On the 25th day of each month, the blessed virgin gives a message to the visionary, Marija that is to be given to the world.
"Dear children! Pray with me for peace, because satan wants war and hatred in hearts and peoples. Therefore, pray and sacrifice your days by fasting and penance, that God may give you peace. The future is at a crossroads, because modern man does not want God.' That is why mankind is heading to perdition. You, little children, are my hope. Pray with me, that what I began in Fatima and here may be realized. Be prayerful and witness peace in your surroundings, and be people of peace. Thank you for having responded to my call."
A Month Like No Other...
February is an odd month. It is different in many ways. Yes, it is the shortest month of the year, only 28 days except in every 4 years as it gets up to 29 days in a "leap year". I see it as a "transition month". As I type this, I still have my Christmas tree and lights and decorations and my beautiful manger scenes of Christ's birth all aglow at my cabin for Dublin and me to enjoy. In fact, it is just before Epiphany and still the Christmas season. But then comes February!
The days are getting longer for us, and we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple (February 2nd), and then we go to church and get our throats blessed (February 3rd) I We come to holy church on Wednesday the 22nd and receive ashes on our foreheads as we begin the holy season of Lent. Once again, we see the violet color of repentance, and we begin our Lenten journey with each other and with the Lord. Yes! A new and beautiful, prayerful, holy season of our year begins, and calls and beckons us to see things in a different and new way unlike any other season throughout the year.
We fast and abstain in new and different ways, and we should have already begun not only to think of things to do and not to do, but already have been putting them all into practice! Again, it is not all about us, but all about Jesus and walking this journey with Him, and with each other.
Hate comes from the devil, along with laziness in our faith, obscurity in not seeing the needs of others around us, even in our own family or homes, knowing deep down we can do more, but have lame excuses not to do more. "I don't have that many sins, and I just went to Confession for Christmas." "I pay taxes so 'they' can take care of the poor and homeless; I have other things to think about." "I fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, so that's certainly good enough." "Other people I know don't even go to church on Sundays, so why should I go other days of the week just because it is Lent?" And the list goes on.
Lent is a time to look deeply at oneself, and freely and lovingly ASK God and our Blessed Mother: "What would YOU like me to do this holy Lent? What and who needs my love, my prayers, my assistance, my heart and soul?" It is also NOT the time for guilt trips. We do things out of LOVE and not guilt! We do things for God because we love. We do things for others because we love. Love is the motivation of Lent and in fact, every day of the year.
Sometimes, out of nowhere, my dog Dublin, lying on his little bed near my chair, suddenly just jumps up on my lap and gives me a big kiss! He looks at me, stares at me, and then cuddles as close to me as he can. I didn't coax him to do any of that, and he wasn't looking for a treat or anything like that, it was a spontaneous response inside him, motivated out of love and kindness. He is actually sitting on his hind legs as I type this, looking at me with those big brown eyes filled with kindness and love, because he knows I love him and take the time to tell him so. Do we do that with others? Not that you should stand on your hind legs and look at someone, but simply and freely express at proper times that all people matter, and everyone we know and don't know are "all people"! To remember that God has created those people and loves them so dearly that Jesus would suffer for everyone, the good and the not-so-good, the healthy and the sick, the religious and the non-religious people, is to remember we are all belonging to ONE family and need to show kindness and love and compassion to all.
We can only hate one thing, and that is evil. To follow Jesus is to not hate the people who do evil, but to hate the evil they have done and give it all over to the Father, "OUR FATHER"! Judgment is up to Him; forgiveness and compassion is what we are called to do. I can't blame Peter for cutting off the high priest's slave's ear in the garden of Gethsemane, if I think of things in the worldly way. Jesus touched the slave's ear and restored and healed him, and although Scripture doesn't say any more about it, don't you think that the slave, who is named Malchus in the Holy Scriptures, that when he went home to his wife and children, had quite the story to tell them, and possibly even became a Christian? Why? Because of love, and NOT hate or judgments. A follower of Jesus runs from hate in their heart, to LOVE for another.
What family doesn't have people in it who they may not particularly like? People disagree on things, or personalities clash, or maybe they are opposites in everything! GOD MADE THEM, and God LOVES them too, just as He does with us! Maybe we are "that person" to others, but God loves us too. Lent is a time to forgive, to try, and to keep trying to do the best and be the best we can be for the sake of Jesus, Whom we all love! Ask yourself this Lent: "Would God love me more for saying this, or doing that, or acting this way?"· God can't love us any more than He already does, and yet nothing is impossible with God, Who CAN do all things. Let the love come from your heart and entire being, as that is where God dwells in us. Forgive and let it go. Keep moving forward and don't look back at evil; remember what happened to Lot's wife!!! What good is becoming a pillar of salt unless you have corn on the cob or a pretzel?
This holy Lenten season, simply ask God for help. Ask Him what would please Him and make us each a better human being, a better Christian and Catholic, a holier and happier person. If you ask, you will receive! If you seek, you will find. If you knock, it will be opened for you! Don't just wait and do this in Lent and for Lent. Do it with and for God and yourselves! Let's pray for each other all throughout this Lent. If we fall, get right up and start again. Don't let the evil one try to bluff you and say to you: "Well... you failed this Lent, might as well give up," when God is saying to you and to me: "My child, read the Holy Scriptures, when my own apostles and disciples messed up in the littlest and in the biggest ways, but with My Love, they got back on track because they DIDN'T give up, but kept trying and eventually got to where they wanted and needed to be!" God is patient. We are not patient. Pray for patience for yourselves and others. Stick to it and don't give up. God is cheering us all on! Be happy this Lent. Be patient this Lent. If you fall, get up and begin all over again anew! THAT is what God is asking of you, and me! In Jesus, Mary and Saint Joseph, and in this most holy and wonderful season of cleansing and renewing, Father ray and my best pal and Lenten partner, Dublin ©
"The One Who Prays Is Not Afraid of The Future ..."
By Cathy Nolan
l have a job for us today. We are going to pray a Rosary in which we listen to Our Lady speak to us about our fears and about God's peace. I have 5 messages in which Our Lady helps us to reject fear and embrace peace. We can read one before each decade and let Her words form us. We need to become Her children of peace!!
June 25, 2000 "Dear children' Today I call you to prayer. The one who prays is not afraid of the future. Little children do not forget: I am with you and I you love you all. Thank you for having responded to my call."
January 25, 2001 "Dear children! Today I call you to renew prayer and fasting with even greater enthusiasm until prayer becomes a joy for you. Little children, the one who prays is not afraid of the future and the one who fasts is not afraid of evil. Once again, I repeat to you: Only through prayer and fasting also wars can be stopped—wars of your unbelief and fear for the future. I am with you and am teaching you little children: Your peace and hope are in God. That is why draw closer to God and put Him in first place in your life. Thank you for responding to my call.”
October 25, 2021 "Dear children: Return to prayer because who prays is not afraid of the future; who prays is open to life and respects the life of others; who prays little children feels the freedom of the children of God and in joy of heart serves for the good for his brother-man. Because God is love and freedom, therefore, little children, when they want to put you in bonds and to use you, it is not from God. Because God loves and gives His peace to every creature; and that is why He sent me to you to help you to grow in holiness. Thank you for having responded to my call."
March 25, 2021 "Dear children: Also, today I am with you to tell you: Little children, he who prays does not fear the future and does not lose hope. You are chosen to carry joy and peace, because you are mine. I have come here with the name 'Queen of Peace' because the devil wants peacelessness and war, he wants to fill your heart with fear of the future - but the future is God's. That is why, be humble and pray, and surrender everything into the hands of the Most High Who created you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
December 2, 2011 "Dear children; As a mother I am with you so that with my love, prayer and example l may help you to become a seed of the future, a seed that will grow into a firm tree and spread its branches throughout the world. For you to become a seed of the future, a seed of love, implore the Father to forgive you your omissions up to now. My children, only a pure heart, unburdened by sin, can open itself and only honest eyes can see the way by which I desire to lead you. When you become aware of this, you will become aware of the love of God, it will be given (as a gift) to you. Then you will give it (as a gift) to others as a seed of love. Thank you."
Thank you, Mother, for teaching us about Peace, the true Peace that comes from your Son. May we embrace it and live it today and every day in our future.
Our thanks to Fr. Ray Donohue, Carol Bleck, Dorothy Bennett, Diane Nie/Jnuer, Sue Taccone, Laura and Kevin DiBacco, Tom McIntire, Kathy Luschini, Corky Young, Rose Heintzel, Kathy Wayman, Louise Lotze, Irene and Dan Zuba, Chris Falk, Barh Cesare, Barb Sirianni, Cindy Bielanin, Joan Peterson, Marlene Figurski, Darleen Wilkinson, Judy Johns, Mary Spaeder, Georgia Chludzinski, and those who want to remain anonymous for their help with the January mailing. We thank Louise Lotze and Johannes Dittrich for the use of their photos in this issue. We also thank our proofreader, Pat Berrier, our webmaster, Jason Klins, and our prayer group administrator, Patti Millar.
Prayer Intention of Pope Francis for February: For parishes - We pray that parishes, placing communion at the centre, may increasingly become communities of faith, fraternity and welcome towards those most in need.
As of January 25, 2023, the number of Masses reported for Our Lady's intentions was 39,357. Thank you.
Did Something Happen to You?
The following is excerpted from a testimony given by Angeline Wilkes on Fruit of Medjugorje (Episode #493, aired on 10/24/22) on marytv.tv. I reached out to Angeline after she joined our Facebook group, and she added more details.
Hi, my name is Angeline, and I’m 48, and I live in Sydney, Australia. I first heard of Medjugorje because as a 17-year old teenager, my parents went to this place of pilgrimage, and they came home changed. They started to pray three Rosaries every single day, they were fasting on bread as water on Wednesdays and Fridays, and they changed…they’re always joyful, always peaceful which took me by surprise…I was in a relationship at this time with somebody, a boyfriend who was not very good for me. He did drugs and slept around and for some reason, I couldn’t leave him. He seemed to have a hold on me. And I was expecting my parents to be very judgmental and reproach me. However, the way that they addressed that situation with me was with understanding and love, and so I was curious about this place. What kind of place changes people in such a way that they can be so understanding?...
I knew my parents were praying for me as well, and when I was probably at the lowest, my mother handed me a picture of Jesus and I looked down at the picture and I noticed Jesus was crying. Now…when you think of a picture of Jesus crying, you might sort of think of a teardrop in His eye but it was a very real picture and His eyes were swollen, His nostrils were swollen and He was looking at me with such love, but such sadness. I asked my mother, “Why are you giving me a picture of crying Jesus?” And she kind of just smiled and walked away. The next day, when I looked at the picture, I saw normal smiling Jesus. So that created a shift within me, and I remember I started to go to church myself, and I started to pray myself, and I started to develop a relationship with Christ. And for the first time, I opened up my heart to Christ and He showed me who He really was and that His love is so deep so beautiful, so tender for every one of us. So I went from being very weak, where I was not able to leave this man, not able to have control of my life and of what I was doing-to becoming very strong in Jesus. I realized that there is no deeper love than the love of God. And I was able to leave this man. I was able to say, “I love you, forgive you, but I can’t stay with you.” I wished him all the best.
But I had to come to Medjugorje and check the pace out, because my conversion had begun but I hadn’t been (to Medjugorje) yet. Sometime later. I went traveling…I had lots of fun, partied, and then I got to Medjugorje, and I joined a pilgrimage. I think I was the youngest. I was 20, and I think everyone else was like 60 or 70+, but by the end of the 10 days, age just melted away. We are all just souls that had gotten to know each other in such a deep and beautiful and meaningful way. And that’s the wonderful thing about coming on pilgrimage here in Medjugorje. The friendships you make are so much deeper, they last forever.
The first day, everyone was praying the Rosary in the church, and for some reason, I felt unworthy to be there and the reason for that is when I walked into the church, everyone was on their knees and it was clear that everyone’s heart was with God, I could feel it…The holiness that I felt when I walked in was something I had not experienced before, such that I felt, “I had to kneel”. The problem was I had a knee injury and it was very painful to kneel. I tried to kneel, and the pain came, and I thought to myself, “I need to leave.” But a prayer was almost imprinted on my mind, like it came from somewhere and it was something along the lines of: “Lord, take this pain away, so I can kneel before You.” As soon as that thought, that prayer, crossed my mind, I started to feel tingles around my knees, and I felt I was kneeling on a cloud of softness. There was complete softness underneath me, just like a cloud. I had heard a lot of stories and testimonies from Medjugorje before coming, and I remember thinking, “Oh, here we go, number one miracle.” I’ve been [here] five times and I haven’t had one miracle since then. I was able to kneel with no pain through all the Rosary and the Mass after the Rosary, for two hours….That was beautiful. So, a couple of years later, I prayed to the Lord, because of this bad relationship that I had and finding my faith was so special to me. I looked into my future, and I thought, “What do I want to do?” Marriage and children, to me, were very important, so I asked the Lord to “Please pick my husband.” I’m not good at that, obviously. I’ve had a bad run. So, I left it with the Lord, and I prayed many Rosaries for whoever this man was going to be to enter my life. And a few years later, on visiting a friend in Perth, which is the opposite side of Australia from where I live in Sydney, I met somebody and I didn’t, at the time, know that he would be “the one”. He was agnostic. He was very warm, and we started a relationship, albeit long distance. We spent a lot of time on the phone together. We really got to know each other through long telephone calls, and then some visits on the east and west coasts.
But coming to Medjugorje and traveling had such an impression on me, that I’d already been planning to come back to Medjugorje and to travel. Our relationship had reached a point where we were getting a little more serious, and he asked me if I would mind if he joined me….I said, “You can join me, but I’m going to this holy place…you don’t have to come with me, but you can, if you want to.” David didn’t really understand Catholicism. He would find it strange that I’d be talking to him on the phone and then I’d say, “Sorry, I have to go now as I’d like to pray the Rosary with my parents.” He’d be like, “Oh ok whatever that means.” He’d asked me questions here and there, but in the main, he didn’t know or understand Catholicism….
He came with me on that trip and on the fourth day, he was sick of all the Catholicism. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe….It just didn’t have a connection with him. By day four, that evening, he said he was going for a hike or a walk and told me not to worry about him being back to the mansion for dinner….
I’m going to share a little bit of his story. He walked to the top of a mountain that if you look at the Cross Mountain here in Medjugorje and run your eyes maybe a kilometer to the left, you’ll see another mountain with a radio tower-he decided that he would climb that mountain. When he got to the top (it would have been a good two-hour climb), it was dark, and he said the sunset was beautiful. On the way up, he had a water bottle, and he left the water bottle on the ground on the way up. And he said to himself, “I’ll get it on my way back down.” But when he got to the top and it was getting dark, he thought to himself, “I need to make my way home”, and he thought he’d spied on the ridge of the mountain what looked looked like a shortcut, so he thought to himself, “I’m going to try to get down quickly.” But as it got darker, he got stuck between brambles and rocks, and he actually got lost, and it got very dark. And it got to the point where he actually slipped on the edge of a rock or a cliff, and was holding on, and he got really scared.
Just two days prior, he was helping to build a priest retreat…and he was told that there were large cavities and caves underneath the ground. They used dynamite to blast and put sewers in it. In his mind, being very scared, he thought if he let go, he might get stuck in a cave, and no one would find him. So he called out, “Mary, if you can please get me out of her, I will thank you so much!” And what happened from there…he took a risk and threw himself up and grabbed hold of a branch to get himself back up the rock’s edge. Then, somewhat counterintuitive, he was directed to go back up to the top again. Even though it seemed strange, because he already wasted a lot of energy heading down the mountain, sweating, tired, exhausted in the dark….however he felt that he should go up to the top again. So, he did.
When he got to the top, he was so grateful, because it was some kind of familiarity to where he was. He was on all fours, and he held onto a stone around his neck, which was the closest thing to anything religious and something he picked up at Glendalough in Ireland, where St. Kevin came from. He bawled his eyes out and thanked God….He felt tingles that started at the tip of his nose that began to spread over his face. It was as though he put his face into someone’s hands, and he knew those hands were our Blessed Mother Mary’s. She was consoling him. As he got up, he felt a sense of peace. And he said to me later, “Angie, the Holy Trinity was with me-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” He knew that God exists. Then he had… a life review or illumination. He saw his life, like the flickering of an old movie, pass before him, and he mentioned that he could see things he had done in his life, jokes that he had taken too far and where he had hurt other people. He got a clear sense of wrong and right-one thing that he’d never had before.
As he had with God and walked some meters across the top of the mountain, he said, “How am I going to get down?” He turned around and realized that he had walked some meters already, looking up at the sky without falling over. He was directed to continue looking up at the sky full of stars and follow a cross made by a group of stars. This was his guide home.
When it was time to turn, that group of stars seemed to fade and another group of stars forming a cross became illuminated to him. If anyone knows the terrain here at Medjugorje, it’s not nice and even. But the funny thing was, when he would look down, he would stumble. When he looked up-trusted and kept his eyes on the cross-things went smoothly for him. And that is the way he got down; and on the way down, he had questions, and he had a dialogue with God…questions that he had about “Is this real?” or who he could tell….The answers that he was getting from questions seemed to come in the form of huge shooting stars. He saw 7 shooting stars in answer to his questions and 2 moving satellites. One was a question about a man we had met on pilgrimage, Jack Weiland, who had been to Medjugorje dozens of times. The question was, “Would Jack be OK?” And a satellite appeared and then faded away. It was only a few months later that Jack unexpectedly passed away. The water bottle that I mentioned-he stopped and said, “Oh, I promised I’d pick that up but I don’t know where it is. I am in the dark.” So, he said, “Can you show me the water bottle?” A shooting star went across the sky and following its path, his head turned, and there it was on the ground…
He made it home to safety. When I met up with him at about 11:30 or so at night, I was about to do a midnight climb with a group of pilgrims and I was really happy to see him. I got a bit of courage in me, and I said, “David, we are just about to do a midnight climb up Mount Krizevac (which is the Big Cross Mountain). Would you like to come?” And he said, “Yes.” And I was like, “Oh, wow! OK, but you are going to need a torch (flashlight).” And he said, “No, no, we don’t need a torch.” So that’s when I thought, “Something happened.” As we’re climbing Cross Mountain, I could see something had changed in David.
And I said, “David, did something happen to you?” He said, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll tell you when we get to the top.” So, we got to the top of Cross Mountain, and he shared the story with me, and during his sharing, a huge monstrous shooting star went across the sky, and I gasped and was tapping David. “Did you see that?” And David didn’t flinch. He just looked at me and said, “Ange, yes, this is what I’m trying to tell you. This is what I just experienced.”
Two days later, on the feast of the Rosary, David said a prayer and asked Our Lady to teach him more about the faith. And he was shown many signs in the church, one of them being that he saw shimmering golden light come down on the altar during the Consecration. And he said to me afterwards, “Ange, do you know that Heaven comes down the altar when there’s Mass? This is something that’s integral to our Catholic faith that the bread and wine is changed into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.I never told David that, yet he told me! He saw it. A number of other things happened, but it’s a long story. Suffice it to say, he became a Catholic. Sometime later, we got engaged and got married. That was 25 years ago this week….We actually are here in Medjugorje to give thanks….
Editor’s Note: Since their return from Medjugorje, Angeline and David have launched a travel company called: Saintly Travel and their first pilgrimage will leave for Medjugorje on May 31. You can visit their website at: saintlytravel.com.au.
"Today I Wish to Call You All to Confession"
By June Klins
When my friend Louise returned from Medjugorje last year and gave me a DVD of her picture, I asked her about the picture which now graces our cover this month. I knew I had not seen that statue before in Medjugorje. She told me that the statue had been placed at the location where Our Lady appeared on August 2, 1981 at a very special apparition. The story may be familiar to many of our readers, as we have printed it before and it had been widely publicized, but I thought it might be good to reprint this story since Lent begin this month.
What is interesting is that I came upon this version of the story while I was waiting in a little room as a witness to a crime. I had taken two books with me in case I had to wait a long time. I was elated to find this story from a witness to this event, other than one of the visionaries. The witness was Draga Vidovic, who was a friend of the visionaries. She wrote her testimony of the events in Medjugorje in her excellent book, Salvation of Mankind.
Draga began this testimony with the March 24, 1985 message of Our Lady. "Today I wish to call you all to confession, even if you have confessed a few days ago, I wish that you will experience my feast day within yourselves. But you cannot experience it unless you abandon yourselves completely to God. Therefore, I am inviting you all to reconciliation with God!" Draga added that Our Lady also wants us to confess our sins from the past.
She wrote: In regards to this, there is one particular apparition that I would like to describe because I was present there. It was on August 2, 1981. Every evening the visionaries prayed with people in the church and I used to stay with them until the very end. Marija and I came back home at the end of the prayer. It was after Marija came to her house when she called me and said that Our Lady had just appeared to her and told her to invite people to the fields, that those people would be able to touch her. She also added that a battle for the souls of people between God and Satan was taking place."
Draga said that they spread the news throughout the village, but many people had already gone to sleep. That was probably a good thing because they were concerned that a big crowd might attract the attention of the police who patrolled the area.
Draga wrote: "We really rejoiced because of what was about to take place and we were as happy as little children. I remember that all of the visionaries were not there; I did not know why that was." They walked through a couple of fields and came to a place where grains were thrashed. "At the time I was a child, horses used to run into circles at that place and that is how wheat was winnowed."
A little before the 11:00 apparition, Marija told them to remain standing. Usually, they would all kneel down during the apparitions. "We were to give our hands to one of the visionaries who would bring our hands towards the place where Our Lady was. We prayed and sang silently, so anybody who did not have good intentions would not be able to hear us. We were very excited when that apparition began. People cried for joy, and some were even a little bit afraid. We were able to touch the Mother of God and it was an immense joy." They were all anxious to touch Our Lady as soon as possible because they feared She might leave. "Thanks to dear God, I was so honored and I had the privilege to touch Her! I must say that I experienced something strange in that moment. I felt like some kind of electricity in my arm and I do not know whether that was because of some supernatural causes or just because I was so excited."
Draga continued: "It was night time when that had happened and everything was so quiet and still. We were able to hear all the sounds and voices. Sadly, there was one group of people passing very close to us as they were coming back from the hill...and that group laughed really loud and I was able to hear one man even cursing. That sound reflected in that quiet evening in such an ugly way. Our Lady was in front of us, and those people did, not know what was happening just a few yards away from them and they cursed!"
Draga recalled that a few minutes later, Marija burst into tears and said: "Stop touching Our Lady anymore, you made Her dress so dirty!" Our Lady disappeared and some people there did not have a chance to touch Her. A man from the village named Marinko asked Marija why she was crying so hard. Marija replied: "Why wouldn't I cry? If you only had a chance to see how dirty Our Lady's dress became when some people had touched Her!" Marija told them that after some people touched Our Lady's dress with their hands, an ugly black stain was left. "When Marija said that I thought that maybe somebody stepped over Her dress and that is why it got so dirty. What else could a 15-year-old girl think?" Then Marinko told the people to go to confession the next day! "I know that Marija was so hurt with the event. She saw Our Lady's dress dirty and that must've been painful to her."
"The two of us went back home but neither of us could go to sleep. We sat outside our house and she told me: 'Draga, if you were only able to see some of those stains! Some were obviously bigger and more dirty than the others.' We could not understand what had just happened and we all went to confession the following day."
On the following day, during the apparition, Marija asked Our Lady the significance of the stains. Our Lady said: "Dear children, those stains represent the sins that have never been confessed." They all understood that it was an invitation to go to Confession. Draga added, "l also realized that Our Lady did not want us, who had a chance to touch Her, to boast because some others did not have the opportunity. It was Her way of showing to us that we were all sinful, some had more sins and some had less, but we were all sinful people. Her invitation to confession and conversion started with us... then it was spread all over the parish and to the whole world.''
Draga noted that an interesting detail of that evening was that the visionaries were unable to remember one single person whose hand touched Our Lady's dress and left a stain there. "Our Lady did not come to us to embarrass or humiliate us. That remains a secret that only Heaven knows."
Another interesting detail is that the place where Our Lady chose to appear that evening was also significant. "It was the place where wheat was winnowed, grains from the weed, you can even say good parts from bad ones and we thought that was also symbolic..." Draga concluded her story: "Our mothers and grandmothers told us how people in the past used to confess a lot on that day. It was on August 2, feast of Our Lady of the Angels, also known as Forgiveness of Saint Francis of Assisi."
The Lord said to me, "The loss of each soul plunges Me into mortal sadness. You always console Me when you pray for sinners. The prayer most pleasing to Me is prayer for the conversion of sinners. Know, My daughter, that this prayer is always heard and answered."
~ Diary of St. Faustina, #1397
By June Klins
Almost every month, we encounter "hiccups" in getting this newsletter out to you. lt may be in the designing or production process and/or in the mailing process, and some months are worse than others. It always works out, but can be a big headache for the people involved. All's well that ends well and God is good - all the time. I would like to share some "hiccups" we had during our January 2023 mailing process to show God prevails in getting Our Lady's messages out to you.
On the Thursday before New Year's, we picked up the boxes of newsletters from the printing company and delivered them to the people who fold them. We were short on help because one of our helpers had been hospitalized for heart problems and another helper tested positive for COVID and could not fold. That was the first little "hiccup". That was nothing compared to the next one, though. Some of us just doubled up and folded two boxes.
The next day, one of our helpers, Diane, emailed me and said she did not want to be the bearer of bad news, but there was a "mistake" in the newsletters. She proceeded to tell me page 2 and page 7 were printed twice, and pages 4 and 5 were missing. Diane said she had folded a whole box of 400 newsletters, and then took a break to read one of the newsletters. That is when she discovered the problem. She looked through the second box and found that there were 40 of them that were wrong. Ugh! She contacted me right away, so I quickly called the other ladies who fold, and we all had to look through our boxes for any more that were wrong. Because of the holiday weekend, the printing company would not be open until the day of the mailing, so if there were hundreds like this, we would not be able to get new ones printed for a week and the mailing would have been delayed. We all began to pray!
We all looked through our newsletters and Diane was the only one to find any wrong, and this time it was only 3 more. We praised God and thanked Our Lady that there were only 43 wrong and that the printer had given us extra so we definitely had enough for our mailing.
I was so grateful that Diane had decided to read one of the newsletters ahead and noticed the mistake, so that the "bad ones" did not get mailed out.
It later dawned on me that the odds of Diane picking out one of the "bad ones" to look at was around 1%. It seemed like a "Medjugorje Moment" to me!
Editor's note: We actually had three more problems during the day of the January mailing, one of which could have been a major "nightmare" for us. But Our Lady came through! If you could remember to say n prayer for us each month, we would greatly appreciate it.
MARY IS CALLING YOU
On Jun 24, 1981 in Medjugorje, Our Lady began appearing to six children. She identified Herself as the Blessed Virgin, Queen of Peace. Her words to the visionaries: "I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life, and to enjoy this fullness and obtain peace, you must return to God."
Today, the Blessed Mother still appears daily to three of the visionaries, and monthly or annually to the others. They are all now adults. During the apparitions, the visionaries do not react to light, don't hear any sound, or react to being touched; they feel that they are outside of time and space. They declare to see the Blessed Virgin as they see other people - three dimensional. They pray and speak with Her. The Blessed Mother granted to confide ten secrets to each visionary (some are chastisements for the world). Some of the visionaries have received all ten secrets. Our Lady promised to leave a visible sign at the original site of the apparitions in Medjugorje, for all humanity. In the meantime, this period of grace is for conversion and a deepening of faith.
Father Jozo Zovko, who was the pastor of St. James when the apparitions began, has spoken about what he calls "the weapons" or "the five stones" of Our Lady (as in the story of Goliath). They are PRAYER with the heart, especially the Rosary; EUCHARIST; BIBLE; monthly CONFESSION; and FASTING.
The publisher recognizes and accepts that the final authority regarding the apparitions at Medjugorje rests with the Holy See.
If you want a prayer cloth we made, send a self-addressed stamped business size (4 1/8"x 9 1/2 envelope with $.87 postage on it.