Message August 25, 2019
Message of the Blessed Virgin Mary
August 25, 2019
"Dear Children!
Pray, work and witness with love for the Kingdom of Heaven that it may be good for you here on earth. Utile children, God will bless your effort a hundred fold; you will be witnesses among peoples, souls of unbelievers will feel the grace of conversion and Heaven will be grateful for your efforts and sacrifices. Little children, witness with the Rosary in hand that you are mine and decide for holiness. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Message of Our Lady
By: Fr. Frederick Kazibwe
Dear friends and members of Medjugorje prayer groups, I wish to express my deep affection to the messages of Mother Mary that unite us. Although I have never been to Medjugorje, I read about many Christians (bishops, priests, religious and laity) from the internet, who have testified to the spiritual fruits of these messages, in which Mother Mary calls us to pray and love each other.
Peace-everyone longs for peace today. This is a gift received in Medjugorje through our Mother Mary. It is about our inner peace, and also knowing that we are all brothers, that conflict and violence are not a solution, that we should share this peace with others. Conversion and Confession - "Repent and believe in the Gospel!" (Mk 1: 15) These are the first words that the Messiah addressed to humanity - a call to conversion and repentance. Also, at the beginning of the 20th century, at Fatima, the same message was addressed particularly to this present century. It was given with special insight into the "signs of our time.
She always comes back to the theme of Prayer, telling us not to get tired. Her call to Repentance is a Motherly one; at the same time, it is strong and decisive. The love that "rejoices in the truth" (1 Cor. 13) is capable of being clear-cut and firm. The call to repentance is linked with a call to prayer. For many centuries, Our Lady's messages indicate the Rosary, which can rightly be defined as "Mary's prayer," the prayer in which she feels particularly united with us. She prays with us. The Rosary prayer embraces the problems of the Church and the problems of the whole world. In it, we also remember sinners, that they may be converted and saved, and the souls in Purgatory.
I used to only read the messages to myself, but when I started teaching the Novices at the Missionary of the Poor in Uganda, I took them to class. I do not miss any messages (nowadays, they are easy to get from the internet). Each time I go to class, I take the messages and I read them at the end of my class. The youth love them. They are very helpful.
The first time I wrote an article in The Spirit of Medjugorje, it was about Divine Mercy and the acts of Mercy. I have been blessed by the Christians who give me things to give the disabled in the Missionary of the Poor pastoral home. Some of the youth in our parishes come from broken families. Some messages from the media are contrary to what our faith is teaching us. They also have a problem of unemployment, poverty and hunger. But I always tell them that although times are hard, we have to listen to the voice of Mother Mary, respect our parents and the elders in the community, and to pray for them.
I've had so many blessings, ever since I started reading the messages. For example, I met a Christian from Mexico who had come to tour the country, and he had been to Medjugorje. My work of evangelization has improved. I want to do Agritourism - a project that will provide employment opportunities to the youth and also give economic benefits to the local community.
When I read messages to people with problems, they may not take me seriously, because they think I do not know what they are going through in real life. However, from the message of May 25, 1996, Mother Mary tells us that She will intercede for us and help us become the light in helping others, and our souls will also find salvation.
Editor's note: Fr. Frederick is assigned to the Busega Parish in the Kampala Archdiocese in Uganda
Archbishop Henryk Hoser - Press Conference
in Medjugorje - August 1, 2019
Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening! We are gathered in this very important moment to speak of the event that has a wide and important meaning. Throughout the year in the life of Medjugorje, the Youth Festival has the most important place. Why is it important? Because it gathers the biggest number of pilgrims. And it is important because these pilgrims are young. And they are our future, the future of our world, of a better world. The young people are our hope. This year we celebrate the 30th Youth Festival.
This encounter is important because this encounter is putting into service the abilities of all who work here. And this role of the media is important because it will pass on the message of Medjugorje.
What is Medjugorje? Medjugorje is one simple parish. There is no other title for Medjugorje. It is not a shrine or a basilica. It is a parish that is open to all the parishioners who live here, and it affects all the other parishes here and around the world. During the whole year, pilgrims are coming from the whole world, and today they are coming from at least 80 countries.
From the material point of view, Medjugorje is nothing special. Medjugorje is offering a completely natural landscape. And what happens is that pilgrims are gathering from all over the world. They carry all different situations. But here they find communion. Here we discover that we are all sons and daughters of one Father. We discover that we are all sons and daughters of one Mother. We are all here under the influence of the Holy Spirit. And this phenomenon we will see during this Youth Festival.
People who come here, especially young people, discover one dimension of life that was hidden. It is the spiritual dimension of life. This is the most important dimension of human life. It is the dimension that creates - the spiritual dimension we call the vertical dimension. And this is what the two hills show, Apparition Hill and Cross Mountain. For you to feel these mountains, you must climb. And all those who are at the base of the mountain get up and climb.
For Medjugorje, two things are necessary. Time it takes time, at least one week to be here. It also takes place here in Medjugorje we have three places. The first place is the church. Second is Cross Mountain, Cross Mountain which was consecrated to Christ the Redeemer. The third is Apparition Hill. It is the place of Our Lady.
The first sign is the church. A few days ago, we celebrated the feast day of St. James, the patron of Medjugorje. The parish, established in 1892, was consecrated to the patron St. James, the patron saint of pilgrims. Just like pilgrims go to St. James of Compostela, pilgrims now come to St. James of Medjugorje. The second sign here is Cross Mountain. No one knew its future meaning. The Cross was erected in 1933, the Jubilee Year of the Death of Christ. And the third sign is Apparition. Hill, where Our Lady came. This is the "Holy Triangle" of Medjugorje.
Also, another sign is the new church which was consecrated in 1969. At that time, it was too big - too big for the population that lived here 'at that time, because it was a small village. Now this has become the world's parish, and that church is too small for everyone.
The phenomenon of Medjugorje has held for over 38 years. In these 38 years what has been created is something offered to pilgrims, something most precious. What was created were the paths where we climb Apparition Hill and we meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary. And on Cross Mountain, we pray the Way of the Cross. And during these 38 years, we worked on the Canon of Medjugorje, the Liturgy and Paraliturgy that happens around the church.
Medjugorje has a weekly program. We need to spend at least one week here, because what is offered is very different. Catechesis is offered and Holy Mass in many languages. Pilgrims have the possibility to participate in spiritual retreats and conferences. And what is so special in Medjugorje are the seminars on fasting and prayer in silence. And so, for one week the pilgrims participate in prayer, are fed on the Word of God and in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, as they live on bread and water. Seminars on fasting and prayer are offered to saturate us with all that is offered here. We spend too much in this society and produce loads of garbage because of consumerism. And this experience of fasting offers us physical freedom in order to open up space for the spiritual.
We also have the prayer program in the evening. To keep us centered on God, we pray the Rosary and then Holy Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament each day. The phenomenon of Medjugorje is also that we have confession. You could say that Medjugorje has become "the confessional of the world". Here we confess in all languages. You know that in some of the countries personal confession has vanished. It doesn't exist anymore. People here discover the Sacrament of God's Mercy. What is the Sacrament of Reconciliation? What is the Sacrament that gives us peace in our hearts? There are so many confessions - confessions of pure conversion that take place here. They are numerous.
When it comes to conversions, we calculate that during the duration of the phenomenon of Medjugorje, there have been about 800 priestly and religious vocations.
All of this I present to you is attracting many. All parishioners who live here feel responsible to accept all the pilgrims in a normal brotherly love. Everyone here feels well.
So, I greet all the journalists who came for the festival so you will hear, see and witness the miracles that take place here. I hope you will see it. There is a great preparation, also the music, which will be like a symphony, with an international choir. Beautiful singers!!
To organize this event, and to accept all pilgrims is possible only through all the lay people who work here in this parish. Also, we have young people from the parish. They have T-shirts, blue. Have a good time during your stay in Medjugorje. Transcribed by Cathy Nolan, www.marytv.tv
PO BOX 6614, ERIE, PA 16512
www.spiritofmedjugorje.org
Additional Signs of the Church's Approval
Earlier this year The Church approved of priests and religious leading pilgrimages to Medjugorje.
On August 6, 2019 Catholic News Service headline read: "Vatican confirms Medjugorje Approval by joining, Youth Festival. Excerpt from 'The Spirit of Medjugorje. The Church has officially opened its doors to the grace heaven is pouring out through the presence of Our Lady in Medjugorje! More than 60,000 young people from 97 countries took part in the Medjugorje youth festival.
Cardinal Angelo DeDonates, Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, Cardinal Vinko Pulic, Archbishop of Sarajevo, Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, Apostolic Nuncio to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the President of the Pontificial Council for the promotion of the New Evangelization and Archbishop Henryk Hoser, the Permanent Papal Visitor in Medjugorje, each took turns presiding at the daily Mass during the six-day festival, with 700 priest and 14 archbishops and bishops concelebrating! The youth festival can still be watched at marytv.tv.
The Church has officially opened its doors to the grace heaven is pouring out through Medjugorje! Praise God!!!
Fruits of Mary's Love
Fr. L. Rupcic
"Medjugorje is a sign from Heaven where God and man can meet,
can establish a stable relationship and thus, stop the river
of evil which is flooding the world."
In Medjugorje, one can already see the fruit of an established
unity with God: unity among people." July, 1999
To hear Our Lady's Message,-very early by phone, call 1-814-787-5683 (LOVE). Usually available the 26th of each month. Prayer requests at this number are given to the visionary, Vicka, so that she may offer them to Our Lady, Prayer petitions can also be hand written and sent in a sealed envelope to: The Holy Family, Inc., PO Box 442, St. Marys, PA 15857-0442. They are forwarded to Vicka who presents them to Our Lady