THE MEDJUGORJE WITNESS

The patron saint of Italy, Saint Francis of Assisi was a poor little man who astounded and inspired the Church by taking the gospel literally—not in a narrow fundamentalist sense, but by actually following all that Jesus said and did, joyfully, without limit, and without a sense of self-importance.

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• More details at franciscanmedia.org

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Born in 1873, she entered Carmel at the age of 15. She achieved perfection through the daily renunciation of little things, and through prayer and meditation on the life of Christ. She wanted to be a missionary and her health made this impossible. She offered her daily life within the convent for the mission of the Church. She died in 1897.

Saint Jerome was a strong, outspoken man. He had the virtues and the unpleasant fruits of being a fearless critic and all the usual moral problems of a man. He was, as someone has said, no admirer of moderation whether in virtue or against evil. He was swift to anger, but also swift to feel remorse, even more severe on his own shortcomings than on those of others. A pope is said to have remarked, on seeing a picture of Jerome striking his breast with a stone, “You do well to carry that stone, for without it the Church would never have canonized you”

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Source: Butler’s Lives of the Saints

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Image: Detail from Leonardo da Vinci’s unfinished painting of St Jerome, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

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Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, three archangels. The detail above shows four archangels standing alongside Jesus and is part of the fresco in the Sistine Chapel titled the Temptations of Christ. It was painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1481. He portrayed himself as the archangel Gabriel holding the lilles.

Three of the archangels have wings, the fourth, half-hidden behind Jesus does not.

St Michael is the angel in the forefront of the group. Next to him is St Raphael, and the wingless angel is Uriel whose name is absent from today’s honoured saints because he is not an angel officially recognised by the Catholic Church. 

Botticelli portrayed Uriel as Leonardo da Vinci. There are reasons for this, one being that he was not one of the group of painters commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV to fresco the walls of the Sistine Chapel when it was built. However, he is featured in several of the Sistine Chapel’s frescoes, most notably at a later date when Michelangelo painted the Chapel ceiling and portrayed Leonardo as the image God For the Father!

Uriel is an angel featured in two of Leonardo’s paintings, the two versions of the Madonna of the Rocks. However these were produced some years after Botticelli had frescoed the Temptations of Christ. Leonardo also painted himself as one of two wingless angels portrayed in Andrea del Verrocchio’s painting of the Baptism of Christ. Botticelli is portrayed as the other angel.

Another reason why Botticelli may have portrayed Leonardo as Uriel is because the angel is regarded as a representation of light and wisdom, two attributes associated with the polymath.

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I’ve raised this question before, but what does Our Lady mean exactly when she says “pray for peace” as she did in her message to the world given to Maria Pavlovic-Lunetti a couple of days ago?

Earlier in the day Pope Leo XIV made a similar request to pray for peace, but defined the intent – “personally, in the family, and in the community”.

The peace Our Lady speaks of can only come from the same source Pope Leo spoke of when he invited the faithful to “invoke God’s gift of peace”.

“Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” (John 14 :27)

By many accounts the world is not at peace. All wars begin in the heart, personally, and pour out from there into families, neighbours, communities and countries. 

So how is it possible to accept the peace of Jesus into our heart. It begins with heartfelt prayer and trust, and not forgetting he said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”

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Dear children! May this time for you be a time of prayer for peace. 

Thank you for having responded to my call.

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(with Ecclesiastical approval)

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Pope Leo XIV has invited the faithful to join in praying the Rosary every day during October to invoke God’s gift of peace.

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“I invite everyone, each day of the coming month, to pray the Rosary for peace—personally, in the family, and in community,” he said.

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Full details at the Vatican News website

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Herod the tetrarch had heard about all that was being done by Jesus; and he was puzzled, because some people were saying that John had risen from the dead, others that Elijah had reappeared, still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. But Herod said, ‘John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?’ And he was anxious to see Jesus. (Luke 9 : 7-9)

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In 1061, so the story goes, the lady of the manor of Little Walsingham in Norfolk, a widow named Richeldis, prayed to our Lady asking how she could honour her in some special way. In answer to this prayer Mary led Richeldis in spirit to Nazareth and showed her the house in which she had first received the angel’s message. Mary told Richeldis to take the measurements of this house and build another one just like it in Walsingham. It would be a place where people could come to honour her and her Son, remembering especially the mystery of the Annunciation and Mary’s joyful ‘yes’ to conceiving the Saviour.

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The late eleventh century and all through the twelfth and thirteenth century was the era of the crusades, which saw a growing interest in the sites consecrated by the human presence of Jesus in the Holy Land. But now pilgrims need not go so far; in England itself there was a ‘new Nazareth’ built by one of their own countrywomen.

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After some time Augustinian canons took over the care of the holy house and enshrined it in a special chapel within a much larger church. Pilgrims began to come from all over England and even abroad. From the time of Henry III nearly all the kings and queens of the realm visited Walsingham, as well as hundreds of ordinary people seeking help, healing and inner peace.

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source: walsinghamcommunity.org

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No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money. 

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Luke 6 :13

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If you praise the works of God, then you will also have to praise yourself, for you too are a work of God. Here is how you can praise yourself yet not be proud. Praise not yourself but God in you.

Offer praise, not because you are this or that kind of person, but because God made you; not because you are capable of doing this or that, but because He works in you and through you.

Augustine of Hippo, commentary on Psalm 114.7

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I enjoy taking photographs of house numbers and their varied styles and designs. 

This number, so weather-beaten and worn, has a special significance for me as today my wife and I celebrate our 55th wedding anniversary (and they said it would never last!).

Back in the day, the Church didn’t make it easy for what was then known as ‘mixed marriages’. There were many obstacles. Compromise became a virtue I came to realise was an important factor in sustaining any marriage through its ups and down.

My wife converted to Catholicism after we had been married for twenty-five years. Nothing to do with me, as I was absent from the sacraments for many years around that time, struggling with a period in my life that was, to say the least, challenging.

And it was my wife who was called to Medjugore in 1998, some time before I ventured there. But her experience was a major influence in allowing myself to have my arm twisted by a mutual friend two years later to make my first of many pilgrimages to Medjugorje. It changed my life.

We have three children, two boys and a girl, now adults and with their own families and who have blessed us with five grandsons and one granddaughter.

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King Darius then wrote to men of all nations, peoples and languages throughout the world, “May peace be always with you!”

Daniel 6 : 24

• 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

• Pray for peace so that as soon as possible a time of peace, which my heart waits impatiently for, may reign. June 25, 1995

• Do good works, not permitting them to wait for you too long. Every mercy that comes from the heart brings you closer to my Son. March 18, 2001

• Clean your heart and allow my Angels to sing in it! At that time I'll take you under my mantle and I'll give you my Son, true peace and happiness. Do not wait, my children!  August 2, 2005

• 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

• Dear children! This is a time of grace and prayer, a time of waiting and giving. November 25, 2018

• Dear children In a motherly way I am calling you to return to the joy and the truth of the Gospel, to return to the love of my Son – because He is waiting for you with open arms. February 25, 2021

• Be aware, little children, that life is short and eternity is waiting for you to give glory to God with your being, with all the saints. September 25, 2021

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• 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

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We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,

because by your Cross you have seemed the world.

Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring 

Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling: 

The Bird of Time has but a little way 

To flutter – and the Bird is on the Wing. 

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (vii)

Little children, do not forget that your life is fleeting like a spring flower which today is wondrously beautiful but tomorrow has vanished.

Part Medjugorje message, March 25, 1988

• The above image is detail from Sandro Botticelli’s fresco in the Sistine Chapel: The Temptations of Christ (1481-82)

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Dear children! Also today I call you to conversion and to holiness. God desires to give you joy and peace through prayer but you, little children, are still far away - attached to the earth and to earthly things. Therefore, I call you anew: open your heart and your sight towards God and the things of God - and joy and peace will come to reign in your hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call. 

Medjugorje Message, May 25, 2012

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Be assured that abuses are not done away by harsh or severe or autocratic measures, but by teaching rather than commanding, by persuasion rather than by threats. This is the way to deal with the people in general, reserving severity for the sins of the few.

If we make threats, let it be done sorrowfully, in the words of Scripture, and in terms of the world to come. In this way, it is not we who are feared because of our power, but God because of our words.

St Augustine of Hippo, Letter 22, 5

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He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross; and so he got rid of the Sovereignties and the Powers, and paraded them in public, behind him in his triumphal procession.

Colossians 2 : 14-15

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Let us celebrate with joyful hearts the birth of the Virgin Mary, of whom was born the sun of justice, Christ our Lord.

Saint Augustine of Hippo connects Mary’s birth with Jesus’ saving work. He tells the earth to rejoice and shine forth in the light of her birth. “She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.” The opening prayer at Mass speaks of the birth of Mary’s Son as the dawn of our salvation, and asks for an increase of peace.

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Source: Franciscan Media

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Life’s journey can often take us into difficult waters. The sea around is not always calm as we struggle to reach the shore. Sometimes we become frightened and adrift when darkness surrounds us, when other forces work against us and we are without a safeguard. It is at times like these that Jesus comes to meet us, just as he did with his disciples making their way across the lake to Capernaum. In Jesus, there is always a safe haven.

Our Lady teaches us this truth in many of the messages she gives from Medjugorje, always emphasising that prayer is our anchor and safeguard against any evil, that in prayer we meet with Jesus.

Dear children! I am inviting you to a complete surrender to God. Pray, little children, that Satan may not carry you about like the branches in the wind. Be strong in God. I desire that through you the whole world may get to know the God of joy. By your life bear witness for God's joy. Do not be anxious nor worried. God himself will help you and show you the way.

part message May 25, 1988

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As the years roll on and the numbers visiting Medjugorje increase, so also more accommodation for pilgrims springs up amid the rocky landscape, even apartments for sale and for rent. This worries some people, especially as there does seem to be a surplus of available accommodation already in and around the village.

But we cannot escape the fact that there IS a need to accommodate the expanding number of pilgrims that travel to Medjugorje. But all this building activity can appear to encroach upon the once very peaceful surroundings and there certainly does seems to be more hustle and bustle in and around Medjugorje area over the past few years as new businesses are started and construction continues unabated, seemingly often without any perception of planning need or control.

But we should be careful not to succumb to the temptation to look on this expansion negatively – I have heard many comments from pilgrims, who arrived in Medjugorje during the early years of the apparitions, saying that the place is just not the same anymore. In one sense they are correct in their observations, but personally I feel that by focusing on the expanding development of Medjugorje we can be distracted from the real building work that takes place there – that of the kingdom of God.

The graces are ever-flowing, possibly even more so; there has been no cessation of Our Lady’s appearances. Sinners are continually reconciled with God and each other daily and in ever increasing numbers, year on year. Even the parish grounds have undergone remarkable transformation over the years.

So let us view the expanding accommodation facilities of Medjugorje as an opportunity to house more pilgrims. More pilgrims mean more graces dispensed to bear more fruit, and perhaps can be seen as Our Lady’s way of renewing the Universal Church she mothers, and bringing her children back to fill the empty pews when they return home.

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On a sabbath day Jesus had gone for a meal to the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. He then told the guests a parable, because he had noticed how they picked the places of honour. He said this, ‘When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take your seat in the place of honour. A more distinguished person than you may have been invited, and the person who invited you both may come and say, “Give up your place to this man.” And then, to your embarrassment, you would have to go and take the lowest place. No; when you are a guest, make your way to the lowest place and sit there, so that, when your host comes, he may say, “My friend, move up higher.” In that way, everyone with you at the table will see you honoured. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’​ Luke 14 : 1, 7-11

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“I am an Augustinian, a son of St Augustine.” So spoke Pope Leo XIV on his election as the Vicar of Christ.

I’m curious to know the place he was allocated in the Sistine Chapel where the cardinals gathered for the conclave to elect the new pope.

I doubt if he or any of the other cardinals were aware that St Augustine also has a place in one of the many frescoes that line the Northern and Eastern walls of the Great Chapel – The Temptations of Christ, Bringer of the Evangelic Law, attributed to the Florentine painter Sandro Botticelli.

While the eyes of the world are generally focused on Botticelli’s more famous works, the Birth of Venus and Primavera, both housed in Florence’s famous Uffizi museum, I view  the Temptations of Christ fresco as a great enigmatic wonder, saturated with disguised narratives.

Botticelli drew inspiration from many sources but notably from the opening line of Ovid’s poem Metamorphoses: “I intend to speak of forms changed into new identities. So each figure is generally given more than one identity. For instance, Christians believe that Christ is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The figure of Augustine shown above and turned sideways relates to an episode near the end of his life when he proposed that one of his deacons named Eraclius be appointed to succeed him. When Eraclius stood up to preach he was overwhelmed by his inadequacy compared to the preaching of Augustine and said to the people: “The cricket chirps, and the swan is silent.”

The inset detail from the fresco in the picture above represents three versions of the name Hercules. The man, as Eraclius, is seen pinching or holding his throat in the act of chirping. Turned on its side the black draped figure of St Augustine is meant to represent the length of a black-bodied cricket. 

As to the swan reference, this links to other surrounding narratives pointing to unexpected happenings that can be described as “black swan” events. The term arises from the belief at the time there was no such creature as a black swan.

One could say that the election of an Augustinian as Pope was similar to a “black swan” event as no priest from the Augustinian Order, or from the USA, has ever been appointed to the papacy before Leo XIV.

Augustine’s conversion experience in a Milanese garden and his later baptism echo the words of the Roman poet Ovid, “I intend to speak of forms changed into new identities”.

• I’ve recently started posting notes about this fresco on my Catchlight blog:

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https://catchlight.blog/temptations-of-christ/

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Today, with Google searches, online shopping, text messages, tweets, and instant credit, we have little patience for things that take time. Likewise, we want instant answers to our prayers. Monica is a model of patience. Her long years of prayer, coupled with a strong, well-disciplined character, finally led to the conversion of her hot-tempered husband, her cantankerous mother-in-law and her brilliant but wayward son, Augustine.

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source: Franciscan Media

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Moira Lister, stage, film and TV actress (born in 1923), went on her second pilgrimage to Medjugorje in June 2005. With tears of joy, she gave her testimony. 

I came of a very catholic family. My mother’s brother was a priest; two of the family were nuns. I always had a devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes. I was born in South Africa. I left it in the middle of the war and I prayed to Our Lady all the time across to England, and I got there safely. She always looked after me very well. 

When I came to get married, I think she must have got a big book of all the local boys around Lourdes, and she must have turned pages to see who she could find to be very good for me. And she found me a wonderful Frenchman called Vicomte d’Orthez, from the city of Orthez, which is just right next to Lourdes! So, I married one of the local boys and we had a wonderful marriage for 40 years. I have two lovely daughters – Chantal and Christobel. 

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I continued with my career in London all through my married life. I had enormous success; I worked with all the big stars of theatre and film. Now, I am coming to the end of my life and I am asking myself how it is going to end and what is going to happen.

About nine years ago, a girlfriend of mine told me: “My husband and I are going to Medjugorje, would you like to come with us?” I had no idea where Medjugorje was or anything about it, but I said: “Fine, let’s go!” So we went and it was not as it is now. What a difference! Such a blossom and glow! I was very, very impressed with the faith that one felt here; it was almost palpable. People seemed to be imbued with an amazing faith.

That time, I had an extraordinary experience. I was sitting and praying in the little adoration chapel when I suddenly felt as every cell in my body had been given an electric shock. It lasted for probably a minute, and then it went. It was extraordinary. I felt some sort of presence coming into me. It was a very strange feeling. However, I did not pay too much attention. But people were saying: when you go to Medjugorje, your life will change. 

I can only say that from that time everything I asked for or needed or wanted has fallen into place. It has been most extraordinary. Whatever I have prayed for: my life, my career, my children. I had cancer three times; I got over it each time, and I had bad ones you don’t usually get over. Now, I am thinking what is going to happen now?

Yesterday, I went back to the little chapel, hoping I would have another experience, but I didn’t. 

Last night, I decided that I would walk up the Apparition Hill. I have had a hip operation and I have a bad back. After the first five steps I understood how difficult the climb is for somebody of my age, but I wanted to try to see how far I could get. I started off and realised that I was not going to make it. Suddenly, an arm came out. “Can I help you to get up that hill?” he asked. I didn’t know who it was. Suddenly, all my pain went; pain in my leg, pain in my back, and I went up without any pain at all; like a goat on the stones. I couldn’t believe it because I have a bit of a problem walking up stairs! 

When we reached the top he disappeared. I just sat there and it was such a beautiful sight, Our Lady’s statue in the dark, shimmering. The moon was shining, and the star of Bethlehem was there.

I looked around and I listened to the prayer, and I listened to the silence while Ivan was having the apparition. It was so impressive. Not a sound, not a cough, not a breath of air during those few minutes with lights of the village below, the nearness of Heaven. When I was ready to go down, suddenly the arm was there again: “I will help you to go down,” he said. And then again he disappeared. I couldn’t make it all out yesterday, but today I went back to the little chapel and suddenly it all fell into place, what it meant: I still have a struggle ahead of me, that was me going up the stones, but God was there to hold me. When I got to the top, this was Him saying: This is what it is going to be like in Heaven, but you’ve got a tough time ahead of you. You are not ready to go there yet. Go down, it will be all right. I am there to hold you. 

This is helping me to get through my last days. I know that I am not alone. I have to walk with Him. It has put everything in perspective for me. I can cope with the end of my life. When you come to my age you don’t know what is going to happen.

My beloved husband had a terrible stroke. For four years he could not speak and was paralysed. If I had a stroke, I don’t think I would be able to cope. And others illnesses, like Alzheimers. I see friends of mine who are going through terrible times. At the end of life these sort of things can happen to you.

It has given me such courage to know that I am not alone. Before, I was always floundering a bit and frightened. I just needed that strength. I now feel that I don’t need to be afraid any more. 

This morning the priest said: “Put yourselves in God’s hands, they are there for you”. And he also said: “If God takes so much trouble with the flowers of the field, why wouldn’t he take trouble with you?” That is so true!

• Moira died at the age of 84 in 2007. She and her husband are interred in the churchyard of St Edward’s Catholic Church, Sutton Green, Surrey.

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Dear children, my little children, my beloved ones; you are chosen because you have responded, you have put into practice my instructions and love God above all else. Therefore, little children, pray with all your heart that my words may be realised. Fast, sacrifice yourselves, love out of love for God Who created you, and be, little children, my extended hands to this world that has not come to know the God of love. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

(with Ecclesiastical approval)

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These six words are from Our Lady‘s message for Christmas Day 1986. They come between two other sentences – a wishful blessing, and an expression of gratitude.

I bless you and I desire that you too, dear children, become alive to the graces and place everything at God’s disposal so that he may be glorified through you... Thank you for having responded to my call.

Anyone blessed with children will know that the heart of the mother and father always follows the progress of their offspring, no matter what the distance is and how far their children may have roamed, or how often they keep in touch. As the years roll by and the child grows, the mother and father still carefully follow the child’s progress in life. Their heart always ponders and silently blesses the child. Their heart always seeks contact with the child and is always grateful when the child responds.

My eldest child, like myself, is pushing on in years., but my heart still ponders on him and looks for his response to my voice. My heart does not stay silent. It still calls out to the one I love. I cannot hold him in the same way as I did when he was a child. The language of communication is also different. And I welcome the time when there are just the two of us, together, talking with each other. This can only be prayer. Every day I ask God to bless him.

My heart is sometimes concerned for my son but I have learned to place these concerns at God’s disposal and instead trust in our Father in Heaven. And I do see God working in his life, perhaps not in the most obvious ways, but I do see my son searching – sometimes struggling – to come to an understanding and acceptance of God in his life. This is God calling.

So when there are times that he is unable to completely open his heart, then mine opens for him, and it is my own heart that I surrender to God for his promised graces; for the love of God is to be shared, especially amongst family. Love your neighbour, said Jesus. And who can be a closer neighbour than our family?

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Through the towns and villages Jesus went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, “Sir, will there be only be a few saved?” He said to them, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.” 

Luke 13 : 22-24

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“Don’t keep a person in need waiting. Never put off good deeds… good doesn’t like being kept in the fridge: good is today and if you don’t practice it today, it won’t be around tomorrow. Don’t keep good deeds for tomorrow: that phrase we often use: ‘go on, come by again tomorrow and I’ll give it to you’, blocks out the light completely and it is an injustice.”

Pope Francis, September 19, 2016

Dear children! Today I call you to love and mercy. Give love to each other as your Father gives it to you. Be merciful – with the heart. Do good works, not permitting them to wait for you too long. Every mercy that comes from the heart brings you closer to my Son.

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Annual message to Mirjana, March 18, 2001

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Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ When the disciples heard this they were astonished. ‘Who can be saved, then?’ they said. Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he told them ‘this is impossible; for God everything is possible.’

Matthew 19 : 23-26

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Whether at Naishapur or Babylon,

Whether the Cup with sweet or bitter run,

The Wine of Life keeps oozing drop by drop,

The Leaves of Life keep falling one by one.

• The Rubáyát of Omar Khayyám, VIII, translation, Edward FitzGerald

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Dear children! Pray in this time of grace and seek the intercession of all the saints who are already in the light.  From day to day may they be an example and encouragement to you on the way of your conversion.  Little children, be aware that your life is short and passing. Therefore, yearn for eternity and keep preparing your hearts in prayer.  I am with you and intercede before my Son for each of you, especially for those who have consecrated themselves to me and to my Son. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Medjugorje Message, October 25, 2014

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I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.

Leviticus 26:12

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Dear children! God gives me this time as a gift to you, so that I may instruct and lead you on the path of salvation. Dear children, now you do not comprehend this grace, but soon a time will come when you will lament for these messages. That is why, little children, live all of the words which I have given you through this time of grace and renew prayer, until prayer becomes a joy for you. Especially, I call all those who have consecrated themselves to my Immaculate Heart to become an example to others. I call all priests and religious brothers and sisters to pray the rosary and to teach others to pray. The rosary, little children, is especially dear to me. Through the rosary open your heart to me and I am able to help you. Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje Message, August 25, 1997

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus surprises us with His words : “I have not come to bring peace, but division” (Luke 12: 51). This “division” is not conflict for its own sake, but the natural result of choosing God’s will over the world’s expectations. Allegiance to Christ may set us apart – even from those closest to us – because our loyalty to Him must come first.

A living example is Binta Farouk, a former Muslim who once said she took pleasure in the suffering of Christians. After encountering Jesus in a vision, she gave her life to Him. The cost was great – her husband left with their children, she lost her job, her father had her imprisoned on false charges, and her family denied her rights. Her life was constantly threatened as she ran the Tabitha Evangelistic Ministry, a safe home [in Nigeria] for converts rejected by their families.

Binta’s story reminds us that following Jesus may divide us from the world and from our families, but it unites us forever with Him – and that is worth everything.

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• Fr Hilary Ifeanyi Basil OSA

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The Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying: I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross into it.” There in the land of Moab, Moses the servant of the Lord died as the Lord decreed; he buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but to this day no one has ever found his grave. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye undimmed, his vigour unimpaired. Deuteronomy 34 : 4-7

• Detail from the Testament and Death of Moses, 1481-82, Signorelli Luca, Sistine Chapel

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Some years ago I started to make a study of a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna. It was one of his later works completed towards the end of his life, probably during the latter part of 1498, and titled Parnassus.

It focuses on the Roman deities Mars and Venus. Other pagan deities are also featured; and as I had no knowledge of Roman or Greek mythology, I had to familiarise myself with some of the attributes associated with these mythical figures.

It brought to mind the question: Do I ever apply myself to studying the attributes of Jesus in the same way or devote my time to learning and understanding all that Jesus has to give?

The New Testament is the greatest written source for giving light to all aspects of Jesus, human and divine. Then there are the hearts of others, made in his image and likeness, when I am reminded that the glory of God is not reserved only in heaven but is visible and experienced on earth as well.

The Greeks and the Romans of antiquity had gods for their every need and desire. I’ve have yet to come across one who proclaimed it was gentle and humble in heart.

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• Parnassus, Andrea Mantegna, Louvre Museum, Paris

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On a Christmas night, sick in bed and immersed in prayer, contemplating the sacred action unfolding in the Porziuncola – the heart of the friars’ community – Clare was given a vision of the rites as they unfolded. She saw the celebration in a vision that appeared on the wall of her cell. It was owing to this miraculous occurrence, that Pius XII made her patroness of television. Clare died on August 11, 1253, on the bare floor of San Damiano. On her lips, the last thanksgiving: “Go securely and in peace, my blessed soul. The One who created you and made you holy has always loved you tenderly as a mother her dear child. And you, Lord, are blessed because You have created me.” Unprecedented numbers of people took part in her funeral, and Alexander IV proclaimed her a Saint only two years later.

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Source: Vatican News

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Dear children! Today is a day of peace, but in the whole world there is a great lack of peace. That is why I call you all to build a new world of peace with me through prayer. This I cannot do without you, and this is why I call all of you with my motherly love and God will do the rest. So, open yourselves to God's plan and to His designs to be able to cooperate with Him for peace and for everything that is good. 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. May the tenderness of the little Jesus always accompany you. Thank you for having responded to my call. 

Part Medjugorje Message, December 25, 1992

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Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help.

Hebrews 4 : 16

Dear children! You are the ones responsible for the messages. The source of grace is here, but you, dear children, are the vessels which transport the gifts. Therefore, dear children, I am calling you to do your job with responsibility. Each one shall be responsible according to his own ability. Dear children, I am calling you to give the gifts to others with love, and not to keep them for yourselves. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Medjugorje Message, May 8, 1986

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