© Children of Medjugorje 2009
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May 17, 2009
Dear Children of Medjugorje, praised be Jesus and Mary!
1 – On May 2nd, Mirjana Soldo received her monthly apparition at the Blue Cross, in the presence of many people. After the apparition she shared the following message,
Image by angelofsweetbitter2009 via Flickr
“Dear Children! Already for a long time I am giving you my motherly heart and offering my Son to you. You are rejecting me. You are permitting sin to overcome you more and more. You are permitting it to master you and to take away your power of discernment. My poor children, look around you and look at the signs of the times. Do you think that you can do without God's blessing? Do not permit darkness to envelop you. From the depth of your heart cry out for my Son. His Name disperses even the greatest darkness. I will be with you, you just call me; ‘Here we are, Mother, lead us.’ Thank you.” Our Lady was very sad. She gave the message to us, blessed us and went away.
2 – On May 1st, we celebrated St. Joseph the worker and I received this great story from the village of Lasinja (county of Karlovac, near the BiH border) in Croatia. During the 1991 Patriotic War, between the Serbs, Muslims and Croatians, the Serb forces attacked parts of Croatia destroying many villages. Even though they were displaced, those who survived considered themselves lucky. Before the war, Lasinja had about 2,300 inhabitants and the customary presence of a Catholic parish church. When the Croats regained their territory in this region in 1995, out of 500 houses previously existing in Lasinja, only 9 were left intact; and the parish church was completely leveled to the ground.
The parish priest, Stjepan Bradica, returned to Lasinja to rebuild the church. For a long time people could not live in Lasinja. Instead, they lived in nearby towns and came daily to rebuild their burned houses. There were many left over mines from the war, which made rebuilding a dangerous task. To make matters even more difficult, they had to cross the river Kupa by boat, since the nearest bridge was also destroyed.
The day Father Stjepan finished the foundation wall of the parish church, one meter high, he was fully aware that only God could help him continue further, since there was no money left.
Right before leaving for the boat, which would take him over the river to the place where he temporarily lived, he felt the urge to put an image of St Joseph on that wall. A bit reluctant, he fought inside himself: ‘I can do it tomorrow. I’m in a hurry to go home.’ But this inner urge was so strong that he decided to stay back and look for the image. Finally, St Joseph was on the wall. Then he went in peace.
Just then a high Church delegation came to visit the parish, (in those days many foreign delegations visited destroyed areas in the ex-war zones). About two hours later, he got a call from someone saying: “Come back, immediately. Cardinal Martini (then the Archibishop Emeritus of Milan and a member of Caritas), and our Cardinal Kuharić (Archibishop of Zagreb), are going to visit Lasinja!”
That very day, when Cardinal Kuharić came back to Zagreb, he found a letter from Cardinal Kasper, the Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, asking for advice. He wanted to financially support the rebuilding of a church in the devastated area. Speaking with Cardinal Martini about that offer, they came to the conclusion that the donation should go to the church they had just seen with the image of St. Joseph on the wall!!!
Over the period of several years, Cardinal Kasper donated 580,000 DM (about 290,000 Euros), and Father Stjepan was able to finish the whole church in the year 2000. The church is devoted to St. Anthony of Padua and the Blessed Virgin Mary – the Queen of Martyrs! In the meanwhile, about 1760 inhabitants of Lasinja returned to their village, a high percentage compared to the parishes in the vicinity where about only 50% of the people were able to return to their old land and village.
“Here in Lasinja,” Father Stjepan Bradica can often be heard saying, “God has been so merciful and generous!”
3 – Ivan, the visionary, arrived in Medjugorje from Boston to stay here during the nice season as he does each year. On Friday, May 15th, we were able to join the prayer group reunited at the Blue Cross where the Gospa blessed us all. She again insisted on the fact that today as never before Satan wants to destroy the family. She invited us to pray in the family and for the family.
Vicka, the visionary, cannot meet the pilgrims in these days. She slipped in her home and badly hurt her back. She will not need an operation, thank God! However, she needs a lot of rest in order to recover. Let’s pray in communion with her!
4 - The message of May 2nd did not go unnoticed, it shook us to the core of our beings! The Gospa has never referred to us as, “My poor children!” She was not addressing pagans who live without God, she was addressing first the many pilgrims who were present on that day, regulars of Medjugorje for the majority. Yes! In spite of 28 years of apparitions, we have not welcomed her maternal Heart yet, nor placed her Son Jesus in the first place! Yes, she says the truth, we have rejected her, her messages and her blessings!
She, the protector of families, told us tirelessly, “Each day pray in the family. Prayer in the family is the remedy for the world of today”. But we have continued to ignore that vital message, exposing our children to a spiritual vacuum and the intrusion of ills coming thereof. We found the best excuses for that. Father Slavko used to say, “When we love, we find the means, when we do not love, we find excuses.”
She, who fights for us, often told us, “Fast twice a week on bread and water (except for the sick). Only by fasting and prayer can wars be stopped.” We came several times to Medjugorje and we would have never wanted to miss listening to Vicka or Father Jozo. But we did not put their words into practice. Even while in Medjugorje, we found normal to have meals on Wednesdays and Fridays. Our families are sick, the leaders of our nations promote laws that are contrary to God's laws, but we let things deteriorate as if we had not heard about the miracle cure.
She, the mother of life, told us, “The more children you'll have, the better. Do not be afraid to have children.” But we have preferred to decide ourselves on the small number of our children, choosing material welfare over life. Even when confronted with the pain of solitude, we have neither trusted the Creator, nor his Providence. Our homes are empty, our “only children” are bored, enculturated by television, and we pay for it dearly.
She, the Mother of Jesus, asked us to put the Holy Mass at the center of our lives. But we hurry to Mass on Saturday evenings in order to be “free on Sundays” and to give ourselves to sports or other activities, making the day of the Lord, in fact a day without Him.
She, the co-redemptrix at the foot of the Cross, begged us to give up sin, to go to Confession once a month and to change the direction of our lives. But we get used to remaining months with a heavy conscience. We do not give our children the instruction on sin, which would protect them, for fear of losing their affection or to look old fashioned to them.
She, the Mother of the Word, asked us to read the Bible every day, but even if we do, we are very clever to “pick and choose” from it, for fear of having to change our lives.
She, Blessed among women, asked us to pray before we work in order to live under the blessing of God. But we have made work our Master, building a stressful world without God.
FORTUNATELY, She, the Mother of Mercy, does not want to abandon her children! She gives us the ultimate advice which can avoid a lot of hardship in our lives. Let us not repeat the mistake we made with Fatima’s message! If we had listened to it, the 20th Century would have been less bloody! Today, our Queen of Peace beseeches us: “From the depth of your heart cry out for my Son. His Name disperses even the greatest darkness. I will be with you. Just call me.
‘Here we are mother, lead us!’”
Sister Emmanuel +
(Translated from French)
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PS 1 – Calling all Catholic bookstore owners, prayer group leaders, and others interested in leading others in Our Lady’s School of Prayer! Sister Emmanuel will be giving a retreat in the US October 11-13th. Please email retreat@childrenofmedjugorje.com to express interest and request more information.
PS 2 - “Go and confess your sins!” Mary said. Let’s read again attentively the 10 commandments of God and make sure we are in the state of Grace! To help you make a good confession, there are two TV shows in our series, Confession (Volume Nine), and Reconciliation, (Volume Fifteen). I would also recommend Volume Twenty One: ‘Pray for priests’ with Sr Briege and Twenty Four with Sr Emmanuel.
PS 3 - Great news! COM put out a wonderful DVD: “Preparing for a Successful Marriage!” by Fr. Tim Deeter. It will help you build your marital muscle by helping you to train for marriage, or for the rest of your marriage, like you would train for an Olympic event! So flex your marital muscle and see how you fare!
PS 4 – It’s not too late to make your Consecration to Mary during her month of May! Order Sister Emmanuel’s True Consecration to Mary CD and get FREE SHIPPING now until the end of the month by using coupon code MaryMay.
PS 5 - Read it. Spread it! The Hidden Child of Medjugorje, by Sr. Emmanuel. You won’t regret giving this book to a friend as a shower gift or a wedding gift! In the US go to our store: http://www.childrenofmedjugorje.com then click “Shop COM.”
NEW!! The Spanish version in Argentina is out at Paulinas, paulinas@satlink.com - The Croatian version is in Medjugorje (7.50€), at "Devotions" +387 6337 7497 - devotions@tel.net.ba and “Catholic Bookstore”, +387 6332 2492. Arabic is out in Lebanon. +961 1255500 - office@medugorjeliban.org
English version in UK, 7£, +44 2920460189. In Ireland, 9€, Veritas, Dublin, +353 18788177 - sales@veritas.ie In S. Africa +27 393172825 - alexknox@telkomsa.net In Medjugorje at the Parish bookstore, Devotions and Catholic Bookstore. In Malaysia: +60 128831611 - divinemercy1035@yahoo.com In Bangkok:
French: www.editions-beatitudes.fr
Spanish: “Hijos de Medjugorje”, Barcelona. +34 62979 2849 - gsba15@yahoo.es
Portuguese: 13€ (holding an Imprimatur!) at Diel, Lisboa - www.diel.pt
German: 22€ Parvis Verlag, Swizerland +41 269 159399 - www.parvis.ch
Polish, 8€ Wyd. Marianow, Warsaw +48 22 6425082 - www.wydawnictwo.pl
Italian, 9€ Shalom, Ancona +39 071745 0440 - www.editriceshalom.it
Dutch, 15€, n.imkamp@tele2.nl or veys.stefaan@skynet.be +32 56 777373
Lettonien, "Dzīvības Straumes" +371 29544267 - info@dzivibasstraumes
Chinese, com.hongkong@gmail.com
Bookstores may contact us at pray@childrenofmedjugorje.com
PS 6 – Announcing a new store in Denver selling all of Sr. Emmanuel’s books, CDs, DVD’s and other Medjugorje books and rosaries: Abundant Treasures: 1421 South Broadway, Denver, CO 80210, USA. +1 303777-MARY.
PS 7 - Priests ! Participate in the International Retreat for Priests in Medjugorje from June 29 to July 3, or to the Youth Festival from Aug. 1 to Aug. 6 (The Youth need you!) The lecturer is the friar Ante Vučković, O.F.M. Reservations at: seminar.marija@medjugorje.hr, or fax: +387-36651999 (for Marija Dugandzic). Or join the International Retreat for Priests in ARS (France), from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, with Cardinal Schönborn. Spiritual assistance: Sr. Briege McKenna. info@retraitears2009.org - http://edb.beatitudes.org/ARS2009
© 2009 Children of Medjugorje, Inc
www.childrenofmedjugorje.com
PO Box 18430, Denver CO 80218, USA. Tel. 877-MIR-MEDJ
FREE SHIPPING when you order Sister Emmanuel's True Consecration to Mary CD and enter coupon code "MaryMay" until the end of May!
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