December 03, 2024
The coming of the virtuous king
A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse,
a scion thrusts from its roots:
on him the spirit of the Lord rests,
a spirit of wisdom and insight,
a spirit of counsel and power,
a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
(The fear of the Lord is his breath.)
Isaiah 11 : 1-2
December 01, 2024
A sign of the times...
The UK Sunday Times magazine today published an extensive report on Medjugorje, titled “The miracle of Medjugorje, the holy town that took on the Vatican”.
The article can be viewed at THIS LINK.
December 01, 2024
Medjugorje... the waiting phenomenon
Invoke the Father, He is waiting for you. Come back to Him.
November 2, 2009
Dear children, With a motherly heart, today I desire to remind you of, namely, to draw your attention to, God's immeasurable love and the patience which ensues from it. Your Father is sending me and is waiting. He is waiting for your open hearts to be ready for His works. He is waiting for your hearts to be united in Christian love and mercy in the spirit of my Son. Do not lose time, children, because you are not its masters. February 2, 2009
If your hearts are open to the Father and if they are full of love toward him, then why any fear of what is to come? Those who are afraid are the ones who do not love because they are waiting for punishments and because they know how empty and hard they are. March 18, 1995
I am with you and I am waiting for you. May 25, 1992
Dear children, Satan is strong and is waiting to test each one of you. Pray, and that way he will neither be able to injure you nor block you on the way of holiness. September 25, 1987
As for me, I only wait for your 'Yes' to present to Jesus for Him to fill you with His grace.
May 25, 1992
I am with you and I intercede before God for you but also I wait for your hearts to open up to my messages. May 25, 1994
May your weapon be patience and boundless love - a love that knows to wait and which will make you capable of recognising God's signs - that your life, by humble love, may show the truth to all those who seek it in the darkness of lies. October 2, 2010
Many of you have responded, but I wait for, and seek, all the hearts that have fallen asleep to awaken from the sleep of unbelief. June 25, 2011
Dear children, I love you with a motherly love and with a motherly patience I wait for your love and unity. October 2, 2013
Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Luke 12:36
December 01, 2024
Holy Water
I will pour out water on the thirsty soil,
streams on the dry ground.
I will pour my spirit on your descendants,
my blessing on your children.
Isaiah 44 : 3
November 29, 2024
The marvels of God
“No one is forgotten in God’s sight.
Why, every hair on your head has been counted.”
(Luke 12 : 6-7)
I marvel at this simple yet boundless expression by Jesus to the point it is beyond my comprehension, especially at a stage in my life when my memory is not what it once was.
It reminds me of the occasion when the Virgin Mary questioned the angel Gabriel after he told her she would conceive and bear a son. She asked, “But how can this come about since I am a virgin?”
The angel replied, “Nothing is impossible to God”.
My wife resorts to a simple prayer when times are tough and she can’t come up with a satisfactory solution to a problem: She calls on God’s help and says: “I can’t, but you can.”
November 29, 2024
France, go and repair my church which, as you can see, is in danger of falling down...
Today, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris opened its doors once again to welcome the world after its five-year restoration programme following the devastating fire which engulfed the building in 2019.
November 27, 2024
The strangest dream
Last night I had the strangest dream,
I never dreamed before.
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war.
I dreamed I saw a mighty room,
The room was filled with men.
And the papers they were signing said
They'd never fight again.
And when the papers were all signed,
And a million copies made
They all joined hands and bowed their heads,
And grateful prayers were made.
And the people in the streets below,
They all danced round and round.
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground.
Last night I had the strangest dream,
I never dreamed before.
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war.
I dreamed I saw a mighty room,
The room was filled with men.
And the papers they were signing said
They'd never fight again.
November 27, 2024
Feast of the Miraculous Medal
Thirty-five years ago today,November 27 November 1989, Our Lady appeared at the Blue Cross before Marija Pavlovic and spoke these words to the Medjugorje seer:
“These days, I want you to pray in a special way for the salvation of souls. Today is the feast day of the Miraculous Medal, and I want that you pray, in a special way, for the salvation of those people who are carrying this miraculous medal. I want you to spread the devotion and the carrying of this medal, so that more souls may be saved, and that you pray in a special way.”
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
November 26, 2024
Seeking signs
When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All these thing you are staring at now – the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed.” And they put to him this question: “Master,” they said “when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that this is about to take place?” Luke 21 : 5-7
November 26, 2024
Beware the sowers of doubt
The Lord does not sow the seed of doubt. He sows the seed of faith.
The serpent, the most subtle of wild beasts testifies by his own words that he is the sower of doubt in the word of God. He asked the woman: “Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3 : 1)
Eve answered the serpent with the word of God: “We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said: ‘You must not eat it, nor touch it, under the pain of death.’”
When Mary, the New Eve, the Mother of God and Queen of Peace speaks to her children, she bears the Word of God.
The word of God produces good fruit.
The word of satan, sower of doubt, produces poisoned fruit.
Can one blind man lead another? Surely they will both fall into the pit? (Luke 6 : 39)
...and then instead of listening to the truth they will turn to myths. (2 Timothy 4 : 4)
November 24, 2024
The widow’s mite
As Jesus looked up he saw rich people putting their offerings into the treasury; then he happened to notice a poverty-stricken widow putting in two small coins, and he said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than any of them; for these all contributed money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in all she had to live on.
Luke 21 : 1-4
The gifts of the faithful that are offered to the Lord can only be used for ecclessiastical purposes, for the common good of the Christian community, and for the poor; for they are the consecrated gifts of the faithful, the atonement offering of sinners, and the patrimony of the needy.
Pope Urban I
November 24, 2024
Fr Slavko Barbaric OFM, 24th anniversary
• Fr Slavko Barbaric • Born: March 11, 1946 • Died: November 24, 2000
I rejoice with you and I desire to tell you that your brother Slavko has been born into heaven and intercedes for you. part Medjugorje message, November 25, 2000
• This is the testimony given at Fr Slavko’s funeral by Magdalena Pajic, on behalf of the Mother’s Village.
• Dear brother Slavko, we are still waiting for you! On Wednesday, after the Way of the Cross, you were supposed to come to the Mother’s Village. I don’t know whether you wanted to see someone in particular or all of us. But now, we are all here in this row full of sorrow. Even little Maja from Bjelovar has come, Boris and Toni are here, and – what a surprise – they are silent, and aunty Ružica adds a Hail Mary for you while praying her rosary.
Friday night, we were up for long time, wondering why you didn’t come and where you had gone, and we saw our religious sisters keeping a long silence instead of giving us an answer. Some of us still cannot realise what has happened, some will not even remember your face, but all of us are full of sorrow and a little angry, and we all have the same desire, to tell you a big thank you.
Thank you, brother Slavko, for having had the idea to create the Mother’s Village; thank you for not having been afraid to receive us, as different as we are.
Thank you for teaching us how to be courageous, asking us to animate the decades of the rosary on the Podbrdo while we were still learning how to pray.
Thank you for letting us see that toys have colours, that Nutella is sweet, and that it takes two persons to see-saw.
Thank you for making it possible for us to put on a white dress for the First Holy Communion, like all other children.
Thank you for having taught us how to love Our Lady and how to pray to God.
Thank you, because – in spite of everything – we have discovered what the word love means.
Other people told us that time heals all wounds, but you were the only one to tell us that time is just a companion on the way, and that only love heals everything. Your death tells us the same.
As short as the instant was that death took you away from us, as short was the instant we needed to understand your love and your sacrifice. We know now that each little piece of paper thrown on the road, each bad note in school and each disobedience towards auntie were an offence. This is why, speaking these words over your open tomb, we make a vow of fidelity to your word and to your work.
While humanly in such a deep sorrow, we feel as if you were asking us: “My children, where is your faith?” In faith, we see you united to our Mother and to your Mother Mary, and we suffer less; and this is our only hope, because, truly, through your leaving, the Mother’s Village, our orphanage, became itself a big orphan.
If we were to continue to wait for you, we would undoubtedly be overwhelmed by fear. We prefer to ask you to wait for us, now that you have reached the heavenly sanctuary. And, while we imagine you walking down the road, slightly bent forward, turning your back to us, for the first time we do not say, “Brother Slavko, goodbye”, but, with a wounded heart, with a pure children’s soul and full of enthusiasm, we say, “See you and thank you, our dear brother Slavko!”
source: medjugorje.hr
November 22, 2024
Purgatory according to the seer Marija
In her book, Marija and the Mother of God, Irish journalist Heather Parsons speaks with the visionary about Purgatory. Marija confirms that Our Lady has shown her heaven, hell and purgatory.
Of purgatory Marija said: “I did not see any people in purgatory, but I could hear them crying and asking us to pray for them. Our Lady said that the suffering of these people was because they wanted to go to heaven, but could not unless they had our prayers to assist them. She said that when we prayed for them, we helped them towards heaven.
“I felt great sadness in purgatory, because I was allowed to understand that these people know that God exists, that heaven exists. They want to be with God, but it is not possible for them to be with Him, because their sins are still on their souls.
“Their cries are not because they are in physical pain, I understood, but because they are in spiritual pain, wishing to be with God. Every day they spend in Purgatory they understand more the situation they are in and the result of their own sins. And they learn the way to love God.
“Our Lady said that we should pray for the souls in purgatory, that our prayers will help them to reach heaven. And she said that we should tell others to pray for them. She said that when we pray for these souls they become our friends and they pray for us in return. And now I pray for all the souls in purgatory, not just those I know, but all souls.
“She told me a very beautiful thing too, that every Saturday she goes to purgatory to take many souls to heaven and that there is great joy in heaven when these souls meet with God.
“Sometimes people ask me if I would be afraid to go to purgatory, but no, I would not be afraid. I have decided to try to live in the way of holiness and I do this with God’s help. Little by little, in this way I grow and learn and understand more, and with God’s help I am beginning to see and understand how great his love is for us.”
November 21, 2024
Presentation of Mary in the Temple
Eternal Father, we honour the holiness and glory of the Virgin Mary. May her prayers bring us the fullness of your life and love.
Hail Mary, full of grace…
November 19 2024
The man in the sycamore tree
Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share his meal, side by side with him.
Revelation 3 : 20
Jesus entered Jericho and was going through the town when a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance; he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man. He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd; so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way. When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him: “Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today!” And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully. They all complained when they saw what happening. “He has gone to stay at a sinner’s house” they said. But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, “Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount! And Jesus said to, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost. Luke 19 : 1-10
• Are there occasions in your life when you find yourself up a tree and unpopular with others; or a time when you are called to put aside the business of money-making because something more important has hit town, a time when you just have to find out what all the fuss is about, a time for Jesus?
Even with the wealth he has accumulated for himself and the Roman authority that ruled at the time, Zacchaeus still falls short on many things, not only in height but also in love. He is despised and looked down upon by the people for the way he extorts money and profits from collecting taxes. No way are they going to let him push through the crowds to get sight of Jesus coming through Jericho. Instead he is forced to secure a view by scrambling up a sycamore tree.
This struggle doesn’t stay with Zacchaeus. Too often it is the lowly in life who draw the ‘short’ straw, who are unable to tower above those that stand tall. But never in the eyes of Jesus.
While the people prefer to look down on Zacchaeus, it is Jesus who looks up to him perched in the tree. It is Jesus who honours him by inviting himself to the hated tax-collector’s house. While Zacchaeus may gain reward in exploiting others, it doesn’t compare to the joy he experiences when Jesus enriches him with his presence. But one man’s joy can be another man’s suffering – and the crowd complain when they see what has happened! They are outraged that Jesus, a respected teacher and healer, is prepared to stay at a sinner’s house.
Jesus never loses sight of those with shortcomings, those considered tainted and unworthy of love by others. Jesus has eyes for everyone – for those who stand proudly tall, and for the those who fall ashamedly short.
Consecrate your heart and make in it the home of the Lord. May he dwell in it forever. part message to Mirjana, March 18, 1996
November 16, 2024
Love at first sight
They say it was love at first sight: the beautiful, educated, pious English princess and the rough and tumble warrior, widower, and Scots king twenty years her senior.
Margaret was devoted to the Lord; Malcolm III, not so much, though he considered himself a believer. Despite all their differences, Margaret and Malcolm proved to be exceptionally well yoked.
More about St Margaret at Franciscan Media
November 15, 2024
St Albert the Great
It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for “God is Charity.”
Albertus Magnus OP (1200-1280)
November 14, 2024
Buon Compleanno Giorgio
Today is the 12th birthday of my grandson Giorgio. It’s also the birthday of the English King Charles whose grandfather George VI is represented on the postage stamps above. They were issued in the year of my birth.
Do not be concerned with the Masonic symbols but rather focus on the Dove of Peace. The stamp commemorates the end of WW2.
Giorgio, who celebrates his birthday four days after my own, is a keen golfer and he would probably associate the dove as a “birdie”.
And for another connection... the font I use for the text in these posts is named Georgia.
Is there a Medjugorje connection to all of this? Yes.
I am reliably told that Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth II’s mother and wife of King George VI, had a picture of Our Lady displayed in her bedroom!
November 13, 2024
“...propagate the Rosary”
Pope Francis has called for rediscovering the Rosary's ability to evangelise the Church, in his letter commemorating 150 years since the painting of Our Lady of the Rosary arrived at the Italian Shrine of Pompeii.
Details at Vatican News
November 12, 2024
Pray daily for the Holy Souls
Like Jesus in the Gospels, Our Lady has rarely spoken about Purgatory or the Holy Souls in her messages from Medjugorje. It seems that her sights are set on one place only for her children, and she does not want to give any of us an excuse to settle for anything less than Heaven.
Below is the only ‘official’ message to the world where Our Lady speaks of the Holy Souls and Purgatory. It was given to the visionary Marija on November 6, 1986.
Dear children, Today I wish to call you to pray daily for the souls in purgatory. For every soul prayer and grace is necessary to reach God and the love of God. By doing this, dear children, you obtain new intercessors who will help you in life to realise that all the earthly things are not important for you, that only Heaven is that for which it is necessary to strive. Therefore, dear children, pray without ceasing that you may be able to help yourselves and the others to whom your prayers will bring joy. Thank you for having responded to my call.
November 11, 2024
St Martin of Tours
A conscientious objector who wanted to be a monk; a monk who was maneuvered into being a bishop; a bishop who fought paganism as well as pleaded for mercy to heretics—such was Martin of Tours, one of the most popular of saints and one of the first not to be a martyr.
more at Franciscan Media
November 07, 2024
The day my tongue was loosened
It was one of my ‘can’t be bothered’ days when I just wanted to keep myself to myself and not speak to or with anyone. Why I bothered to go to Mass that morning, I don’t really know. But that’s what most pilgrims do at Medjugorje – go to daily Mass. So there I was.
It must have been sometime in February because St James’ church was practically empty, just a group of American pilgrims mainly, huddled together in the front pews. In front of them and to one side was a lady standing on a plinth. “Maybe she’s there to conduct the choir,” I thought. But I was in no singing mood. I decided my lips were staying firmly sealed that morning.
And then the celebrating priest came to the altar and I noticed that he also wasn’t in a speaking mood because he started to ‘sign’ the Mass. This was a first for me and I assumed that there were some deaf people in the congregation. They turned out to be most of the American group to the right of me, about 50 in number. Another person ‘voiced’ the readings while the role of the lady on the plinth was to ‘sign’ the responses of the people.
Although deafness had impaired the speech of most of this group it certainly did not hold back, passionately responding in both voice and action.
It was I who remained tongue-tied, not only by my own decision but by surprise at the outpouring from these deaf pilgrims. Here was I, with the gift of hearing and speech, unable to utter a sound because of my own self-centredness, yet made to listen to a wall of sound coming from the deaf group which I could not understand, but at the same time translated as pure expression of joy.
Ashamed and greatly humbled, I discovered the reason why I was at Mass that day: to praise and thank the Lord with all my heart, mind and being, and not to hold back in presenting God with all that I had been blessed with.
He had loosened the strings to my heart. I was no longer tongue-tied.
• For those who are deaf or have partial hearing, may I recommend a blog by Fr Mike Depcik: Fr MD’s Kitchen Table
• photos by: Martin Lea Photography
November 06, 2024
When the race is done
Do all that has to be done without complaining or arguing and then you will be innocent and genuine, perfect children of God among a deceitful and underhand brood, and you will shine in the world like bright stars because you are offering it the word of life. This would give me something to be proud of for the Day of Christ and would mean that I have not run in the race and exhausted myself for nothing.
Philippians 2 : 14-16
November 06, 2024
Breathe on me
Holy Spirit, come and bless me
from my head down to my toes.
Turn me round and upside down,
inside out, my heart expose.
Breathe on me through sun and rain.
Breathe on me through joy and pain.
Breathe on me in every way.
Live in me through this day.
BG, December 2008
November 05, 2024
Every knee shall bend...
God raised him high and gave him the name, which is above all other names, so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus, and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2 : 9-11
November 02, 2024
Prayer of Saint Gertrude
Eternal Father, I offer You the most Precious Blood of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home, and within my family. Amen.
November 01, 2024
All Saints
Dear children! Also today I am with you and call all of you to complete conversion. Decide for God, little children, and you will find in God the peace your heart seeks. Imitate the lives of saints and may they be an example for you; and I will inspire you as long as the Almighty permits me to be with you. Thank you for having responded to my call.
Alleged Medjugorje message, September 25, 2006