How the Early Church Learned…
The following is a writing from A Friend of Medjugorje:
On June 25, 1991, Our Lady gave a profound message which was also a promise for all those who would take Her words seriously and live them to the best of their ability.
We, at the Community of Caritas, have experienced the truth of this message over and over again in our own individual lives as we pray to understand the mystery of Our Lady's messages, the "plan" She speaks about, and our individual role in it. There is much to learn about Medjugorje. In fact, the more we learn, the more we realize that there is much more to learn as the mystery always goes deeper.
In looking at the Holy Scriptures, we began to see so many parallels between the events that took place 2,000 years ago when Jesus walked the earth and Medjugorje today. The Holy Scriptures, indeed, help us to understand the profoundness of Medjugorje. One of the lessons we learned involves St. Paul, and it helped us to make the best decision concerning our formation at Caritas. St. Paul, after being knocked off his horse and converted to Jesus, did not go out immediately to the people to begin preaching, rather he went into prayer and formation for eight or possibly twelve years. Evidently he did this because he realized that a spiritual formation was necessary before he would adequately be able to spread Christ's messages of love, peace, and reconciliation. St. Paul had to learn and experience the ways of Christ on a personal level before he could teach others this new way of living. When it came time for St. Paul to speak, he did so with authority, strength, and conviction because he was living what he preached. He had more than just words to offer the people. He gave, with his life, proof that Jesus truly is the Way because St. Paul's life witnessed to the authenticity of Jesus' own words and example.
Our Lady's messages show us that She allowed necessary formation and before telling the visionaries, the parish, and others to take action. The January 25, 1987 message is a good example.
Our Lady, who for six years had guided them, then called them to "start" living a "new life" - six years after the apparitions started. What had they been doing for six years? Through Our Lady, they were receiving spiritual formation, slowly learning to live the messages. Jesus said many times after healing someone not to tell anyone. He wanted them to reflect, to grow, and not be endangered by the thought, "I was healed because I merited it." Silence and time give clarity and gives one the understanding that it was God's grace, not my merits. Conversion is a healing and must be dealt with in the same way. It is a mistake to be newly converted and go out speaking about how to live the messages when you are without a foundation and speaking only words. Yes, the urge is there, but it is not necessarily from God because it could be your ambition or not God's time rather yours. Our Lady even reined in the visionaries during the early days when they had a tremendous urge to give advice, but because they had little spiritual formation, Our Lady told them:
August 26, 1981
After years with Our Lady and doing their best to live the messages, the visionaries now give advice to countless souls, in addition to those who go to them as individuals seeking spiritual advice.
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Throughout the years we have denied many requests to speak, realizing early on at Caritas that the same was necessary for us. How could we expect people to listen to our words about how to live Our Lady's messages, when we did not know ourselves what that meant. For the past several years our primary focus has been to learn from Our Lady how to live a holy life and to step-by-step change our life to match what Our Lady was teaching us. Our opinions, our way of doing things, our behavior, even our likes and dislikes had to change in order for us to "try" to become as Mary requests - a "reflection of Jesus."
St. Paul eventually realized that he was being called out of his seclusion into the world to spread the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles. He was called to share what he had learned about the teachings of Christ and the mystery of redemption.
We believe Our Lady is directing us to do the same. Over the years, we have lived through many "lessons" as Our Lady had guided us to a fuller understanding of Her purpose in the world today. As evidence in this booklet, as well as past ones, there is much to be shared about Our Lady's messages which Our Lady has helped us to understand.
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