April 20, 2011
Dear Children of Medjugorje, praised be Jesus and Mary!
1 – On April 2nd, 2011, Mirjana received her monthly apparition at the Blue Cross, surrounded by a big crowd covering Podbrdo. After the apparition, she gave us the following message:
“Dear children! With motherly love I desire to open the heart of each of you and to teach you personal unity with the Father. To accept this, you must comprehend that you are important to God and that He is calling you individually. You must comprehend that your prayer is a conversation of a child with the Father; that love is the way by which you must set out - love for God and for your neighbor. That is, my children, the love that has no boundaries; that is the love that emanates from truth and goes to the end. Follow me, my children, so that also others, in recognizing the truth and love in you, may follow you. Thank you.”
The Blessed Mother invited us once more to pray for our shepherds. She said, “They have a special place in my heart, they represent my Son.”
Image via Wikipedia
2 – I just came back, filled with wonder, from a long trip to South- East Asia. Here are a few quick flashes…
In Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia), while we were praying (chanting) the chaplet of Divine Mercy, one of the participants whose vision was completely blurred, started to see clearly, and his vision kept improving throughout the day. Thank you Jesus!
In Kuching (Malaysia), our friend Maria was told by her colleague, an anguished father of a child who had been born prematurely at 7 months, that the baby needed to undergo a risky operation because he had water on his brain (hydrocephaly). Maria decided to go and pray for the child and she took with her rose petals blessed by Our Lady in Medjugorje. The parents are Anglican. They accepted the prayer. Maria told the father to place a rose petal on the child's head and to pray a Hail Mary, a prayer that he knew. The next day, on the day of the operation, the procedure was cancelled because the liquid had completely disappeared. The surgeon could not explain the change. Thank you Mary!
In Jakarta (Indonesia), a couple who came to listen to the messages of Medjugorje during one of our meetings brought their daughter with them. While I was explaining how Satan subtly tricks people by using occult practices - using people who look very charitable offering amulets, lucky charms, or other objects - the young woman realized that she was recently given such a “gift”. She was carrying it around her neck. It was an object that a person had advised her to wear “for good luck” telling her, “Be careful never to take it off, because if you do, it would bring you bad luck!” She told her parents about this object after the meeting and they asked her to throw it away. The young woman was so afraid she began to cry. She reluctantly handed it over to the priest that was present. That same evening, she sent a message to her parents to thank them. Since getting rid of the object, she has felt a great interior peace that she had never experienced before in her life: her whole body was liberated from a strong oppression that she had continuously felt on her spine and in her head. Now she was crying for joy and she came closer to Jesus. Her fear disappeared. Thank you Jesus!
In China, I was able to visit Catholic orphanages, and I was particularly moved by one of them in the North of the country. All the nuns there are young. In fact, there are as many postulants as there are sisters! Their work consists of taking care of abandoned children. According to Chinese law, families are allowed only one child (two in rare cases); so if the child is born handicapped, some families want to have another child anonymously leaving the handicapped baby in front of the orphanage door. Many of these children go through great sufferings. It is not difficult to see in them the face of Jesus innocent and crucified.
Since we are approaching Good Friday, I thank God for having shown me His Son in agony and also the greatness of the mission of the sisters who take care of Him with so much devotion and love. They know the great value of suffering when offered to the Father along with that of Christ, and their lives are like a constant Holy Mass. In a society where a human being is not considered in the dimension of his soul but rather valued only for his earthly efficiency, these Sisters are a luminous sign, a bright sun enlightening all of China.
During this Holy week, may their example inspire us and may our humble prayer support them! One day, in the eternal light of God, we will be surprised to see who were the most beautiful beings on earth and what graces we owe to the hidden offering of these little co-redeemers, despised and rejected by the world.
3 – He is alive! He is real!
In Singapore, I saw a friend that I knew from Medjugorje, Fr. Michael Lim, a “baby priest” (because he was ordained only last month) who has a beautiful testimony. From Chinese origin, a Buddhist, he knew nothing about our faith and wanted to keep away from Christians. His elder sister, Violet, has been gravely ill since adolescence. She had to go through many painful surgeries, including one that almost killed her. Her condition was getting worse and worse. Stuck to her wheelchair, she was a cause of great sorrow for her family, who felt powerless to help her.
In June 1995, Rose, a Catholic, advised Michael to take his sister to a church where a priest was to lead a charismatic healing service. Michael was skeptical but willing to do anything to help his sister. He explained: “People were waving their arms or placing their hands on another’s shoulder to pray. I thought it was ridiculous. Rose told me to pray to Jesus to send the Holy Spirit through the priest to heal my sister. I didn’t understand what she was talking about. But I spoke to Jesus and I said, “Make her walk and I will believe in you.” When the priest came up to us, he prayed over my sister and then told her to stand. First she walked and then she started to run. The first thing that came into my mind was: He’s alive! Jesus is real! I was in tears. From that point onwards I wanted to know everything there was to know about Catholicism. I read the whole Bible from cover to cover in less than 60 days.”
Michael could not put the Bible down and spent several hours a day reading it, like a thirsty man who finally has found living waters to quench his thirst. His soul longed for the living God!
Of course the story does not end here, but I can tell you that after this event, his entire family was baptized and Michael was accepted into the seminary at the age of 38. He was ordained a priest last month, March 25th, the Annunciation. He said to his parishioners: “It took me 35 years to find God. You were given that knowledge from birth and you want to throw it away? Listen to me. Never waste it!”
Yes, Jesus is alive! On Easter we are going to celebrate the joy of having such a God, not made by human hands and powerless to save, but real and alive; and his name is Love! His name is Ieshua, “God saves”!
4 – The feast day of Blessed Pope John Paul II will be observed every Oct. 22nd in Rome and Poland, according to a decree issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship. That date is the day of his enthronization, six days after his election as Pope on October 16, 1978.
Let’s not forget that he, Pope John Paul II, made Sr. Faustina known to us along with her incredible message. The Novena to the Divine Mercy starts on Good Friday (April 22, 2011) and ends on the first Sunday after Easter, the feast of Divine Mercy, (May 1, 2011). Do not miss this opportunity! Through this special prayer that He dictated to her, Jesus promised huge blessings to St. Faustina for our time, (See PS 2).
Dearest Gospa! By compassion of love, you have shared in the sufferings of your Son Jesus and in the joys of His Resurrection.
Please open our hearts to His love so that, during this Pascal Triduum, He will not knock on the door of our hearts in vain, but find a true friend in us.
Sr. Emmanuel +
PS 1 – A final Lenten encouragement: “Dear children! In this time of renunciation, prayer and penance, I call you anew: go and confess your sins so that grace may open your hearts, and permit it to change you. Convert, little children, open yourselves to God and to His plan for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (Message of Febuary 25, 2009)
PS 2 - Do not forget the Novena to the Divine Mercy, from Good Friday (April 22) to the Sunday after Easter, the Feast of Devine Mercy (May 1). Rivers of grace are being lavished on us then! Find the novena text on our website: http://www.childrenofmedjugorje.com Here you will also find two wonderful CDs were created with this very intention in mind: “The Divine Mercy Chaplet” and “The incredible Mercy of God”. We also recommend reading St Faustina’s Diary as a powerful preparation to open your heart to the graces of Divine Mercy.
PS 3 – Children of Medjugorje Inc needs your help! Please consider supporting our ministry in prayer and, if possible, through financial contributions so that we may be able to continue spreading the messages of Our Lady to the English-speaking world. If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to help support and sustain our work, please donate through this link on our secure online store or send an email to pray@childrenofmedjugorje.com. Your generosity is deeply appreciated! Thank you!
PS 4 Sister Emmanuel’s latest teachings – are 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 (about Confession); 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 last fall at the Children of Medjugorje Summit Retreat in St Malo, Colorado!
PS 5- Watch Sister Emmanuel ON DEMAND, on your computer! Go to: www.napavalleyTV.org. Click on "Video on Demand" on the red banner at the top. Screen goes light blue- wait, then scroll way down until you see channel 27 channel 28 side by side. Click on Channel 28 and scroll down the list until "Medjugorje- Our Mother's Last Call", then click on the date you want to watch.
PS 6- Take Medjugorje home! View the evening celebration live at: http://www.medjugorje.hr/fr/multimedia/tv-web/
© 2011 Children of Medjugorje, Inc.
www.childrenofmedjugorje.com
PO Box 18430, Denver CO 80218, USA
© Children of Medjugorje 2011
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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