Medjugorje, a place of peace…
(c)Mateo Ivankovic 2017 J.M.J. April 6, 2017 Dear Family of Mary! “Dear children! Today I am calling you to pray for peace: peace in human hearts, peace in the families and peace in the world. Satan is strong and wants to turn all of you against God, and to return you to everything that is human, and to destroy in the heart all feelings towards God and the things of God. You, little children, pray and fight against materialism, modernism and egoism, which the world offers to you. Little children, you decide for holiness and I, with my Son Jesus, intercede for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”(January 25, 2017) On April 5, 2017. Archbishop Henryk Hoser, Special Envoy to Medjugorje, gave a long press conference in Medjugorje. You can view it on our homepage. His remarks were candid, generous, and full of love. He revealed an open heart to the events of Medjugorje and spoke with great candidness about what Medjugorje shows us. Here are his opening words at the conference: With respect to me and my impressions, I can say that there was a time when Medjugorje was not known in the world. It was a little place lost between two hills. That is the meaning of the name, Medjugorje. Today Medjugorje is known in the whole world. And we should know that pilgrims are coming from about 80 countries from all over the world. When it comes to the meaning of this place, we can compare it with other places, if we say that per year there are about 2 ½ million pilgrims coming here. In Lourdes there are about 6 million people who come, but Lourdes exists for more than 150 years. Medjugorje is only about 36 years old. It is time to make a first estimate, and it is important for the future growing of this place. Why do so many people come here? On one hand, surely they have heard of the apparitions that took place for the first time in 1981. On the other hand, those who are coming here are discovering something extraordinary. The first thing is the atmosphere, it is the atmosphere of peace and reconciliation. It is an atmosphere of inner peace, of peace of the heart. Also what they discover is a huge space for profound religion and spirituality. They discover or rediscover what it means in their lives to have something sacred, something holy. In Medjugorje they encounter sacred time and sacred space. That sacredness means something that is reserved for something divine. Usually it is said that Medjugorje is a place where we honor Our Lady, and that is the truth. But if we look at it in a deeper way, we see that it is actually Christocentric, completely turned towards Christ. Christ-life! Worshiping. For instance, at the center is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the transmission of the Word of God, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament where one discovers the real presence of Jesus Christ in His divinity and in His humanity. Some also discover the prayer of the Rosary, that is meditative prayer on the mysteries of our faith. And when they pray the Way of the Cross, they enter into the Paschal mystery which is the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I would like to conclude with the reality of Holy Confession, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the personal and the personalized sacrament. From the religious perspective, Medjugorje is very fertile ground. Thank you, Archbishop, for really seeing Medjugorje for what it is, a place of peace which comes only from God! In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2017