Mary TV Daily Reflection 6/29/2015

   

The Truth of Medjugorje!
(c)Mary TV 2015

J.M.J.   

June 29, 2015

Sts. Peter and Paul

Dear Family of Mary!

There has been a lot of talk about Medjugorje over the past few days, having to do with speculation about the Vatican commission, etc. It has been a bit unsettling for some. I have transcribed the homily given on Sunday, June 27, 2015, at the English Mass in Medjugorje, because I believe it answers the unsettling speculators very well. It gave me much peace, and I hope it will give you peace as well.

Homily for English Mass, Medjugorje, June 28, 2015

Fr. Rory O' Donnell

My dear friends, would you believe that is has been 28 years since I first set foot in this parish of Medjugorje. I was a seventeen year old boy, and one of my priest/teachers challenged me to come here to Medjugorje. Religion class had become a series of stand up rows between himself and I. The political situation in Ireland at the time was very tense at the time especially in the North and the views that I held and that my family held were in sharp contrast to anything that the Church was saying at the time.

But eventually, one day, in exasperation as myself and this priest were rowing back and forth at each other in the classroom, he said to me, "Have you ever heard of Medjugorje? If you went there you would change your views." And you know something, what he said was true beyond his or my wildest dreams.

Each time I come to Medjugorje...I have been here countless times. But each time I come here and alight from the bus or the car I have to stop myself from throwing myself down on the ground and kissing the sacred, sandy soil of Medjugorje. Because it was here 28 years ago that I was born, at the age of 17.

Our first reading reminds us that there is death and there is life. God's desire for us is to exist for all eternity. But the enemy of our souls is jealous. He wants to bring us to death. The evil one had a plan for me, and he had me walking on a certain path. But Mary stepped in and she snatched me from him. And through her direction, like the woman in today's Gospel, I came closer to Jesus than I ever thought possible.

On my third day here in Medjugorje, the joy and peace was already dawning in my soul. And at that time, the people used to gather up there where the parish office is now, and we would kneel outside to welcome the presence of Our Lady. And on that third day, just after I had knelt and I stood up, a woman approached me and she was crying. And she said to me, "Rory, during the last few minutes, as we were kneeling down, I looked over in your direction. And all of a sudden, you were enveloped in a circle of light, and everything else became dark. And I heard a voice, and it was the voice of a woman, and the voice simply said, 'He is going to be a priest.'"

I was shocked. I was stunned. I walked away, but for some strange reason it was as if someone had put the final piece in the jigsaw of my life. And I began to feel this great sense of joy. I remember going to confession, and many of you here know Fr. Svet. Fr. Svet was hearing confessions and I told him my sins, and then he said to me, "What will you do with your life?" And I told him what had just occurred, and he said "Well you know, the Church in Ireland needs you."

I came back, and that was in April. And my family thought that it was a different son who had returned because I was so different to the person who had gone. And years later my mother told me that my four brothers and two sisters had said to her, "What happened to Rory in Medjugorje?" Because he is so different from the young man who went there in the first place. In fact a few weeks later I was going into Sunday Mass, and I went with my older brother, Seany, and as we were walking into Mass he turned to me and said, "Rory, please, please stop that!" And as we were walking into the church yard, I said, "Stop what?" And he said, "You know what you are doing. Please stop it. It's embarrassing." And I said, "Seany, I don't know what you are talking about." And he said, "Rory, stop smiling at everyone." It was true, the joy was so deep in my heart when I came back.

But you can imagine as the weeks and months went on, I began to wonder about the calling from Medjugorje. Was it really true, was it this woman's imagination?? Maybe it was something else. I saved every penny I had, I collected copper coins to get back to Medjugorje on the following October. And I was out here in the fields one day, and there were some Irish women kneeling on the ground, looking up at the sun. I was with two friends of mine, and they said to me, can you see the sun spinning? And I was dismissive of it, and I said to them, "You know if you look at the sun long enough, you know it's going to spin." And one of the women got very angry with me. And she said to me, "I cannot understand why people with no faith come to Medjugorje."

The next day, two of the women who were with her said to me, "Did you catch up with Mary?" I said "No." They said, "Oh, she really wants to talk with you." I thought she wanted to apologize because she was a little bit intemperate the day before. Finally she caught up with me, and she sat me down and she said to me, "I have to tell you something that happened yesterday. I was so angry with you. And I began to say in my mind, why do people who don't believe come to Medjugorje." And she said, "I heard a voice, and it was the voice of a woman. And the voice simply said, 'Why, he is going to be a priest.'" Twice in one year that was confirmed for me here in Medjugorje.

My road to priesthood was long and it was difficult. I trained for ten years. I was in three seminaries, and I was in two different dioceses. I was kicked out of one seminary twice! Can anyone beat that record? But here I am now, 28 years later. And the truth of what Mary said, the truth of what I received here in Medjugorje, has become a reality. Because on the 20th of June, 1998, I was ordained to the priesthood, and incidentally, the 20th of June, 1998, was the Feast of the Triumph of Immaculate Heart of Mary! It was on that day that I was ordained.

You know, over the last few weeks and months and years really, there has been a lot of talk about what is the truth of Medjugorje. There are many opinions and many of them contrast and many of them say it is a hoax and it's nonsense, it is not true. The story I just told you is the truth of Medjugorje. Because it is true that a young boy came here 28 years ago, and here he was called to the priesthood. Here he left his old life behind. Here he took something new. That is the truth of Medjugorje.

I know that many of my brother priests who are here today, many of them have sat for many hours over the years, hearing confessions here in the parish. And we have heard the stories of lives that have been changed, of healings, of recoveries, of all kinds of extraordinary miracles. We ourselves know the truth of Medjugorje. And we ourselves have experienced that truth through the stories that we have heard. I am sure that many of you have gone to Cenacolo. You have heard the stories of broken lives that have been mended, of young men who were on one path that was leading them to death, being called to a path towards the fullness of life. That is the truth of Medjugorje.

And there is no commission and there is no inquiry and there is no churchman who can ever contradict or deny that truth of Medjugorje. So my dear friends, your role now is to go back home and to be the truth of Medjugorje. Your role is to go back to your family, your countries, your families, your homes, your loved ones, and by the ways your lives have changed, you become the truth of Medjugorje. No one can ever contradict that my brother, my sister, my dad, my mum, my son, my daughter went to Medjugorje and came back and all of a sudden Sunday Mass is the most important thing in their life. They won't allow a day to pass without praying. They won't allow a month pass without trying to get to confession. Your role, your job, your task now, given to you by Our Lady, is to go back and be the truth of Medjugorje.

And you know, as I look out and see the young people here, you have a very particular call. Our Lady has called you here. There is nothing more wonderful than when I hear parents say to me, "You know we are not Mass goers, but my son, my daughter, they went to Medjugorje and came back and they won't miss Mass for the world. They are there every Sunday, no matter how late they are out Saturday evening, they are up for Mass on Sunday. My son, my daughter, they went to Medjugorje, and they came back with Rosary beads in their pocket and they pray it every night. That is the greatest witness, as young people you have a far greater witness to give to the world than those of us who are a little bit more advanced in years.

So my dear young people, you need to go back and be the truth the Medjugorje, a truth that can never be denied and never be contradicted. Because, please God, no matter what happens here, someday I will hear a father or a mother say, "You know, my child is a living word of God, because my child went as one person when they went to Medjugorje and when they came back, like the woman in the Gospel, they had come closer to Jesus."

Thank you, Father Rory! Thank you for the clarity of your words.

Our Lady also spoke clearly to us on the 25th:

June 25, 2015

"Dear children! Also today the Most High gives me the grace to be able to love you and to call you to conversion. Little children, may God be your tomorrow and not war and lack of peace; not sorrow but joy and peace must begin to reign in the heart of every person - but without God you will never find peace. Therefore, little children, return to God and to prayer so that your heart may sing with joy. I am with you and I love you with immeasurable love. Thank you for having responded to my call."

May our hearts sing with joy!!!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2015

"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world."
Saint John Paul II
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