THE MEDJUGORJE WITNESS

I have two sons and one of them also has two sons. I have a daughter who has two sons. My father had two sons. So the Gospel reading (Matthew 21 : 28-32) comparing two sons rings bells with me.

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In his question put to the chief priests and elders, Jesus makes clear he identifies them as the son who says he will go and work in the vineyard but then feels he has no need to. The other son, in the guise of tax collectors and prostitutes, refuses at first to work in the vineyard but then experiences a change of heart and does so. 

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Does the father of the two sons love them any more or less because of their response to his request? No. The lack of love is shown in the response by the son who refuses to do his father’s will after saying he would.

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I suppose it could be said that the different attitudes of the two sons exists in many of us at times. We make promises that we fail to keep, or sometimes refuse a request but later think better of it.

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Wanting to right oneself, or putting things right, is really what matters most – making our peace with the Father. 

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‘Righteousness’ in the form displayed by the chief priests and elders, who didn‘t feel the necessity to receive the baptism of repentance offered by John, is criticised by Jesus, and he makes the point of saying that the tax collectors and prostitutes, because they repent and accept John’s baptism, are making their way into the kingdom of God ahead of the self-righteous.

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I remember once going to confession at Medjugorje at the start of a pilgrimage. I had only been to confession a few days earlier and felt I had nothing really to confess. I explained this to the priest. His response was: “Let’s start with pride!”

Perhaps this is also the point Jesus is making to the chief priests and elders when he asks them: “Which of the two sons did the father’s will?” 

Yesterday’s Gospel reading, The Wedding at Cana (John 2 : 1-12), pointed out that the miracle of water changing into wine was the first of the signs given by Jesus. “He let his glory be seen and his disciples believed in him.”

There are many signs and wonders witnessed at Medjugorje. God lets his glory be seen and the people believe. In the early days of the apparitions Our Lady commented on these signs:

• All these signs are designed to strengthen your faith until I leave you the visible and permanent sign. (October 22, 1981) 

• These are signs of salvation... the sun is the source of light which enlightens us. (November 22, 1981) 

• It is God who gives them... It is necessary to awaken the faith... It is a gift from God. (Spring 1982) 

• Now I am going to give you a sign in order to strengthen your faith. (August 6, 1982)

One summer, during the Medjugorje Youth Festival, a priest incorporated this lesson into his homily:

One day a teacher said to his friend after a discussion about disagreements, “If you find it hard to forgive someone after having a difference with them, take a potato, half it and on one half write your name and on the other half write their name. Then put the halved potatoes in a plastic bag and carry it around.”

“Ah, that’s easy, I’ll do that.” said the friend. When he had an argument or disagreement with someone, he did as he had been advised, halved the potatoes and wrote both names on it and put it in a plastic bag and carried them around.

After a week the bag was getting pretty heavy and there was a terrible stench from it. He went back to the teacher and said “Surely there must be an easier way?”

The teacher replied “The bag is a reflection of your soul. You are carrying around unforgiveness. Bring your ‘rotten potatoes’ to Confession.

Jesus says, in Matthew 18:21, when asked about forgiveness, 'Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.’

There are times in all of our lives when the wine can run out, especially in relationships. Meditating on the passage from John’s Gospel (2 : 1-12) and praying the second Mystery of Light is a most powerful prayer for improving and healing relationships, be it with friends, family, marriage, enemies – or even with Jesus himself. Pray the rosary decade and meditate on the mystery every day and see the new wine begin to flow in relationships – for oneself or for others!

Imagine if I were to break a petal off a rose.

No one could make it whole again.

Not one human.

Someone greater is needed.

The One Who created it.

There is one way to come to peace and wholeness,

one way to be healed and forgiven –

The Sacrament of Confession.

• Fr Jozo Zovko OFM (from the book: As She Asks)

Following on from the Holy Embrace picture I posted yesterday, this morning I received an email from Maria Cruse directing me to a website that shows the statue viewed from the front and with the Child Jesus as part of the group, holding hands with Mary and Joseph. Mystery solved.

The original statue was sculpted by Arnaldo Gianneli, founder of the Egregia company in Volterra, Italy, that manufactures alabaster statues. Among his most famous works is a bust of the former American president Dwight Eisenhower.

• More information is available at the Egregia website.

I was searching through some old photo files recently when I came across this image of a statue displayed in the window of someone’s home at the famous English Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Could the statue be of Joseph and Mary embracing each other? There’s no sign of Jesus, which could suggest they may be comforting each other while searching for their twelve-year-old son when he went missing in Jerusalem after the Passover festival.

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Or could the hooded figure even be Jesus embracing his Blessed Mother?

Today is the feast of the Oratorian Saint Joseph Vaz, the Apostle of Ceylon. Ordained in Goa in 1676, he was renowned as a zealous pastor. Joseph lived a simple life, often walking barefoot. He joined a group of priests to establish the first Oratory of St Philip Neri in India, at the church of the Holy Cross of Miracles, and was elected the first Provost of that community.

He then travelled to Ceylon, to help persecuted Catholics. He went about disguised as a labourer, encouraging the faithful. Despite various trials, Joseph earned the respect and protection of the Buddhist King of Kandy after Joseph’s prayers for a miraculous rainfall were answered. He became known as the ‘Sammanasu Swam’ – the angelic priest. Many Fathers of the Goa Oratory joined Joseph in Ceylon, and he famously refused the mitre and office of Vicar Apostolic. On 16 January 1711, Joseph died with the Holy Name on his lips, surrounded by members of his community.

• Fr Anton Guziel

Some random thoughts on blessings.

My life is a blessing… every moment is a blessing… 

My life is a blessing to others… the lives of others is a blessing to me…

Look for the blessing in others… and find Jesus...

Always see the blessing of God in every situation, in every joy and every difficulty…

The Presence of Love in every situation… God’s blessing…

God’s blessings… so often taken for granted…

Meditate on God’s blessings when praying the Rosary…

Count blessings every day… 

Look for blessings every day… Seek the Lord… seek his blessings…

Learn to recognise God’s blessings, even in the smallest things…

Jesus is a blessing for the whole world…

Blessing is God’s gift…God’s love…

Reflect on all the personal gifts received, past and present…

Sometimes, when someone close dies, it is only then that we really become aware of the blessing that person was in our life…

We take blessings for granted… We expect, even demand…

But we should always seek God’s blessing…

Sometimes a blessing is revealed when we are in darkness…

We may see it… we may not… Others may see it…

When we seek and recognise blessings there is little room left to accommodate any disappointment…

It is important to give thanks and praise to God for all blessings, known and unknown…

Give daily thanks for the blessing of life itself… God’s love, the greatest blessing…

Write down all the blessings received…

Every moment is God’s blessing… Life is a perpetual blessing...

Being aware of blessings makes for a joyful heart...

Born to bless and be blessed...

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• The blessing image is detail from Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi

Leo Daly’s Australian Medjugorje website is up and running again. As well as promoting Medjugorje, Leo intends to set up a national database for Eucharistic Adoration and for the growing number of Rosary Crusades. The new url for the Australian Medjugorje website is https://www.ausmedjugorjecentre.com

Leo’s email address is medjugorjeaus@gmail.com

Vatican News speaks to Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, who was sent by Pope Francis as Apostolic Visitor to Medjugorje. He is tasked with reading the messages attributed to the ‘Queen of Peace’ and authorising their publication.

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Interview by Andrea Tornielli at this link.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan is also the first decade that introduces the Rosary’s Mysteries of Light.

The image above is detail from a Renaissance painting by Andrea del Verroccio, assisted by his apprentice Leonardo da Vinci. It’s displayed at the Uffizi in Florence. Verrocchio is portrayed as the ‘Master’, while another Florentine artist, Domenico Ghirlandaio represents John the Baptist. Elsewhere in the painting are Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli portrayed as two angels.

• More about this painting at: Baptism of Christ.

Jesus was in one of the towns when a man appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his face and implored him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once.

Luke 5 : 12-13

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GENTLE JESUS

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Gentle Jesus, here I am, 

Holding on as best I can.

Knowing you will hear my prayer,

I’m in need of love and care.

You can heal me if you choose.

Say “Of course I want to!”

You can say to me “Be cured!”

You can make me new.

Gentle Jesus, here I stand,

Arms outstretched with open hand..

In my weakness, blind and lame,

Calling out your holy name.

You can heal me if you choose...

Gentle Jesus, here I kneel,

Knowing only you can heal,

Placing all my faith in you,

Praising all the good you do.

You can heal me if you choose.

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BG – October 2010

A straight-forward prayer to Saint Jude, courtesy of the Shrine of Saint Jude Dominican Friars:

Most holy Apostle, Saint Jude Thaddeus, friend of Jesus, I place myself in your care at this difficult time. Help me know that I need not face my troubles alone.

Please join me in my need, asking God to send me: consolation in my sorrow, courage in my fear, and healing in the midst of my suffering. Ask our loving Lord to fill me with the grace to accept whatever may lie ahead for me and my loved ones, and to strengthen my faith in God's healing powers. Thank you, Saint Jude Thaddeus, for the promise of hope you hold out to all who believe, and inspire me to give this gift of hope to others as it has been given to me.

Saint Jude, Apostle of Hope

Pray for us!

Jesus then ordered them to get all the people together in groups on the green grass, and they sat down on the ground in squares of hundreds and fifties. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing; then he broke the loaves and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the people.

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Mark 6 : 39-41

May the mountains bring forth peace for the people and the hills, justice.

May he defend the poor of the people and save the children of the needy.

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Psalm 71 : 3-4

The Feast of the Epiphany is generally the day Christmas decorations are taken down and packed away for another year.

Postage costs in the UK have risen sharply in recent times and it is becoming more expensive to send out Christmas greeting cards to family and friends.

This year I was curious to see the balance between religious and secular themed cards I received through my letterbox. The split was almost even but with the percentage of secular cards coming out on top – 51% to 49%.

Six hundred years ago (1425), Pope Clement V proclaimed a Holy Year “with two novelties: a special commemorative Jubilee Medal and the opening of a Holy Door in the Cathedral of Saint John in the Lateran”.

The Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck referenced the 1425 Jubilee in his painting of the famous Ghent Altarpiece (also called Adoration of the Mystic Lamb) – and the “two novelties”. They are located in the Singing Angels panel in the upper register.

A posthumous copy of the Jubilee Medal, produced about 1800, is shown above.

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• You can read more about the medal and its connection to the Ghent Altarpiece at this link.