July 12, 2021
Dear Family of Mary!
I want to share a special homily with you. It was given by Fr. Richard Shaaibu, on June 21, 2021 in Medjugorje! Fr. Richard is a man of deep faith, explosive faith in Jesus! As well as this homily, Fr. Richard shares his testimony in Fruit of Medjugorje this week! Don’t miss it!
English Homily in Medjugorje
Monday, June 21, 2021
Week of the 40th Anniversary Celebration
Fr. Richard Shaaibu
HOMILY
The call and the journey of Abraham, our father in Faith. We’re all on a journey. A journey to a world described in the Gospel reading of today. A world free from prejudice. A world where we are not allowed to condemn or to judge. A world where we learn to respect one another as brothers and sisters irrespective of our affiliation. And how we judge our brothers and sisters tells much about ourselves and the God we worship.
Now, the promise. The Promised Land that God promised to Abraham is not a place where you build estates. It is not a mighty land. Hm-mm. It is the Land of Our Souls. Amen? The Land of Our Souls.
And the condition of our souls… As I said, “We are on a journey,” and like Abraham, we are promised! Moses was asked to go to the land of Egypt and bring the children of God out of the land of bondage. Of course, he did. But he was not able to step into the Promised Land. Why? Why? Why? He doubted. So, he only saw the Promised Land from afar, and from the mountain top.
You and I, we are the new Israelites on a journey to a promised land, a Holy Land of Medjugorje. We do not see Medjugorje from afar. We do not see Medjugorje from a mountain top. We are in Medjugorje! Hallelujah! Are we, or are we not? Are we or are we not?! Good.
Now, the promise made to Abraham has been made to you, to myself, to the reverend fathers here, and to all of us seated here. And what is that promise? In the Land of Medjugorje, if you obey like Abraham, you will go back home with miracles in your life. Miracles are here! Healings are here. Restoration is here. Prosperity is here. Compassion of God is here. Breakthrough is here. Open doors are here. Fulfillment is here. Peace is here. Love is here. Mercy of God is here. Do I continue? Or do I stop?
Protection is here. Security is here. Are you looking for material wealth? Euro is here. Deutsche Mark is here. Dollars are here. Pounds certainly are here. Name them. (ha ha!)
We are promised intimacy with God. We are promised life without end. We are promised to be the channel of God’s life to others. But our journey to Medjugorje entails Faith.
Did you see Jesus in the front now? Did you see Him at the door of your heart? He’s knocking. He wants to enter the door of your heart, but He has no handle from outside to enter the door of your hearts. You, from inside, open the door, let Him find a dwelling place in your heart, and all these promises shall be your portion. Hallelujah!
Two young men went to pray for rain. A man of prayer went empty-handed to the forest. And a man of faith carried umbrella. And behold the Lord answered their prayers. Heavy storms and heavy rain. What happened with the man of prayer? Beaten by rain. And the man of umbrella, a man of faith, was protected from the beating of the rain.
How many of us here are men and women of prayer? And how many of us here are men and women of faith? We come here to pray for rain. And there will be rain. Do you carry your umbrella? If you don’t, I carry my own. And I believe the priests carry their own, too. Faith is the article. Faith is the way, and the life, and the truth of our coming here.
I want to share with you a testimony of a bishop in my diocese, or in my province. You all know, you are familiar about Boko Haram in Nigeria. I know, I believe that my brother here will share with me, because we are both victims of Boko Haram, he came from Cameroon. The Diocese of Maiduguri in Borno State, which happens to be the headquarters of Boko Haram, was devastated and shut down for three years. No masses. The priests in the dioceses were sent to various dioceses in Nigeria. Only the bishop and maybe few individuals remained in the diocese. A man of faith, a man of prayer. I mean, three years, to shut down a diocese. You know what it means.
During one of his prayers of Divine Mercy, at 3 pm, the bishop saw Jesus come out from the Tabernacle. Life is not a story, it is reality! Jesus came out from the Tabernacle with a sword. Hallelujah! And He called to the bishop, “Take it.” The bishop was dumbfounded. But he knew by some Divine instinct that a devil would not come out of the Tabernacle, so it must be Jesus. So, he summoned his courage, and stood up from his kneeler and came to Jesus and collected the sword. And the minute he collected it the sword turned into…A Rosary! (holding up his rosary) How many of you have your own? I want to see it in your hand.
And do you know what Jesus said to him? “Boko Haram is done. Boko Haram is done! Boko Haram is done.” Hallelujah! (Boko Haram was irradicated from that diocese shortly after the encounter with Jesus)
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, there is power in the Blessed Sacrament! It is no longer the bread and wine you see with your naked eye. I now have come to believe what Jesus said, many of us have eyes, but we cannot see.
A lady who was not a Catholic came to the Catholic church and received Communion, and went out, she removed her handkerchief and spat it out on it and folded it up. She went back home – whatever she did with the Blessed Sacrament, God knows – she went and flush it in the toilet. But the result of it was that the water from the toilet was gushing out blood. Was gushing out blood!
My final testimony is about myself. I haven’t shared it with anybody except a few individuals from the group I came with. A week before I came to the United States of America, my parish priest was kidnapped and murdered on that same day.
But two weeks before that, I was in the church, saying my Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament. Five young men, heavily armed, came, looking for “Father Richard Shaaibu.” I stood up with my Rosary. I said, “I am he.” I knew I was in trouble. They said, “No. You’re not the one we are looking for. We are looking for that Hausa priest.” I said, “I am he.” They said, “No.” Then I heard one of them say, “Look, he doesn’t have the blood of the Hausa people. Can’t you see how he dresses? He only learned their language. He’s not the one. Let’s go.” So they left.
So they said I don’t have the blood of Hausa? Then it just dawned on me! I said to myself, “Oh, I have the Blood of Jesus in me. I have the Blood of Jesus in me!! And I have the Grace of Jesus in me!”
The reason we don’t see the power in the Blessed Sacrament is this: Do we come to mass? Or do we come to celebrate mass?
The Rosary is the second weapon in our life journey. Why don’t we see power in it? Two things are there: Do we say the Rosary? Or do we pray the Rosary? These are two different things.
I want to beg your indulgence. Right from the word “go,” I was never a Catholic, I was never a Christian, but I was converted by the Dominican community. That is why, when I see the Dominicans, I bow. Please, Dominicans, get up from your seats. Dominicans. Please a round of applause for them!
The Diocese I came from is a Dominican Diocese. I am their product. They are my mentors. God bless you, Dominicans. The spirit of St. Dominic is in me, and it will remain in me forever. God bless you! Thank you.
So, you want to see the power of the Eucharist? Do you have time! The Dominicans will teach you how to pray. They will teach you how to pray. I can’t believe that the Rosary will be said or prayed in 15 minutes. Where are we rushing to? Where are we going? We’re in a rush? We’re in haste. We don’t have time for God. We don’t have a moment for silence in our life. We don’t have a moment of prayer, of contemplation, of revelation, or meditation. And so, we don’t see power in those things.
I pray your pilgrimage to Medjugorje will never be in vain. I pray for all of you. You came empty-handed. You will never go back home empty-handed. Miracles will happen in your life. Healings will happen in your life. Your prayers will be answered. Whatever you came to look for in Medjugorje will be given to you through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
(c)Mary TV 2021
P.S. You can watch Fr. Richard’s homily at this link:
https://marytv.tv/english-homily-in-medjugorje-2/?smid=iqIw0ms0ca7&slid=IRBKmbjFsDA
