The 17th International Youth Festival - Mladifest 17 – will take place in Medjugorje from August 1st to August 6th, 2006. The theme of the encounter is, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119 [118]:105) (“Dear children … witness with your life that you believe and live the Word of God. - Message of January 25, 2006) This theme is in harmony with the theme of the 21st World Youth Day, which is taking place on April 9th (Palm Sunday) in local Churches. Holy Father is addressing his word to young people:
“From this moment onwards, my dear young friends, in a climate of constant listening to the word of God, call on the Holy Spirit, Spirit of fortitude and witness, that you may be able to proclaim the Gospel without fear even to the ends of the earth. Our Lady was present in the cenacle with the Apostles as they waited for Pentecost. May she be your mother and guide. May she teach you to receive the word of God, to treasure it and to ponder on it in your heart (cf Lk 2:19) as she did throughout her life. May she encourage you to declare your "yes" to the Lord as you live "the obedience of faith". May she help you to remain strong in the faith, constant in hope, persevering in charity, always attentive to the word of God. I am together with you in prayer, and I bless each one of you with all my heart.”
August 1st to August 6th, 2006
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119 [118]:105)
(“Dear children … witness with your life that you believe and live the Word of God. - Message of January 25, 2006)
Programme
Monday, July 31
07:00 pm - Holy Mass – general rehearsal for the choir and the orchestra
08.00 pm - Adoration - – general rehearsal for the choir and the orchestra
Tuesday, August 1
06:00 pm - Rosary
07:00 pm - Holy Mass
09:30 pm - Adoration
Wednesday, August 2
09:00 am - Morning Prayer
09:30 – 12:00 am – Lectures and testimonies
04:00 – 05:30 pm - Lectures and testimonies
06:00 pm – Rosary
07:00 pm - Holy Mass
09:30 pm– Adoration
Thursday, August 3
09:00 am - Morning Prayer
09:30 – 12:00 am – Lectures and testimonies
04:00 – 05:30 pm - Lectures and testimonies
06:00 pm – Rosary
07:00 pm - Holy Mass
08:30 pm – Procession
Friday, August 4
09:00 am - Morning Prayer
09:30 – 12:00 am – Lectures and testimonies – Sister Elvira's Community
04:00 – 05:30 pm - Lectures and testimonies
06:00 pm – Rosary
07:00 pm - Holy Mass
09:30 pm –Theatre and musical show
Saturday, August 5
09:00 am - Morning Prayer
09:30 – 12:00 am – Lectures and testimonies
04:00 – 05:30 pm - Lectures and testimonies
06:00 pm – Rosary
07:00 pm - Holy Mass
08:30 pm - Adoration
09:30 pm - Singing Farewell
Sunday, August 6 – Transfiguration of the Lord
05:00 am - Holy Mass on Cross Mountain
RECOMMENDATIONS
v Things to bring with you: a small FM radio with headphones, a Bible and an umbrella.
v All groups participating in the Youth Prayer meeting: please do not arrange or make plans for any other programs during this week.
v The evening prayer programme for all begins with the Rosary at 6 pm followed by Holy Mass at 7 pm.
v On arrival in Medjugorje, please register at a registration table set up from 9 am to 6 pm every day; registration will take place throughout the entire week.
ATTENTION
DURING THE TIME OF THE YOUTH FESTIVAL (except on Sunday)
THERE WILL BE NO MORNING MASSES FOR PILGRIMS.
ALL PILGRIMS WILL ATTEND THE EVENING MASS WITH THE YOUTH.
During the entire Youth Festival, THERE WILL BE SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Cenacolo Community brings radical cure for addiction
KENDAL - 27 March 2006 - Pearl Mina
Sister Elvira Petrozzi, the Italian foundress of the worldwide CenacoloCommunity, visited the UK last weekend, to celebrate the first anniversaryof Our Lady Queen Of Martyrs House in Dodding Green, Kendal.
Community Cenacolo is a Christian association, founded by the Italian nun,Sister Elvira Petrozzi in 1983 to welcome in desperate young people, who aresuffering from the strains of life, and may have turned to drug addiction,alcohol or substance abuse. In Community they are able to rebuild theirlives for a new life in society. The success rate is astonishing, with 93%of those who enter community houses that Sister Elvira has set up around theworld, never taking drugs again. Many have even taking up vocations withinthe church; up to five new priests have been ordained following Community.There are over 50 Communities worldwide including Italy, France (Lourdes) ,Ireland (Knock) , Austria, Croatia, Brazil Mexico, Bosnia Herzegovina(Medjugorje) , Poland, Dominican Republic and in the USA. There arecurrently 1200 persons in community and there are separate houses for menand women with some family houses for those addicts who wish to have theirchildren with them.After several years of meetings, prayer and many setbacks the first CenacoloCommunity in England was finally opened in Dodding Green on 19 March 2005,by the 'Friends For a UK Cenacolo Community' - a registered charity thatprovides for community and receives no support from the state.As with all Communities, the community at Dodding Green, relies purely onGods Providence, prayer and the generosity of its supporters for theireveryday needs. Unlike a conventional rehabilitation unit, there are nodoctors, counsellors, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, or medication. Lifein the community is simple and centred on work, prayer and spiritualhealing. Each house is self-sufficient, growing their own vegetables anddepending on the location, they may keep animals cows, pigs, chickens andgoats. Every community is run by recovered addicts for addicts under theoverall direction of Sister Elvira, who has a great love for young peoplestruggling with addiction.
Now, a year on, in the presence of the Bishop Of Lancaster, the Rt RevPatrick O'Donoghue, Father Stefan from Italy, Cenacolo's first Ordainedpriest, and Father Michael McCormick, Parish Priest of The Holy Trinity andSt George Parish Kendal, over 500 people from all over Europe gathered atDodding Green, Kendal to celebrate Mass and give thanks to Sister Elvira forher courage and inspiration. The Anniversary Mass was held in a giantmarquee, specially built for the event, on the holy grounds, by the ten mencurrently in residence in the community house.With a hearty voice and vibrant Italian accent Sister Elvira instantlyenthused the crowds at Dodding Green, with her profound testimony,translated by Cenacolo Ambassador Nicola Hughes, a former heroin addict fromLiverpool, who for the past five years has been running the SaluzzoCommunity and house in Italy.
Both Sister Elvira and Nicola Hughes are living witnesses to the power ofthe Holy Spirit and Gods mercy in transforming the lives of young peoplemarked by a harrowing drug addiction and scarred by despair.Sister Elvira's message is revolutionary and simple. To the young who havedesperate and shattered lives caused by addiction, who are unsatisfied andslaves to uncontrollable impulses and destructive habits, who live in fear,darkness, isolation and anger, Sister Elvira and her community joyfully echothe Gospel and announce the resurrection, the triumph of life over death.Sister Elvira teaches that drugs: "can be a cross that kills, or a crossthat saves."Pointing to faith, friendship and work as the means to reform andregenerate, Sister Elvira spoke of the strong call within her heart tominister to the most alone and excluded youth trapped in today'snarcissistic culture, caught in a world filled with material illusions,searching for a meaningless escape, which only leads to a painfulhopelessness, and a constant belief of being misunderstood or ignored:"Today I have a message that is filled with trust, hope and joy, but aboveall faith. The Bishop Of Lancaster has made a great big act of faith in God,by believing in us and even before he got to know us, he trusted the work ofthe Holy Spirit and supported the aims of Cenacolo.
It is always a beautifulsurprise for us when people embrace our mission and today we have beenwelcomed into your open arms with love and faith. I care about you all hereand today the Community Cenacolo proposes to young people in England, a lifeof freedom and being truthful, but first you must be brave and find courage."In Italy, I ask the parents to lose face and take their masks off, to bebrave enough to say "my child takes drugs"."We ask the families and the addicts to live a life of truth and eliminatethe stigma and shame that drugs bring to a family. You don't have to feelscandalised because it is LIFE! Life is a journey and it is difficultsometimes and we shouldn't be surprised of the mistakes other people make,because even if we haven't fallen to the ground yet, one day we might. Onceyou face the truth you can start again because you cannot carry this painfor the rest of your lives."The Bishops' faith is strong and persistent in opening the house here inKendal in the face of many obstacles and negative opposition. When we openedthe first house in Saluzzo Italy many years ago nobody would walk past ourroad! They became very judgmental, even my superiors put their hands ontheir heads and asked: "Oh that nun! What is she doing with all these drugaddicts!""But the risk you are taking is to trust in God and God never disappointsand he has never stopped working through the Cenacolo in over 23 years. Thisis your leap of faith. Because nothing is impossible to God. I have seen inCommunities many miracles of faith as broken, hurt lives have beentransformed. Cenacolo is not a place of rehabilitation but transformation."In other communities they let in doctors, psychologists and the socialservice's. The people that we let in are Our Lady and Jesus Christ, andwe've invited them in to heal people."The most effective medicine to alleviate drug addiction is found in theEucharist. Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament has changed the lives of manyyouths recovering from drug addiction. What therapeutic method or medicinecould I offer them? There is no pill that can give them the joy to live andfind peace in the heart."I want to take this opportunity to reveal to you that the mostextraordinary light to come out of this darkness of evil is the treasurefound in the Eucharist. It is the Eucharist miracle that I have beencontemplating for so many years. The Eucharist creates not only a personaldynamism but a dynamism of the people.
At the beginning, of their own freewill, many young people staying in community, took it upon themselves to getup in the night for personal adoration."Then gradually every Saturday night, for many young people the traditionalnight for party antics all over the world, they decided to kneel, in eachone of the 50 communities, from 2-3am to pray for those young people lost inthe false lures of the world."I wanted to tell you this piece of history, to give thanks to Jesus, who inthe Eucharist has changed the lives of many youths recovering from drugaddiction. These people are true, living witnesses that death never has thelast word and that the anxieties of life, the struggles for meaning andimportance, acceptance and fellowship, should not lead to escape and liesbut to the abundant life of Christ."Bishop O' O'Donoghue echoed Sister Elvira's message. He said: "This, ourfirst birthday, is a tremendously important and historic occasion.
There hasbeen a sacred refuge and church here on this holy ground at Dodding Green,since the 1600's where it was once a dispatching place for priests, duringthe Reformation when catholic recusants were persecuted by the state. So itis very fitting that we should have the great movement of the CenacoloCommunity completing their first year here, in England. Cenacolo is a veryprecious gift to our church and our world.In Cenacolo we see in a special way what is possible under the power anddirection of the Holy Spirit. We see conversion in a wonderful way, brokenlives being healed. Cenacolo is a treasure not just for the addicts andtheir families, it is a treasure for all of our Diocese and indeed forsociety in Britain today.The challenge for us now is to enable Cenacolo to flourish within oursociety and continually pray that the spread of new houses and communitieswill grow and develop. This can only be achieved by all of our prayers,therefore we must persist in our prayers to the Holy Spirit that we may growin strength and commitment to helping the UK Cenacolo's advancement.Today is just the beginning and my message is not to lose hope. We all failon occasions but it is through failure that we are brought to a newawareness of our conversion, in turning to Our Lord Jesus Christ."Fr Michael McCormick, Spiritual Director for Cenacolo UK and Parish Priestat Holy Trinity and St George Parish in Kendal has spent some months inSaluzzo Community Italy, experiencing life in the community in order tounderstand the lifestyle of recovering addicts and holds a support group foraddicts and their families, every Thursday evening from 7pm at the localparish:"Addicts who are serious about changing their lives are helped to obtainplaces in a Cenacolo. During this time we pray together in front of TheBlessed Eucharist and afterwards together with other addicts, parents andfamilies we talk about life in the Cenacolo Community and many of therecovered addicts from community are on hand to chat & give theirtestimony's. Similar prayer and meeting groups are held in Liverpool,Birmingham, London, Devon, Croydon and Bradford.
To succeed you have toreally want to change your life in a fundamental way, there is no easy wayand no short cuts."Cenacolo and its experience as a "School of Life" is about this innertransformation, a work of grace, where we learn once again what it means todepend on God. By sharing in each others' feelings they learn again tounderstand and feel emotion, feelings which drugs had dulled, and they learnagain what it is to be human. They regain a sense of self worth inthemselves and others."As the hard facts of drug abuse reach epidemic proportions across Britaintoday, the Friends For a UK Cenacolo Communities help and prayers cannotcome at a better time.For more information visit: http://www.comunitacenacolo.org/
Sister Elvira Petrozzi, the Italian foundress of the worldwide CenacoloCommunity, visited the UK last weekend, to celebrate the first anniversaryof Our Lady Queen Of Martyrs House in Dodding Green, Kendal.
Community Cenacolo is a Christian association, founded by the Italian nun,Sister Elvira Petrozzi in 1983 to welcome in desperate young people, who aresuffering from the strains of life, and may have turned to drug addiction,alcohol or substance abuse. In Community they are able to rebuild theirlives for a new life in society. The success rate is astonishing, with 93%of those who enter community houses that Sister Elvira has set up around theworld, never taking drugs again. Many have even taking up vocations withinthe church; up to five new priests have been ordained following Community.There are over 50 Communities worldwide including Italy, France (Lourdes) ,Ireland (Knock) , Austria, Croatia, Brazil Mexico, Bosnia Herzegovina(Medjugorje) , Poland, Dominican Republic and in the USA. There arecurrently 1200 persons in community and there are separate houses for menand women with some family houses for those addicts who wish to have theirchildren with them.After several years of meetings, prayer and many setbacks the first CenacoloCommunity in England was finally opened in Dodding Green on 19 March 2005,by the 'Friends For a UK Cenacolo Community' - a registered charity thatprovides for community and receives no support from the state.As with all Communities, the community at Dodding Green, relies purely onGods Providence, prayer and the generosity of its supporters for theireveryday needs. Unlike a conventional rehabilitation unit, there are nodoctors, counsellors, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, or medication. Lifein the community is simple and centred on work, prayer and spiritualhealing. Each house is self-sufficient, growing their own vegetables anddepending on the location, they may keep animals cows, pigs, chickens andgoats. Every community is run by recovered addicts for addicts under theoverall direction of Sister Elvira, who has a great love for young peoplestruggling with addiction.
Now, a year on, in the presence of the Bishop Of Lancaster, the Rt RevPatrick O'Donoghue, Father Stefan from Italy, Cenacolo's first Ordainedpriest, and Father Michael McCormick, Parish Priest of The Holy Trinity andSt George Parish Kendal, over 500 people from all over Europe gathered atDodding Green, Kendal to celebrate Mass and give thanks to Sister Elvira forher courage and inspiration. The Anniversary Mass was held in a giantmarquee, specially built for the event, on the holy grounds, by the ten mencurrently in residence in the community house.With a hearty voice and vibrant Italian accent Sister Elvira instantlyenthused the crowds at Dodding Green, with her profound testimony,translated by Cenacolo Ambassador Nicola Hughes, a former heroin addict fromLiverpool, who for the past five years has been running the SaluzzoCommunity and house in Italy.
Both Sister Elvira and Nicola Hughes are living witnesses to the power ofthe Holy Spirit and Gods mercy in transforming the lives of young peoplemarked by a harrowing drug addiction and scarred by despair.Sister Elvira's message is revolutionary and simple. To the young who havedesperate and shattered lives caused by addiction, who are unsatisfied andslaves to uncontrollable impulses and destructive habits, who live in fear,darkness, isolation and anger, Sister Elvira and her community joyfully echothe Gospel and announce the resurrection, the triumph of life over death.Sister Elvira teaches that drugs: "can be a cross that kills, or a crossthat saves."Pointing to faith, friendship and work as the means to reform andregenerate, Sister Elvira spoke of the strong call within her heart tominister to the most alone and excluded youth trapped in today'snarcissistic culture, caught in a world filled with material illusions,searching for a meaningless escape, which only leads to a painfulhopelessness, and a constant belief of being misunderstood or ignored:"Today I have a message that is filled with trust, hope and joy, but aboveall faith. The Bishop Of Lancaster has made a great big act of faith in God,by believing in us and even before he got to know us, he trusted the work ofthe Holy Spirit and supported the aims of Cenacolo.
It is always a beautifulsurprise for us when people embrace our mission and today we have beenwelcomed into your open arms with love and faith. I care about you all hereand today the Community Cenacolo proposes to young people in England, a lifeof freedom and being truthful, but first you must be brave and find courage."In Italy, I ask the parents to lose face and take their masks off, to bebrave enough to say "my child takes drugs"."We ask the families and the addicts to live a life of truth and eliminatethe stigma and shame that drugs bring to a family. You don't have to feelscandalised because it is LIFE! Life is a journey and it is difficultsometimes and we shouldn't be surprised of the mistakes other people make,because even if we haven't fallen to the ground yet, one day we might. Onceyou face the truth you can start again because you cannot carry this painfor the rest of your lives."The Bishops' faith is strong and persistent in opening the house here inKendal in the face of many obstacles and negative opposition. When we openedthe first house in Saluzzo Italy many years ago nobody would walk past ourroad! They became very judgmental, even my superiors put their hands ontheir heads and asked: "Oh that nun! What is she doing with all these drugaddicts!""But the risk you are taking is to trust in God and God never disappointsand he has never stopped working through the Cenacolo in over 23 years. Thisis your leap of faith. Because nothing is impossible to God. I have seen inCommunities many miracles of faith as broken, hurt lives have beentransformed. Cenacolo is not a place of rehabilitation but transformation."In other communities they let in doctors, psychologists and the socialservice's. The people that we let in are Our Lady and Jesus Christ, andwe've invited them in to heal people."The most effective medicine to alleviate drug addiction is found in theEucharist. Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament has changed the lives of manyyouths recovering from drug addiction. What therapeutic method or medicinecould I offer them? There is no pill that can give them the joy to live andfind peace in the heart."I want to take this opportunity to reveal to you that the mostextraordinary light to come out of this darkness of evil is the treasurefound in the Eucharist. It is the Eucharist miracle that I have beencontemplating for so many years. The Eucharist creates not only a personaldynamism but a dynamism of the people.
At the beginning, of their own freewill, many young people staying in community, took it upon themselves to getup in the night for personal adoration."Then gradually every Saturday night, for many young people the traditionalnight for party antics all over the world, they decided to kneel, in eachone of the 50 communities, from 2-3am to pray for those young people lost inthe false lures of the world."I wanted to tell you this piece of history, to give thanks to Jesus, who inthe Eucharist has changed the lives of many youths recovering from drugaddiction. These people are true, living witnesses that death never has thelast word and that the anxieties of life, the struggles for meaning andimportance, acceptance and fellowship, should not lead to escape and liesbut to the abundant life of Christ."Bishop O' O'Donoghue echoed Sister Elvira's message. He said: "This, ourfirst birthday, is a tremendously important and historic occasion.
There hasbeen a sacred refuge and church here on this holy ground at Dodding Green,since the 1600's where it was once a dispatching place for priests, duringthe Reformation when catholic recusants were persecuted by the state. So itis very fitting that we should have the great movement of the CenacoloCommunity completing their first year here, in England. Cenacolo is a veryprecious gift to our church and our world.In Cenacolo we see in a special way what is possible under the power anddirection of the Holy Spirit. We see conversion in a wonderful way, brokenlives being healed. Cenacolo is a treasure not just for the addicts andtheir families, it is a treasure for all of our Diocese and indeed forsociety in Britain today.The challenge for us now is to enable Cenacolo to flourish within oursociety and continually pray that the spread of new houses and communitieswill grow and develop. This can only be achieved by all of our prayers,therefore we must persist in our prayers to the Holy Spirit that we may growin strength and commitment to helping the UK Cenacolo's advancement.Today is just the beginning and my message is not to lose hope. We all failon occasions but it is through failure that we are brought to a newawareness of our conversion, in turning to Our Lord Jesus Christ."Fr Michael McCormick, Spiritual Director for Cenacolo UK and Parish Priestat Holy Trinity and St George Parish in Kendal has spent some months inSaluzzo Community Italy, experiencing life in the community in order tounderstand the lifestyle of recovering addicts and holds a support group foraddicts and their families, every Thursday evening from 7pm at the localparish:"Addicts who are serious about changing their lives are helped to obtainplaces in a Cenacolo. During this time we pray together in front of TheBlessed Eucharist and afterwards together with other addicts, parents andfamilies we talk about life in the Cenacolo Community and many of therecovered addicts from community are on hand to chat & give theirtestimony's. Similar prayer and meeting groups are held in Liverpool,Birmingham, London, Devon, Croydon and Bradford.
To succeed you have toreally want to change your life in a fundamental way, there is no easy wayand no short cuts."Cenacolo and its experience as a "School of Life" is about this innertransformation, a work of grace, where we learn once again what it means todepend on God. By sharing in each others' feelings they learn again tounderstand and feel emotion, feelings which drugs had dulled, and they learnagain what it is to be human. They regain a sense of self worth inthemselves and others."As the hard facts of drug abuse reach epidemic proportions across Britaintoday, the Friends For a UK Cenacolo Communities help and prayers cannotcome at a better time.For more information visit: http://www.comunitacenacolo.org/
© Independent Catholic News 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
Message of March 25, 2006
“Courage, little children! I decided to lead you on the way of holiness. Renounce sin and set out onthe way of salvation, the way which my Son has chosen. Through each of yourtribulations and sufferings God will find the way of joy for you. Therefore,little children, pray. We are close to you with our love. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Information centre"Mir" Medjugorje
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Monday, March 20, 2006
The annual apparition of our Lady to Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo on march 18, 2006
The visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo had daily apparitions from June 24th 1981 to December 25th 1982. During the last daily apparition, Our Lady gave her the 10th secret, and told her that she would appear to her once a year, on the 18th of March. It has been this way through the years.
This year several thousand pilgrims gathered to pray the Rosary at the Cenacolo Community in Medjugorje. The apparition lasted from 13:59 to 14:04 and Our Lady gave the following message:
“Dear children! In this Lenten time, I call you to interior renunciation. The way to this leads you through love, fasting, prayer and good works. Only with total interior renunciation will you recognize God’s love and the signs of the time in which you live. You will be witnesses of these signs and will begin to speak about them. I desire to bring you to this. Thank you for having responded to me.“
This year several thousand pilgrims gathered to pray the Rosary at the Cenacolo Community in Medjugorje. The apparition lasted from 13:59 to 14:04 and Our Lady gave the following message:
“Dear children! In this Lenten time, I call you to interior renunciation. The way to this leads you through love, fasting, prayer and good works. Only with total interior renunciation will you recognize God’s love and the signs of the time in which you live. You will be witnesses of these signs and will begin to speak about them. I desire to bring you to this. Thank you for having responded to me.“
Information Centre "MIR" Medjugorje
Friday, March 10, 2006
Fr. Jozo's Reflection on the February Message
Message of February 25, 2006 "Dear children! In this Lenten time of grace, I call you to open your hearts to the gifts that God desires to give you. Do not be closed, but with prayer and renunciation say yes to God and He will give to you in abundance. As in springtime the earth opens to the seed and yields a hundredfold, so also your heavenly Father will give to you in abundance. I am with you and love you, little children, with a tender love. Thank you for having responded to my call."
Dear brothers and sisters, my most valued prayer family,
This word and message is especially for us at this Lenten time. Like the Church, Our Lady calls the Lenten time a time of grace. This is not only because it is Lent, but also because of her presence which is a grace for all of us. The Bible often speaks about a time of grace, as does Jesus in His sermons and teachings, and the Church in its documents, through its proclamation and through the lives of its Saints. This time always inspired Christians to respond more intensely to their Christian vocation. These times, if we look at them on a calendar in the Church year, are Advent, Lent, and prior to Pentecost. These are times of intense prayer, sacrifice, fasting, charity, and works of mercy. They are especially times of a more intense Sacramental life.
Today, on Ash Wednesday, with a sign of ashes on our forehead, we began Lent. To come from dust and to return to dust are Biblical boundaries of every man. Between these two boundaries, man is called to bear fruit. He is called to build his life into the unending and eternal love. Man is the greatest of all creation and the most sinful of all beings. Being created in the image of God, it is he in particular who has a chance and a call to be and to do immortal works. Christ as the God-man by His example showed how we are to pass through this world and time by doing only good. Despite his frailness, man is called to be strong. Despite his sinfulness, he is called to be holy. Despite his passing nature, he is called to be immortal. It is worthwhile to gaze at Jesus and the Church and to decide to do what is good, holy, and merciful. We must open our hearts to these great gifts and graces of God, as the Queen of Peace tells us. These gifts do not just hang in the air. They do not float about as lost or rejected things. Instead, God gives them as gifts to those who are open. God wants to give them to me because without them, I am poor and unhappy. Imagine a person without peace, without joy, without faith, without hope, without love, and without goodness. An image of such a destroyed person is frightening. God does not want man to be such, and Our Lady calls us to open ourselves to the gifts which God, as the merciful Father, desires to give us. To be closed is the greatest misfortune that can happen to man. To lose trust in God and His goodness is the greatest humiliation. The greatest distance from God is not sin but despair, mistrust and a lack of belief in His goodness. The greatest poverty is not ignorance, but to lose the gift of faith and love.
Prayer and renunciation, and fasting and sacrifice are gifts of grace which the old person within us accepts to remove the garment of every curse and misfortune – as the Prodigal son, to receive the new garment of a son of God. How great is Lent when it succeeds to awaken within us the penitential works with love. These works heal and conquer our sinful nature by opening the door of hope and awakening a new life within us. Our Lady uses a most beautiful image from everyday life. She uses a comparison of the earth, the garden, and the seed. It is springtime. During these days we are all in our gardens and on our fields. They need to be opened by being ploughed. Their face needs to be turned over. They must be cleansed from the weeds and nurtured. Finally, then it comes time to sow the seed. One bean seed will bear a plant with dozens of pods of new fruit. One grain of corn will yield a stalk and new ears of corn with so many new grains. In the same way our Heavenly Father will place His gifts and graces in the hearts that are prepared, that are nurtured with prayer and moistened by the Word of God; the hearts that are cultivated by sacrifices and penance. Our Lady speaks about abundance. In this time of malnourished families and toxic values of freedom, entertainment, pleasure, moral crises and ruins, we stand before a challenge. We need to nurture everyone. We need to give and offer to everyone and especially to those who are convinced that on the way of conversion and faith there is no peace, joy, success, or friendship. By our fruit we can feed the hungry. With the clear water of grace we can give to the thirsty to drink.
My dearest, again we are called to fasting, prayer, renunciation, and works of mercy and love. Let us do this with new enthusiasm in this holy time, because there is no other way. Just as the fruit of the earth could not come through various theories and aids, but from the earth and the seed, so the grace comes through the Church that prays, fasts, and lives holiness. Be proud and grateful that once again we are able to see how the Queen of Peace counts on us. Once again we have heard that we are needed by her and important for the renewal and conversion of the world and the Church. This month we will pray for the following intentions:
1. For all the Christian families to renew family prayer, fasting, and the reading of the Sacred Scripture this Lent. For them to actively partake in Lenten devotions and especially the Way of the Cross.
2. For all of the sick, to offer their illnesses to the Lord and to daily give their contribution for the conversion of youth.
3. That this Lenten time of grace may be the springtime of the Church among all nations. We especially pray for all the pilgrims who visited Medjugorje or will come on a pilgrimage to the Queen of Peace in this 25th Jubilee year “ that they may find the necessary grace and especially the grace of conversion.
Dear brothers and sisters, there is so much that I would like to transmit to your hearts in this holy time. I decided to offer my fasting, prayer, and all sacrifices to the Lord for each one of you, and especially for those of you who are sick and helpless and therefore all the more similar to Our Lord. Be enthusiastic, because there is no sacrifice that does not bear fruit. There is no prayer that is not heard. There is no devotion that cannot strengthen us. Be examples to others in everything.
I greet you wholeheartedly and wait for you at our Annual Meeting this year.
Yours sincerely, Fra Jozo Zovko, O.F.M.
Dear brothers and sisters, my most valued prayer family,
This word and message is especially for us at this Lenten time. Like the Church, Our Lady calls the Lenten time a time of grace. This is not only because it is Lent, but also because of her presence which is a grace for all of us. The Bible often speaks about a time of grace, as does Jesus in His sermons and teachings, and the Church in its documents, through its proclamation and through the lives of its Saints. This time always inspired Christians to respond more intensely to their Christian vocation. These times, if we look at them on a calendar in the Church year, are Advent, Lent, and prior to Pentecost. These are times of intense prayer, sacrifice, fasting, charity, and works of mercy. They are especially times of a more intense Sacramental life.
Today, on Ash Wednesday, with a sign of ashes on our forehead, we began Lent. To come from dust and to return to dust are Biblical boundaries of every man. Between these two boundaries, man is called to bear fruit. He is called to build his life into the unending and eternal love. Man is the greatest of all creation and the most sinful of all beings. Being created in the image of God, it is he in particular who has a chance and a call to be and to do immortal works. Christ as the God-man by His example showed how we are to pass through this world and time by doing only good. Despite his frailness, man is called to be strong. Despite his sinfulness, he is called to be holy. Despite his passing nature, he is called to be immortal. It is worthwhile to gaze at Jesus and the Church and to decide to do what is good, holy, and merciful. We must open our hearts to these great gifts and graces of God, as the Queen of Peace tells us. These gifts do not just hang in the air. They do not float about as lost or rejected things. Instead, God gives them as gifts to those who are open. God wants to give them to me because without them, I am poor and unhappy. Imagine a person without peace, without joy, without faith, without hope, without love, and without goodness. An image of such a destroyed person is frightening. God does not want man to be such, and Our Lady calls us to open ourselves to the gifts which God, as the merciful Father, desires to give us. To be closed is the greatest misfortune that can happen to man. To lose trust in God and His goodness is the greatest humiliation. The greatest distance from God is not sin but despair, mistrust and a lack of belief in His goodness. The greatest poverty is not ignorance, but to lose the gift of faith and love.
Prayer and renunciation, and fasting and sacrifice are gifts of grace which the old person within us accepts to remove the garment of every curse and misfortune – as the Prodigal son, to receive the new garment of a son of God. How great is Lent when it succeeds to awaken within us the penitential works with love. These works heal and conquer our sinful nature by opening the door of hope and awakening a new life within us. Our Lady uses a most beautiful image from everyday life. She uses a comparison of the earth, the garden, and the seed. It is springtime. During these days we are all in our gardens and on our fields. They need to be opened by being ploughed. Their face needs to be turned over. They must be cleansed from the weeds and nurtured. Finally, then it comes time to sow the seed. One bean seed will bear a plant with dozens of pods of new fruit. One grain of corn will yield a stalk and new ears of corn with so many new grains. In the same way our Heavenly Father will place His gifts and graces in the hearts that are prepared, that are nurtured with prayer and moistened by the Word of God; the hearts that are cultivated by sacrifices and penance. Our Lady speaks about abundance. In this time of malnourished families and toxic values of freedom, entertainment, pleasure, moral crises and ruins, we stand before a challenge. We need to nurture everyone. We need to give and offer to everyone and especially to those who are convinced that on the way of conversion and faith there is no peace, joy, success, or friendship. By our fruit we can feed the hungry. With the clear water of grace we can give to the thirsty to drink.
My dearest, again we are called to fasting, prayer, renunciation, and works of mercy and love. Let us do this with new enthusiasm in this holy time, because there is no other way. Just as the fruit of the earth could not come through various theories and aids, but from the earth and the seed, so the grace comes through the Church that prays, fasts, and lives holiness. Be proud and grateful that once again we are able to see how the Queen of Peace counts on us. Once again we have heard that we are needed by her and important for the renewal and conversion of the world and the Church. This month we will pray for the following intentions:
1. For all the Christian families to renew family prayer, fasting, and the reading of the Sacred Scripture this Lent. For them to actively partake in Lenten devotions and especially the Way of the Cross.
2. For all of the sick, to offer their illnesses to the Lord and to daily give their contribution for the conversion of youth.
3. That this Lenten time of grace may be the springtime of the Church among all nations. We especially pray for all the pilgrims who visited Medjugorje or will come on a pilgrimage to the Queen of Peace in this 25th Jubilee year “ that they may find the necessary grace and especially the grace of conversion.
Dear brothers and sisters, there is so much that I would like to transmit to your hearts in this holy time. I decided to offer my fasting, prayer, and all sacrifices to the Lord for each one of you, and especially for those of you who are sick and helpless and therefore all the more similar to Our Lord. Be enthusiastic, because there is no sacrifice that does not bear fruit. There is no prayer that is not heard. There is no devotion that cannot strengthen us. Be examples to others in everything.
I greet you wholeheartedly and wait for you at our Annual Meeting this year.
Yours sincerely, Fra Jozo Zovko, O.F.M.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
GOD IS LOVE! - Apparition to Mirjana on March 2, 2006
Praised be Jesus and Mary!
This morning again many people came to Cenacolo community to be present during apparition of Our Lady of Medjugorje to the visionary Mirjana.
Mirjana said that Our Lady came very sad and did not have any message for the people. Our Lady was very, very sad, in tears. She was praying for all the people who do not know the love of God yet. Then she prayed and blessed all people present at the apparitions and all of the religious articles they have brought with them. Our Lady spoke about situation in the world and has repeated three times
God is love! God is love! God is love!
This time Mirjana was able to ask Our Lady about some ill people and bring their intentions before Our Lady and was given answers but could not share it with all of us.
So this is all for this morning from me and Emanuel.
God bless you all
Anita
This morning again many people came to Cenacolo community to be present during apparition of Our Lady of Medjugorje to the visionary Mirjana.
Mirjana said that Our Lady came very sad and did not have any message for the people. Our Lady was very, very sad, in tears. She was praying for all the people who do not know the love of God yet. Then she prayed and blessed all people present at the apparitions and all of the religious articles they have brought with them. Our Lady spoke about situation in the world and has repeated three times
God is love! God is love! God is love!
This time Mirjana was able to ask Our Lady about some ill people and bring their intentions before Our Lady and was given answers but could not share it with all of us.
So this is all for this morning from me and Emanuel.
God bless you all
Anita
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