6/30/10

Dear Family of Mary


June 30, 2010 The First Holy Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church

Dear Family of Mary!


"Dear children! With joy, I call you all to live my messages with joy; only in this way, little children, will you be able to be closer to my Son. I desire to lead you all only to Him, and in Him you will find true peace and the joy of your heart. I bless you all and love you with immeasurable love. Thank you for having responded to my call." (June 25, 2010


November 27, 1936. Today I was in heaven, in spirit, and I saw its inconceivable beauties and the happiness that awaits us after death. I saw how all creatures give ceaseless praise and glory to God. I saw how great is happiness in God, which spreads to all creatures, making them happy; and then all the glory and praise which springs from this happiness returns to its source; and they enter into the depths of God, contemplating the inner life of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, whom they will never comprehend or fathom."This source of happiness is unchanging in its essence, but it is always new, gushing forth happiness for all creatures.

Now I understand Saint Paul, who said, 'Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him.'"And God has given me to understand that there is but one thing that is of infinite value in His eyes, and that is love of God; love, love and once again, love; and nothing can compare with a single act of pure love of God. Oh, with what inconceivable favors God gifts a soul that loves Him sincerely! Oh, how happy is the soul who already here on earth enjoys His special favors! And of such are the little and humble souls."The sight of this great majesty of God, which I came to understand more profoundly and which is worshiped by the heavenly spirits according to their degree of grace and the hierarchies into which they are divided, did not cause my soul to be stricken with terror or fear; no, no, not at all!

My soul was filled with peace and love, and the more I come to know the greatness of God, the more joyful I become that He is as He is. And I rejoice immensely in His greatness and am delighted that I am so little because, since I am little, He carries me in His arms and holds me close to His Heart."O my God, how I pity those people who do not believe in eternal life; how I pray for them that a ray of mercy would envelop them too, and that God would clasp them to His fatherly bosom."O Love, O queen! Love knows no fear. It passes through all the choirs of angels that stand on guard before His throne, It will fear no one. It reaches God and is immersed in Him as in its sole treasure. The Cherubim who guards paradise with flaming sword, has no power over it. O pure love of God, how great and unequaled you are! Oh, if souls only knew your power!" (St. Maria Faustina. Diary, 777 thru 781)

In Jesus and Mary! Cathy Nolan Mary TV

6/29/10

Revelation: Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska


Revelation
When, during adoration, I repeated the prayer, "Holy God" several times, a vivid presence of God suddenly swept over me, and I was caught up in spirit before the majesty of God. I saw how the Angels and the Saints of the Lord give glory to God. The glory of God is so great that I dare not try to describe it, because I would not be able to do so, and souls might think that what I have written is all there is.

Saint Paul, I understand now why you did not want to describe heaven, but only said that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him [cf. 1 Corinthians 2:9; 2 Corinthians 12:1-7].

Yes, that is indeed so. And all that has come forth from God returns to Him in the same way and gives Him perfect glory. Now I have seen the way in which I adore God; oh, how miserable it is! And what a tiny drop it is in comparison to that perfect heavenly glory. O my God, how good You are to accept my praise as well, and to turn Your Face to me with kindness and let us know that our prayer is pleasing to You.
Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1604

6/26/10

June 25, 2010 Apparition to Ivan on Apparition Mountain at 11:00 P.M.

Though it is difficult to see it from this distance, the whole center area where Our Lady appears on Apparition Mountain is completely filled with people waiting for Her coming the night of June 25, 2010. Twenty-nine years earlier, on this very day, six children ran up this mountain and came to stop before the most beautiful Creature they had ever beheld, a Woman whom they all have said grows more beautiful every single day they see Her. These are the six who forever sealed their fate as the visionaries of Medjugorje: Mirjana, Ivanka, Ivan, Vicka, Marija, and Jakov. Click on Photo to Enlarge.

Our Lady appeared to Ivan on top of Apparition Mountain at 11:00 p.m. on June 25, 2010. Following the apparition, Ivan said:



Also tonight, as at every meeting together with Our Lady, I will describe tonight’s meeting to you – which was truly exceptional and so joyful. Truly, tonight, after these 29 years of the apparitions, Our Lady came so joyful and happy – more than ever. Our Lady came in a gold dress and at the beginning she greeted us all with great joy with the words: “Praised be Jesus, my dear children.” After that Our Lady said:

*“Dear children, also today the Mother calls you with joy: Dear children, be my carriers, carriers of my messages. Spread my messages in this tired world. Dear children, I desire for you to be my sign, my living sign. Therefore also tonight, I call you to accept the message which I gave you today. Live it. Know, dear children that the Mother always prays with you and prays for you to Her Son. Thank you dear children that also today you have accepted my messages and for living my messages.”

Then Our Lady prayed for a longer time, with Her hands extended, over all of us here. She blessed all of us with Her Motherly blessing and blessed all that you brought for blessing. Afterwards, I recommended all of you especially, all your needs, your intentions, your families and in a special way, the sick. Our Lady continued to pray over all of us here. I prayed an Our Father and a Glory Be with Her and Our Lady left in prayer. She left in joy, in an illuminated sign of the cross with a greeting: “Go in peace my dear children.”

For the second week in a row, Our Lady gave a beautiful, lengthy message on the mountain during Ivan’s prayer group. This is not completely unexpected for the anniversary, although there have been anniversaries in which She has appeared and given no special message during Ivan’s mountain apparitions, or She simply refers back to the message She gave to Marija as a call to live that particular message. A Friend of Medjugorje was speaking with visionary Marija early this morning and she asked him about Ivan’s message last night. He told her, as reported yesterday, that Ivan said that he has never seen Our Lady as joyful and happy as She appeared to him last night. Marija responded immediately back, “Also for me! Our Lady was joyful and happy than She ever was before.” He asked Marija why was Our Lady showing more joy and happiness than ever in 29 years? Marija responded by saying, “She is happy with us.” Corresponding to the testimony of these two visionaries of Our Lady’s unusual happiness are also the words She gave to both of them on the anniversary of Her apparitions yesterday in which She spoke of joy. After 29 years of apparitions, Our Lady is still able to surprise us, changing Her patterns which brings freshness and excitement as in the beginning days. A Friend of Medjugorje made a comment about what is behind Our Lady’s joy.
“The question must be asked, why is Our Lady so happy? Did something happen in Her plan, a new step, an advancement of Her battle line? There is purpose behind every action of Our Lady, along with Her words. Through Her joy She desires to communicate to us that something has happened that has caused Her this joy. I believe we will be seeing something in the near future that will reveal why Our Lady was filled with such great joy on Her anniversary yesterday. Or, maybe we will not know in this life, but for sure where there is an effect, that effect has a cause. Something caused the effect of joy in Our Lady more so than any of the other previous 29 years. This resulting joy, though it won’t be reported by any of the secular, or even the religious news sources of our day, is the major Headline news story of June 25, 2010: that Our Lady was happier and more joyful than at any other time the visionaries ever saw Her in 29 years of apparitions. This is an incredible statement and one we must pray to comprehend, and to watch for the “signs of the times” that might reveal the meaning behind Our Lady’s happiness. ”
In Ivan’s message, the literal translation of the Croatian word for “carriers” is “carry me.” So in the message when Our Lady said, “…Dear children, be my carriers, carriers of my messages…” in the Croatian She is literally saying, “carry Me, carry Me.” With the release of A Friend of Medjugorje’s new book, It Ain’t Gonna Happen there was great excitement among the Caritas Community in reading this message of Ivan’s, and in particular that Our Lady used the words “carry Me.” The book reveals many things, but in particular it speaks of spreading the message and a particular devotion that connects so strongly to Our Lady’s words above, “carry Me”. When you read the book, you’ll understand. It Ain’t Gonna Happen is available immediately by downloading it, and will be available in printed book form in a couple of weeks. Use Ivan’s message as a bookmark as you read the book, referring back to this message often, and you will understand more and more why it was a cause of joy for the community members who have been working non-stop with A Friend of Medjugorje on this book for the past four months to have it released by June 24th. Spread the book to friends, family and Medjugorje devotees.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbAtSP-CFQg&feature=related

6/25/10

Our Lady's Medjugorje Message of June 25, 2010 to Marija.




"Dear children! With joy, I call you all to live my messages with joy; only in this way, little children, will you be able to be closer to my Son. I desire to lead you all only to Him, and in Him you will find true peace and the joy of your heart. I bless you all and love you with immeasurable love. Thank you for having responded to my call."
.
*Happy Anniversary! Today is a special day. We celebrate Our Lady appearing in Medjugorje every day for 29 years. What a tremendous grace and gift from God. Thank you Blessed Mother for your never ending "yes", and thank you Jesus for sending your Mother to help us!

6/23/10

Life is full of Choices, What do you choose to do.


I CHOOSE
Author Unknown"

It's quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day.The calm of solitude willbe invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I'm free to choose. And so I choose......
I CHOOSE LOVE...No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.
I CHOOSE JOY...I will invite my God to be the God of circumstances. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical...the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.
I CHOOSE PEACE...I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.
I CHOOSE PATIENCE .....I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.
I CHOOSE KINDNESS...I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone.Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.
I CHOOSE GOODNESS...
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse.
I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS. ..Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word.My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.
I CHOOSE GENTLENESS.. .Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle.If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.
I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL. ..I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will not, rule the eternal. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS AND SELF CONTROL Gal.5:22,23
To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest with the peace that passes all understanding. "

Images of Apostles Andrew and John found.


.
The oldest known image of the apostles Andrew and John have been discovered in catacombs under the city of Rome, dating back to the 4th century A.D., archaeologists announced Tuesday.
The paintings were found in the same location where the oldest known painting of St. Paul was discovered last year, the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology said Tuesday.

6/22/10

Revelation: Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska


Revelation:

When once I asked the Lord Jesus how He could tolerate so many sins and crimes and not punish them, the Lord answered me, I have eternity for punishing [these], and so I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of [sinners]. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation. My daughter, secretary of My mercy, your duty is not only to write about and proclaim My mercy, but also to beg for this grace for them, so that they too may glorify My mercy.
Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1160


O Jesus, I want to live in the present moment, to live as if this were the last day of my life. I want to use every moment scrupulously for the greater glory of God, to use every circumstance for the benefit of my soul. I want to look upon everything, from the point of view that nothing happens without the will of God.
God of unfathomable mercy, embrace the whole world and pour Yourself out upon us through the merciful Heart of Jesus.
Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1183

6/20/10

Priesthood of faithfull alive when invoking the Holy Spirit.


June 21, 2010
Priesthood of faithful alive when invoking Spirit on ordained priest.

Three times during the Mass, the priest proclaims, "The Lord be with you," and the congregation responds, "And also with you." When the revised English translation of the liturgy is introduced in Canada in a couple of years, that people's response will change. Henceforth, we will say, "And with your Spirit."
To some, this will seem to be a quaint or even odd response to the priest's greeting. However, this is not a greeting and response. Why would the priest and the faithful greet each other three times over the course of a half-hour weekday liturgy?
They don't. This translation of this liturgical formula is being revised in order to clarify that this exchange is invoking the Holy Spirit on the priest so he may effectively carry out an important action.
Look at when this "The Lord be with you" -"And with your Spirit" exchange occurs. It occurs before the priest proclaims the Gospel, before he begins to pray the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer and before he gives the Final Blessing.
In his treatise on the Holy Spirit, theologian Yves Congar discusses this exchange several times. The exchange, he says, "is connected with the presence of the Spirit in the one who has to perform an action (that must be done according to God's plan). . . . The presence of the Spirit has to be ensured so that the liturgical action can take place."
Later, Congar adds, "If the sacrament is to have, in the life of Christians, its 'reality', that is, the fruit to which it points, what is required is an intervention on the part of the Spirit, who is, in us, the author of charity. . . . The Holy Spirit must add his breath, his fire and his dynamism."
The faithful call on the Spirit so that the Lord may hear the priest's prayer, that the priest may proclaim the Gospel with the Spirit's power, that he effectively consecrate the bread and wine into Christ's Body and Blood, and that his blessing on us will truly be God's blessing.
When the congregation invokes the Spirit, it is exercising the common priesthood of the faithful. As the Second Vatican Council made clear and emphasized strongly, the priesthood of all the faithful is the basic priesthood. The ordination of a relatively small number of men to the ministerial priesthood is so that they may serve and build up that common priesthood.
The faithful are not passive bystanders at the celebration of the Eucharist. They share in offering the Eucharistic sacrifice. The common priesthood is a real sharing in Christ's eternal priesthood, albeit of a different type than that of the ministerial priests.
When the faithful call on the Lord three times during the Mass to be with the ordained priest as he performs a crucial liturgical action, that is one way of exercising that common priesthood.
Glen Argan

6/19/10

Medjugorje: Ivan's Prayer Group Apparition.



June 18, 2010 Ivan’s Prayer Group Apparition





Our Lady did not disappoint those who joined Her on top of Apparition Mountain at 10:00 this evening in Medjugorje, giving a very long and beautiful message, unusual for these prayer group apparitions. Though in the afternoon today, the skies became overcast, and raindrops began falling, the weather cleared by evening, and the night descended with a clear, starry sky, and comfortably cool temperatures that were refreshing after making the hot climb up the mountain.
With the anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions still a week away, the crowds were not as thick as what is experienced on the second of the month apparitions, or the special feast days throughout the year, but there were still thousands who climbed the mountain tonight and the great multitudes will be arriving soon enough next week. Among the unfamiliar faces of the pilgrims, there were many familiar faces of those who either live in Medjugorje or who come frequently, having been attending Our Lady’s apparitions for years. Many of them are much older now, but they still make the rugged climb, as they wouldn’t think about missing an apparition. The first summer apparition on the mountain with Ivan’s prayer group is a great joy and is looked forward to with great anticipation. Though Our Lady appears to the other visionaries in different circumstances, there is something special about the mountain apparitions, perhaps only because it is on Apparition Mountain where it all started nearly 30 years ago, and the spirit of those beginning days is still very much felt when Our Lady appears. The following is Ivan’s description of the apparition tonight.
.
June 18, 2010 Apparition to Ivan on Apparition Mountain at 10:00 P.M.

Tonight Our Lady came very joyful and happy. As always, at every meeting, at the beginning She greeted all of us with her motherly greeting, ‘Praised be Jesus my dear children.’ Then Our Lady extended her hands over all of us and prayed for awhile. Then She blessed us all with her motherly blessing and She blessed everything you brought to be blessed. Then She said:

*“Dear children, also today I desire to call you, through this time of grace, pray. Renew my messages, dear children. Live my messages. Dear children, this time is a time of responsibility, live my messages responsibly. Dear children, I desire for you to do works, and not words. The Mother prays for you and intercedes before Her Son for all of you. Thank you, dear children, also today, for having accepted me and accepted my messages, and for living my messages.”
.
After that I recommended all of you, all of your needs, your intentions, your families and in a special way, all of those present who are sick. I prayed an Our Father and Glory Be with Our Lady and then Our Lady left in prayer in an illuminated Sign of the Cross, saying “Go in peace my dear children. " source Medjugorje Com "

6/18/10

Bishop Pearce Lacy, Nonsense in Catholic Papers about Medjugorje


Unbelievable Nonsense in Catholic Papers About Medjugorje

.
Our late Pope John Paul said many wonderful things about Medjugorje. But somehow or another our reporters seem to be frozen to even mention it. He said, “Medjugorje is the extension of Fatima.” The late John Paul said many beautiful things about Mary. “Her role in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Jesus Christ but ratifies and shows His power. It follows there among all devotions that which most consecrates and confirms the soul of our Lord is devotion to Mary, our Holy Mother---the more we’ll be consecrated to Her the more we will be consecrated. Mary lives only in Christ and for Christ. Blessed will you be when you realize that holiness will only come through uniting yourself in continuous prayer.



6/16/10

Medjugorje: Holy Hour of Adoration


Tuesday June 16, 2010

The Holy Hour of Adoration in Medjugorje.
.
A message from Our Lady:
.
"Dear Children! Today I invite you to fall in love with the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Adore Him, little children, in your Parishes and in this way you will be united with the entire world. Jesus will become your friend and you will not talk of Him like someone whom you barely know. Unity with Him will be a joy for you and you will become witnesses to the love of Jesus that He has for every creature. Little children, when you adore Jesus you are also close to me. Thank you for having responded to my call." [September 25, 1995]

6/12/10

Full of Grace




FULL OF GRACE - BY CHRISTINE WATKINS



Young mother writes of hers and five other lives transformed by Mary’s grace


May 26th, 2010 - By Sharon Abercrombie




As a five-year-old, Christine Watkins was enchanted the night her family went to view an outdoor nativity scene in their Berkeley neighborhood. But when she asked her father who the man, the lady and the baby were, he said they were just part of a Christian fairy tale.




One night, four years later, as she lay in her bed, Watkins realized there was no getting around the awful fact that she would eventually die — just like the rest of the human race. So where would she go? Her mom’s response: into a box buried in the ground or a cremation jar, but not to worry. Christine wouldn’t care because she’d be dead.




Rudderless and sad, with no spiritual underpinnings, facing a bleak future pointing to nothingness, the little girl created her own god — dance. She became a professional dancer with the San Francisco Ballet Company, loving every minute of it. Her passion came to a crashing halt when she was 19. Severe back and foot injuries forced the young woman to hang up her satin toe shoes forever.




The setback was more than she could bear. Desperate for comfort and reassurance, she turned to transcendental meditation, Indian gurus, and New Age practitioners. They didn’t take away her pain.




But Mary of Medjugorje and her son, Jesus, did. Watkins has written the story of her spiritual journey and conversion to Catholicism in a riveting, new book, “Full of Grace: Miraculous Stories of Healing and Conversion through Mary’s Intercession.” Released four months ago by Ave Maria Press, the book has sold more than 1,600 copies.




Since 1995, the year of her transformation, Christine Watkins has attended Holy Spirit Parish/Newman Center in Berkeley, going through the RCIA program there. For a few intervening years, she was a member of St. Dominic Parish in San Francisco. She now attends Newman Hall as well as St. Joseph Basilica Parish in Alameda, where she serves as coordinator for the After the Choice post-abortion healing program for the Oakland diocese as well as Rachel’s Vineyard site coordinator for Oakland and San Francisco. Her husband, John Watkins, is coordinator of Life and Justice for the Oakland diocese. They have two sons, Christian, 5, and John 1.




Besides her own story, Watkins writes of conversion episodes in the lives of five other people: Angela, a former angry stripper; Michael, a heroin addict; Poppa Jaime, a man who rescues children living in the sewers of Colombia; Goran, a homeless drug addict, and her husband John, “a sad, lonely young man,” before his healing.What each has in common is a visit to Medjugorje, a town in the former Yugoslavia, where Mary has allegedly been appearing to six people since 1981.




What the people in Watkins’ book collectively discovered is that “God will walk to the ends of the earth to find us, save us from whatever sin we’ve entangled ourselves in, and bring us home on his shoulders,” said Watkins, who first traveled to Medjugorje in 2001.The trip took place six years after her spiritual breakthrough in 1995. That was the year Watkins had hit bottom. She was a walking spiritual emergency. Disillusioned by a long procession of gurus and empty relationships with men, she was spiritually bereft and physically ill.




During a phone conversation, Joseph, a friend from Berkeley, encouraged her to return from the East Coast to spend a few days in his Kensington home. Upon her arrival, she found herself surrounded by Catholic holy pictures and books. She hadn’t realized her friend was so deeply spiritual.




They had long conversations about religion. She began to realize the nothingness of her life. She fell to her knees and asked God’s forgiveness. It was then that she discovered that Joseph was a mystic given to visions.Three days after her return to the West Coast, an exhausted Christine had a powerful experience of God’s presence, and in a semi-dream state saw a dark mass within her pop into nothingness. She awoke to find Joseph at her side. He told her that Jesus had just cured the terminal cancer she had not known about and wanted her to join the Catholic Church and help bring to it compassion, kindness, love and generosity. Joseph also received a message from Mary that Christine should say the Rosary whenever she needed Mary’s help.“The evening after I was cured,” she writes, “I heard a symphony — a soft, lilting piece of music I had never heard before …I checked everywhere …to see where the music might be playing, but I soon realized that the beautiful music was coming from within me. I realized then that heaven was rejoicing because one sinner had been saved, and the heavenly hosts were letting me join in the celebration.




”Watkins experienced a re-creation that brought hope and purpose: “to love him above all things and to love my neighbor as myself.”She joined the Church through the RCIA program at Newman Center and spent three years earning a master’s degree at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, “where all the great mysteries of life were at my fingertips like ripe blackberries ready to be plucked.” She graduated in 1998 .Watkins studied spiritual direction her last summer at JSTB, then spent the next two years getting a master’s degree in social welfare at UC Berkeley.




When a friend gave her a book about Medjugorje, Watkins was fascinated. She felt compelled to make a visit, perceiving Mary “as God’s mouthpiece for our times. She is calling out for peace and for a return to Gospel values.”Watkins also had another agenda. While grateful to Mary for helping bring about her conversion, there was something missing. Watkins still perceived the Blessed Lady as “a cold and aloof being.”The trip to Medjugorje turned up very little in the way of a new Marian discovery for Watkins, but the energy of the church, the town, the mountains and the devotion of other tourists like her and her husband was “amazing,” she said.“Medjugorje captivated us,” Watkins writes. “We didn’t know that a physical place on earth could contain so much of heaven…such intense spiritual communion.”Watkins recalls being unable to worry about anything on her visit. “It was impossible.” But she still didn’t feel the actual presence of Mary. That came a few months later during a medical procedure. Feeling alone and abandoned, she called a friend who, on arriving, said, “I sense Mary. She’s here, she’s here — I feel her presence so strongly. She’s waited for this moment all your life. She’s been there for you ever since you were a little girl. She wants you to let her into your heart, she’s telling me that now you’re finally able to feel her.




”Watkins writes, “I could barely speak. I allowed her words to wash over me gently like a lullaby soothing the plaintive cries of an infant. For the first time, I let Mary’s love heal my pain. For the first time I could feel my Mother in heaven. As her light, comforting presence wrapped itself tenderly around me, she somehow entered the open cracks in my heart, and the cold chasm I had long felt between us vanished.”Watkins and her husband have since made three more visits to Medjugorje. Their trip in 2005 was the defining moment for her book. “God started bringing to me other people with the most remarkable stories I’d ever heard.” Watkins asked if she could write them down. “Full of Grace” is the result.What is the greatest gift she has received from Medjugorje?




“It was the change I saw in my husband. He was healed of much of his anxiety and depression and really gave his life over to Christ.”Watkins adds that both of them received the grace “to live Mary’s messages. When I was there, we were both graced with miracles, such as the miracle of the sun spinning and smelling roses during an apparition, when no roses or rose perfume were present. I learned later that the mystical smell or roses is a sign of Mary’s presence.”The fruits of Medjugorje have spilled over into other people’s lives too, relates Watkins.




“One friend converted in Medjugorje and is now running a large daycare for low-income and homeless children in San Francisco.” Another friend moved from a secure, well-paid job in San Francisco as a school principal to living in Mexico City, where he teaches and ministers to orphaned boys. Each chapter of Watkins’ book concludes with a series of questions for personal reflection and group discussion as well as a faith exercise.For more information, visit http://www.christinewatkins.com/ or the author’s blog, http://www.medjugorjemiracles.com/.From May 28, 2010 issue of Catholic San Francisco. http://www.catholic-sf.org/news_select.php?newsid=10&id=57287
Posted by PRAISE GOD

Medjugorje: Jakvo speaks on Family Prayer.


Youngest Medjugorje visionary, Jakov Colo, spoke to pilgrims in Medjugorje today, June 11, 2010.

Following is a beautiful statement Jakov gave in his talk about praying in the family.
“Our Lady has also said there is nothing more powerful than the prayer that can unite and bring together family. I really started with my children, with my three children. We really, when we pray feel that we are so much united in the family. There is nothing so beautiful than to see your own child who is praying and who before going to bed says, ‘Father, shall we say a prayer?’ And then at that moment you feel realized as a parent.”


Pilgrims packed into the room where visionary Jakov Colo spoke, despite the hot temperatures and being packed together. Every available space was taken, but the sacrifice and inconvenience is worth it to pilgrims who are anxious to see with their own eyes the ones who see Our Lady with their own eyes. Jakov challenged everyone in the room with his testimony.


*When asked about the secrets Our Lady entrusted to the visionaries, Jakov responded,
“We should think of ourselves, we should think about the way of life we’re living here at this moment…I should ask myself, “Am I ready at this very moment to go to God?” And that is the greatest secret for each one of us. We should be ready every single minute of our lives to be ready to go to God.” source Medjugore Com

6/11/10

He Loves Me !


HE LOVES ME!!!

"This hope will not leave us disappointed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us." —Romans 5:5

The Lord loves us so much that He emptied Himself and became a human being (Phil 2:7). Then He even died on the cross for us, although He knew we would reject Him and continue to sin. "It is precisely in this that God proves His love for us" (Rm 5:8). Moreover, Jesus also decided to give Himself to us in Holy Communion, although once again He knew He would be repeatedly rejected.
Jesus loves us perfectly, sacrificially, unconditionally, infinitely, and eternally. To be loved as He loves us would transform every moment of our lives, if we only believed in His love. In His word, His works, and His creation, He has told everyone of His love for us. Moreover, He has always been faithful in His love. Nonetheless, most people don't believe in, and have never experienced, Jesus' love for them.
So, once again, in a most powerful way, Jesus proclaims His love for us through the prophetic vision of the Sacred Heart. For a few minutes each day, look at a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Within a few days, no matter how hurt you are, you will come to believe Jesus loves you.

Prayer: "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I implore that I may love You more and more."
Promise: "I tell you, there will likewise be more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous people." —Lk 15:7
Praise: Praise Jesus, Whose heart is consumed with everlasting, passionate love for us.

6/10/10

Pray for Priests


Pray for priests. There is no confession without the priest. It is God himself who forgives sins through the priest. The priest is the sign that God has not abandoned his people. We need holy priests. Pray for your confessor. Fr. Jozo Zovko ofm
.
Pray for priests. Love them. Support them. Help them to be holy. We are weak and fragile. If your knees are not bent in prayer for us, we stumble and fall. We need your prayer. Fr Jozo Zovko ofm
.
A priest is not born of an angel but of a mother. He is chosen from amongst the people, is anointed with the Sacrament of Priesthood and returned back to the people,to the Church – into their care, their prayer and their love. The priest is a sign of the omnipotence of our God. Pray for priests. Love them. Support them. Help them to be holy. We are weak and fragile. If your knees are not bent in prayer for us, we stumble and fall. We need your prayer.” - Fr. Jozo Zovko ofm
.
Could you find in your heart to adopt a priest and pray for him daily?

Fr. Jozo pictured on right
with Fr. Ed Sousa Jr.

Da Mihi Animas: Vocations and the amazing fruits of Medjugorje#links


.
During the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, on September 12, 1996, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, the Archbishop of Vienna and—with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the current Pope—the main author of the Catachesim of the Catholic Church, acknowledged this striking reality about Medjugorje while addressing an audience of 10,000 in Vienna. He explained: “If I was an opponent of Medjugorje I'd have to close down my seminary since almost all the candidates have received their call to the priesthood through Medjugorje!” What a remarkable and powerful claim – the fact that almost all of Vienna's candidates to the priesthood came to the priesthood through the apparitions in Medjugorje.

6/9/10

Answer to Fr. Randall's Prayer




Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration: Answer to Fr. John Randall's Prayer.


by Leo Grossi




Fr. Randall encourages every parish to develop a Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration program.


In his usual exhilaration when speaking about the “Host exposed,”Fr. Randall exhorts “How I wish our Church were more obedient to Pope John Paul II! Did you know that he, at the Eucharistic Congress in Seville, Spain in 1993, requested that every parish in the world inaugurate perpetual adoration? He started it himself at that time in St. Peter’s in Rome. What fantastic graces await us if we only step out and do this! I believe that if it can bedone in an inner city parish, it can be done everywhere. Don’t be afraid. ‘Ducin altum,’ (‘set out into the deep’) as John Paul urges us at the beginning of this new millennium. The Eucharistic reign of Christ will do the rest!”


Fr. John Randall, Pastor of St. Charles Parish on Dexter Street in Providence, spoke of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration as an answer to a pastor’s prayer, when he was keynote speaker at a Corpus Christi vigil observance at St. Bartholomew Parish in Providence in 1999. Since Fr. Randall started adoration in a converted sacristy which now serves as the adoration chapel, he has more time to devote to his priesthood ministry rather than counseling his parishioners. He lovingly says “… people are finding peace and answers before Jesus while in adoration.”


In 1984, St. Charles’ parishioners first brought their pains and worries before Our Eucharistic Lord Jesus Christ in adoration. Fr. Randall recalls “I had always dreamed of being in a parish where there was easy and constant access to the Blessed Sacrament. When I was assigned pastor of St. Charles Parish in the inner city of Providence in 1978, one of my disappointments was the realization that this would never happen here. The insurance companies would insist on keeping the Church locked for security reasons. I more or less tried to live with that.


”After six years of obedience, Fr. Randall received a ‘messenger from God.’ Hereminisces “in 1984, a priest preaching perpetual adoration came knocking at my door asking if I were interested in having not only access to the Blessed Sacrament, but perpetual adoration before the Host exposed. I told him I would love that, but it was not possible, given our dangerous inner-city position.” Encouragingly, “he replied, ‘Let’s go see your church and take a look.’Within a very short time, he drew up a practical plan to solve our security problems and have adoration.” This priest sent by God described how “we could transform our very large sacristy into an adoration chapel with beautiful, multicolored stained glass windows.”He proposed that the chapel be “self-enclosed, locked off from the rest of the Church, with a separate and secure entrance and a bell. People could be trained to come on the hour, ring the bell and the person finishing that hour of adoration would let the next adorers in. I was ecstatic over this dream come true.


As a follow-up, this wonderful priest
came to St. Charles “on the following week-end, explaining the project at all the Masses. Enough people were moved to sign up and we were able
to start with three days and one night of adoration,” Fr. Randall recalls.
“It was wonderful and began to bring instant blessings to the parish. As time went on, we added
more and more hours of adoration until finally at Pentecost, 1996, we bravely launched out into perpetual
adoration in the lovely chapel at St. Charles which accommodates about 35 people. It continues
with incredible blessings until this day,” exclaims Fr. Randall.
Praising God for gracing St. Charles, Fr. Randall says “Let me point out just a couple of the innumerable
blessings that have happened. Our first 3:00 AM night adorer entered the seminary and will
soon be ordained. Since then, seven other young men and women have entered the seminary or religious
life, and our people are constantly praying for vocations.”
Fr. Randall strongly encourages every pastor to consider Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration as he
witnesses: “The other blessing is that I have less requests for counseling because people are finding
peace and answers before Jesus while in adoration. They don’t need to come to the rectory so often!”

6/8/10

Author- Christine Watkins Coversion Story


CHRISTINE WATKINS CONVERSION STORY
FROM NEAR-DEATH TO NEW LIFE

I was raised in an anti-religious home, and I did not like Christians. I was never going to be one—of that much, I was sure. In my youth, I perfected the fine art of worrying and suffered from low self-esteem and mild depression. I did find joy, though, in ballet and practiced it diligently for years with such commitment and passion that I ended up dancing professionally with the San Francisco Ballet Company. At age seven, I had decided I was going to be a professional ballet dancer. I was going to dance until approximately age forty. Ballet was my destiny. Nothing else even remotely satisfied me.

Not having been raised in a religion, I did not know there was a God; so, for me, ballet quickly became my personal god. At the height of my dancing abilities and fully in love with my profession, I suffered from foot injuries and had three foot operations. This ended my career and took way the only god I ever knew. Devastated, I grew depressed, lost my identity and my hope.
In my sadness, I looked for comfort in intimate relationships and sank ever deeper into a mire of sin. I felt temporarily filled with life when I was in a relationship, but when things failed—as they inevitably did—I was left with an even larger, empty, dark and lonely hole within me. Always searching outside myself for something to make me happy, I never truly felt a sense of inner peace. I did not think of changing my behavior, and, one fateful summer, I ended up with cervical cancer. I had approximately six weeks to live. My hair was falling out; I was bleeding internally and vomiting often. With no energy, I often collapsed with fatigue. Worst of all, I felt sick inside my soul. At times, I called out in guttural despair. At times, I could not stop crying once I started.
My tears were cathartic. I was searching desperately through New Age spirituality for answers and wanted nothing to do with Jesus or Mary. For years I had wanted nothing to do with them. I remember seeing a picture of the Madonna and Child which made me so angry that I wanted it taken down. I also remember reading a self-help book that I enjoyed except for its fleeting references to Jesus. I knew that Jesus and Mary were fanciful figures for the hopeless and misguided. For me, their names and images evoked ire.
But Jesus decided to save me, a sinner. I will never know why he chose me, and I do not have words to express my gratitude. I would not be alive were it not for divine grace, unmerited and unasked for. When I was staying at a friend’s house one day in that summer of 1993, when I was twenty-seven, I lay down to rest in his room and felt the presence of God within and around me. I then heard a loud “pop” sound inside of my body and knew that the cancer was gone. My friend then told me that Mary, the Mother of God, spoke to him, telling him that she saw me stumbling through life like a fish that could not find water. She said that she took great pity on me and asked her Son to save me. Later, Jesus spoke to my friend and told him that I should sin no more, join the Catholic Church and help bring to it “compassion, love, kindness and generosity.” I had never before set foot in a Catholic church, but I quickly learned how I could “sign up.”
I should not be here on earth; Mary and Jesus saved my life. Even though I had hated them, they had always loved me.
After I was cured, I remember hearing a symphony. I was in my friend’s room and thought perhaps the radio was on. I checked everywhere—in the hall, out the window, under the bed, even in his desk drawers, to see where the music might be playing; but I soon realized that the beautiful music was coming from within me. I realized then that heaven was rejoicing because one sinner had been saved, and the heavenly hosts were letting me join in the celebration.
My life isn’t mine any more. It is God’s. I was God’s all along. And being a Christian means everything to me. It means the difference between life and death.

6/6/10

Father Jozo and the Eucharist: He that can separate you from the alter is your only enemy. There is no other.



Fr, Jozo Zovko and the Eucharist



This article was taken from the Medjugorje Newletter, published by Weible Columns.

Father Jozo Zovko, the charismatic priest from Medjugorje who recently toured the Untied States had these wonderful comments concerning the Holy Eucharist while in Portland, Oregon. We cannot publish enough to emphasize the importance of making the Eucharist known as the centerpiece of faith as espoused by Our Lady at Medjugorje. Hear the words of priest whom Our Lady has said is already a saint.
Place your life upon this altar. You will witness how a priest will place a drop of water within a chalice full of wine. That drop of water intermingles with the wine and signifies you in the Holy Mass. You can become one, unite with and intermingle with Jesus. That is why the Holy Mass is called Communion ...union with God ...you and your God together ...that is the Holy Eucharist. All of us together and Jesus. That is the church, and that is where the one, holy Catholic apostolic church comes from.
.
* He who can separate you from the altar is your only enemy. There is no other. *
.
Every time we come into the church and celebrate the Holy Mass, that is our embrace, our hanging onto Our Lord and saying, "Lord where would we go, for you are the Word of Life." Where did the martyrs gain so much strength from? In the Church, where did the witnesses gain their strength from? To date, in this year, 23 missionaries have been murdered around the world in four months. That is a lot. How can a man give his life for Jesus simply, with delight? It is the Holy Mass that does this within us, so that for you I'm able to give my very eyes, my arms and my life, my everything as Jesus gave His all; and the same way the Christian must give his all. Yes, once again, I must return to the Holy Mass and the Holy Eucharist. Why is it that churches and sects do not tolerate the Mass, do not respect Our Lady? Because they go hand-in-hand. Yes, they go together. Our Lady teaches to come to love Jesus, to fall in love with Him, and that is why she places us before the Holy Eucharist, and pleads with us to pray before this holy, blessed Sacrament, so from Jesus we may learn to become bread for others; so that I not have fear to say, "Take this, all of you, of me, and eat of it."I know a lot of Anglican and Protestant priests, ministers, that were in Medjugorje. I know of a Presbyterian bishop that I have met from Washington. He had sent a multitude of his priests to Medjugorje as well. When I was in Washington a few years ago, I visited him because he visited me and came to Medjugorje. He had a problem, a cross, that was inflicted upon him. His son was shot in Vietnam and became paralyzed. When his son returned from the war, he said to his wife, "Let us make a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. I believe Our Lady will hear us." And Our Lady gave a miracle. The son was healed and converted the parents. The bishop desired that all of his priests come to know Our Lady. Eight of those priests to date have become Catholic priests, without any shouts, without publication, without media. Our Lady works in miraculous ways. She was always the sign, the sign of a better world, the sign of peace and unity in the Church, the sign of our salvation. May it also truly be the same in your city or town. Let us commence this Holy Mass by preparing ourselves and involving this great grace.

Da Mihi Animas: Sr.Briege & The Eucharistic Miracle#links


.
Today Sister Briege McKenna’s healing ministry is totally centered on the Eucharist. During a special retreat for Sisters a few years ago, she shared a remarkable story of how Jesus led her to this Eucharistic centering.

6/5/10

Staying Power: When Your Tempted to Quit.


STAYING POWER" You, for your part, must remain faithful to what you have learned and believed." —2 Timothy 3:14
Timothy wanted to quit pastoring the church of Ephesus. Paul gave Timothy several reasons for not quitting: * the true teaching he had received (2 Tm 3:10), * the godly conduct he had witnessed (2 Tm 3:10), and * the faithfulness of other Christians in suffering persecution (2 Tm 3:11).
.
If you feel like quitting a ministry, marriage, church, or commitment, first fill yourself with true teaching. Take care not to be infected with the subtle deceptions of secular humanism, or you will be programmed to quit. Second, make sure you are surrounded by people repenting of sin and trying to lead holy lives. Faithfulness is caught more than taught, and so is unfaithfulness.
.
Finally, reach out to those who know the value of redemptive suffering. If you're influenced by self-centered pleasure-seekers, you will refuse to suffer the pain that accompanies faithfulness to your commitments.
.
*JESUS didn't Quit when He hung on the cross and died for us on Calvary. That same Jesus lives within us. By His power, we don't have to quit anything except sin. Jesus will provide the truth, inspiration, and courage for us to stay faithful and not quit.
Prayer: Father, because of my faith in You, may I not be manipulatable...
Though my persecutors and my foes are many, I turn not away from Your decrees." —Ps 119:157

6/2/10

Our Lady's Medjugorje Message of June 2, 2010 to Mirjana.


June 2, 2010
“Dear children, today I call you, with fasting and prayer, to clear the way by which my Son will enter into your hearts. Accept me as a mother and a messenger of God’s love and of His desire for your salvation. Free Yourself of everything from the past which burdens you and gives you a sense of guilt; of everything that brought you to error—darkness. Accept the light. Be born anew in the justice of my Son. Thank you.”


Our Lady blessed all the religious articles and Mirjana said that when Our Lady was leaving, she saw a white dove at the end of the apparition, which Mirjana thought was the Holy Spirit.
.
Father Joseph Whalen's Latest video on the Blessed Mother.
.
.
May 31, 2010 — Blessed Virgin Mary 101. A short video on the fundamentals of the Virgin Mary. Being a Marian priest and having a great devotion to the Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Fr. Joseph Whalen and his healing ministry would like to present this to all so they may come to know and love her. "If you want to grow in perfection, you cannot advance by yourselves- you need a guide. Hence, when you go to God, go through Mary and with Mary.!" St. Maximilian Kolbe

6/1/10

The Image of God is stamped on us at Baptism.




MINT CONDITION?" Whose likeness...is this?" —Mark 12:16, RSV-CE We are like coins.


The image of God is stamped on us at Baptism. We were sealed with the Holy Spirit at Confirmation. The image and seal proves to the world that God owns us. Like cattle branded with the mark of their owner, people who saw the Roman coin could tell whose image was on it, and to whom it ultimately belonged. The Roman coin was stamped with Caesar's image. Therefore, Jesus said it ultimately belonged to Caesar and should be given to Him.

By implication, Jesus says that we who are stamped with the image and likeness of God (Gn 1:27) must give to God what belongs to Him, our lives (Mk 12:17; 1 Cor 6:19-20). We must reflect God's image to the world and enhance His image by the quality of our lives offered for Him. Coins are circulated throughout the world by normal human activity. Likewise, we who are stamped with God's image are to be in circulation by going out into the world (Mt 28:19) to be salt and light for Jesus (Mt 5:13, 14). Have we been so worn down that God's image is no longer visible to a world that unknowingly longs for Him? Or will we be in "mint condition" for the Lord so that all can see His glory shining in our lives? Prayer: Jesus, You are my Wealth! I spend my entire life in Your service. May all who see me Praise You.