September 14, 2014
Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross
Dear Children of Medjugorje, praised be Jesus and Mary!
1. On September 2, 2014, Mirjana
received her monthly apparition at the Blue Cross, surrounded by a
large crowd. After the apparition, she gave the following message:
"Dear children, I,
your mother, am coming anew among you out of love which has no end,
from endless love of the endless Heavenly Father. And as I am looking
into your hearts I see that many of you accept me as a mother and, with
sincere and pure hearts, you desire to be my apostles. But, I am also
the mother of those of you who do not accept me and who, in the hardness
of your hearts, do not desire to come to know the love of my Son. And
you do not know how much my heart suffers and how much I pray to my Son
for you. I pray to Him to heal your souls because He can do so. I pray
to Him to illuminate you with the miracle of the Holy Spirit so that you
may stop, always anew, betraying, cursing and wounding Him. With all my
heart I pray for you to understand that only my Son is the salvation
and the light of the world. And you, my children, my dear apostles,
always carry my Son in your hearts and thoughts. In this way you are
carrying love. All those who do not know Him will recognize Him in your
love. I am always beside you. In a special way I am beside your
shepherds because my Son has called them to lead you on the way to
eternity. Thank you, my apostles, for your sacrifice and love."
2. A heavy bag!
A few days ago, during the evening Mass, a priest recounted the
following parable in his homily: A man came home from work one day and
found a huge sack of potatoes near the door of his house, blocking the
entrance. His little boy was there, happy to welcome his daddy home, but
the sack was barring the way and it was much bigger than the child. The
father said to the child, "Move the sack so that we can open the door
properly!" The little fellow tried to move the sack, but was unable to.
"I can't daddy, it's too heavy!" "Yes, you can!" his father replied,
"Try again to shift it!" The child tried again, but couldn't get the
enormous sack to budge even a millimeter. "I can't daddy," he protested
yet again. "Yes, you can!" the father insisted. The child made one last
attempt, putting all his weight to the sack, but in vain!
"Daddy, I tried with all my strength, I really did everything I could, but the sack is too heavy for me!"
"No, my boy, you haven't done everything you can!" The child looked at his father, puzzled.
"You haven't done everything you can," the father explained, "You didn't call on me for help!"
The
child understood then. He had allowed his true possibilities to slip
by; the thought hadn't crossed his mind that having a father multiplied
his capabilities. Having a father meant that he could rise above himself
and not be checked by his own limitations any more. Having a father
gives us wings!
This parable is very timely today, when man tries
to live of his own strength, without calling on God's help. He labors
with all his strength and invests all his natural capacities in building
a world to his liking, and he perceives with anguish that happiness
eludes him and that this world is falling apart. The mountain of
problems he encounters is too big for him to handle. And all along the
Heavenly Father is there, waiting for his child to turn to Him, instead
of being oblivious of God, or even worse, rejecting Him from his life!
"You work a lot," the Virgin Mary tells us, "But without God's
blessing!" Why is it that we live below our means and go without the
powerful riches that God offers us? We are made for the infinite and we
carry a deep nostalgia for it within us! The hour has come to welcome
the infinite love of the Infinite Heavenly Father, according to Our
Lady's expression in the message above.
3. Why not Six Modern Beatitudes?
Today
we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross of Our Lord, the One who has
taught us the true way of happiness, and who has revolutionized our
conceptions. If Jesus was walking among us today, we could imagine that
He might say the following:
Blessed are you when you fail, because in your failure you discover your real need of me.
Blessed are you when you are in trouble, because your trouble has opened your ears to hear my message.
Blessed
are you when you are suffering temptation, because then your weakness
comes home to you, and you are willing to accept the offer of my
strength.
Blessed
are you when you are lonely, or afflicted, or rejected, for then you
realize that true communion is only possible with me, and in me, with
other people.
Blessed are you when you love and so are vulnerable; I too was wounded because I loved.
Blessed are you when you meet with difficulties when trying to follow me; this is a sign that you are on the right path. (Transmitted by Colin Beatty)
4. On Friday September 12, at 10pm, Ivan received Our Lady's apparition at the Blue Cross,
the last one before going home to the USA. Our Lady appeared very happy
and joyful. After blessing us, she prayed over us at length with her
hands extended. She then prayed for a long time for peace in the world
and for vocations in the Church. Let us join her in her motherly
intercession, with our own prayers and offerings. She is so much in need
of our prayer. How many times has she said: "Less talk and more
prayer"?
A nice thing to know is that, sometimes during
her apparitions to the visionaries, Our Lady prays out loud in her
mother tongue, especially on Thursdays when priests are present at the
apparition at Ivan's place, or when pilgrims with Jewish roots are
present.
5. On September 3rd Vicka
celebrated her 50th birthday! As always, Our Lady gave her a kiss, and
Vicka was radiant with joy! Let's pray for Vicka, who prays so much for
us! May the next fifty years be as fruitful as the first fifty! Until
now, when receiving the pilgrims, Vicka would pray silently for a full
20 mins over the crowd. But recently, she prayed for an hour, which has
never happened before! It was very powerful. No one moved or spoke, you
could have heard a pin drop. This new initiative of Vicka's is a
notable sign that Our Lady is giving us to better understand the urgency
of prayer today.
Dearest Gospa, Mother of Mercy and compassion,
please soften our hearts and make them like unto your heart. Yes, we
want to be your "dear apostles" and collaborate with you in the
wonderful work you are doing to unite all your children to your Son,
Jesus.
Sister Emmanuel +
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