Reflection on the Message of February 25, 2009

CONFESS YOUR SINS

“Dear children! In this time of renunciation, prayer and penance, I call you anew: go and confess your sins so that grace may open your hearts, and permit it to change you. Convert little children, open yourselves to God and to His plan for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of February 25, 2009

On Ash Wednesday, also known as Clean Wednesday we begin Lent, the intensive season of liturgical year when we prepare for Easter. In her message of 25 February Our Lady makes us aware that Lent is the time of renunciation, prayer and penance.

In his 2009 Lent message Pope Benedict XVI says: “At the beginning of Lent, which constitutes an itinerary of more intense spiritual training, the Liturgy sets before us again three penitential practices that are very dear to the biblical and Christian tradition – prayer, almsgiving, fasting – to prepare us to better celebrate Easter and thus experience God’s power that, as we shall hear in the Paschal Vigil, “dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride” (Paschal Præconium). The Pope continues by saying: “Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word …. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God. At the same time, fasting is an aid to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live… It is good to see how the ultimate goal of fasting is to help each one of us, as the Servant of God Pope John Paul II wrote, to make the complete gift of self to God ».

The center of Our Lady’s tonight’s message is a call to confess our sins because this is the way grace opens our hearts and changes us. Jesus established the Sacrament of Reconciliation for all sinful members of the Church, for all those who fall into a grave sin and lose the grace of Jesus. Confession creates an opportunity for us to convert and to regain grace. That is why the fathers of the Church have referred to confession as «another board for salvation after the wreckage of grace».

A sincere confession always leads to a complete conversion, where the meaning of conversion is a change of one’s entire life, actions and beliefs. It is a complete shift. A shift like that happened, for example, to St. Paul , St. Augustine , St. Francis and to many other saints. Conversion leads us to denying our sinful way of life and pagan customs directing us towards our complete surrender to God, to his plan and actions, as Our Lady calls us to do. Besides the negative side related to denying, as we deny such things like food, alcohol, cigarettes, gambling and other additions, Lent has a positive side too, which is our decision that we shall pray more, forgive more, love our fellow men more, worship Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar more, and help others more. Let us include both sides in our spiritual life in order for us to truly experience the fullness of Easter joy.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Medugorje 26/02/2009

Reflection on the Message of March 25, 2009

AWAKEN YOUR SOULS WITH PRAYER

“Dear children! In this time of spring, when everything is awakening from the winter sleep, you also awaken your souls with prayer so that they may be ready to receive the light of the risen Jesus. Little children, may He draw you closer to His Heart so that you may become open to eternal life. I pray for you and intercede before the Most High for your sincere conversion. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of March 25, 2009

If we look around, we see that, although slowly, nature is awakening thus announcing the spring. In her message of 25 March 2009, on the feast of the Annunciation, Our Lady called us to awaken our souls with prayer so that they may be ready to receive the light of the risen Jesus. When Our Lady calls us to prayer, what first comes to our mind is to pray for the conversion of sinners, for this world, and the like. Only a few people realise that the call for prayer refers primarily to ourselves. The words of Our Lady are always permeated with love and again in her latest message she says: awaken your souls with prayer. These words are a call to change our attitude towards prayer that we have had so far. We have been called to pray primarily for our own conversion, and only then for the conversion of others. It is us that need to change first. Only then will our fellow men and the world start to change. When awaken in this way it will be easier for us to open ourselves to God and to receive the light of the risen Christ.

The pierced heart of Jesus is the utmost reflection of God’s love towards man. In all cultures, apart from being an organ of our body, the heart is a symbol of love. That is why Our lady says to us: “May He draw you closer to His heart so that you may become open to eternal life.” Jesus loved people so much that He did not spare Himself. He eventually exhausted Himself and became worn out in order to show people His love. However, in those times Jesus was not accepted. Neither is He accepted today. He is being insulted, hurt, killed with language, curse, slander, hatred. That is why with her tonight’s message Our Lady calls to get closer to Jesus’ heart not only us, Catholics, but the whole world, so that we may become open to eternal life. Will this call get lost yet one more time in the desert and wasteland of this world? Will we miss hearing yet another call of the Queen of Peace from Medugorje?

It is a duty of all those who have experienced the love of God and the love of Our Lady to witness and show not only to Europe, but to the whole world the love that was crucified, that died on the cross, the love resurrected and alive today. Every new day is an opportunity for us to be witnesses of this love. May our greatest advocate, mediator and intercessor Blessed Virgin Mary – Our Lady help us.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Medugorje 26/03/2009

Reflection on the Message of April 25, 2009

PRAY FOR PEACE AND WITNESS IT

“Dear children! Today I call you all to pray for peace and to witness it in your families so that peace may become the highest treasure on this peaceless earth. I am your Queen of Peace and your mother. I desire to lead you on the way of peace, which comes only from God. Therefore, pray, pray, pray. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of April 25, 2009

In her message of 25 April 2009 Our Lady calls us to pray for peace and to witness it at the same time, first in our families and then in the whole world. It is a fact that our time is marked with peacelessness in its many various forms. Having that in mind, we must not remain indifferent, but must make every effort to create peace. The Church, which has been announcing the Joyful News since its very beginning, has been called to announce and always realize peace. In His message written in the occasion of the World Day for Peace Pope John Paul II, of blessed memory, says: «We do not claim to find in the Gospel text ready-made formulas for making today this or that advance towards peace. But on every page of the Gospel and of the history of the Church we find a spirit, that of brotherly love, powerfully teaching peace.» We Christians are called to announce and witness peace with our own lives. Establishing peace is not a question of choice, it is an obligation. Peace is never established once and for all, but needs to be created all the time because the deepest longing of man’s heart is actually for peace. In his book Fast with the Heart the departed Fr. Slavko Barbaric writes about peace: «How often we lose peace because we are arrogant, selfish, envious, jealous, avariciuos and consumed by power and honour. Experience confirms that through fasting and prayer evil, arrogance and selfishness are overcome; the heart is opened and love and humility, generosity and goodness grow. Thus, true conditions for peace are realized. Whoever has peace because he loves and forgives also remains spiritually and physically healthy. He remains capable of shaping his own life in a manner worthy of man, who is the most exalted of God’s creatures. Through fasting and prayer, human needs are also diminished and brought to proportion. Also by this, conditions for peace along with a proper relationship with others and material things are being created. In everything we do, whether good or bad, we seek peace. When a person loves, looks for and experiences peace, or even when he stays sober or fights against addiction, he seeks peace. When he becomes drunk, he also seeks peace. When he fights for his life and the lives of those he loves, he realizes peace.»

The Queen of Peace wants to lead us to true peace, which is her Son and our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true king of peace. Prayer is the safe path leading to Jesus and Heaven. In her last message she urges us three times to pray for peace as prayer is the only right way. Let us respond with all our heart and soul to the call of Our Mother Mary, the Queen of Peace, and she will lead us to the true peace, the love of God, closeness and joy.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Medugorje 26/04/2009

Reflection on the Message of May 25, 2009

PRAY FOR THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

“Dear children! In this time, I call you all to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit upon every baptized creature, so that the Holy Spirit may renew you all and lead you on the way of witnessing your faith – you and all those who are far from God and His love. I am with you and intercede for you before the Most High. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of May 25, 2009

Before his Ascension Jesus told his disciples not to leave Jerusalem , but to wait for the promise given by his Father that they would receive the strength of the Holy Spirit and would be His witnesses not only in Jerusalem , but to the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up to his Father (cf. Acts 1:4-9). The disciples and apostles were preparing for this coming through prayer. They were not alone. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was with them. Among those present she was the only one who had the fullness of the Holy Spirit that had come upon her at the conception of Jesus. She must have encouraged the disciples to abandon fear and to take practice of fervent prayer. Before the coming of the Holy Spirit the apostles and disciples were timid, fearful. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, they changed. From timid disciples they were transformed into fearless witnesses of Christ. They witnessed what they had seen and heard when they were with Jesus. The flame of love and truth lit inside them encouraged them to immediately start announcing the Joyful News.

In her message of 25 May 2009 Our Lady calls us also to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit upon every baptized creature. We have become the children of God through baptism and have entered into communion with Jesus and his act of redemption. Our Lady calls us to pray because prayer is a means that opens our hearts so that the Spirit of God can operate in it. Opening up to the Holy Spirit leads to a renewal of spiritual life encouraging us to bear witness to our faith. We, Christians, have been called to be carriers of the message of God in this world, of the Word of God and to spread the acts of the love of God. Mary, our mother and intercessor, the teacher of prayer to the Holy Spirit helps us to do this. Together with Mary we pray that the Spirit of the Truth and Love operates in us and around us, that it teaches us and makes us stronger in order for us to live a new life doing the will of God.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Međugorje 26/05/2009

Reflection on the Message of December 25, 2008

SURRENDER YOUR LIVES INTO THE HANDS OF JESUS

“Dear children! You are running, working, gathering – but without blessing. You are not praying! Today I call you to stop in front of the manger and to meditate on Jesus, Whom I give to you today also, to bless you and to help you to comprehend that, without Him, you have no future. Therefore, little children, surrender your lives into the hands of Jesus, for Him to lead you and protect you from every evil. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of December 25, 2008

On Christmas Day we celebrate the birth of Jesus. On 25 December Our Lady gave us a message, which is a reminder and a call. She says: Dear children! You are running, working, gathering – but without blessing. These words are true. They touch us even deeper because they come from the mouth of Our Lady. If we just look around, we can notice how anxiously worried about material things we all are. We work hard and have no blessing. There is no blessing because we do not put God first. One was able to notice that these few days before Christmas when wholesale stores, shops and hair salons were more crowded that confessionals. A great attention is paid to appearances, whereas we do not strive towards the inner beauty of the soul that much. If we were so concerned with our salvation and spiritual life as much as we are concerned with external things, Paradise would soon start blooming on Earth.

In her message Our lady continues by saying: You are not praying! In the morning, before going to work, most Catholics just make the sign of the cross, without any other more profound prayer. In the evening, already tired from work, we fall asleep at the second Hail Mary. And it goes on in this way day by day. Our body is getting tired, but our soul is getting even more tired. Then we ask ourselves: Why there is no blessing? Why does not God hear us? He does hear us, but it is us that do not hear Him. Whenever He comes, we are not at home.

Our Lady calls us to stop in front of the manger and to meditate on Jesus, Whom she gives to us today also, to bless us and to help us to comprehend that, without Him, we have no future. Christmas, the birth of Jesus, is a holiday of the eternal and infinite love of God that has entered history in the form of an innocuous child. While we are meditating and thinking of the birth of Jesus, we must bear in mind that it is not merely a nice story of a little child, shepherds, angels and kings who lived a long time ago. It is a holiday that speaks about the incessant connection between God and man. It is not an event that occurred a long time ago. It is a reality that should be happening in us every day. God becomes embodied and becomes God with us every day. We encounter Him at Holy Mass, in sacraments, in prayers and in good deeds. Jesus wants to keep on being born in us, His beloved sons and daughters, as well as in the community of His believers, in the Church, which is His mysterious embodiment.

Our Lady offers us a solution to all our fears and anxieties – it is Her son Jesus. She says: Surrender your lives into the hands of Jesus, for Him to lead you and protect you from every evil. Only in the hands of Jesus, only in His heart shall we have true protection from every evil. Let us bear witness to the Joyful News and let us be happy feeling that primordial joy St. Paul calls us to:«Brothers! Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again: Rejoice!» (Phil 4:4). Let us not be gold diggers who struggle their entire lives searching for gold, finding it, digging it, but remaining the poorest although holding gold in their hands. Let the newly born Jesus bless our whole life and all our noble strivings.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Medugorje 26/12/2008

Reflection on the Message of January 25, 2007

PUT SACRED SCRIPTURE IN A VISIBLE PLACE

“Dear children! Put Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your family and read it. In this way, you will come to know prayer with the heart and your thoughts will be on God. Do not forget that you are passing like a flower in a field, which is visible from afar but disappears in a moment. Little children, leave a sign of goodness and love wherever you pass and God will bless you with an abundance of His blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of January 25, 2007

The Virgin Mary loves and keeps on calling her children to a life with God. She does that once again in her message beginning with the following words: “Put Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your families and read it.” We have already become familiar with these motherly words and calls from her previous messages in which she invited us to read Sacred Scripture. Just as she spoke in January last year: “Do not forget, little children, to read Sacred Scripture. Put it in a visible place and witness with your life that you believe and live the Word of God. ” In her message of 25th June 1991 Mary said to us: “Little children, pray and read Sacred Scripture so that through my coming you discover the message in Sacred Scripture for you .” In her message of 25th August 1993 she spoke: “Dear children, read Sacred Scripture, live it, and pray to understand the signs of the times.“ In her message of 25th August 1986: “Put, little children, Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your families and read it and live it.“ On 25th January 1999 she spoke to us: “Put Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your families, read it, reflect on it and learn how God loves His people. His love shows itself also in present times because He sends me to call you upon the path of salvation.” In September of 1999 she said: “I call you to renew prayer in your families by reading Sacred Scripture and to experience joy in meeting with God who infinitely loves His creatures.”

So many times in her motherly messages the Virgin Mary has confirmed to us and said the following: “Dear children, live my messages and put into life every word that I am giving you. May they be precious to you as they come from heaven. Dear children, joyfully live the messages of the Gospel that I am repeating in the time I am with you.“

Maybe somewhere deep inside of us we expect the Virgin Mary to explain her messages in more detail and make them more clear. However, Our Lady’s messages do not provide us with ready-made recipes for happiness. She has come to direct our look at Christ who is our only Saviour and the aim of life. She helps us with her presence, calls and love so that we can walk on the path of conversion and salvation. She does not come to tell us tales, play with us or entertain us. She has come to call us to the truth, to the light and high demands of the Word of God. She invites us to read and live Sacred Scripture so that we may discover the life-giving power of the Word of God that speaks to us. As the Holy Spirit has inspired Sacred Scripture, Sacred Scripture is permeated with it. We discover that by reading Sacred Scripture which encourages us to do good enlightening our mind and the feelings in our hearts. St. Gregory the Great asked himself: “What can a word of Sacred Scripture be compared with?” And he answered: “It is like flint and steel, like flint which is cold when we hold it in our hand, but when used to strike iron, it sparks and lights a fire. The words of Sacred Scripture remain cold if taken for granted. When, however, a person embraced by the Holy Spirit gives them a gentle knock, they make a mystical fire.”

Only if we rely on the truth of the Word of God shall we disclose the transience of our lives and the certainty of Jesus’ words: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matt. 24:35). Let us listen to the Virgin Mary for the sake of our lives and our good.

Fr. Ljubo Kurtovic
Medugorje 26 January 2007

Reflection on the Message of February 25, 2007

OPEN YOUR HEART TO THE GOD’S MERCY

“Dear children! Open your heart to God’s mercy in this Lenten time. The Heavenly Father desires to deliver each of you from the slavery of sin. Therefore, little children, make good use of this time and through meeting with God in confession, leave sin and decide for holiness. Do this out of love for Jesus, who redeemed you all with His blood, that you may be happy and in peace. Do not forget, little children: your freedom is your weakness, therefore follow my messages with seriousness. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of February 25, 2007

God ceaselessly searches and calls men to His side, so they can live and find the fullness of bliss in Him. His merciful love was manifested when He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us and save us by His passion, death and resurrection. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3, 16)

“Open your hearts to the God’s mercy in this time of Lent”, Virgin Mary is saying to us. Where, if not in the God’s mercy, can a man find salvation and hope? We can ask ourselves: why is it so hard to believe in the God’s mercy? By believing in the God’s mercy, we return to the very roots of sin. The hardest thing for a man is to admit his own sins. When a man does not feel himself a sinner, he will not feel the need to beseech the God’s mercy. On the other hand, the world and every single human being wail for mercy, forgiveness and love.

In the depths of the God’s heart there is a yearning and a desire to save His own creature from the slavery of sin. Although the awareness of the sin is decreasing, it nevertheless remains a reality which exists and whose consequences are damaging us and our families daily. Most often, a man is haunted by the very thing he denies, by the very thing he is running from. Only if he has enough courage to stand up to the thing which hurts him most, which is most embarrassing for him – only then does the process of healing and deliverance begin. However, it is also the hardest step for a man. For a drug, gambling or alcohol addict, the hardest thing is to admit his addiction. Only when he admits it, he becomes a winner fighting for his freedom, only then he becomes a free man.

Mother Mary, who invited us to confess more often, in this message invites us also to seek the shelter of the God’s mercy in the sacrament of the holy confession, through which God forgives our sins, and also gives us strength to fight and to persist on the path of peace, freedom and conversion.

“Your freedom is your weakness”, Virgin Mary is saying to us. The time of the Lent is the time which warns us we did not reach our goal yet. The Lent is telling us we are still in the desert. In this desert, we are not yet safe. We always have the possibility to fall, to lose our freedom or to sell it for a little happiness, pleasure and joy which the sin promises us. God does not want to give us just a little of something, he wants to give us everything, His own self. The freedom which God gives us is a gift, a burden and a responsibility. In such freedom, we are responsible in every moment, and we cannot be released from that responsibility.

On this road of life, we are not alone and deserted, nor are we left to ourselves. We should take sincerely the words of the Heavenly Mother, so we can meet Jesus and walk the path of holiness, peace and freedom.

Fra Ljubo Kurtovic
Medugorje, February 26th 2007

Reflection on the Message of March 25, 2007

FASTING AND RENUNCIATION WILL MAKE YOU STRONGER IN FAITH

“Dear children! I desire to thank you from my heart for your Lenten renunciations. I desire to inspire you to continue to live fasting with an open heart. By fasting and renunciation, little children, you will be stronger in faith. In God you will find true peace through daily prayer. I am with you and I am not tired. I desire to take you all with me to Heaven, therefore, decide daily for holiness. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of March 25, 2007

As a mother, Mary, the Queen of Peace, thanks us for our Lenten renunciations. Mother Mary thanks us because she loves us. Only a heart filled with love can be a grateful heart. We should be thanking her for her encouragement, her call and love, her interceding with her son Jesus for us. She calls us because it is her desire that we continue to live fasting. She speaks to us about it and calls us to fast and make renunciations for ourselves and because of us, for our happiness and joy.

“By fasting and renunciation, little children you will be stronger in faith”, – Heavenly Mother says to us. Fasting and renunciation are necessary in order for us to earn God’s mercy. Our renunciation is like a bowl into which God pours His mercy. Blessed Mother Teresa said: “We need to be emptied before God can fill us”. Fasting and renunciation are our part of the job in faith. Saint Augustine teaches us: “God created us without our aid; but he did not choose to save us without our aid.” In Lent we should practise self-renunciation and do penance as if our salvation depends solely on us, but pray as if our salvation and everything else depends solely on God. Praying without self-renunciation is just like stopping halfway. It is as if you were rowing in a boat tied to the shore. We shall never move until the boat is untied. We cannot empty our body of sins nor eliminate sins from the world we live in. But we can die to sin and then He no longer has authority over us. Renunciation is dying to sin.

When Our Lady speaks to us about renunciation, she does not have in mind the mere physical penance and renunciation, but the spiritual side of it. The mere physical penance and fasting are not enough. They may lead us to arrogance, pharisaism and formalism. They may make us want to display our strength, not to subdue our will to God’s will. Therefore in one of her messages Our Lady says to us: “Little children, fasting has become a custom which no one wants to stop. Fast with the heart.” Fasting and love are indivisible. One cannot fast without love, nor can one love without fasting in its broadest sense. Prayer is also our answer to God’s love. That is why fasting and prayer are inseparable. Fasting without prayer is a mere slimming diet. By fasting without prayer we in fact just revolve around ourselves. Fasting turns all our spiritual forces and powers of the heart, all of our inner being towards God.

Our Lent should not finish with Easter. Setting our mind on fasting and living it means to struggle for freedom. It will not mean much if we renounce some of our bad habits only during the time of Lent, whereas we continue pursuing them afterwards. If this is the case, our renunciation can become self-deceit. One may indulge in arrogance and self-sufficiency and say to oneself: “I am strong, I can do that. ” Lent then becomes just another break of this habit, while there has been no change in the man himself. Fasting and renunciation is not proving your strength, but subduing your will to God’s will. The best and the most fruitful renunciation is denying one’s own self. Even Jesus will say: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself.” (Mark 8 : 34).

The Virgin Mary comes and speaks to us not to steal something from us or to deprive us of our joys of life. She comes because she wants us to be happy, normal and free in God. Let us thank Mary from the bottom of our hearts because she has not become weary with us. Let us not become tired of everyday responding to the call of our Heavenly Mother.

Fr. Ljubo Kurtovic
Medugorje 26/03/2007

Reflection on the Message of April 25, 2007

THIS IS A MERCIFUL TIME WHILE I AM WITH YOU

“Dear children! Also today I again call you to conversion. Open your hearts. This is a time of grace while I am with you, make good use of it. Say: “This is the time for my soul”. I am with you and love you with immeasurable love. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of April 25, 2007

Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, invites us again to convert through her message. It is the most important message of Our Lady, which echoes in this place. It is an echo of the words of Jesus from the Gospel. Our Lady wants to tell us the same thin which Jesus said to us. She does not come to teach us some new sciences; rather, it is her intention to wake us, so we can understand Jesus and his words seriously and practice them in our lives.

Lady’s presence, appearances and messages which she gives us in these times are a mercy, God’s gift to us. Sometimes, we learn to appreciate something precious only when we lose it. For instance, this can be said of our health. We learn to appreciate it only when we lose it, when we fall ill. Our Lady does not want us to be sad because we did not use this gift of merciful time.

We live in this time which is gifted to us, which flows and carries us. Therefore, the time is a precious thing which should be filled with something. Time can be empty, and time can also be full. You can miss the days and times of your life by wandering, by losing time in superficial things, by partying, after which there is only emptiness. The ways in which you spend your time will shape your future. Time is like a bowl which is offered to you. If you fill that bowl with a good deed or with a prayer which releases you from fear or depression, then your time will be filled by goodness and light, and your future is safe.

It is wrong to turn back in life and to bind yourself to bad or negative things. Many people spend their lives pondering about their past, burdened by the fear of future, so they are never able to live today. It is today that you can decide to do something good for yourself and your soul. Today you can pray boldly, you can believe and you can surrender your day and your life to God. Today you can begin some work which you have postponed, or fulfill some obligation which is waiting for you, and you are afraid to finish it. Today you can look into your heart and recognize your deepest yearning for God. Today you can enrich your day and times in which you live. We live only once on this Earth, and it is like theatre stage. This day is given to you only once. It will not return again. What you miss today, you cannot bring back. It is today that we make decision about the eternity, not after the death. If we choose God, justice, truth and goodness today, we will enjoy them in eternity. Time is a gift in which we can grow to our full size which God intended for us.

Our heavenly Mother Mary wants us to meet her Son Jesus; only he gives us true peace and joy. Mother Mary lived her whole life on this Earth and remained faithful to God to the end. She is only a human being like us, but she ascended to such a high place, and she wants us to be where she is. She had a heart for God and for men. She is not idle, she cannot be idle. She calls us and answers our wails, she advocates us before the Heavenly Father. She comes to us as mother and a friend; she tends our wounds and leads us to her Son.

Fr. Ljubo Kurtovic
Medugorje 26/04/2007

Reflection on the Message of May 25, 2007

SEARCHING FOR GOD’S WILL

“Dear children! Pray with me to the Holy Spirit for Him to lead you in the search of God’s will on the way of your holiness. And you, who are far from prayer, convert and, in the silence of your heart, seek salvation for your soul and nurture it with prayer. I bless you all individually with my motherly blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of May 25, 2007

The Virgin Mary calls us to pray with her to the Holy Spirit in order for us to draw strength and force from above, to be wrapped in the power coming from God. Together with the apostles she was perseverant in her prayer waiting for Jesus’ promise – the Holy Spirit. She is the fiancée of the Holy Spirit and full of mercy. She is the one who knows best the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit and therefore knows how much we still need His strength today. We received the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Baptism and Confirmation, and we have heard that he exists. And yet, it seems as if all other spirits are around us but the Holy Spirit. That is why Our Lady’s call is serious and so much needed to all the hearts, families and to this world. The only way towards the experience of the strength of the Holy Spirit is prayer.

The first thing we should do is to convert. In other words, it means to stand before God in prayer over and over again, to confess our sins, forgive to others, renounce everything that prevents us from embracing the will of God, disown all idols, renounce dependence, and our false images of God. To convert means to take God as the master of our lives, to let it be His will. It is only the Holy Spirit that may enlighten our hearts so we can find God’s will and live by His will. Only the moment in which we renounce our will, our plans, designs and intentions may we start praying for God’s design, God’s plan for our lives. By having given up our plans, we in fact remove the ties and become free, capable of accepting God’s will. That is why Jesus says: „If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me!“ (Luke 9, 23). To be Jesus’ disciple does not mean receiving information or schooling of any kind from Jesus. It means to be the one who can receive Jesus’ grace and strength, his miracles and his kingdom. A disciple is the one who becomes like his teacher. That is why Jesus was able to say that anyone who had faith in him would do what he had been doing, and even greater things (cf. 14:12).

While in the search of God’s will on the way of one’s holiness, one should thank God for every single moment of life, either good or bad. Accepting everything that happens in our lives means entering the will of God thus receiving His strength to conquer evil we have entered. We shall always recognize God’s will while in prayer getting closer to Him. We also observe ways of life, as well as pathways to work and vocation that God opens or closes for us. If we constantly surrender ourselves to the will of God, God will close those ways He does not want us to take and those doors He does not want us to enter, whereas he will open the ones He wishes us to embark upon. Rarely does God lead one from the inside by speaking to him/her where he/she must go. It is not in our mind, imagination or feelings, but in the bottom of our souls where God dwells in us and where we are inspired, enlightened and led by the Holy Spirit. God will use signs to reveal His will to us. We should recognize these signs with our spiritual senses that grow sharper and stronger in those who take these motherly words more seriously, in those who have been following them throughout all these years of her appearing and being close to us. Let us listen to the words of our heavenly Mother with our hearts so that we can find a new life that only God may give.

Fr. Ljubo Kurtovic
Medugorje, 05/26/2007