THE MEDJUGORJE WITNESS

• “We, all of us, are invited by God. But a wedding banquet requires time and commitment on our part: it requires a ‘yes’: to go, to go to the Lord's invitation. He invites, but he leaves us free.

 

“This is the type of relationship that the Father offers us: he calls us to stay with him, leaving us the possibility to accept, or not accept, the invitation. He does not propose to us a relationship of subjection, but rather of fatherhood and sonship, which is necessarily conditioned by our free assent. God is respectful regarding freedom; very respectful.

 

“St Augustine uses a very beautiful expression in this regard, saying: ‘He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent’ (Sermon CLXIX, 13). And certainly not because he does not have the capacity to do so – God is omnipotent! – but because, being love, he respects our freedom fully. God proposes: he does not impose, never.”

 

Pope Francis, 15 October 2023

​

• St Denis was a third-century missionary bishop honored as the first bishop of Paris and, for many centuries, as a principal patron of France. One of seven bishops sent from Rome to evangelize Gaul around the middle of the third century, Denis established the Church in the Roman town of Lutetia—modern Paris—where his preaching won converts and provoked the hostility of the pagan authorities. 

​

Denis was arrested together with two companions, traditionally identified as the priest Rusticus and the deacon Eleutherius, and the three were beheaded for the faith. Tradition locates the execution on the hill north of the city later called Montmartre, the 'mount of martyrs.' 

​

A medieval story records that Denis, after being beheaded, carried his own head some distance while continuing to preach.

​

A shrine was erected over his tomb north of Paris, and the great abbey and basilica of Saint-Denis built there became the burial place of the kings of France. 

​

St Denis is counted among the Fourteen Holy Helpers and is invoked against headaches.

 

• sources: Sites of Grace and HolyManna.blog​​​

​

• “Death spares no-one. Kings, bishops, commanders – the great and powerful of the earth – all take their turn in the dance…”

 

These are the opening words of a video sent to me this morning. It’s a presentation of a French medieval book titled Danse Macabre (Dance of Death), and a candid reminder of what all souls face at some time in the future.

 

But death is not the end. Jesus sacrificed his own life to save us from death. Another dance awaits us when we can go waltzing in the arms of our King.

 

His words are music to my ears.

They soothe my soul, my hurts and my fears.

So play that again, that 1-2-3 thing,

and I shall go waltz in the arms of my King.

 

His merciful heart calls out to me.

He never condemns but sets me free.

So play that again, that 1-2-3 thing,

and I shall go waltz in the arms of my King.

BG 2009

 

• You can watch the Danse Macabre video at this YouTube link.

​​​

• The above headline on the BBC News website put a smile on my face this morning!

 

The ‘Jesus’ referred to in the story is Jorge Jesus, head coach of Portugal’s national football team.

 

Apparently, star player Christiano Ronaldo wasn’t too happy about being left on the substitute’s bench for Portugal’s recent Nations Leaague match against Denmark.

 

Read up on the report at this BBC link.

​​​

• I recently received from Susan Tassone a copy of her recent book, New Friends Now and Forever. It’s a story about the Holy Souls that has a special message for children.

 

Susan brings the Catholic Church’s teachings about death, purgatory, and prayer to children ages 6-10 in an endearing and uplifting way. Vibrant and captivating illustrations by Yoris Handoko draw young readers into a world of friendship and faith.

 

Susan is known as the “Purgatory Lady” and has dedicated her life to researching, writing and speaking about Purgatory. She has authored 15 books that present the beauty of Church teaching and enable Catholics of all ages to respond in faith.

 

Her website address is: susantassone.com

​​​

• Jesus said, “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 

Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, “Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.”

​

Luke 10 : 21-22

​

• Above: The eyes of Vicka, the Medjugorje visionary.

​​​

• Pope Leo XIV has renewed his appeal to pray the Rosary for peace in October, the month dedicated to the Holy Rosary.

 

“May the month of October be an opportunity to recite the Holy Rosary, dedicating it in a special way to the end of wars and the achievement of peace.”

 

During his recent Sunday Angelus address, Pope Leo invited “all the faithful and all Christian communities to pray the holy Rosary throughout October, with the particular intention that wars may cease and that peace may be established among peoples in conflict.” 

 

source: Catholic Culture

​​​

• In Our Lady’s recent monthly message to the world via the seer Maria, she said: “I am with you and like never before I pray for you and with you, my little children.”

 

The phrase “like never before” expresses a notable change in behaviour, feelings or circumstances.

 

What has prompted Our Lady to express herself in this way? Does it imply her intensity of prayer for her children can vary, and if so, why? 

 

And how does she “multiply” our prayers and intercede for us “before the Most High”?

 

Our Lady has previously used the expression “like never before” in two other monthly messages, notably in her message of November 25, 1993, when she said:

 

“Dear children! I invite you in this time like never before to prepare for the coming of Jesus. Let little Jesus reign in your hearts and only then when Jesus is your friend will you be happy. It will not be difficult for you either to pray or offer sacrifices or to witness Jesus’ greatness in your life because He will give you strength and joy in this time. I am close to you by my intercession and prayer and I love and bless all of you. Thank you for having responded to my call. ”

 

In an earlier message dated January 25, 1991, she said: “Dear children! Today, like never before, I invite you to prayer. Let your prayer be a prayer of peace. Satan is strong and desires to not only destroy human life, but also nature and the planet on which you live.” (part message).

 

The warning given in the earlier message is clear today as it was in 1991, probably even more so, while the latest message given a week ago echoes the November message of 1993, signalling the liturgical season of Advent to begin on November 29, and a time of waiting and preparation for the coming of the Lord. 

 

Although Our Lady has used the expression “like never before” in three of her messages, each is said in a different context.

 

The first was an invitation to prayer; the second an invitation to prepare for Advent; and the third, her own prayer for us.

​​​

• One of the joys of Medjugorje being recognised as “the Confessional of the World” is hearing about the number of pilgrims who reconcile with God after many years of absence from the Church and the Sacraments.

 

I know of people who have confessed their sins and received absolution at Medjugorje after decades of separation, and for some, even most of their lives.

 

I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when, after the long, hot summer spell, beautiful pink-coloured lilies began to grow at the bottom of my garden. In all the years I have lived at my house, they have never blossomed before. In fact, I didn’t know any had been planted until my wife remembered that one of our sons had buried bulbs there twenty years ago.

 

It’s taken this long – two decades – for the stems to grow and flower this summer. 

 

All in God’s time!

​

• Dear children! May this time be a time of prayer for peace. I am calling you to renew in your families the prayer of the Rosary for my intentions, so that I may be able to multiply your prayers and intercede for you before the Most High, [for Him] to heed your prayers and to give you peace. I am with you and like never before I pray for you and with you, my little children. Thank you for having responded to my call

 

With ecclesiastical approval

​

• Faith is not faith till it’s all you have to hang on to…

 

An atheist who is a keen mountain climber is climbing a high and difficult peak. He is all alone, way up on the mountain height. He is crawling along a narrow ridge. He moves with great care as there is an immense drop over the side. Then, despite all his experience, his foot slips and he tumbles over the edge.

 

A small tree is growing out of the wall of the cliff, and as he falls, he grabs a branch of the tree. Hanging there and peering down into the depths below, he has second thoughts about religion and cries out to God for help. The only answer to his cry is the echo of his own voice. He tries again, “Oh, God, help me, and I will believe in you!” Again, the only answer is an echo. He cries out again, “Please, God, help me. If you help me I will do anything you ask.”

 

This time the silence is broken by a mighty voice booming out over the valley. The voice says, “That’s what they all say when they are in trouble.” The excited converted atheist shouts back, “No, God. I am different from the others. I really will do anything you ask.”

 

“All right then”, answers the voice, “let go of the branch!”

 

• Adapted from: Give God a Chance, by Robert Kelly SJ

​

• The Catholic National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady, at Walsingham, is blessed to have the presence and apostolate of three Augustinian Friars serving the Shrine from the Nigerian Province of the Augustinian Order. The Friars assist the Rector and contribute a vital part in serving and developing the life and mission of the Shrine in their daily pastoral and sacramental service to pilgrims and pilgrimages.

 

More details at this link

​

• In one of the largest such ceremonies in history, Pope John Paul II canonized Saint Pio of Pietrecina on June 16, 2002. It was the 45th canonization ceremony in Pope John Paul’s pontificate. More than 300,000 people braved blistering heat as they filled St. Peter’s Square and nearby streets. They heard the Holy Father praise the new saint for his prayer and charity. “This is the most concrete synthesis of Padre Pio’s teaching,” said the pope. He also stressed Padre Pio’s witness to the power of suffering. If accepted with love, the Holy Father stressed, such suffering can lead to “a privileged path of sanctity.”

​

More at Franciscan Media

​

• Pope Leo XIV’s intention for September:

 

“Let us pray for a just and sustainable management of water, a vital resource, so that everyone may have equal access to it.”​

​

• No one 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.

 

Matthew 6 : 24

​

• Detail from Rembrandt’s painting of St Matthew and the Angel

​​​

• Dear children! Today I wish to call you to work in the Church. I love all the same and I desire from each one to work as much as is possible. I know, dear children, that you can, but you do not wish to because you feel small and humble in these things. You need to be courageous and with little flowers do your share for the church and for Jesus so that everyone can be satisfied. Thank you for having responded to my call.

 

Medjugorje Message, October 31, 1985

​​​

• On this day, twenty-six years ago, I made my first pilgrimage to Medjugorje.

​

It changed my life.

​

• The ears of my heart wait to hear from you.

Open them and say to my soul,

I am the one who loves you.

​

cf St Augustine, Confessions 1:5 (O’Rourke)

​​​

• I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending. 

 

John 1 : 51

​

• Dear children! May this time be for you a time of prayer, so that the Holy Spirit, through prayer, may descend upon you and give you conversion. Open your hearts and read the Sacred Scripture, that through the testimonies you also may be closer to God. Above everything, little children, seek God and the things of God and leave earthly ones to the earth, because Satan is attracting you to the dust and sin. You are called to holiness and created for Heaven; therefore, seek Heaven and the things of Heaven. Thank you for having responded to my call.

 

Medjugorje Message, January 25, 2018

​

• We take many turns in life. There is always another corner to negotiate on our journey. A change of direction or circumstances – anticipated, unexpected, and at times, even surprising.

 

Turning a corner can mean a significant change or improvement in a situation, often indicating that a difficult period is coming to an end. 

 

I believe that God waits at corners – a turnaround place where he stands to surprise us when we search for him, or discover we are heading down the wrong street or a dark alley.

 

Every day is a fresh opportunity to be surprised by God. A Divine encounter always awaits us. He is “the light that darkness could not overpower”.

 

Jesus said: “Let the little children come to me, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” (Matthew 19 : 14)

​

• Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you a way that is better than any of them.

 

If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good whatever.

 

Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.

 

Love does not come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come when they must fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever; and knowledge – for this, too, the time will come when it must fail. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will disappear. When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but now I am a man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known.

 

In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.

 

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13

 

• The “dim reflection” of God in the mirror, is not obvious in Jan van Eyck’s painting known as the Arnolfini Portrait (National Gallery, London). But it’s there! If you want to know where, you can read about this and how the painting was inspired by the Shroud of Turin! I’ve posted details at this link: Shrouded in Mystery​

​