Our Lady brings us to her Son, Jesus.
(c) Mary TV 2014
J.M.J
June 23, 2014
Novena to Our Lady, Queen of Peace, Day 9
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear
children, As the Queen of Peace, I desire to give peace to you, my
children, true peace which comes through the heart of my Divine Son. As a
mother I pray that wisdom, humility and goodness may come to reign in
your hearts; that peace may reign; that my Son may reign. When my Son
will be the ruler in your hearts, you will be able to help others to
come to know Him. When heavenly peace comes to rule over you, those who
are seeking it in the wrong places, thus causing pain to my motherly
heart, will recognize it. My children, great will be my joy when I see
that you are accepting my words and that you desire to follow me. Do not
be afraid, you are not alone. Give me your hands and I will lead you.
Do not forget your shepherds. Pray that in their thoughts they may
always be with my Son, who called them to witness Him. Thank you." (
April 2, 2012)
Today
is the last day of our novena to Our Lady in honor of 33 years of her
presence in Medjugorje. For our meditation today I would like to share
part of a homily that was given at the English Mass on June 21, 2014. It was
given by a priest from Ireland, whose name I do not know. It sums up
what Our Lady is doing in Medjugorje very well. It will help us prepare
for the Feast of John the Baptist and for the 33rd Anniversary!
Homily at English Mass, June 21, 2014:
A
number of years ago, when I was a student, I met a priest from one of
the South American countries. We were talking and I asked him about his
country, and I asked him what percent of the population was Catholic. He
said it is 100% Catholic, but 95 % of the people believe in Our Lady of
Guadalupe and the other 5% believe in God. One of the things that has
struck me so forcefully since coming to Medjugorje is that in all of the
messages of Our Lady, and in everything that happens here, the focus is
always drawn to her Son. That is what she wants. I saw it yesterday in the beautiful Veneration of the Cross. We saw it so movingly on Thursday,
the Feast of Corpus Christi, with the beautiful and moving Corpus
Christi procession, and the reverence that there is here for Jesus,
present in the Eucharist.
As we were walking around the streets on Thursday
night, I thought about something that I read a number of years ago.
Many of you here may have heard of Sr. Briege McKenna. Briege McKenna is
an Irish Franciscan Sister who in her own life had an extraordinary
experience of healing. And as a result of that, she has dedicated her
life to traveling the world, sharing the message of the Gospel. And a
number of years ago, she wrote a wonderful book called "Miracles Do
Happen". And in one of the chapters of that book, called "The
Transforming Power of the Eucharist", she describes an incident. She was
in South America and a priest that she knew invited her to his parish
and he asked her to come with him on a journey, it took them hours to
get there on very rough terrain, to a community in a very poor area
where he was able to go only once a year to celebrate Mass.
She
describes the scene as they arrive on the mountain side area... there is
no church, no semblance even of a church... there is a broken down table
for an altar. But there are hundreds and hundreds of people walking
towards this spot for this one Mass that they have every year. She
describes the poverty and the squalor and she was really disturbed by
it. In her own words she said, she had been a daily communicate since
she was twelve years of age, but this one Mass changed her life. And the
reason for that was that just before the Mass, she noticed an old woman
coming with a little bundle in her arms and she went up to this woman,
thinking this was a gift she was bringing for the priest, and the woman
opened the bundle and inside was a little boy who was very badly burned
and was screaming with pain. Then the priest and Sr. Briege said a
little prayer with him and the priest suggested that the lady place the
little boy under the make-shift altar for the Mass. That she did.
Briege
goes on to describe the extraordinary reverence with which these people
prayed, particularly when it came to the Consecration. When the Mass
was over Briege went up to see this woman and to see the little boy, but
he was nowhere to be seen when she got to the altar. And she met the
woman and she said, "Where is the little boy?" And she pointed to him.
He had crept out from under the altar and was playing with the other
little children. And Briege McKenna looked at the woman and she just
couldn't believe it. She said, "What happened?" And the woman said,
"Sister, what do you mean, what happened. Didn't Jesus come?"
I
read that passage a few times and I thought I had missed something
here. Then I realized it was my own lack of faith that didn't allow me
to believe what those people in their poverty had no difficulty
believing, in the healing power of Jesus in the Eucharist, that that
could happen and did happen. So I am very conscious of that here. We
have this privilege of celebrating the presence of Jesus in the
Eucharist. He comes to us in the most intimate way, and comes to all of
us, whatever our state in life. Whatever state our life is in, in our
brokenness, in our pain, in our grief, in our sinfulness, He wants to be
intimately united with us.
One
last little thought, a few months ago, as you will probably remember,
President Barak Obama paid a visit to Pope Francis in the Vatican. The
next day it was worldwide news and there was one picture in particular
of these two powerful men meeting together in the Pope's study, sharing a
joke. Their faces were filled with laughter. And that morning I visited
one of the schools in my parish at home, in a little village called
Aral, a beautiful little school with beautiful children.
And
in one of the classrooms the teacher was showing them that picture on a
white board screen of the two men meeting each other. And he said to
the class, "Which of those men do you think is the most powerful man in
the world?" And one little girl, whose grandparents are here today,
spoke up and said, "Sir. It's neither of them, it's the guy hanging on
the cross behind them."
That
to me is what Medjugorje does. It reminds us, it's the Guy
on the Cross,
it's the One present to us in the Word of God today, it's the One
present here in the congregation, but most of all it's the One present
here on the altar every time we come to Mass. Because every time we come
to Mass, heaven and earth meet together in the most powerful way. That
is the message of Our Lady of Medjugorje. It is also the message of St.
John the Baptist, whose feast day we celebrate next week, and who is so
important here in this village. He was the one who gave us the line,
"Behold the Lamb of God. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the
world."
I think if we could all go away from here, those of us who have been
privileged to be invited to this beautiful place, if we could go away
from here with just our faith in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist
strengthened just by a morsel that would make His mother very happy.
(Homily at English Mass in Medjugorje, 06/21/14)
Dearest
Mother, you are our Queen of Peace. We want to submit ourselves to you
as our Queen. We believe that you have come to bring us to your Son,
Jesus, so that He can be our King, the King of our hearts. He is present
in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. May we draw near to Him
through your guidance and intercession! Mary, Our Queen, bring us to
your Son!
Let us pray:
Prayer to the Queen of Peace
Mary, Mother of God and Our Mother, Queen of Peace!
You came to us to lead us to God.
Obtain for us the grace
not only to say:
"Be it done to me according to Your word!",
but to live it, as You did.
Into Your hands we put our hands,
so that You may lead us to Him
amidst these afflictions and woes.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Creed, 7 Our Fathers, 7 Hail Marys, 7 Glory Bes....
Veni Creator Spiritus - Come Holy Spirit
Come Holy Spirit, Creator, come
best gift of God above,
the living spring, the living fire,
sweet unction and true love.
Thou Who are called the Paraclete,
from Thy bright heavenly throne,
come, take possession of our souls,
and make them all Thine own.
Thou who are sevenfold in Thy grace,
finger of God's right hand,
His promise, teaching little ones
to speak and understand.
O guide our minds with Thy blest light,
with love our hearts inflame;
and with Thy strength, which never decays,
confirm our mortal frame.
Far from us drive our deadly foe,
true peace unto us bring,
and through all perils lead us safe
beneath Thy sacred wing.
Through Thee may we the Father know,
through Thee the eternal Son,
and Thee the Spirit of them both,
thrice-blessed Three in One.
All glory to the Father be,
with his co-equal Son:
the same to Thee, great Paraclete,
while endless ages run. Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.
- Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
- And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray:
God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of thy
faithful, grant that by that same Spirit we may be always truly wise
and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray the Rosary!!
In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
©Mary TV 2014
PS.
The is the last day that we accompany the parish as they climb
Apparition Hill, praying the Rosary during this Novena before the 33rd
Anniversary! Join us at www.marytv.tv
"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world."
Saint John Paul II
Be connected!
www.marytv.tv
A reverent genuflection. 
