April 15, 2010
Dear Children of Medjugorje, praised be Jesus and Mary!
1 - On April 2, 2010, Mirjana received her monthly apparition at the Blue Cross. After the apparition, she gave the following message:
“Dear children! Today I bless you in a special way and I pray for you to return to the right way to my Son - your Savior, your Redeemer - to Him who gave you eternal life. Reflect on everything human, on everything that does not permit you to set out after my Son - on transience, imperfection and limitation - and then think of my Son, of His Divine infiniteness. By your surrender and prayer, ennoble your body and perfect your soul. Be ready, my children! Thank you.”
2 – That which happens to our Pope, “the sweet Christ on earth,” (so coined by St. Catherine of Siena), is happening to all of us! It is the entire Church that is persecuted along with him. The Gospa tells us how to reduce trials and even annul the works of darkness, by praying and fasting, and of course rejecting sin. Many initiatives of this kind have been undertaken lately. It’s wonderful to see the solidarity of the faithful around our Holy Father! Let’s pray also for the evil doers because they are the unfortunate ones! They are just digging the pit into which they will fall if they don’t return to God!
The times are very difficult, even as we see incredible blessings fall upon the faithful (here in Medjugorje we have a ringside seat!), and persecutions may still increase in the future because sin has taken such a big place in the hearts of man! It may be that the Pope is afflicted by an interior martyrdom and will be reduced to silence, who knows?! The Church is going through a time of distress, like her Master and Spouse, at the moment of His Passion. Yet, this time of darkness will not last. The accusers and traitors will not have the upper hand for long. May they come back while there is time, and thus avoid sinking into despair!
How can we forget that Jesus gave Peter the promises of Eternal Life for His Church, assuring him that “The gates of Hades will not prevail over her?” (Mat 16:18). In addition, how can we ignore Mary’s prophecy in Fatima, “In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph”?
Mary in Medjugorje tells us about “a new time” (Jan 25, 1993 and Oct 25, 2000) that is being prepared, and it’s of course “a time of peace that her heart awaits impatiently” (June 25, 1995). So we should “lift up our heads” as Jesus tells us in the Gospel (Luke, 21:28). We only need to cut short the times of trial, we can do it and we know how to do it. And if we do not know, we only need to read over the messages of the 2nd of the month given to Mirjana during the last few years. Everything is clearly explained by our Heavenly Mother!
3 – On March 18th, Mgr. Alessandro d’Errico, Apostolic Nuncio to BiH, stated :
Whenever I would meet Holy Father, he was always very much interested in Medjugorje... As supreme authority of the Church, he needs to give his precise statement about that matter. Holy Father is very much familiar with Medjugorje phenomenon; he even mentioned that to me personally. He is aware of huge amount of positive and good influence of local priests, religious, Franciscans, lay people, and therefore, it is very difficult for him to perceive that there can be so many opposing information about the same matter. That is why he wanted to establish this Commission that is on really high level. He wanted to establish this Commission in order for him to have broad picture about this matter, but according to the people who have highest qualities and skills. That is why he invited Cardinals, Bishops and experts from different parts of the world to be part of this Commission...
What is especially interesting, and shows Holy Father’s great sympathy for this country, is that he wanted this information about Commission to be announced publicly at the same time, both in Vatican as well as in Mostar...I know well that media spoke a lot about this Commission for a longer period of time, and certain expectations were made. Today, we can say that we are pleased and grateful to Holy Father for this attention that he expressed towards Mostar and our Catholic communities. That is how I, on behalf of Holy Father, announced this decision on March 17th, at the same time when decision was announced in Rome. We understand that work of this Commission is going to be very demanding, and I would like to invite all of our communities to pray and to offer work of this Commission to St. Joseph and to Mary, Mother of Church, patron saints of Mostar.
(Extracts from the website of the Parish of Medjugorje: www.medjugorje.hr )
4 - Rome communicates the composition of the Commission of inquiry on Medjugorje. According to Zenit, April 13, the list of the members on this Commission, presided by Cardinal Ruini, is composed of cardinals, bishops and experts that include:
Mgr Tony Anatrella (France); P. Achim Schütz; Mgr Krzysztof Nykiel; Sister Veronica Nela Gašpar (Croatia); Cardinal Jozef Tomko (Slovakia); Cardinal Vinko Puljić (Bosnia); Cardinal Josip Bozanić (Zagreb); and Cardinal Julián Herranz. They are accompanied by theologians: Mgr Angelo Amato; Mgr Pierangelo Sequeri; A. Maria David Jaeger, OFM; Zdzisław Józef Kijas, OFM; and Salvatore M. Perrella, OSM. Other experts who will collaborate on the work of the Commission include: P. Franjo Topić, S.G. (Sarajevo); P. Mijo Nikić, S.G. (Zagreb); and P. Mihály Szentmártoni, S.G.
This commission will work “behind closed doors”, and its conclusions will be submitted to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. From now on, the case of Medjugorje is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Mostar, Mgr Ratko Peric, but under the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
You might remember that this past January 15th, Cardinal Schönborn was received by the Pope; on January 22nd, during an interview at Kathpress, Austria, he confirmed the creation of the commission. Later, in Rome, he continued his support of Medjugorje sharing his impressions of the private pilgrimage he took to Medjugorje in January 2010. Thank you dear Cardinal!
I give thanks to God for this huge step taken by the Holy See towards Medjugorje. Let’s pray more than ever that all these experts are great instruments in God’s plan! May their work bear fruit of unity within the Church, in regard to Medjugorje.
5 – The year of Priests: Last month I was in Singapore, and I took the opportunity to go back to China (see photos below). There, I was impressed by the quality of the faith of many Christians. Here is one example:
I visited a village in central China where a very devout Catholic family lived. I saw the photo of their uncle who was a priest. During the “Cultural Revolution” he was arrested and sent to forced labor. No one knew how long he would be gone or whether or not he would return to his family. Finally, after 15 years of imprisonment, he came back, but was placed under house arrest for another 5 years! As soon as he was released, he set about rebuilding the village church. Among his nephews and nieces who lived with him, according to the traditional Chinese family system, there are now two priests and one nun. When I asked one of the priests how he received his priestly vocation, he answered, “I was 7 years old when my uncle was arrested and taken away from home. I saw him leave. That day, I received my priestly vocation!”
Then I suggested to him to write a little pamphlet about his uncle (now born in Heaven), since the witness of his courage is so beautiful. “It is not necessary.” The priest answered. “His case was no exception! Here there are many families that have the same story!”
Let us pray! As we do every month, we can recite a new prayer for priests. This one is from Saint Catherine of Siena:
“[Father,] I beseech You, direct the hearts and wills of the servants of Your Bride, the Holy Church, unto Yourself so that they may follow the poor, bleeding, humble, and gentle Lamb of God on the way of the Cross. Make them angels in the shape of men; for after all, they have to administer and distribute the Body and Blood of Your only begotten Son! Amen!”
Dearest Gospa, it is with you that we want to follow the Lamb! Please do not abandon us when the sky becomes dark, we are your little ones!
Sister Emmanuel +
(Translated from French)
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PS 1 – Sister Emmanuel’s latest teachings are NOW AVAILABLE on both CD and DVD format! Choose a single title or purchase all six: Take the Hand of Your Heavenly Mother; Make Your Peace With God; Embrace Suffering As Your Way to Joy; Pray With Your Family: A Remedy for our World Today; Responding to Our Lady's Call to Holiness; Prayer Groups: Our Lady's School for Holiness. Buy the DVD set and go on a virtual retreat with Sister Emmanuel, as experienced this fall at the Children of Medjugorje Summit Retreat in St Malo, Colorado!
PS 2 - Looking for a First Communion gift for a special niece or nephew? Check out our webstore for CDs such as The Most Beautiful Mass of My Life, Angels, Holiness Means Happiness, or many other CDs and DVDs from Sister Emmanuel that make great gifts to inspire along this faith journey.
PS 3 – Begin now to prepare for the 29th Anniversary of Our Blessed Mother’s first appearance in Medjugorje! Listen to Sister Emmanuel’s reflections on what and WHO is at the heart of her messages in the CD: Mary's Message for the New Millenium: TAKE BABY JESUS HOME!
PS 4 - An important piece of information to pass on to all: The parish of Medjugorje now requires to see the 'celebret' of the visiting priests, and to keep a copy. If they don’t have it, they won't be able to celebrate Mass nor hear Confessions.
© Children of Medjugorje 2010
Permission is given to spread the text of these reports under two conditions: 1) no words are changed,2) “Children of Medjugorje” is cited along with our website www.childrenofmedjugorje.com
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