Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Transform My Messages

Medjugorje

Part 2 of "Transform My Messages Into Life", an interview with Mirjana in today's Medjugorje Witness from mej.com.


A man shares with Mirjana his experience when he was here in March of this year during Mirjana's March 2nd apparition. Even though he was standing outside, he was deeply affected. Now he is back a second time. Mirjana replies:

"That is Our Lady. You see that She invited you again, because you did not understand when you came the first time. You know that when you go to school, you have to repeat as well. Now open your heart completely, so that Our Lady may tell you finally what She desires from you. You know, we have to make jokes as well. I was kidding when I said this to you, because Our Lady desires us to have a smile on our faces. She desires that we radiate that joy and happiness to others because what kind of faithful examples can we be to others if we are always worried, nervous, angry, sad because in that case the other unbelievers who are looking at you will say: "You are not any different from me. Why would I change?" Where, if you have Jesus in your heart in the first place then you have peace. Then you have everything. And then you are ready to give it to others. Because you can see Jesus in them."

Are we beginning to win the battle?

"I never thought that we were losing the battle! Because the one who has Jesus, God, Our Lady next to Him, that person can never lose the battle. If we follow Jesus, then we follow His cross. I always say to people: "If you follow Jesus and everything is perfect, well, you better stop because then it is not a good way." To follow Jesus means to carry the cross. It is important that we accept it with the heart."

A lady says that she shares the same birthday with Mirjana.

"Great people were born on the 18th of March. But I never have my birthday because that is the day of the apparition. And many people have the wrong opinion about it. They feel that Our Lady comes to me on the 18th of March because it is my birthday. She doesn't come for sure for that reason because She never said to me "Happy Birthday." When everything starts happening, then you will be able to understand why the 18th of March, why every second of the month, why Wednesdays and Fridays are days of fasting, everything will be clear."

A man asks for Mirjana to pray for all of the people in (the profession of) medical care because abortion is a terrible thing happening in the world. And unfortunately many physicians and doctors, because they don't believe, do it for money.

"We pray for that intention, and I will tell you an example. Twenty-four years ago, I had a chance to meet many girls in Sarajevo who had committed abortions just like nothing. And one occasion I had enough courage to ask Our Lady, I asked her 'what happens to those unborn babies? Why don't they go to Heaven because they did not choose to be killed?' Our Lady said to me, 'Those children are in Heaven with Me.' And now, 24 years after, even our holy Catholic Church says and confirms: there is no limbo, that they go straight to Heaven.

I would be very grateful if all of us would pray to our Blessed Mother, to heal the many priests who are being gravely hurt by false accusations.

"I already said that previously. We are not supposed to judge. God will judge. God will judge us and priests. We must not be doing that. We cannot take God's matters in our hands. We can only pray and fast, and respect our priests. If you look at Medjugorje, if a priest enters a house in Medjugorje, every member of that family will stand up and no one will sit down or start to talk before he does that. Because we simply know that through this priest we have Jesus entering our home. It is not our task to judge whether he truly represents Jesus or not. God will do that. Our task is to pray for them, to love them, and to respect them. This world will be much nicer, if there was not too much judging as we have. But if you will have more open hearts."

What does Our Lady say about Purgatory?

"That was Vicka and Jakov who experienced to see Purgatory. That was the time of the early apparitions of ex-Yugoslavia of the communist regime. The police was taking us visionaries every single morning. But that particular morning, only Jakov and Vicka succeeded to hide. So when Our Lady appeared, She came only to the two of them. Jakov was only 9½ years old. So when Our Lady came, She said: 'Now, I will take you with Me.' They thought they were going to die because they (were to) go with Our Lady. And Jakov said 'Our Lady, take Vicka. She has seven brothers and sisters. I am the only one in the family.' Our Lady just smiled and said, 'No, no, no I just want to show you that Heaven, hell, and Purgatory do exist.' So it was the two of them that had this experience. A lady urges people to listen to the Blessed Mother and what the visionaries are saying. "First of all what Our Lady says through us. But when we say just like this don't listen to that. Only when we repeat what Our Lady says. And Our Lady said, 'What I started in Fatima, I will finish in Medjugorje. My Immaculate Heart will triumph.' Then what should we be afraid of?"

Does Our Lady say anything about daily Mass and Adoration?

"She says that She desires us to attend Holy Mass but not only on Sunday. If that would turn into every day that would be great. But everyone of us knows with our own heart how often we can do that. But it is important that it is not only on Sunday. And talking about Adoration. Jesus is always in the first place for Our Lady, Holy Mass, Adoration. She never said, "I desire that you do this or through me." She always says, "for my Son and I will pray to my Son, and do the way my Son says." So Jesus is always in the first place. That is what She desires from us, that we adore Jesus.

What about our brothers of other faiths who do not believe in Our Lady and who say that the Rosary is repetitious? What will happen to them? What does She say about them?

First of all, you have to know that She loves them. She loves them the same way that She loves us, maybe even more. But Her Motherly heart aches, suffers, because we have to understand one thing. We receive Jesus through Our Lady, and we will go back to Jesus through Our Lady. You cannot exclude God's Mother. She doesn't ask anything for Herself, but She gives so much. And not to have Her in your heart, that way you lose a lot. Because you lose the warmth and the beauty of Mother. I would like to recommend you, do not judge those people, do not criticize them, do not force them. You better pray for them. Give them your example and put them in Our Lady's hands and be not afraid. Mother will do a miracle through you, but it is always you who are responsible. Because that person will look for the Mother in you. And if that person cannot see Our Lady in you, then everything will be in vain.

One of the pilgrims spoke about having visions of Our Lady. Mirjana replied:

If some of you were able to see something or hear something, then it is you who saw that or heard that. It means that God desires something from you, and God will give you all the answers to your prayers, because that is the way it was with us. When we saw Our Lady, we just prayed to help us to understand and that She would guide us. So if God shows you something, He desires something from you. You will understand through your prayers what that is. You shouldn't worry or think too much about that. You just pray and surrender yourself into God's hands, and He will use you when the time comes. For example, here in Medjugorje, many pilgrims say that they have seen something and they always say like this.

A pilgrim spoke about how he was here in Medjugorje five years ago and had a very wonderful experience. He stayed at Mirjana's house. But when he went home, he failed in faith. He came back to ask Our Lady for forgiveness and also Mirjana to forgive him and to pray for him.

There is nothing I should forgive you for. I love you. You have come back. You have understood, and isn't that something that is most beautiful, and maybe even greater and nicer and more dear to God. You were able to experience what it means to have faith and then to lose it and in that way help those who do not have faith with your own example, with your love, and your prayer because you will be able to understand those people.

What makes the Blessed Mother cry?

Those who have not yet come to know the love of God yet, because She is Mother of every single one of us. Same like on earth, if you have five children and only one of them has gone astray, you will be suffering. Your heart will ache for that one child. It is the same with Our Lady because She knows what can happen to them. That is why She is suffering and is asking for our help.

A religious sister yells out, "Pray for us because we are leaving." Mirjana replies:

Marija is the one who prays for nuns. Sister just reminded me of an interesting thing. You know this priest, Fr. Petar, I have already spoken of him, the one to whom I am suppose to reveal the secrets. He is in the missions in Germany right now, and he called me not that long ago. And he said to me, "You know that there is some talk throughout Germany that the secrets are suppose to happen right now. And my nuns in the monastery are talking about that." I said, "Father, don't you know that you will be the first one to hear it?" He said, "I know. That is why I told my nuns, just go on and keeping sinning as you did before, because nothing is going to happen soon."

What if you have been praying for many, many years and you feel such a dryness?

Just continue to pray, because prayer is a gift of God. Fasting is a gift of God. And only in prayer will we be able to grow in prayer. Prayer is our conversation with God, our relation with our Father, our rest. That is why, pray so that you may succeed to pray the way Our Lady desires you, and that will be with the heart.

What do you feel when you receive Holy Communion?

Wonderful. I am filled with peace and love, because I know that my God is with me. I know that I am so sure, I am so safe, and I know that I myself, I am sharing Him, that my body is the temple of God. That is why I am so thankful to God, that He granted us this, that He granted us this opportunity.

Has Our Lady said anything about family members who may have committed suicide?

No, She never spoke about that.

What about our Jewish brothers?

When Our Lady gave me the mission to pray for the unbelievers, I asked Her, "Who are unbelievers?" She said all those who don't feel church as their home and God as their Father. Now, if you look at Her messages, She is asking the Holy Mass in the first place. With that, of course, Holy Communion. She is asking for Rosaries, fasting, Confession. All these things, as far as I know, are part of the Catholic Church. In one of Her latest messages of the second of the month, She was never more direct as She was at that time. She said, I am asking for unity of the Christians. Now you can make a conclusion on your own. I am just repeating Our Lady's words. I have no right to make conclusions before others. I have no right to command the message that appears because God talks to every single one of us. We will not be able to understand the same message in the same way. We are all people with different wishes and needs.

Are we suppose to have a bunch of Rosaries, candles, etc. to prepare ourselves for what is to happen?

You know, I have a room in my house, full of blessed candles and Rosaries. I am getting ready. I am just kidding, of course. Our heart should be ready. God has to rule within our heart. We should not be afraid. We do not need to prepare hundreds of candles or rosaries. We don't need that. One rosary, one candle, but with a heart filled with God, that is what we need. We should not be afraid. Our Lady says that Her heart will triumph, then what should we be afraid of.

Has Our Lady ever expressed sadness over how we treat our natural environment?

She never specifically talked about that. She talks about man. If someone is a believer, if someone has God in the first place, then he will appreciate even this tree, because God created that. He will be able to see in everything the love of God. And you will respect everything that God created for you.

Sometimes it is hard to prepare yourself to go to Confession, can you give us any advice about Confession?

It is important to realize that you have sins in your heart, and truly repent of them and say that to your priest. But you are not telling that to a priest, you are telling that to God. A priest is your intercessor, like mediator, that is connecting you with God. Confession is very important because that is our purification.

Can Mirjana pray to Our Lady for all those children who have been abused?

I have been praying for those children for a long time. Thanks be to Our Lady for that opportunity that we can pray for them. And you should know that God loves them.

Will the ten secrets be told during the visionaries lifetime?

This is the first time you have asked if it will happen during the lifetime of the visionaries. Usually they ask me, "How old is Fr. Petar?" (laughter) But I cannot speak about that. I have shared with you everything I was allowed to say about the secrets. Everything else is secret.

Does Our Lady talk about those who are homeless, who have no food?

That is who we are. We are responsible for all that. In one of Her messages, Our Lady said, "The way you turn away from those people, my Son will turn away from you." Why do we pray? Why do we fast? To come to know the true faith. Once you have the true faith in you, then you will be able to see that homeless person like your own brother. And you will do anything to help him. That is what our prayer is teaching us about, to be able to feel the pain of other people and to have a heart for them. You cannot pray ten Rosaries a day, and then have no heart for the person who is asking help from you. That is something more like habit and not the heart.

In the last apparition, Mirjana shared with us that Our Lady left in an intense light, entering into Heaven, does that happen often or just happen once?

That was what I was able to see for the first time.

Are we to believe that the information contained in the secrets reason for great hope for the conversion of the world?

Secrets are secrets. Even women are capable of keeping secrets (laughter). But I personally think that it is not possible to keep secrets. It is God who keeps them within ourselves. We went to so many interrogations. We were hypnotized as well. We were never afraid that someone would get the secrets out of us. Because that is God who keeps them within ourselves.

Why did none of the visionaries become priests or nuns?

As children, at the beginning of the apparitions, we asked Our Lady what does She desire of us. And this is what She said to us, "If you desire to become nuns or priests, I desire (that it be) seen that I was with you. But if you want to have the family, I desire that you try to be families as an example to others families." That is all She ever said to me about my personal life. Only on that first time and never again. She just allowed us to choose. Because we were children and She could do with us anything She wanted.

Does Our Lady appear to Mirjana everyday?

Every second of the month, and every 18th of March. Every 18th of March, as long as I live, I don't know how long I will live, and every second of the month, and I do not know until when.

What does Our Lady say about peace between nations and about religious persecution?

With Her coming to Medjugorje, that is all She talks about. She has been here for 26 years and She never said "Dear Croats". She says, "Dear children". The assembly of nations do not exist for Her. Now we who come here to Medjugorje, you should become those apostles and bring little Jesus with you back to your families, your cities, your countries and to show to others what does that mean – dear children. For example, if you and I die tomorrow, I do not know what nation you belong to (United States); God will not ask me if I was good as a Croatian, or you as an American. God will just ask about our soul. What I really personally like is that there are no strangers in Medjugorje. Because where there is a Mother, that is where the home is. That is why we all feel so great here. And that is what we should bring with ourselves, and to give that with our own examples. Let me give you an example that really moved and touched me a lot. As I was climbing the Cross Hill one time, ahead of me there was a group of Italians who were carrying a handicapped boy on their shoulders. They were doing that with a smile on their faces. Sometime after, a little group of Americans were walking by, and all they did, they said, "Change." And they took that boy and they carried that boy. And then Germans, Austrians – without many words. We can see that the boy was carried up Cross Hill by the hands of the entire world and that would be Medjugorje in my opinion. Not who are you, what are you, where do you come from – no, you are my brother and you need help. That is what Our Lady desires from us.

Does she talk about Muslim brothers because of so many problems in the world?

It is not them who create the problems. We always put the guilt on someone else. Let's say Italians for an example, they always complain about Muslims. Jesus teaches you that you should open your door to everybody and to have a heart for everybody. That cross on your wall, teaches you to be like that. So if I open my home to you, you should respect it, which includes to respect the one who teaches me to open my home for you which means Jesus Christ. And if you don't like that, then go back to your own home. And I say to my Italians, it is not the Muslims who are taking the Crosses off the walls of the hospitals or schools, it is you who do that. That is why, do not blame others, first start with yourself.

I have a hard time forgiving and I am worried I have no love of God.

Until you forgive, you will never achieve peace. And you forgive others because of yourself because in that case, you will win. Then you will not have tears on your face. You will not have that pain that can be seen on your face. You will have happiness and peace. Just pray, prayer is the best.

How does Mirjana feel during an apparition?

Are you a Mother? Then I will tell you an example that you will understand. I am a mother as well. I have two daughters, and as every normal mother, I would give my life for them. But during the time that I am with Our Lady, my children do not exist for me. What exists is only a great desire that Our Lady will take me with Her. Many people ask me if I have ever touched Our Lady or if She has ever touched me. There is no need for that, because when She is looking at you, She is embracing you, when you know nothing and you are not interested in anything else, even your children do not exist. Then you can imagine the pain I have when Our Lady leaves. After the apparition, I always write the message down, and I go straight to my room to pray, because only prayer helps me to go forward and gives me strength. It happens maybe one, two, three hours, it depends, but only God, through prayer, helps me. I believe to be with Our Lady is to be in Heaven.

Can souls in Purgatory pray for us?

I really do not know that because Our Lady never speaks to me about that. She always says that God is the one who judges. She doesn't talk about that.

Does Our Lady appear to you wherever you are or do you have to be in a certain place?

There should always be a place that is worthy of Our Lady's presence. It doesn't matter what country it is, Croatia, Germany, America because that does not exist for Her. For Her, She just has Her children on earth.

Why do so many people find it hard to believe in God and but easy to believe in evil?

Because when you say that you believe in God, that you desire to follow God in everything, it means to take your cross and follow your God. That is not easy always. I remember when little St. Theresa said, "Jesus, if you are treating your friends like this, now I know why you have very few of them."

When you pray, should you be praying formal prayers or just talking to God?

Both. I do both. I personally do both.

How long does the vision last?

It is never the same, but between three and eight minutes.

What Our Lady says about the signs of the time?

I cannot comment or explain the messages because every one of us has our own signs of the time.

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