Reflection on the Message of May 25, 2008

I CALL YOU TO CONVERSION

“Dear children! In this time of grace, when God has permitted me to be with you, little children, I call you anew to conversion. Work on the salvation of the world in a special way while I am with you. God is merciful and gives special graces, therefore, seek them through prayer. I am with you and do not leave you alone. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of May 25, 2008

In many of her messages Our Lady has reminded us that the time we live in is the time of grace. For the past 27 years, millions of people from all over the world have been coming to Medjugorje, to this spiritual healing place, so that God may heal their hearts and souls. There are several examples of conversion in the Bible, such as is the conversion of the prodigal son (cf. Luke 15,11-32), or even a more memorable conversion of St. Paul (Acts 9,1-18), together with many others. Each conversion is a result of an event or an encounter, but not any kind of encounter. I am talking about the encounter with God. Saul was a persecutor of Christians in Jerusalem and the whole of Judea (cf. Acts 8-9). Once he went all the way to Damascus to arrest Christians. At the city gates Saul had the encounter with God, which he would remember all his life. That encounter changed him completely and made him convert. Saul, who had been a prosecutor of Christians, then became a disciple of Jesus and changed his name to Paul. Something similar happened to the apostles, too. A decisive moment for them was their first encounter with Jesus, after which they left everything and went to follow Jesus. Something similar happened to the saints, and something similar will happen to us if we search for God’s will in our life through prayer.

Our Lady calls us anew to conversion, which, in other words, means betterment. The majority of today’s Christians have not seen the Lord in flesh, whereas this encounter is a prerequisite for a new beginning. After such encounter, everything changes, life becomes different and better. One should bear in mind, though, that after the encounter with God our crosses do not disappear. It just becomes easier to carry them. Those who have had the experience of meeting with God, become the salt, cabbage and the light of the world. They become instruments through which God’s love and joy in this world are spread. We are all called to convert and continuously change in our path following Jesus. Conversion is a life-long process. Nobody can say that they have completely converted because there is always something we must improve, primarily on ourselves, not on others. Conversion is following evenly in Jesus’ footsteps every day, without negotiating. Conversion is a permanent task of the whole Church. It is not man-made, it is God’s work.

On our path God helps us and gives us special graces, as Our Lady says. These graces, however, need to be sought through prayer. One should show one’s good will and love towards God who is merciful and kind, as written in Chapter 34 of the Book of Exodus: «The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands …» (Exodus 34,6-7). What we should discard first when we start saying our prayer is any kind of hypocrisy. Before God we must not pretend, lie or appear better. We have to be who we really are. We may be lying to friends or neighbours or keep up appearances, but before God we must take off our masks, as he knows us better than we know ourselves. The path of prayer is just like the path of conversion – long and hard, but no fruit is born without pain and effort. The bond between God and man that was previously broken is re-established through prayer.

Our Lady encourages us and does not leave us all alone on this path. She stands before us as an example of prayer by means of which she takes part in the Father’s intention to embody the Son of God. Together with Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may also say: «I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.» (Luke 1,38). In our prayer, let us think of the people in need, especially those who have lost their lives in the earthquake in China .

Fr. Danko Perutina
Medjugorje 26/05/2008

Reflection on the Message of June 25, 2008

BE JOYFUL CARRIERS OF PEACE AND LOVE

“Dear children! Also today, with great joy in my heart, I call you to follow me and to listen to my messages. Be joyful carriers of peace and love in this peaceless world. I am with you and I bless you all with my Son Jesus, the King of Peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of June 25, 2008

It was 27 years ago when Our Lady presented herself in Medjugorje as the Queen of Peace. Throughout all these years she has patiently taught us and called us as a real loving mother to celebrate and practise the sacraments. She has been calling us to convert, to fast, to do penance and to worship Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. In her message marking the 27th anniversary of her apparitions she says that with great joy in her heart she calls us to follow her and to listen to her messages. While thinking about her latest message, as well as the others that we have heard so far, we should never forget the rule of St. Louis Grignion de Montfort saying: To Jesus through Mary! Mary always gathers people around her Son. She calls to a complete surrender to Jesus as only he can make each of us the whole person worthy of Heaven. Our Lady gives us an example of how to be faithful to God, how to live out our faith and how to live by faith. She took part in the acts of the Holy Spirit from the very beginning. Therefore the Church, which is also the work of the Holy Spirit, prays together with the one to whom God has done great deeds. Our Lady stands before us as a great gift, as the most beautiful image of the Church. She speaks in plain words that attract so many people from all over the world. Her messages are easily understood by both, the smallest and the eldest.

Our Lady calls us to be carriers of peace and love in this peaceless world. Today we witness serious dangers the whole of mankind faces, such as nuclear armament, various diseases, global warming, poverty. People live in great fear. Our Lady knows that. That is why she has been calling us, Christians, the faithful, to be carriers of peace and love in this peaceless world since the very start of her apparitions. On the third day of her apparition Our Lady gave us the first of her great messages saying: “Peace, peace, peace – and only peace!”. After that she repeated twice: “Peace must reign between man and God, and among people, too!” A real peace may come only from God who has become “our peace“ in Jesus through Mary. (Eph. 2,14). “This world cannot give” this peace (John 14,27). That is why Christ commanded His apostles to carry it through the world (cf. Matt 10,11) so that all the people may become “men of peace” (Luke 10,6). Sometimes we tend to seek the source of restlessness in others because it is easier to act in this way. However, we must first find this source in ourselves and then deal with it. The source of restlessness is always a sin that one should renounce thus creating conditions for God to work in us.

At the end of her message, Our Lady blesses us with her Son Jesus, the King of Peace. Dear admirers of the Queen of Peace, let us say yes to peace in our hearts, let us choose God thus allowing Jesus to become the Path, the Truth and Life in us.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Medugorje 26/06/2008

Reflection on the Message of July 25, 2008

THE REAL REST IS IN GOD

“Dear children! At this time when you are thinking of physical rest, I call you to conversion. Pray and work so that your heart yearns for God the Creator who is the true rest of your soul and your body. May He reveal His face to you and may He give you His peace. I am with you and intercede before God for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of July 25, 2008

It is the time of holidays and vacations and people ask themselves how to make the best of this time and how to rest well. Some choose the mountains, some go to the seaside, some will decide to read a good book, and some will choose to walk in the nature.

Our Lady invites us to take a completely different kind of rest. She teaches us that the real rest can be found in conversion. Conversion envelops the whole person: body and soul, works and deeds. St. Marc cites the first words of Jesus at the beginning of his public acts: “Convert and trust the Gospel” (Mk 1,15). Conversion does not consist only of the external fulfillment of God’s commands. It consists of the personal encounter with Jesus Christ. After this encounter, a man becomes fully aware of who he is and what he is; he becomes aware of his sins and weaknesses, but also of his importance and value. After the encounter with Jesus, a man feels a desire to change his old ways of life, to begin with a new life. He lets Jesus to enter his days, his life, his behavior and thoughts.

Our Lady invites us furthermore to pray, so our hearts would yearn more for our Lord Creator, since only He can give real rest to our soul and to our body.

The heart is the center of man. No one has two hearts, so he can hate with one and love with the other. A man has only one heart, and therefore he must choose forgiveness, peace, love and trust. To forgive means to let another in one’s heart and to accept him as he is. Thomas of Aquina says that human heart is created on the God’s image, to love.

Time of rest is great opportunity to stop for a moment and to start praying again. It is a time for a more intense, deeper encounter with God. The rest is also an opportunity to find more time for the friends whom we may have forgotten, to call them and to share with them good news or decisions we have made recently. Time of rest is the opportunity for a total change of life in relation towards God, towards the others and towards one’s self. Let’s use this rest, so we don’t spend in vain the time which is precious to us.

Our Lady advocates us in front of God and asks of Him forgiveness and mercy for us. She advocates us and follows us on our way; therefore we need not to be afraid.

I would finish with the words of Psalm 62, which says:

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
He is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to Him.

Fra Danko Perutina
Medugorje July 26th 2008

Reflection on the Message of August 25, 2008

CALLED TO PERSONAL CONVERSION

“Dear children! Also today I call you to personal conversion. You be those who will convert and, with your life, will witness, love, forgive and bring the joy of the Risen One into this world, where my Son died and where people do not feel a need to seek Him and to discover Him in their lives. You adore Him, and may your hope be hope to those hearts who do not have Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of August 25, 2008

At the beginning of her message of 25 august 2008, Our Lady calls us to conversion by saying: “You be those who will convert and, with your life, will witness, love, forgive and bring the joy of the Risen One into this world.“ Everybody needs conversion. It is a life-long process. A true conversion is meeting God. Only those who have meet God in flesh may bear witness to the encounter. Encounters with people often remain superficial, while an encounter with God takes place in the depths of man’s heart and soul leaving a mark on the man as a whole. Every time when a man does not love, he needs conversion. Every time when a man is not faithful to the words of Jesus, he needs conversion.

Any conversion is a two-step process. The first step is that at least once in our life we must kneel before Jesus and tell him from the depth of our heart and soul: Jesus, I choose you, I want to leave my old life behind, I want to be free from all my sins and go with you purified. This is the fundamental decision for God. The second step is to question oneself over and over again every night: Have I obeyed God’s commandments to the fullest, what can I do better when meeting people, how can I love Church more. Only by taking these two steps may we walk up the path of our spiritual life in the right way. Our Lady has called us to conversion so many times. She calls us to be witnesses. It seems as if we are turning a blind eye and remain deaf when thinking that Our Lady calls only those who do not go to Church, those for whom we think that they are not good. Our Lady has them in mind too, but she primarily has in mind those who act like Pharisees, who judge others, pretend to be good and rarely forgive. Those are the people who need a radical conversion.

Our Lady provides us with means, too. She has called us to prayer so many times and, yet again, in her last message she calls us to worship Jesus. God wants those who will worship him in their spirit and in the truth, which means through their actions and life, not just by words because God does not need our words. What he needs is our heart. If we are fully devoted we can represent hope for those hearts that do not have Jesus.

There are thousands of definitions of what man is, and one of them is the following: “Man is a creature of hope!” To us, who are travellers here through this world, hope gives us strength to bravely walk the earthly paths towards our future and not to stand still. Our hope is found only in Jesus’ name. Hope is always turned towards the future. Love is the reality that should be unfolding now, and faith helps us to reach it.

Many might think that the world does not change at all, so we might be wondering what the use of conversion is. To others the world does change, but for the worse. Today we are more capable of completely destroying our world than people used to be so many years before us. We must ask ourselves what the role of conversion in our life is. Is our conversion any good? We may say to others: It does not mean that it is an encounter we may have with other people when, for example, we meet our mother, brothers, sisters or good friends in the street. Surely we would all like to have such close, personal, profound encounters with God, but, generally speaking, our encounters with God are of a different nature. We must also ask ourselves today whether we believe that the Kingdom of God is near. It was one of the ways the encounter with God in flesh may be depicted. Today only a few people feel that God is present. More and more people are becoming atheists or Gnostics. The life here and now is all they have. But we, Christians who follow Jesus’ teachings, believe in his words. He tells us that there is life after death. He tells us that there is God with whom we may talk through prayer. He tells us that the path leading to a new life after death is love of our neighbours that we show in this life. Our spirituality often raises the fundamental question: do I believe in Jesus Christ? If I do, then my view of this life is different and I try to make decisions that correspond to my beliefs. Jesus tells us that we meet God every time we serve others. Conversion is therefore necessary and important every time when I am not faithful to Jesus’ words and his calling to live with him. Conversion is necessary when we experience the loss of love.

Fra Danko Perutina
Medjugorje 26.8.2008

Reflection on the Message of October 25, 2008

ARM YOURSELF WITH PRAYER AND FAST

“Dear children! In a special way I call you all to pray for my intentions so that, through your prayers, you may stop Satan’s plan over this world, which is further from God every day, and which puts itself in the place of God and is destroying everything that is beautiful and good in the souls of each of you. Therefore, little children, arm yourselves with prayer and fasting so that you may be conscious of how much God loves you, and carry out God’s will. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of October 25, 2008

Our Lady invites us to pray for her intentions. If we give ourselves in prayer to the God, the satanic scheme will not be fulfilled on Earth. By this message, Our Lady asks for our cooperation. We are aware that Jesus and Our Lady can prevail over Satan without us, but they ask for our cooperation and our decision. God created us free and asks of us to take sides. God created us without our help, but He cannot saves us if we do not want it.

When Our Lady speaks about the satanic scheme on this Earth, she does not speak about the nature, but about the man and all the sins which mankind does when it fails before the satanic temptations, which are the various kinds of great sins: marriages of the same sex, abortus, killings, fornication, robbing of the poor, curses, drugs, alcohol, etc. The mankind today continuously puts itself in the place of God and repeats the mistake from the first pages of the Bible (Post 3). Human values have become more important than the Christian values. For many people, money has become a god. The consequence of this is that everything which is good and beautiful in the souls of men is being destroyed.

Our Lady gives us the tools to resist the satanic scheme, and these are the prayer and the fast. We all think that we pray a lot and that we have a deep faith. If we would make a poll, we would see that we do not pray so often. We spend more time talking on the phone, drinking coffees, reading newspapers or watching sport, than we spend praying. The fast and the prayer have been, from the Christian beginnings, the main tools in fighting the evil. If we do not pray and fast, we cannot believe, because the faith, i.e. the trust, is established in relation to someone, and this someone is God. The prayer is the encounter with God, and from this encounter, a strong and forceful faith is being born.

Our Lady invites us in the message from November 25th 1987. to pray that the Satan does not attract us with his vanity and false strength. She says: I am with you and I want you to believe me that I love you. Love and humility can be read from every message of Our Lady, and it is the main reason that so much people from the whole world visits Medugorje – because they feel they are loved.

Tonight’s message Our Lady ends with the words: do the God’s will. In 40th psalm, in 9th row, we can read: “It is dearer to me, my God, to do Your will.” A man who does God’s will is filled by joy and serenity. To do the God’s will means to stride toward sanctity. The humility is the characteristic of those who do the God’s will. They are obedient and meek. Those who do not respond to doing the God’s will are focused on the worldly matters and God is not in the first place for them. These are the people who are full of ambition and are trying to fulfill their goals by any means. These are the people who measure everything with this world’s measure, and consequently loose their joy.

Let us all together decide for God once again, let us heed the call of the Queen of peace, and we will become the true witnesses of the God’s love and the love of Our Lady, we will become such disciples as Jesus wants.

Fra Danko Perutina
Medugorje, October 26th 2008