Gathered in faith...

In today’s gospel reading Jesus spells out that there can be no middle ground when it comes to his saving mission: “He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.” Luke 14 : 23

Jesus does not scatter the sheep for he is the Good Shepherd of hearts and souls.

We are all called to be part of his saving work. Our Blessed Mother is also called in this way and says so in her messages from Medjugorje: “God, out of love for man, has sent me among you to show you the path of salvation, the path of love.”  Many listen to her voice and words from Medjugorje and respond to her gathering call to salvation. She, also, does not scatter the sheep, but gathers them for her Son.

Regrettably, there are some who listen to another voice and choose to attempt to scatter those who are called by the Mother of Jesus, who prefer to cast aspersions against the conversions and new life emanating from Medjugorje, challenging and doubting the work of the Holy Spirit, even in the face of the many miracles happening there. Some even go as far as to say that it is the devil’s work that brings about the resurrection of new life at Medjugorje, but they forget the truth of the words of Jesus when he says: “If satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand?”

satan cannot bring new life, only death; he is not with Jesus, only against him; he does not gather with Jesus or his Blessed Mother, he only scatters.

In her Medjugorje messages Our Lady warns on several occasions that satan is strong and desires to disrupt her salvation work, but we can be assured from today’s gospel reading that the kingdom of God is present when the strength of satan is defeated through the Sacrament of mercy and reconciliation, so visible at Medjugorje. The “strong man” is defeated daily by “someone stronger” at Medjugorje. The spoils are shared with the penitent who is given a new heart and a new spirit; new strength to stand and gather alongside Jesus and Mary.

Dear children; Again I call you to faith. My motherly heart desires for your heart to be open, so that it could say to your heart: believe. My children, only faith will give you strength in life’s trials. It will renew your soul and open the ways of hope. I am with you. I gather you around me because I desire to help you, so that you can help your neighbours to discover faith, which is the only joy and happiness of life. Thank you.  October 2, 2008

Until its purpose is achieved...

Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Matthew 5 : 17-18

Dear children, I am coming to you in this your time, to direct the call to eternity to you. This is the call of love. I call you to love, because only through love will you come to know the love of God. Many think that they have faith in God and that they know his laws. They try to live according to them, but they do not do what is the most important; they do not love Him. My children, pray and fast. This is the way which will help you to open yourselves and to love. Only through the love of God is eternity gained. I am with you. I will lead you with the motherly love. Thank you for having responded. Medjugorje message, October 2, 2006

“Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also. Matthew 22 : 35-40

Cancelling the debt...

Peter went up to Jesus and said, “Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?” Jesus answered, “Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.” 
Matthew 18 : 21

In Scripture, the number seven denotes perfection or wholeness, hence Peter assuming if he forgives his brother seven times he will have done all that is expected of him. But Jesus quickly puts him right on this and instead mentions a surprising figure of seventy seven to illustrate that we should not set any limits on our forgiveness of others.

In fact, in the parable that follows (the unforgiving debtor), Jesus makes clear that we can enter the kingdom of heaven only if we dispense the same forgiveness we ask and receive from our heavenly Father. If we don’t then we will not be at peace, but tortured until the debt is paid, until we forgive those who are in debt to us. We have to cancel the debt before the gates of heaven are opened, in this life and the next. Our peace can only come when our heart decides to forgive, even oneself.

In life we cancel all sorts of things: appointments, cheques, contracts, services, arrangements, orders… but perhaps the hardest challenge is to cancel a debt owed to us, not just financial but maybe an obligation, or perhaps even an apology that we expect from a person. Sometimes our demand for satisfaction can become extreme, as demonstrated by the moneylender Shylock in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, when he presses for the pound of flesh secured against his loan made to Antonio. There can also be the danger of “righteousness” masking an unforgiving heart.

Our Lady often speaks about forgiveness in her Medjugorje messages. This message is particularly powerful:

Dear children; Today, with a motherly heart, I call you to learn to forgive, completely and unconditionally. You suffer injustice, betrayals and prosecutions, but by that you are closer to and dearer to God. My children, pray for the gift of love. Only love forgives all, as my Son forgives – follow him. I am among you and am praying that when you come before your Father you can say: “Here I am Father, I followed your Son, I had love and forgave with the heart, because I believed in your judgment and trusted in you.” Thank you. Medjugorje message, September 2, 2009

Knowing me, knowing you...

“Come and see a man who has told me everything I did.
I wonder if he is the Christ?” John 4 : 29

Jesus stayed with the people from the Samaritan town of Sychar for two days after they had responded to the call of the woman at the town well to “come and see”, and their personal meeting with Christ brought them to the knowledge that he “really is the saviour of the world”.

Today, the people in the United Kingdom are complying with a decree issued by the British Government to complete a census. It will provide the authorities with much personal information and enable Government to plan for the future. One hundred years from today, this personal information will be put in the public domain and the people of that time will be able to research the information on a need-to-know basis.

Joseph and the Mother of Christ responded to the census call of Caesar Augustus at the time of the birth of Jesus. It wasn’t a local census but one for the whole of the Roman Empire. Scripture is not clear if Jesus was registered on this census. But even if he wasn’t we know where he was born (Luke 2) and his ancestry (Matthew 1). And also in scripture Jesus reveals his Father (John 14), and his mother and brothers in the most unusual way (Mark 3). In fact, the whole of Scripture reveals Jesus as the Word of God. Far more is revealed in Scripture about Jesus than possible with any census. God is all revealing – of himself and all things.

In today’s Gospel, we see that the Samaritan people of Sychar had knowledge of God, but not the complete truth until they met with Christ, the saviour of the world. And so it is in our own time. Many have knowledge of God but “worship what they do not know”.

Scripture teaches us that every hair on our head has been counted (Luke 12) that God counts our every step (Job 31), calls us by name and that we belong to his house (Isaiah 43).

So should we be surprised, like the Samaritan woman at the well, that Jesus knows everything about us, and desires to reveal himself to us and the world in most wondrous ways?

There is a section on the UK census form that asks: What is your religion? The question is voluntary – the only voluntary question on the census.

At first it appears that religion plays no part in Government planning but if we look at it another way it is a wonderful opportunity to tick the box marked Christian, and so confirm the name of Jesus on the census, to let the world know that Jesus has a place in our household and in our life. When we tick the box ‘Christian’ we reveal that Jesus is still alive. Our Redeemer lives. Emmanuel. God is with us.

May we be blessed that Jesus be a permanent resident in our home. May his name always be recorded on our heart.

In her messages from Medjugorje, the Mother of Jesus also reveals who God is. She confirms that she comes to tell us that God exists, that Jesus is not just some historical account registered on a census but actually exists, and that he knows us in truth.

My Son, who is Life, loves you and knows you in truth. To come to know and to love yourself, you must come to know my Son; to come to know and to love others, you must see my Son in them. July 2, 2010

Also today I call you, in this time of grace, to pray for little Jesus to be born in your heart. May he, who is peace itself, give peace to the entire world through you. November 25, 2010

Little children, love bears everything bitter and difficult for the sake of Jesus who is love. June 25 1988

Little children, decide for God who is freedom and love. March 25 1996

The way to my Son, who is true peace and love, passes through the love for all neighbours. September 25, 2005

He who is the King of Heaven and earth, he is your peace. December 25, 2006

God desires to convert the entire world and to call it to salvation and to the way towards himself, who is the beginning and the end of every being. June 25, 2007

Pray and work so that your heart yearns for God the Creator who is the true rest of your soul and your body. May he reveal his face to you and may he give you his peace. July 25, 2008

Our Lady’s March message to Marija

Dear children! In a special way today I desire to call you to conversion. As of today, may new life begin in your heart. Children, I desire to see your ‘yes’, and may your life be a joyful living of God’s will at every moment of your life. In a special way today, I bless you with my motherly blessing of peace, love and unity in my heart and in the heart of my Son Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call. March 25, 2011

The angel said to Mary, “You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus...”

“I am the handmaid of the Lord,” said Mary “let what you have said be done to me.” Luke 1 : 31, 38

• Fr Neil Buchlein’s refelection

The Annunciation of the Lord

You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation, prepared a body for me. Hebrews 10 : 5, Psalm 40

Dear children! Today I invite you to peace. I have come here as the Queen of Peace and I desire to enrich you with my motherly peace. Dear children, I love you and I desire to bring all of you to the peace which only God gives and which enriches every heart. I invite you to become carriers and witnesses of my peace to this unpeaceful world. Let peace reign in the whole world which is without peace and longs for peace. I bless you with my motherly blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call.
Medjugorje message, July 25, 1990

Annual message of Our Lady to Mirjana

Dear children! I am with you in the name of the greatest Love, in the name of dear God, who has come close to you through my Son and has shown you real love. I desire to lead you on the way of God. I desire to teach you real love so that others may see it in you, that you may see it in others, that you may be a brother to them and that others may see a merciful brother in you. My children, do not be afraid to open your hearts to me. With motherly love, I will show you what I expect of each of you, what I expect of my apostles. Set out with me. Thank you. March 18, 2011

Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. Luke 1 : 39

Video source: medjugorje.net

• Fr Neil Buchlein’s audio commentary

Commission anniversary...

It was on St Patrick’s day last year (March 17) that the Holy See released a statement confirming the formation of a commission to investigate the “phenomenon” of Medjugorje.

Vatican spokesman Fr Leonardo Lombardi said at the time that as the commission carries out its activities it would decide whether or not to communicate information relative to any findings. So far no official statement has been given during the past 12 months.

Medjugorje will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the apparitions on June 25.

For Harry and team...

Many Roads, by Andrew Petersen
Best listened to with headphones
andrew-petersen.com
song lyrics

Hosea...

I need you! I am calling you! I need your help! Reconcile with yourself, with God, with your neighbours. In this way you will help me. Convert the non–believers. Wipe the tears from my face! Medjugorje message, December 2, 2004

Hosea, by Andrew Petersen. 
Best listened to with headphones
andrew-petersen.com
song lyrics

Called by name...

God, the Lord, has called each of us. He has called each one by name. God is so great that he has time for each one of us, he knows me, he knows each of us by name, personally.

It is a personal call for each of us. I think that we must meditate on this mystery often: God, the Lord, called me, calls me, knows me, awaits my response as he awaited Mary's response, as he awaited the response of the Apostles.

God calls me: This fact should make us attentive to God’s voice, attentive to his words, to his call for me, to realise this part of salvation history for which he has called me.

• Benedict XVI, March 4, 2011

No birds in the sky...

“There are many dead people and they can't even bury them,” a fighter called Ibrahim told the Reuters news agency. “Zawiya is deserted. There's nobody on the streets. No animals, not even birds in the sky,” he said. BBC News, March 9, 2011

Raise the wail and lamentation for the mountains
the dirge for the desert pastures,
for they have been burnt, no one passes there,
the sound of flocks is heard no more.
Birds of the sky and animals
all have fled, all are gone.
Jeremiah 9 : 10

Video...March 2 apparition to Mirjana

The repentance of Peter...

 • From a documentary about Medjugorje broadcast by Ireland’s Midwest Radio.

On the night we arrived from Ireland at Dubrovnik airport Peter told me that he had come simply to accompany his wife. His plan? Very simple. Spend a couple of days at the shrine, take a car and drive to Dubrovnik for some sightseeing. But by Thursday Peter was still around and beneath the Blue Cross he had this to say:

I’m not a very religious person. I wouldn’t go to Mass every Sunday. I wouldn’t do a lot of harm but… and I thought the week was going to be down on your knees, a big sour face, like as if you were after eating eleven or something, but I can honestly say that it was like a bed of roses… petals… absolutely… it’s an amazing place. I’ve been touched. I laughed. I laughed more than I cried. I went to confession after a talk by Fr Benny (the group’s spiritual director) in which he says you must forgive… people that hurt you… to be forgiven… and that had a profound effect upon me. I’m a bit emotional now… I was hurt by people when I was young… and I asked the priest in confession for me to get the grace to forgive those who had hurt me… and my God, I’m five stone lighter. I’ll be back again here. I’m transformed.

God has sent me...

Pilgrims gather at Our Lady’s statue on Apparition Hill. photo © Emzed

The chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Jesus, and they said to him: “What authority have you for acting like this? Or who gave you authority to do these things?” Mark 11 : 27-28

God has sent me among you so that I may help you. January 25, 1991

God, out of love for man, has sent me among you to show you the path of salvation, the path of love. April 25, 1995

God sent me to lead you toward eternal life. October 25, 2006

Dear children! God sent me among you out of love that I may lead you towards the way of salvation. October 25, 2007

Dear children, by God’s will I am here with you in this place. May 2, 2008

Euro politicians plan for Medjugorje pilgrimage

A group of politicians from the European Parliament is set to make a pilgrimage to Medjugorje later this year. The MEP’s have responded to the invitation of Italian PDL senator Salvatore Piscitelli (pictured) who has visited Medjugorje many times and has a lifelong devotion to Our Lady.

Last year Piscitelli extended a cross-party invite to politicians from Italy’s parliament to go with him on pilgrimage. Several accepted and travelled with Piscitelli to Medjugorje in November. Since then the cross-party group has been meeting every week in the Rome basilica of Santa Maria in Via to pray the rosary.

Now the Italian senator has recruited other legislators from the many countries that make up the European Parliament and the pilgrim politicians are set to leave for Medjugorje in September.

In the meantime, the group of Italian politicians is planning to return to Medjugorje this month in time for the annual apparition of Our Lady to the visionary Mirjana on March 18. 

• Last month, the mayor of Quincy in Massachusetts, Thomas Koch, announced he will make a pilgrimage to Medjugorje – also in March.

Hail Mary...

Beautifully sung by Danielle Rose.
Find out more about Danielle and her music at daniellerose.com

March 2 message of Our Lady to Mirjana

photo of Mirjana taken at today’s apparition,
courtesy of Emzed and Albert. © fotođani.

Dear children! My motherly heart suffers tremendously as I look at my children who persistently put what is human before what is of God, at my children who, despite everything that surrounds them and despite all the signs that are sent to them, think that they can walk without my Son. They cannot! They are walking to eternal perdition. That is why I am gathering you, who are ready to open your heart to me, you who are ready to be apostles of my love, to help me; so that by living God’s love you may be an example to those who do not know it. May fasting and prayer give you strength in that, and I bless you with the motherly blessing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Thank you. Medjugorje messages, March 2, 2011

APOSTLES OF LOVE...

In her latest message to Mirjana, Our Lady makes it very clear that there is much work still to be done in bringing God’s love into the hearts of many who walk a independent path that leads away from the companionship of Christ. And she reminds us this is why she is gathering those who have opened their heart to her motherly love and the love of God, to assist her in reaching those who have yet to know the love of God in their hearts. She calls us to witness with our lives and to be “apostles of love”.

Jesus gathered 12 apostles and commissioned them to bring the Gospel message, the message of love, to the lost sheep.

And Our Lady is doing the same, calling and commissioning us to be a good example to others by living in a way that is pleasing to God, to bring the Word of God to those in darkness, those who have yet to know the love of God. She has been making this call for the past 30 years from Medjugorje and in an earlier message she said: “Do not forget that your life does not belong to you, but is a gift with which you must bring joy to others and lead them to eternal life.” And that’s what an apostle is, an ambassador and a messenger. We are being blessed with the call to bring the message of eternal life to others. We are being called and prepared to be “Apostles of Love”.

Last year, yet another enquiry was commissioned to examine the “Medjugorje phenomenon”, this time by pope Benedict XVI. At some time in the future this latest commission will report its findings and the Holy See will more than likely make some statement as to the outcome of the study. It could be that Rome may decide that more time necessary to give further study to the phenomenon. Perhaps even a lifetime.

And it is then that we realise that the past 30 years of Our Lady giving messages from Medjugorje is almost equivalent to the lifespan that Jesus spent on this earth. Only three years of his life were spent in public ministry, the rest as preparation for his saving ministry. He was commissioned by the Father. At Medjugorje we are commissioned by the Mother, and the Holy Spirit promised to us by Jesus prior to his ascension into Heaven when he said: “I will not leave you orphans.”

Thank God that we have such a patient Mother to prepare us to be “Apostles of Love”.

Mirjana dictates today’s message from Our Lady
to interpreter Miki Musa. photo © Emzed

• Fr Neil Buchlein’s audio reflection

Another positive report on Medjugorje by CNS...

• Catholic News Service (CNS) today published another Medjugorje report focusing on the Merciful Father Community and the Mother Village.

MEDJUGORJE PILGRIMS HELP DRUG ADDICTS
Wednesday, 02 March 2011
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

MEDJUGORJE, Bosnia-Herzegovina – Millions of pilgrims have come to Medjugorje and reported experiencing conversion in the village where six young people claimed they began seeing Mary in 1981.

In the 30 years since, many of the pilgrims have made donations that helped make huge changes in the lives of orphaned children, women in difficulty and young men with serious addiction problems, usually involving drugs.

The men who live in the Merciful Father Community on the edge of Medjugorje have conversion stories of their own and they know it is thanks to the alleged visions and the generosity of the pilgrims that they have a chance for a better future.

Brano Bakic, 32, has completed 33 months of the three-year recovery programme that focuses on prayer and work according to a very strict schedule that begins at 6am each day. “I believe that God saved me, that Mary saved me,” he said.

The former heroin addict said that when a social worker first dropped him off at the community gates, “nothing was clear. There was only big confusion. But now I know God saved me and I’m ready for a good life.”

The recovery community was founded 10 years ago by Franciscan Fr Slavko Barbaric, who founded Mother’s Village in 1993 to care for orphans from the Balkans War. The village now includes a large kindergarten, family-style homes for 55 children whose parents have died or no longer can care for them, a house for pregnant women in crisis and the Merciful Father Community.

Franciscan Father Svetozar Kraljevic, current director of the village, said the Franciscans were able to build and to expand the village “knowing that the pilgrims had every desire and intention to help.” He said the people who come to Medjugorje because of the alleged apparitions are true pilgrims “if they are about the quality of life and reaching out - first for their own lives and then for others,” he said. “If what happens here is self-centered, then it’s not about God.”

Zaklina Pazin, who shares the story of Mother’s Village with English-speaking pilgrims and shows them around, said, “The pilgrims are generous and they want to give back.”

The men at Merciful Father spend much of their day doing manual labour; they work in the gardens at Mother’s Village and are responsible for the upkeep of the buildings. They make Rosaries and plaques and mosaics. They did the back-breaking work of digging through the rocky Apparition Hill to install lights for pilgrims. And occasionally, Bakic said, they carry aged and infirm pilgrims up the steeper Krizevac, or “Cross Hill,” where locals and pilgrims meditate on the Stations of the Cross.

“We start every day in the chapel and end every day in the chapel on our knees,” Bakic said. The community’s chapel has no altar - the men go to Mass in town - but “every day one guy reads the word of God and tells what it means to him. I think it’s a very good way to think about these things.” The men are not confined and some leave after a few days or few weeks, Bakic said. “For the first three months, each person has a guardian angel guy who is with him all day. It is the biggest obligation in the community.”

Sitting in a large dining room where the aroma of garlic and other spices made it clear it was almost lunchtime, Ilija Cale, another recovering addict at Merciful Father, said, “All this is connected with what happens in Medjugorje.

“Everything that does not come from God, falls down. The point of Medjugorje is to pray. Like everyone, we came to Medjugorje with a bag of bad stuff on our backs. We had to put that down to get better and we put that down with prayer.”

Bakic said the relationship with the pilgrims is a two-way street. “We have money from the pilgrims, but they have our testimony and our hope.”

Men make the sign of the cross during lunch at the Merciful Father Community in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina on 26 February. The pilgrim-funded programme helps men overcome addictions through prayer and work. Photo: CNS/Paul Haring.