus was offering them.
What a loss for them! Think of all the mercy, restoration, and power that Jesus was poised to shower on these men who had devoted themselves to God’s law. And not just the Pharisees, but to us! But to the degree that we think we don’t need it, or we need to prove ourselves worthy of it, we’re missing the joy and freedom that come from Christ.
So when you struggle, or when you sin, take courage. Rejoice! These things can serve as “speed bumps” to get your attention, so that you can slow down and hear Jesus calling your name. Just as he did for Matthew, he is waiting to share a meal with you—a blessing that he has been storing up just for you. St. Paul rejoiced in his weakness because he knew that it was then that God could show his strength through him (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). You too can rejoice as you see your need because it will move you to open yourself to more of God’s blessings!
Imagine how much untapped blessing we can close ourselves off from just because we are afraid to admit our needs. Or because we’re too self-conscious to let other people, like our confessor, see our weakness. Or because we don’t feel we’re worthy of God’s lavish love. Don’t let this happen!
Jesus is waiting. He’s looking at you with love and he wants to pour his mercy on you. He wants to bring you into his freedom. Imagine how the Pharisees’ response must have saddened him. And imagine his joy when any one of us follows Matthew’s example and welcomes him with open arms!
“Jesus, I run to you! I am not afraid to say that I am sick and in need of a physician. I need your mercy and forgiveness. Fill me with your life!”
http://wau.org/meditations/current/7/3/14
Medjugorje: apparizione a Mirjana Dragičević - 2 Luglio 2014
Our Lady's apparition to Mirjana of July 2, 2014
July 2, 2014 Message to Mirjana
On July 02, 2014, Our Lady appeared to Mirjana and delivered the following message to the world:
"Dear children, I, the mother of all of you gathered here and the mother of the entire world, am blessing you with a motherly blessing and call you to set out on the way of humility. That way leads to the coming to know the love of my Son. My Son is almighty, He is in everything. If you, my children, do not become cognizant of this, then darkness/blindness rule in your soul. Only humility can heal you. My children, I always lived humbly, courageously and in hope. I knew, I became cognizant that God is in us and we are in God. I am asking the same of you. I desire for all of you to be with me in eternity, because you are a part of me. I will help you on your way. My love will envelop you like a mantle and make of you apostles of my light - of God's light. With the love that comes forth from humility you will bring light to where darkness/blindness rule. You will be bringing my Son who is the light of the world. I am always alongside your shepherds and I pray that they may always be an example of humility for you. Thank you."
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