A WITNESS TO THE RESURRECTION
My father was a Communist – he did not believe in God. He never went to church and I was never baptised and my parents were not married in the Church.
It all started by accident one day when my mother gave me money to buy something in the store but I used the money to buy drugs. This was the beginning of my downfall. By the age of 14, I had spent time in a juvenile prison. On my discharge, I began to take drugs again. I had a fancy car, a beautiful girlfriend, who loved my car more than me!! When we met, we never asked each other how we were doing, but, which one of us had the money to buy drugs.
At the age of 17, I went to fight in the War. It was a dreadful experience, I cried for the first time. I was lonely, with no friends and no parents. I was hoping that I would die from a bullet, rather than from drugs. I didn’t see any light in my future. After the war, I ended up in prison again, but this time it was an adult prison, a great achievement, I thought, but in the depths of my heart I longed for my family. But the truth was, everything in my life revolved around drugs and the means by which I got 300 marks a day to satisfy my habit. My life was a revolving circle.
I sought the help of psychologists and physicians. One day I met a priest, he gave me the address of the Cenacolo community in Medjugorje. I went. I saw 40 young people, from 12 countries, praying together. I said to myself, “They are all crazy, what prayer can change a man?” Then I realised that prayer is like a delicious juice on the table that was standing and waiting, and it was something I had never tasted before. I began to taste. Slowly but surely, my heart began to change.
I will never forget my first day in the community. I looked in the mirror and said to myself: “You're still the same, the only thing is, you’ve gained weight, but you're still the same.” I did not understand that if someone wants to change their life, they need to change their heart and soul, and way of life. I could not find any such changes. I had a lot of things I could change- my clothes and such things, but not my heart. One evening I went to where the Girls House of the Cenacolo community was. That night one of the girls died in my arms. For the first time in my life I cried because of someone else – for the life of that girl. My heart was changing.
At Easter a few years ago I received the Sacrament of Baptism in St James church at Medjugorje. It was an indescribable moment. I realised that a man needs to know God and prayer.
God’s grace helped my heart to change. A few months ago my parents were married in the church – after 30 years – and I was their best man!
Do you see what God was doing in our lives? Up until four years ago, my father had never been in a church, and now he prays the Rosary three times a day. When my mother came to visit Medjugorje, he asked her, “Mother, are you happy that you and the father managed to get on the right path?” She replied: “How could I not be happy when after ten years I can see my real son.”
Medjugorje has done much for my life and my family. With Our Lady’s help, everything changed. Many years ago people avoided me in the streets because I smelled and was dirty – a drug addict. And now I am leaving to go to the community in Brazil to care for children living on the streets. Are not these miracles that God does?
When I came to Medjugorje, I said that I had to see Our Lady on the hill. Indeed I saw Our Lady – in others, in my fellow man. I am happy that God has given me eyes to see, that together with others I can rejoice and weep.
To all young people I say: In every life there are problems. There are no drugs that can heal our past! You can take every pill, but your past and your troubles continue to remain. We must not suppress them. There is only one answer – believe in God and believe in yourself!
