Dear Family of Mary

      

   (c)Mary TV 2015    

J.M.J

January 28, 2015

St. Thomas Aquinas

Dear Family of Mary!

"Dear children! Also today I call you: live your vocation in prayer. Now, as never before, Satan wants to suffocate man and his soul by his contagious wind of hatred and unrest. In many hearts there is no joy because there is no God or prayer. Hatred and war are growing from day to day. I am calling you, little children, begin anew, with enthusiasm, the walk of holiness and love; since I have come among you because of this. Together let us be love and forgiveness for all those who know and want to love only with a human love and not with that immeasurable love of God to which God calls you. Little children, may hope in a better tomorrow always be in your heart. Thank you for having responded to my call." (January 25, 2015)

"Now, as never before, Satan wants to suffocate man and his soul by his contagious wind of hatred and unrest."

There is an urgency in Our Lady's message. We can all feel it. Maybe it is her use of the phrase, "Now, as never before..." Mother Mary has a privileged perspective on history. She has witnessed the past 2000 years. She has seen centuries of turmoil, strife, persecution, and war. She has seen the growth of the Church, steadily over time, no matter the opposition. She has seen the Holy Spirit prevail over evil, time and time again. And she has seen the enemy laying his snares, gathering his forces, and warring upon the Church in every age. And so when she says, "Now as never before...", it seems that we ought to take her seriously.

I thought it might be helpful to look at the messages in which she has used this phrase. There are only three others. I list them below, so that we can read them and pray over them. It seems that there is a great deal at stake in this time of Our Lady's coming to Medjugorje. She has come at a pivotal moment in history, and though we might not see the whole picture, we can feel that she is with us because we need her and there is so much that depends on our response to her coming.

Here are the messages:

August 25, 1991 "Dear Children! Today also I invite you to prayer, now as never before when my plan has begun to be realized. Satan is strong and wants to sweep away my plans of peace and joy and make you think that my Son is not strong in His decisions. Therefore, I call all of you, dear children, to pray and fast still more firmly. I invite you to self-renunciation for nine days so that, with your help, everything that I desire to realize through the secrets I began in Fatima, may be fulfilled. I call you, dear children, to now grasp the importance of my coming and the seriousness of the situation. I want to save all souls and present them to God. Therefore, let us pray that everything I have begun be fully realized. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Our Lady really connected the dots with this message. She is in Medjugorje to finish up what she began in Fatima. Fatima was the beginning of her triumph. This is the time of its fulfilment. Wow!

September 25, 1991 "Dear children! Today in a special way I invite you all to prayer and renunciation. For now as never before Satan wants to show the world his shameful face by which he wants to seduce as many people as possible onto the way of death and sin. Therefore, dear children, help my Immaculate Heart to triumph in the sinful world. I beseech all of you to offer prayers and sacrifices for my intentions so I can present them to God for what is most necessary. Forget your desires, dear children, and pray for what God desires, and not for what you desire. Thank you for having responded to my call."

The shameful face of Satan is completely visible to us now. Who can deny that he is revealing himself? The only response we can give is to forget our desires, and pray for what God desires...the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart.

March 25, 1992 "Dear children! Today as never before I invite you to live my messages and to put them into practice in your life. I have come to you to help you and, therefore, I invite you to change your life because you have taken a path of misery, a path of ruin. When I told you: convert, pray, fast, be reconciled, you took these messages superficially. You started to live them and then you stopped, because it was difficult for you. No, dear children, when something is good, you have to persevere in the good and not think: God does not see me, He is not listening, He is not helping. And so you have gone away from God and from me because of your miserable interest. I wanted to create of you an oasis of peace, love and goodness. God wanted you, with your love and with His help, to do miracles and, thus, give an example. Therefore, here is what I say to you: Satan is playing with you and with your souls and I cannot help you because you are far away from my heart. Therefore, pray, live my messages and then you will see the miracles of God's love in your everyday life. Thank you for having responded to my call."

This message is a warning to us, we must not let Satan play with us. We must move into God's camp and stay there. We must help create the oasis of peace that Our Lady came to create. That oasis is her Immaculate Heart, revealed in each of us.

Well, I didn't expect to write this. It just came to me that Our Lady is urgent. And she has been urgent before. These messages together give us some sense of what is needed from us. May we respond to her call! May we become part of her peace plan, her oasis of peace! May we see miracles of God's love in our lives!! May Our Lady's desire to save all souls and present them to God be realized!!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2015

FAMILY TRANSPLANT

"Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me." -Mark 3:35

Jesus said that He came for division, to divide a family three against two (Lk 12:52). He meant that some family members would receive Him while others would reject Him, at least for a time. For those who love Jesus, love their families, and yet have been rejected within their families because of their love for Jesus, there is great pain.

Yet Jesus offers the greatest consolation amidst this pain: by doing the will of God, we are adopted and transplanted into the family of God (Mk 3:35). We become a brother or sister of Jesus, a son or daughter of God the Father, united in love through the Holy Spirit. Praise be to the Holy Trinity forever! Our family meal is now the Mass, as we gather with the rest of our family at the table of the Lord and receive the Holy Eucharist.

In the meantime, continue to love your biological family and pray for them. Your love and prayers may not seem to be having any impact. It might even seem to you that your love and prayers are making the situation worse. Keep persevering anyway. Day by day, the Lord is working behind the scenes (Mk 4:26ff) to unite your family in Him. Jesus is the stumbling Stone that smashes a family apart (Mt 21:44) and the Cornerstone upon Which the family is restored (Mt 21:42; Ps 118:22).

"I have come to do Your will, O God" (Heb 10:7).

 "By this 'will,' we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." -Heb 10:10

FR. MICHAEL SCANLON PROPHECY, 1/13/80

I recently came across this prophecy given by Father Scanlon at the height of the Charismatic Renewal, 1980, and thought it apropos  for this time.

The Lord God says “Hear my Word.”  The time that has been marked by my blessings and gifts is being replaced now by a period to be marked by my judgment and purification.  What I have not accomplished by blessings and gifts, I will accomplish by judgment and purification.  My people, my church is desperately in need of this judgment.  They have continued in an adulterous relationship with the spirit of this world.  They are not only infected with sin, but they teach sin, pamper sin, embrace sin, dismiss sin…Leadership unable to handle it…fragmentation, confusion throughout the ranks.  Satan goes where he will and infects who he will.  He has free access throughout my people and I will not stand for this.

My people specially blessed in this renewal are more under the spirit of the world than they are under the Spirit of my baptism.  They are more determined with fear for what others will think of them, fears of failure and rejection  in the world, loss of respect by neighbors and superiors and those around them than they are by fear of me and fear of infidelity to my word.  Therefore your situation is very weak.  Your power is so limited.  You cannot be considered at this point in the center of the battle and the conflict that is going on.

So this time is now come upon all of you – a time of judgment and of purification.  Sin will be called sin. Satan will be unmasked.  Fidelity will be held  up for what it is and should be.  My faithful servants will be seen and will come together.  They will not be many in number.  It will be a difficult and a necessary time.  There will be collapse, difficulties throughout the world, but – more to the issue – there will be purification and persecution  among my people. You will have to stand for that you believe.  You will have to choose between the world and me.  You will have to choose what word you will follow and who you will respect.  And in that choice what has not been accomplished by the time of blessing and gifts will be accomplished.  What has not been been accomplished in the baptism and the flooding of gifts of my Spirit will be accomplished in a baptism of fire.  The fire will move among you individually, corporately, in groups and around the world.  I will not tolerate the situation that is going on.  I will not tolerate the mixture and the adulterous treating of gifts and graces and blessings with infidelity, sin,  and prostitution.   My time is now among you.  What you need to do is to come before me in total submission to my word, in total submission to my plan.  In the total submission of this hour, what you need to do is to drop the things that are your own, the things of the past.  What you need to do is to see yourselves and those whom you have responsibility for in the light of this hour of judgment and purification.  You need to see them in that way and do for them what will best help them to stand strong and be among my faithful servants.

For there will be casualties.  It will not be easy, but it is necessary. It is necessary that my people be in fact my people, that my church be in fact my church, and that my Spirit in fact bring forth the purity of life, purity and fidelity to the gospel.  http://www.musingsat85.com/myblog/ 

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Our Lady's Medjugorje message of January 25th 2015

“Dear children! Also today I call you: live your vocation in prayer. Now, as never before, Satan wants to suffocate man and his soul by his contagious wind of hatred and unrest. In many hearts there is no joy because there is no God or prayer. Hatred and war are growing from day to day. I am calling you, little children, begin anew, with enthusiasm, the walk of holiness and love; since I have come among you because of this. Together let us be love and forgiveness for all those who know and want to love only with a human love and not with that immeasurable love of God to which God calls you. Little children, may hope in a better tomorrow always be in your heart. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Holy Spirit Cannot be Tamed

Pope Francis.11/14 -Full text:news.va /

The profession of faith itself, as Saint Paul reminds us in today’s first reading, "is only possible because it is prompted by the Holy Spirit: 'No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit'. When we pray, it is because the Holy Spirit inspires prayer in our heart. When we break the cycle of our self-centerdness, and move beyond ourselves and go out to encounter others, to listen to them and help them, it is the Spirit of God who impels us to do so. When we find within a hitherto unknown ability to forgive, to love someone who doesn’t love us in return, it is the Spirit who has taken hold of us. When we move beyond mere self-serving words and turn to our brothers and sisters with that tenderness which warms the heart, we have indeed been touched by the Holy Spirit".

"It is true", observed the Pontiff, "that the Holy Spirit brings forth different charisms in the Church, which at first glance, may seem to create disorder. Under His guidance, however, they constitute an immense richness, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of unity, which is not the same thing as uniformity. Only the Holy Spirit is able to kindle diversity, multiplicity and, at the same time, bring about unity. When we try to create diversity, but are closed within our own particular and exclusive ways of seeing things, we create division. When we try to create unity through our own human designs, we end up with uniformity and homogenisation. If we let ourselves be led by the Spirit, however, richness, variety and diversity will never create conflict, because the Spirit spurs us to experience variety in the communion of the Church.

"The diversity of members and charisms is harmonized in the Spirit of Christ, Whom the Father sent and whom He continues to send, in order to achieve unity among believers. The Holy Spirit brings unity to the Church: unity in faith, unity in love, unity in interior life. The Church and other Churches and ecclesial communities are called to let themselves be guided by the Holy Spirit, and to remain always open, docile and obedient".

He continued, "Ours is a hopeful perspective, but one which is also demanding. The temptation is always within us to resist the Holy Spirit, because He takes us out of our comfort zone and unsettles us; He makes us get up and drives the Church forward. It is always easier and more comfortable to settle in our sedentary and unchanging ways. In truth, the Church shows her fidelity to the Holy Spirit in as much as she does not try to control or tame Him. We Christians become true missionary disciples, able to challenge consciences, when we throw off our defensiveness and allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit. He is freshness, imagination and newness".

Our defensiveness is evident "when we are entrenched within our ideas and our own strengths – in which case we slip into Pelagianism – or when we are ambitious or vain. These defensive mechanisms prevent us from truly understanding other people and from opening ourselves to a sincere dialogue with them. But the Church, flowing from Pentecost, is given the fire of the Holy Spirit, which does not so much fill the mind with ideas, but inflames the heart; she is moved by the breath of the Spirit which does not transmit a power, but rather an ability to serve in love, a language which everyone is able to understand. In our journey of faith and fraternal living, the more we allow ourselves to be humbly guided by the Spirit of the Lord, the more we will overcome misunderstandings, divisions, and disagreements and be a credible sign of unity and peace".

The experiences of pilgrims in Medjugorje

date: 20.01.2015.

Liam Driver from England told us that Medjugorje completely changed his life. He found out about Medjugorje from his granny who used to regularly send him messages of Our Lady, and he came here in 2005 for the first time. Ever since that time he comes here and brings groups of pilgrims. He gave interview at radio Medjugorje and spoke about his life and fruits of Medjugorje: “My older brother who used to take drugs, came here, converted here and he is now a missionary in the USA. Those are all fruits of Medjugorje. It is not easy to live messages, but Our Lady says that if we completely surrender ourselves to Her, nothing is going to be difficult. I know that, as I used to work for media and that is what the young people believe in. They are all impressed by the media and not by the faith. My dad did not think too much about my trips to Medjugorje until his older son came here. When my brother converted in Medjugorje, my dad was so happy that he came here as well. He said back then that he does not know what to believe in, but he came to thank Medjugorje for all goodness that happened to his family. He loves Medjugorje and he is impressed by all friends of mine that became Catholics. When other people ask my day how he feels about all this, he says that Church is good for us and we are good for the Church. I received another desire here in Medjugorje as well. Before, my only desire was to be successful at my work and that was the purpose of my life. Now, my greatest desire is to be able to live Gospa’s messages that I believe at so strongly”, said Liam.   http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/

Mother Teresa Abortion is a Rejection of Jesus

Published on Dec 28, 2013

Mother Teresa: Every Abortion is a Rejection of Jesus
It was no mistake that God came into the world as a baby, an innocent child. It was all part of His divine plan. Had Mary said no, had she rejected God's will, then our salvation might not have been. She cooperated with God, as did Joseph.

There's a lot of theology in that point but one lesson is clear: In accepting pregnancy, in accepting a child, every mother and father accepts Jesus to one degree or another, but if they say no to a pregnancy, they reject Him.

Jesus told us this Himself in the Gospels, "Anyone who welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me." (Mt 18:5). Mother Teresa (1910-1997) emphasized that point in a now-famous speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 3, 1994.

"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because Jesus said, 'If you receive a little child, you receive me,'" said Mother Teresa. "So every abortion is the denial of receiving Jesus, is the neglect of receiving Jesus. It is really a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself."

As Mother Teresa spoke, on stage with her were some of the most anti-life politicians in history, President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton and Vice President Al Gore and his then-wife Tipper Gore. Mother Teresa, 5-feet tall and probably weighing no more than 100 pounds, was not afraid.

She explained (see video), "[I]f we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?"

If it is okay to kill babies, then why are we shocked over shootings at Newtown? About 3,000 children are killed by abortion in the United States every day, yet the dominant media say ... nothing. They instead demand gun control while the Planned Parenthood mill down the street is killing children by the bushel.

Mother Teresa continued, "How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even His life to love us. So, the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love, that is, to give until it hurts her plans, her free time, to respect the life of her child.

"For the child is the greatest gift of God to the family because it has been created to love and to be loved," she said. "The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble -- so abortion just leads to more abortion."

"Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love one another, but to use any violence to get what they want," said Mother Teresa. "This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion."

However, there is a simple solution: adoption. There is never any reason to kill a child. There are millions of couples in the United States and around the world who want to adopt -- today. There are also hundreds, if not thousands of organizations working to make that happen.

"A most beautiful gift God has given our congregation is to fight abortion by adoption," said Mother Theresa. "We have given already from one house in Calcutta over 3,000 children into adoption. And I can tell you what joy, what love, what peace, those children have brought into those families. It has been a real gift of God for them and for us."

She continued, "I remember one of the little ones got very sick, so I sent for the father and mother and I asked them, please give me back the sick child, I will give you a healthy one. And the father looked at me and said, 'Mother Teresa, take my life first, then take the child.'"

"So beautiful to see, so much love, so much joy that little one has brought into that family," she said. "So pray for us that we continue this beautiful gift. And also, I offer you -- our Sisters are here [the Missionaries of Charity] -- anybody who doesn't want their child, please give it to me. I want the child."

Yes, the Missionaries of Charity will take the child, as will countless other groups, religious and secular. There is no need to abort a baby, to reject a pregnancy, to say no to Jesus.

Mary said yes. Joseph said yes. We should strive to be like them. It will bring great joy to the world and to ourselves.

More than six million attend largest papal Mass in history

 

by Staff Reporter

posted Sunday, 18 Jan 2015

Pope Francis arrives to celebrate Mass at Rizal Park in Manila (AP)

Pope Francis celebrates feast of the Santo Niño in Rizal Park, Manila

More than six million people have attended what is thought to be the largest papal Mass in history in Manila.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said Filipino authorities estimated that between six and seven million attended the Mass in Rizal Park on the last full day of the Pope’s four-day visit to Asia’s largest Catholic nation.

“We are not able to count all these people, obviously, or to verify this, but in any case, we have seen so many people that we believe that it is possible,” Fr Lombardi said during a briefing, according to Reuters.

“If this is true, and we think it is, this is the largest event in the history of the popes.”

Celebrating the feast of the Santo Niño, or Holy Child, Francis described the Christ Child as “the protector of this great country”.

He said: “When he came into the world, his very life was threatened by a corrupt king. Jesus himself needed to be protected. He had an earthly protector: St Joseph. He had an earthly family, the Holy Family of Nazareth. So he reminds us of the importance of protecting our families, and those larger families which are the Church, God’s family, and the world, our human family.

“Sadly, in our day, the family all too often needs to be protected against insidious attacks and programmes contrary to all that we hold true and sacred, all that is most beautiful and noble in our culture.”

The full text of Pope Francis’s homily at Rizal Park in Manila:

“A child is born to us, a son is given us” (Is 9:5). It is a special joy for me to celebrate Santo Niño Sunday with you. The image of the Holy Child Jesus accompanied the spread of the Gospel in this country from the beginning. Dressed in the robes of a king, crowned and holding the sceptre, the globe and the cross, he continues to remind us of the link between God’s Kingdom and the mystery of spiritual childhood. He tells us this in today’s Gospel: “Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mk 10:15). The Santo Niño continues to proclaim to us that the light of God’s grace has shone upon a world dwelling in darkness, bringing the Good News of our freedom from slavery, and guiding us in the paths of peace, right and justice. The Santo Niño also reminds us of our call to spread the reign of Christ throughout the world.

In these days, throughout my visit, I have listened to you sing the song: “We are all God’s children.” That is what the Santo Niño tells us. He reminds us of our deepest identity. All of us are God’s children, members of God’s family. Today Saint Paul has told us that in Christ we have become God’s adopted children, brothers and sisters in Christ. This is who we are. This is our identity. We saw a beautiful expression of this when Filipinos rallied around our brothers and sisters affected by the typhoon.

The Apostle tells us that because God chose us, we have been richly blessed! God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens” (Eph 1:3). These words have a special resonance in the Philippines, for it is the foremost Catholic country in Asia; this is itself a special gift of God, a special blessing. But it is also a vocation. Filipinos are called to be outstanding missionaries of the faith in Asia.

God chose and blessed us for a purpose: to be holy and blameless in his sight (Eph 1:4). He chose us, each of us to be witnesses of his truth and his justice in this world. He created the world as a beautiful garden and asked us to care for it. But through sin, man has disfigured that natural beauty; through sin, man has also destroyed the unity and beauty of our human family, creating social structures which perpetuate poverty, ignorance and corruption.

Sometimes, when we see the troubles, difficulties and wrongs all around us, we are tempted to give up. It seems that the promises of the Gospel do not apply; they are unreal. But the Bible tells us that the great threat to God’s plan for us is, and always has been, the lie. The devil is the father of lies. Often he hides his snares behind the appearance of sophistication, the allure of being “modern”, “like everyone else.” He distracts us with the promise of ephemeral pleasures, superficial pastimes. And so we squander our God-given gifts by tinkering with gadgets; we squander our money on gambling and drink; we turn in on ourselves. We forget to remain focused on the things that really matter. We forget to remain, at heart, children of God. That is sin: [to] forget at heart that we are children of God. For children, as the Lord tells us, have their own wisdom, which is not the wisdom of the world. That is why the message of the Santo Niño is so important. He speaks powerfully to all of us. He reminds us of our deepest identity, of what we are called to be as God’s family.

The Santo Niño also reminds us that this identity must be protected. The Christ Child is the protector of this great country. When he came into the world, his very life was threatened by a corrupt king. Jesus himself needed to be protected. He had an earthly protector: Saint Joseph. He had an earthly family, the Holy Family of Nazareth. So he reminds us of the importance of protecting our families, and those larger families which are the Church, God’s family, and the world, our human family. Sadly, in our day, the family all too often needs to be protected against insidious attacks and programs contrary to all that we hold true and sacred, all that is most beautiful and noble in our culture.

In the Gospel, Jesus welcomes children, he embraces them and blesses them (Mk 10:16). We too need to protect, guide and encourage our young people, helping them to build a society worthy of their great spiritual and cultural heritage. Specifically, we need to see each child as a gift to be welcomed, cherished and protected. And we need to care for our young people, not allowing them to be robbed of hope and condemned to life on the streets.

It was a frail child, in need of protection, who brought God’s goodness, mercy and justice into the world. He resisted the dishonesty and corruption which are the legacy of sin, and he triumphed over them by the power of his Cross. Now, at the end of my visit to the Philippines, I commend you to him, to Jesus who came among us as a child. May he enable all the beloved people of this country to work together, protecting one another, beginning with your families and communities, in building a world of justice, integrity and peace. May the Santo Niño continue to bless the Philippines and may he sustain the Christians of this great nation in their vocation to be witnesses and missionaries of the joy of the Gospel, in Asia and in the whole world.

Please don’t forget to pray for me! God bless you!
Catholic Herald 

Fr. Yozefu – Balikuddembe Ssemakula: „Medjugorje is a place of great graces”

date: 05.01.2015.

Fr. Yozefu – Balikuddembe Ssemakula comes from Uganda, but he is serving as a priest in the United States. He has been a priest for 21 years and lately he arrived to Medjugorje for his third visit. The first two times when he came here was together with other pilgrims in a group, but he felt that he needed to come alone, to pray here more on his own. He said that Medjugorje always gives him additional strength: “When I arrived for the first time, I was already involved in a special mission of my own and that was prayer for healing of families.

 During my visit here, some people told me that Our Lady mentioned my mission in one of Her messages. I was surprised; I did not know that and these people told me that is in Our Lady’s message of March 25, 1997. After I read the message I realised there was great connection between my mission and Our Lady in Medjugorje. I travel all over the world and my mission is healing of families. I teach people how to pray and I explain them that all wounds we have received influence our behaviour. I can say that Medjugorje is a place where every person wishes to return again, one really feels hooked up to something here that makes him come over and over again. Indeed I feel that this place is really special and is source of many graces.”    http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/ 

Medjugorje visit cured boy from 19 tumors

23 Dezember 2011,

When nothing worked, his parents took their son to Medjugorje. Back home, tests showed 19 tumors and all bone metastases to be gone as the beginning of Joshua’s now complete recovery. By Jakob Marschner / Medjugorje Today

Medjugorje - Putignano (kath.net/medjugorjetoday) For eight months, 2 years old Joshua battled a last stage cancer with a transplantation, 80 chemotherapy cures, and 17 radiotherapy sessions. When nothing worked, his parents took their son to Medjugorje. Back home, tests showed 19 tumors and all bone metastases to be gone as the beginning of Joshua’s now complete recovery.

Before he turned three years old, Joshua de Nicolo had experienced more hardships, drama, and obvious grace than many people do in an entire life.

The boy from Putignano in southern Italy was born with an un-discovered neuroblastoma, the most common form of infancy cancer, in February 2007. It took 22 months for Joshua’s true condition to be found in January 2009 when the illness had progressed to its last stage, 4D, where long-term survival rates are poor despite aggressive multimodal therapy.

Doctors gave Joshua only days or weeks to live when his parents took him to Medjugorje in June 2009. Just before departure, the boy’s white blood cell numbers dramatically improved, and Joshua immediately felt well in Medjugorje, his parents testify. Joshua felt even better after Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo’s apparition on July 2nd 2009 when he was placed beside the visionary. After that, he seemed relieved from pain.

Upon the family’s return to Italy, clinical tests showed that Joshua’s bone metastases as well as 19 tumors spread throughout the body had disappeared. The only remaining tumor had been reduced in size from 7,5 to 3 centimeters, enabling doctors remove it altogether. Since this operation took place, in November 2009, Joshua has been completely healed.

Most ever since Joshua’s parents, Elizabeth and Manuel de Nicolo, have witnessed of their son’s illness and healing.

Early symptoms were mis-diagnosed

Joshua was born with one eye half closed, and his head tilting to the left. Several doctors told the couple it was nothing serious, Elizabeth de Nicolo testified to an article carried by the Italian blog Quotidinamente. Likewise, the boy was initially mis-diagnosed when a ball no bigger than a kernel appeared on Joshua’s left temple where doctors saw it and judged it non-malignant.

It was not, and it was far from, it showed when Elizabeth and Manuel took their son for more thorough tests at the hosptal in San Giovanni Retondo, by the shrine of Saint Padre Pio.

“After the CT scan, the primary oncologist Dr. Xavier Ladogana told us that Joshua was suffering from mediastinal neuroblastoma in the fourth stage D, and that the tumor was attached to the pelvic bone, the bone marrow, the bones of the skull, the back of the left eye, and the lymph nodes of the neck, penetrating the left side of the brain, and that this, unfortunately, explained Joshua’s head tilt since birth” Elizabeth de Nicolo tells.

A total of 22 tumors were found, according to her husband’s testimony.

“We immediately started a medical treatment attack, a veritable bombardment with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and a transplantation” Elizabeth de Nicolo tells, her husband counting 80 chemotherapy and 17 radiotherapy sessions.

“Nonetheless, the doctors gave our son little hope of survival. It seemed to be a matter of weeks or maybe days” Manuel de Nicolo remembers.

Cultural Christians in search of a hope

While none of the parents were practicing Christians, it was in this direction they looked when little hope was left in June 2009. The couple say they felt directed all the way to Medjugorje, and beyond. On their way, they perceived to experience several signs.

“In the blackest desperation, we thought of bringing Joshua to Lourdes. It was the only Marian shrine I knew. But one day while we were in San Giovanni Rotondo, in a moment of desperation, I went into the crypt of Padre Pio and asked him straight to his face: “Why my child? Give me a sign to restore my hope” Manuel de Nicolo tells.

“Then I went back to the hospital and as I walked down the corridor of the ward, I suddenly saw an open computer with the Madonna’s face as background image. It was like a flash that deeply troubled me. When I entered the room, I found Elizabeth who told me that Joshua had not wanted to sleep, but had found serenity and calm with some Marian songs, and had fallen asleep.”

“They were songs dedicated to Our Lady of Medjugorje.”

Journey into unknown land

Prior to June 2009, Elizabeth and Manuel de Nicolo had never heard about the Virgin Mary’s apparitions in Medjugorje.

“We did not even know of the existence of a village called Medjugorje. But Our Lady called us there and we immediately received another sign. Among the magazines scattered in hospital waiting room, there was a special edition of the magazine Oggi, about the Virgin appearing to six local people since 1981, and miracles of healing. After reading this article, we decided to leave immediately” Joshua’s father testifies.

But Joshua was weak, and obstacle seemed to come on top of obstacle:

“The doctors advised us against this trip because Joshua had very low white blood cell numbers, about 5,000, but we were very determined. And on the day we left, our son’s blood cell number went up to 160,000″ Manuel de Nicolo further says.

“Already in this, I saw the first miracle. The child could not face the journey in these conditions. But the rise of his white blood cell numbers in a very short time was a first sign” Elizabeth de Nicolo said live on major Italian tv channel RaiUno on February 28th 2010.

In front of the Madonna

From early on, Joshua felt well in Medjugorje. His parents noted a difference almost from the moment he first set foot in the village:

“Once in Medjugorje, we only just got off the bus when Joshua seemed to be mysteriously, but strongly attracted to this holy place. As a result of the tumors, the child could hardly walk anymore. But he seemed to get better” Manuel de Nicolo has testified.

Meeting the converted Italian journalist and tv personality Paolo Brosio paved the way for Joshua to be placed next to the visionary, right in front of the Virgin Mary, during Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo’s apparition on July 2.

“After the apparition, to our surprise, Joshua began to feel even better, and he did not seem to experience pain anymore” the father tells.

“But we had the biggest suprise when we came home.”

Doctor: Joshua’s healing is miraculous

Elizabeth and Manuel de Nicolo returned the hospital at San Giovanni Rotondo, finding doctors who could not explain what they saw:

“The clinical tests underlined the fact that 19 tumors spread throughout the body had disappeared, and the bone metastases were completely healed. Only behind the lung, a neuroblastoma had remained but the size of the tumor had been reduced from 7,5 to 3 centimeters” Manuel de Nicolo tells.

“The doctor told us that Joshua “was miraculously healed”. And Dr. Xavier Ladogana, the director of the oncological department, went further: “What happened to your child is scientifically inexplicable. With the resources and knowledge we have at our disposal, we cannot give an accurate and incontestable medical explanation. We can only say that the child no longer has the same disease he had before the pilgrimage” Elizabeth de Nicolo quotes the doctors to have told the couple.

Joshua has more mystical experiences

The decrease in size of Joshua’s last remaining tumor allowed doctors to operate it. This took place on November 17th 2009:

“The surgery was fully successful and the doctors even said that this was, in a sense, itself a miracle because it was so inexplicable: The operation lasted less than one hour and was expected to last four to six hours” Manuel de Nicolo tells.

“After the surgery the child had to spend several days in intensive care, and actually spent less than half an hour because he woke up immediately and began to breathe without problems, far beyond the most optimistic forecasts. For us, this intervention was a second miracle.”

“Upon awakening from the operation, he told me that he had been in Heaven with Jesus, and that he had received a big, great gift, the gift of life” Elizabeth de Nicolo has testified.

One year after their first visit, the family returned to Medjugorje to give thanks. For Joshua, that meant one more unusual experience:

“After twelve months, we returned with a cured child” Elizabeth de Nicolo tells.

“There I saw Joshua lift up his eyes and smile. I knew something special was taking place. When I asked him why he smiled and looked at the sky and said “Have a peaceful and joyful Christmas”, he told me he was seeing the Madonna and beside her was Padre Pio who was smiling at him.”

“We are sure that the saint of Pietrelcina is the guardian angel of our son who protected him from the beginning of this ordeal, and will continue to watch over him forever.”

This article originally appeared inwww.medjugorjetoday.tv/

Foto of Joshua de Nicolo with his mother: (c) Medjugorje Today

Bishop Tobin holds 'Prayer for Our Nation' Mass

Bishop Tobin holds 'Prayer for Our Nation' Mass on Inauguration Day

JESSICA A. BOTELHO STAFF REPORTER /8/15

PROVIDENCE — As elected officials throughout the state pledged to faithfully carry out their duties during inauguration ceremonies, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin celebrated a Holy Mass as a “Prayer for Our Nation” at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul.

The Mass, he said, was scheduled about six weeks ago to provide an opportunity to pray for God’s blessing and guidance upon the state and country during a time when there are many “challenges” taking place.

  “We do so knowing that if God is with us, all things are possible,” Bishop Tobin said during the liturgy, which was held at noon on Tuesday, January 6.
“But if God is not on our side, we can achieve nothing. It’s in that spirit of faith, confidence and trust that we join together.”

During his homily, Bishop Tobin noted that praying for government leaders is a Christian tradition. He also quoted Pope Francis, who recently said that “a good Catholic meddles in politics,” and offers the best of himself or herself in hopes that those who govern lead with integrity, wisdom and compassion.

“But what is the best thing to offer to those who govern?” Bishop Tobin asked an assembly of about 200 people. “Our prayers. Our Holy Father encourages us to be involved in these current events actively, but also with our prayers. Every Christian should be concerned and involved in public affairs.”

Bishop Tobin went on to say that speaking up at political issues is an important part of his pastoral role. He vows to continue to publicly defend God.
“After all, the bishop is chosen and anointed to be a teacher, to be a preacher, to be a prophet, to bring God’s word to contemporary issues,” he said. “It’s the obligation not of the bishop only to speak out in this way, but every Christian. Every Christian has a right and a duty to be involved in public affairs and speak out on these public issues.”

Amidst those in attendance were Irma Rodriguez, interim coordinator for the diocesan Special Religious Development program, and Silvio Cuellar, Office of Hispanic Ministry coordinator and editor of El Católico de Rhode Island. They expressed their affinity for the bishop’s homily.
“It was extraordinary,” Rodriguez said. “The bishop is so right. He really inspires and reminds us what we are all about and what we need to do.”
Cuellar feels the same.

“I like that the bishop stated that his mission is to not only be a spiritual leader, but a preacher and a prophet,” he said. “It was a nice way to start the year and pray for those elected.”
Bea England, a parishioner at St. Mary in Cranston, also attended the Mass. During the homily, she softly whispered, “Amen,” several times.

“I agree with him,” she said of the bishop. “We, as the people of God, should speak out.”
The Mass took place during the same time that Governor Gina Raimondo was sworn in as Rhode Island’s 75th governor at a State House ceremony. Earlier that morning, Raimondo, a Roman Catholic and 1989 La Salle Academy valedictorian, attended Mass at St. Raymond Parish in Providence with her husband and their two children.

While Bishop Tobin recently received an invitation to the inaugural ceremonies, he had already scheduled a “Prayer for Our Nation.” He presumes that the invite was extended as a courtesy and sign of friendship and respect.

“I didn’t make too much of the fact that it came at the last moment because they knew and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to attend,” he said to a group of local reporters, adding that he also held Mass on Inauguration Day four years ago. “It’s a very important and special day for Governor Raimondo and her family. We wish her all the best as she begins her work as governor.”
But that doesn’t mean he plans to support Raimondo’s stance on abortion, as Raimondo said she would oppose efforts to include an option in the Rhode Island health-insurance exchange that would prohibit abortion or contraception services. She also vowed to seek the repeal of a 1997 Rhode Island law banning Partial Birth Abortion, saying the law is “unconstitutional.”
During election season, Bishop Tobin posted a statement on social media about how “disappointing” it is “when a Catholic candidate for political office abandons the teaching of the Church on the dignity of human life for the sake of self-serving political gain.” He noted that “such actions demonstrate an inexcusable lack of moral courage.”

Though he never directly referenced Raimondo, he issued the statement not long after Planned Parenthood of Southern New England publically endorsed the then-candidate. Raimondo, who is the first female governor in Rhode Island history, as well as the first Democrat to win the office in more than 20 years, accepted the pro-abortion organization’s support.
“It’s very appropriate for the bishop to be [at the cathedral] to lead the local Church in prayer today more so than attending an inauguration, which can become a very political and very partisan event,” said Bishop Tobin. “I also find it personally difficult to attend the inauguration of any official, not just our governor, who supports abortion. It’s a terrible sin and a grave world evil. I’ll always be uncomfortable celebrating the inauguration of a public official who has publically supported abortion.”

Still, as the Catholic Church remains a large and important presence in Rhode Island, Bishop Tobin said he hopes to work in close cooperation with the new governor, as well as other local leaders, on areas of common concern.
Before the Mass at the cathedral ended, Bishop Tobin reminded the congregation of the importance of carrying on God’s work.

“In the birth of Jesus Christ, God inserted himself into our world and its everyday concerns,” he said. “Now, it’s our turn. Let us now be the eyes, the ears, the voice, the heart, and the hands of Christ in our world. Let us pray for, and work for a better and more peaceful and more just world.”

The Medjugorje Message: Italian bishop visits Medjugorje for second time

Photo by Bernard Gallagher
http://crownofstars.blogspot.com/

The Medjugorje Message: Italian bishop visits Medjugorje for second time: After the five thousand had eaten and were filled, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead to Bethsaida, while he himself se...

Featured article from January's Spirit of Medjugorje

The Hidden Treasures of Medjugorje

By Anita B. Cugini

     Nestled in the heart of Medjugorje’s fragrant vineyards is a pansion that has welcomed pilgrims from around the world over for the last 33 years. Its humble walls reverberate with memories of Medjugorje from the beginning of the apparitions. It was my pleasure to stay with Mama Sivric in June of 2014, for the 33rd Anniversary of the apparitions. 
     Mama Sivric, although nearing 90, is a vibrant, feisty woman who proudly recalls the early days – what life was like for the people from the village, and how she and others of her generation stood toe-to-toe with the Communist regime that tried to disrupt the religious life of this quiet little hamlet. With flashing eyes and animated gestures, Mama will tell you, through Franjo, her interpreter, what it was like in Medjugorje in the first days of the apparitions. 
     When news of the apparitions first broke, Mama was at a wedding feast with a friend. Mama indicated that she believed in the apparitions from the beginning, while her companion said, “How could you believe such a thing?” 
     Mama related that all were crying and watching the sky. As the villagers watched, golden letters “MIR” [Croatian for “peace”] appeared in the sky and the words “I am the Queen of Peace” stretched across the sky from Apparition Hill to Cross Mountain. One man who could not stand was brought to Apparition Hill by his daughter-in-law, and he was cured. The man’s wife, however, didn’t like this, and started telling people that it didn’t happen.

View from Mama’s balcony with Cross Mountain in the background

     Mama was no stranger to the local police who came, trying to diffuse the situation and order the villagers to leave. She knew the Chief of Police personally and proceeded to tell him off. The following day, the village was deluged with people, news, and TV cameras, and the police who forbade people to climb the mountain. They asked, “Who is lighting the fire up to heaven?” 
     The children were strictly forbidden to climb the hill and the President of Police, who was in the next village, announced they were going to board up the church so people could not enter to pray – which they promptly did. When Mama heard of this, she ran to the church with other women and pulled the boards off of the church doors. The police told her, “We are taking you to jail.” Mama responded, “Then take me to jail!” 
     Pilgrims started to arrive in Medjugorje from all over the world, and had to register with the police. Each family took in one or two pilgrims and shared their daily lives and devotion to the Gospa with these total strangers who could not communicate in their native tongue. Until 1986, there was no indoor plumbing or running water – only outhouses! 
     During the war in 1991-1992, each pilgrim’s passport was carefully checked. Soldiers with machine guns, in abundance in the airport, provided a grim welcome. Aid teams came from Italy to do what they could for the townspeople, but didn’t stay very long. Miraculously, despite being heavily shelled, no human lives were lost – only livestock. Incredibly, a cluster bomb that was dropped on the main street didn’t detonate! During this horrific period, the visionaries were separated so that they couldn’t be targeted by the Communists. 
     Life in Medjugorje, especially during the early years, was never easy. Mama recounts that as a young woman, she worked stringing tobacco leaves. Since there was no work in Medjugorje, her husband was compelled to leave his wife and family to find work in Germany. He did this for 55 years, and was able to see his wife and children only a few times a year. Mama told us she travelled to Stuttgart, Germany more than 10 times over those years. 
     After the Communist regime ended, Mama met the Communist officer from another town, who had threatened her with jail in the early days. Defiantly, she told him off – and he ran away! In her own words, Mama says, “I was always a strong woman – even today, I would talk about God. Pray for us that we will all heal. I will always pray for people. Pray for peace!” 
     Franjo, who interpreted for Mama, was one of the members of the original prayer group that Our Lady asked the visionaries to start. According to Franjo, he was asked by Our Lady to put his life on hold for three years, to fast, pray, and do what he could to help the throng of pilgrims flooding into Medjugorje. A gentle soul, whose demeanor radiates the love of God and the Gospa, he patiently answered every question posed to him, with grace and humility. 
     I have never seen such unbridled joy in living, as I witnessed in the people I met in Medjugorje. People who have so little, in comparison to what all of us take for granted….their graciousness and warmth is something I will never forget. It’s hard to describe the joy that radiates from them, borne of doing God’s work, in sharing their faith and love of God with all who come in thanksgiving for the Gospa’s presence in their little village. 
     No sooner did I get home from this pilgrimage, than I was planning my next one! My next pilgrimage to Medjugorje will be from July 27 to August 7, 2015 to experience the Youth Festival, with all its exuberance. Although we will stay at a modern pansion 100 meters from St. James Church, we will step back in time and meet with Mama Sivric and her family, and see her quaint pansion – a loving home, where she has served over 25,000 meals to pilgrims. We will listen as Franjo, our guide, interprets for Mama. They will recreate their wonderment as the Gospa appeared to ordinary village children, and share, in their incredible pride, that the Gospa is with them still. I promise that whoever joins me on this pilgrimage will come away with a renewed sense of faith and love for Our Lady. Their joy in living our faith is infectious!

Editor’s note: Anita lives in North Wales, PA. She can be reached at wandarocks@comcast.net or 267-217-7344.

Homily of Fr. Marinko Šakota on New Year’s Eve in Međugorje

date: 02.01.2015.

Parish priest of Medjugorje, Fr. Marinko Sakota, celebrated the Midnight Holy Mass in the packed church of St. James on New Year’s Eve. Here, we bring a part of his homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters, we believe that new is possible, that new Heaven and new Earth are possible, as John wrote in the Book of Revelation. We wonder how does that happen, can this, new 2015 year be different for us, better or more beautiful? We usually tend to think that that will occur once the outer appearance is changed, when the others around us change, those in our family or those who are far from us, or once the politics is changed or the economical situation. That is all what we wish, but that is not enough. Perhaps we think that when we have a new car, or a new home, when we become someone in the terms of today’s society, which is what is most valuable nowadays... But, Our Lady is teaching us to something different here. She says: ‘Pray, dear children, and have more trust in me because I am here to help you and to lead you on the new way of your lives. I invite you to start changing your life and to decide for conversion, not just with words, but with your lives.’ The message is clear. I do not need anything new, I need to become new. The next year is going to be new, different, only if we renew ourselves. We do not need to change our outer appearances to become new and to have everything new. It is new heart that makes us and all around us new and different. It is what Jesus said to Nicodemus: ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ We are born again when the change of programme takes place within us, when we began to think no longer in our human way, but in Jesus’, divine way, when our eyes become more alike eyes of Jesus. It takes place when we no longer think in the terms eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and we step up to different level, where there are different rules. Holy Father Francis is doing exactly that. He thinks that the change of the world will occur with the change of the Church. In that way he is following St. Francis, his model who was saying: ‘Consecrate yourself and you will consecrate the whole society.’ That is what the Queen of Peace has been doing in the Medjugorje for the last thirty-four years and She gives us concise guidelines when She said: ‘If you convert, all those around you will be changed.’ That is how we came to the question – how does that new, change of the heart take place? The change and renewal takes place in the prayer, but not in any prayer, only in the prayer with the heart. To pray with the heart means to pray in more profound way, just like Mary did. All She had experienced, She continues to experience furthermore, deep in her heart. She pondered Jesus’ words in Her heart and meditated upon them, She allowed those words to mould Her. When we pray with the heart, we do not remain in the sphere of our thoughts, but we penetrate deeper in our hearts, into the depths of our being and we unite ourselves with the presence of God that dwells within us. How to pray with the heart? When we pray with the heart, it is no longer about us, but about God. If we prayed before only for our needs, now heart is being more directed towards God. God becomes more important. From that point onwards I am going to Holy Mass because of Jesus, I am going to Adoration to get to know Jesus more, to get to know His gaze. I allow Him to work more within me, to speak to me. I am no longer person who only speaks, but I become the one who listens and receives, just like Mary, Martha’s sister had. That is why the Queen of Peace invites us to open ourselves as the flower opens to the sun. What does the flower do? Nothing. The sun works, and the change occurs on the flower. The prayer with the heart is the prayer of awakened heart, awakened love, awakened gratitude, awakened trust and confidence. The heart is new when there are no longer burdens from the past within it and when it is not burdened with the anxiousness for the future. The Queen of Peace is teaching us to unburden ourselves in the sacrament of the reconciliation, in the Holy Eucharist and in forgiveness. When we are freed from the chains of the past, from slavery to evil She can teach us to pray for love towards the persons that we do not love, for only love can heal wounded heart and restore peace within it. That is how everything around us will become different, better, beautiful and new”, said Medjugorje parish priest.       http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/

Medjugorje Aerial Christmas

Christmas in Medjugorje 2014

Our Lady's message to Mirjana of January 2nd 2015:

 

 (c)Mary TV 2014 

Our Lady's message to Mirjana Soldo of January 2nd 2015:

Dear children, I am here among you as a mother who desires to help you to come to know the truth. While I lived your life on earth I had knowledge of the truth, and by this alone, a piece of Heaven on earth. That is why I desire the same for you, my children. The Heavenly Father desires pure hearts filled with the knowledge of the truth.  He desires for you to love all those whom you meet, because I also love my Son in all of you. This is the beginning of coming to know the truth. Many false truths are being offered to you.  You will overcome them with a heart cleansed by fasting, prayer, penance and the Gospel. This is the only truth and it is the truth which my Son left you. You do not need to examine it much. What is asked of you, as I also have done, is to love and to give. My children, if you love, your heart will be a home for my Son and me, and the words of my Son will be the guiding light in your life. My children, I will make use of you, apostles of love, to help all of my children to come to know the truth. My children, I have always prayed for the Church of my Son, and so I also ask the same of you. Pray that your shepherds may come to shine forth with the love of my Son. Thank you.     

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

Mary TV 

Unbroken - The Power of Forgiveness (HD)

Unbroken hit the box office Christmas day and made $47.3 million during the opening weekend.

The film focuses on Louis Zamperini's life as an Olympic runner and his amazing tale of survival and perseverance during World War II while he was held captive in a Japanese prison camp.

The film leaves out Zamperini's conversion to Christianity.

But a new video just released by Universal Pictures details Zamperini's struggles after returning from the war and how his life changed when he found Christ.