It is  very good to read Sacred Scripture each day. Many people already do this. Many great spiritual writers have recommended this. As always it is good to pray to the Holy Spirit before reading Sacred Scripture. Some Bibles have a prayer printed at the beginning or if not you could make up one of your own.  

   Make time (we do not find time - we make time) even if it is a short amount of time for reading Sacred Scripture daily. Here are some helpful hints that I hope you can use to make time for daily reading of Sacred Scripture:

• Set aside the same time everyday for this reading.

•  Begin with the beginning of the Old Testament or the New Testament.

• Begin with your favorite book of the Bible.

• Decide to read a chapter of Sacred Scripture each day.

• Set aside a certain amount of time to read Sacred Scripture.

I hope all of this helps.  

You may contact Brother Craig through his community's web site at www.monksofadoration.org

Our Lady of Lourdes

By Carolanne Kilichowski

  WOW! It has been 151 years since Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette in France.  Our Lady came with a message, but do we all know what that message is? Do we live it?  So many of us are just so wrapped up in the awe of the apparition that we do not take the time to contemplate on the purpose.  Why was Our Lady permitted to come to earth? Did She have a mission?  Was it important?

   “Penance, Penance, Penance, Pray for sinners!” was often said to St. Bernadette. Do I still have your attention?  Yes!  penance was the main message of Lourdes.  Why did Our Lady have Bernadette rub the mud on her face to find the spring?  Our Lady did not wish her to be ridiculed, but she was laughed at by the crowd. They laughed and said she looked like a pig!  The grotto is actually where pigs would hide while feeding in the area.  Actually a pig-sty!  A representation of the poverty of the human person. 

   The messages of Lourdes are poverty, penance, prayer and church. Our Lady calls each of us to live a spiritual life of prayer and sacrifice for sins.  Have we listened to that message of Lourdes? 

   Many are surprised to know that St. Bernadette has an incorrupt body ! Yes, her body is more beautiful than ever! It can be seen on the web pages from Lourdes. The face of St. Bernadette carries a message. Gaze at her face and notice the peace, the beauty! She was told by Our Lady that she would not be happy on earth but in the next life. That holy and beautiful face tells the story of happiness in eternal life for those who pray and do penance.

   Lourdes, located in France, is a place of pilgrimage and wonder.  It is the site of many miracles where people come from all over the world in search of peace and of miracles. Yes, there have been many recorded miracles due to Lourdes.  For most, the real miracle appears in the heart. The miracle of conversion is a tremendous gift.  Although it is wonderful to go to these sites of apparitions, we can receive the gift of conversion by opening our hearts to God and asking Him for the graces that we need. He will give it to us no matter where we are.

   Pope Benedict XVI  traveled  to Lourdes in September last year.  Our beloved John Paul II visited Lourdes before his death. It was his last pilgrimage on earth. We are so blessed to be living in such grace- filled  times. Most of all, let us take the message of Lourdes seriously and begin to live the holy message. 

   For more information and to gaze at St. Bernadette’s holy face go to www.catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes

Editor’s note: Carolanne will be leading a special pilgrimage to Medjugorje June 15-23. For more information, call  716-491-9431 or email her at ckilichowski@msn.com.

She Smiled at Me”

By Sr. Emmanuel

   In the town of Newrya, Dominican priest, Father Tony, told me about Ivan’s visit to his Priory of St. Catherine’s on March 24, 1998. Ivan received his apparition before Holy Mass on that day and 2,000 people attended this event.  The next day at school, a little girl of 12 named Elana told her teacher that she had attended Mass twice the day before. "Did you?" asked the teacher with surprise. "Yes," she replied.

  Elana is actually a mentally handicapped child and she has the understanding of a 5 year old.  She might have thought that the apparition time was a Holy Mass. Here is how she naively explained it to her teacher, "During the first Mass, Our Lady of Lourdes was talking to a man. I could not hear what She was saying to him but She smiled at me."  The reason why little Elana mentioned Our Lady of Lourdes is because she herself had been to Lourdes. Her father goes every year to Lourdes as a helper for the sick, and she only knows Mary as Our Lady of Lourdes, even if the image is of Our Lady of Knock, Guadalupe or Fatima.

   As the teacher shared Elana's words with her parents later, the parents asked the child herself about what had happened. She repeated the same story with exactly the same words, and they asked her what the Blessed Mother looked like. She answered, "Our Lady of Lourdes was wearing a blue-gray dress and a white thing around her head, and I could see Her hair. She was smiling at me. There were colored lights behind Her like the lights of a Christmas tree, and they were very bright and like water running behind Her." Since this Dominican priest knows the family, he was able to speak to the little girl and received from her exactly the same report that she had given her teacher and her parents. There was nothing added, nor taken away. Father Tony thought that these lights she saw could actually be the child's way of describing the stars that crown Our Lady of Medjugorje.

   The most beautiful part of this event is that from that day onwards, the little girl changed a lot. She is now radiantly happy.  Isn't it wonderful that from among all 2,000 present, the Blessed Mother chose to show Herself to a little handicapped child? As we prepare for Christmas [Easter], hasn't Our Lady given us a beautiful example of caring for and giving value to life, especially that life which the world often despises!

                                                                        Children of Medjugorje, www.childrenofmedjugorje.com ( 12/1/99 )

                                                                 

"Everything and everyone is won by the sweetness of our words and works." ~ St. John Bosco

 My Pilgrimage to Medjugorje

By Stephen Sematiko

Stephen lives in Uganda and heads the Medjugorje Peace Center there. One of our subscribers from Germany, Johannes Dittrich, invited Stephen to join him on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. Unlike pilgrims in the US and Europe, Stephen had to first obtain visas. What follows is the condensed version of his story.

   When Johannes first sent me the money for the trip to Medjugorje I had to look for a visa for Bosnia and Croatia.
These embassies are found only in Egypt and South Africa, but the embassy of Bosnia in the south is closed. I started organizing myself to go to Egypt for these 2 visas. Egypt is a Moslem country and they speak mostly  Arabic, but I knew the Lord would lead me to a hotel where people speak English for my stay of 2 weeks.

  On September 16, I flew to Addis Ababa, and  I had to take another plane to Cairo, Egypt. At the airport, I was stuck because I couldn't locate the gate to Cairo. I tried to ask the security guards there, but their English was not good.  Within a short period someone came whom I suspected to be from Uganda and he asked me, "Are you also going to Cairo?” I replied yes, and he told me, “Let me go with you because I study there.” I thanked God because I knew someone was now leading me, and he knew how to speak Arabic. When we reached the Cairo airport, I saw 6 youths waiting for him and I suspected them also to be coming from Uganda. They looked at me and they didn't greet me, until my friend told them, “He is also from Uganda." They all jumped and hugged me immediately and said to me, "Sorry, we thought you were coming from Ghana and don't know our language.” All of them knew how to speak Arabic and they offered to help me during my stay in Cairo looking for the embassies. I was so thrilled! Fortunately they showed me where to stay without paying much money, and the people there spoke my language. I was thanking God because this was the first miracle that I was witnessing - to find people of my tribe who can speak Arabic and help me to look for these places where the embassies are located!

   I woke up the next day to prepare myself to go to the Bosnian embassy. It was my first time to see this kind of heat, the sun was direct to the ground and very hot since they have no trees. I went back in the room and asked myself how I will manage this kind of sunshine. My friend told me, “This is the kind of temperature we live in here in Egypt.” I could not hesitate since my intention was to look for the visa. Reaching there, we had a chance of seeing the visa consular and he looked at my papers. After going through them he said, “You need to get a letter from the Bosnian police and also the voucher stamped.” I went back to communicate to Johannes that they needed 2 documents for me to obtain the visa. Johannes immediately contacted his friends in Medjugorje who own a travel agency and they organized the papers and sent them by FedEx. Unfortunately, they arrived in Cairo when the Moslems were ending the month of fasting. I had to wait for 1 week until they finished the celebrations and offices reopened, then go back to the embassy.

   My visa, which allowed me to stay in Egypt, would soon expire, so I had to hurry everything. I reached the embassy and this time I submitted everything that was needed for me to obtain the visa. The consular looked at my papers and said, “This is what I want, but you must understand that our visa takes 4-5 days to be issued.”  I was scared because my stay in Cairo was expiring and when the authorities would find out that my visa is expired, they would take me to the police.

   On Sunday I went back to the embassy and this time the visa was ready, the consular handed me back my passport. I had to run to the Croatian embassy to get a transit visa also. When I reached the Croatian embassy, it was not possible for me to get the visa in 1 day as I thought. It meant 4-5 days more. I couldn’t wait for more days since my stay in Cairo was expiring. I looked to the next flight back to Uganda and then went immediately.

   The German group was supposed to set off on October 16^th at noon from Frankfurt to Sarajevo. Johannes had bought 2 tickets, his and mine. When Johannes learned that it was impossible, he got the money back and told the group. “I still have to wait for Stephen from Uganda; he has been delayed in Cairo looking for the visas, but he is on the way.”

I landed in Uganda on Tuesday at 1 PM. I couldn’t go direct to the German embassy because they had closed. I went to the embassy the next day and they gave me the visa in 1 day. On that same day I arranged my ticket to fly in the evening at 10 PM to Amsterdam and then to Frankfurt. Due to air traffic they told us to be patient for 45 minutes. Johannes was waiting for me at the Frankfurt airport not knowing the delays in our flights. We were again delayed for 30 minutes more in Amsterdam. This meant we could not go with the German group since they were leaving at noon. At 11 AM I got to the Frankfurt airport and met Johannes. He drove immediately to the Croatian embassy since they were soon closing and fortunately we managed to get the visa in 1 day.

   Johannes drove immediately to Bavaria where we spent a night and then started off our journey the next day.

We had to drive to Austria. On the way I saw so many old churches and big mountains that are quite different from ours in Uganda. Johannes had to stop a bit for me to have a look at the mountains that have snow all the time. It was another great experience for me, as in our country we don’t see snow from year to year. Then we drove non-stop from Austria to Slovenia, while I admired the nature and the beauty of these countries. By 6:30 PM we had entered Bosnia and here I started reading big signs that said “Medjugorje.” I asked Johannes, “Are we about to reach Medjugorje? “He replied, “We have 60 miles to reach there.” I started smiling, though I was a bit tired because of too much traveling.

   At about 8 PM we arrived in Medjugorje and I could see St. James Church. We drove up to the house of the family named "Vasilj" where we were going to stay for 7 days. Andrjana, the daughter of this family, gave us a lovely welcome in Croatian language. I didn’t understand it, but I knew she was welcoming us. Johannes immediately told her, “He is Stephen from Uganda, and he only speaks English.”  They were happy to be joined by someone from Africa. Johannes translated in German for them. “You are going to stay upstairs,” Andrijana said. “Saints mark the rooms.” They asked me what saint I would like to stay with, and I picked Archangel Michael! The next morning I could hear them greeting me, “Guten morgen,” meaning “good morning.” I joined the group and we started singing hymns, though I didn’t know the language. After breakfast they attended the German Mass and for us we had to wait for the English Mass that is at 10 AM.

   After attending our Mass and reciting 3 Rosaries, we heard that Fr. Jozo would be speaking to pilgrims from English speaking countries at 1 PM. The hall was full to capacity, and suddenly Fr. Jozo came and the audience welcomed him with a big heavy handclap. Among the many things I remember so well is, they gave us all the pictures of Our Lady. He told us to put it on our chest and start saying, “This is my Mother.”

   The next day someone told us that Vicka would be speaking to all English speaking people starting at 7 AM.  It was my first time to see Vicka physically, with her face radiating peace, love and joy. She talked for 2 hours. People had time to ask her questions. There was a Franciscan priest from Ireland who asked her, “Why did God give a lot of powers to the devil to the extent of killing even human beings?”  Vicka answered, “The devil is powerful because you don’t pray; if you pray the devil cannot overpower you. Our Lady told us to pray and carry religious objects with us so that the devil doesn't harm us   At the end of the talk, Vicka told us, “Now I am going to pray for you, all your intentions and for the sick people.” Before she could close her eyes to pray, a lady started screaming in a very loud voice continuously. Everybody was scared and looking around. I immediately told Johannes, “That lady must be possessed with a demon.” In Uganda we celebrate healing Masses at every church, and people who are possessed with demons scream like that, so I was not moved, because I know whenever the devil sees the children of God gathered to pray, he must come in to interrupt.  People started looking at Vicka to see if she had any message for this woman who was screaming. There were priests and nuns inside Vicka’s house and when they heard the loud crying of this woman, they came out holding their rosaries and prayed. Vicka was giving us a sign not to look at the screaming woman, and she told us to pray with her and leave the woman alone, that she will be fine. After prayer by Vicka, within the next 5 minutes, the lady was quiet and the demon was gone. Vicka  prayed for almost 30 minutes. Johannes told me it was his first time in the 19 times he has been there to see Vicka praying that long.  Vicka didn't comment any more on that apart from smiling at everybody who was there.

   We drove back to St. James for our English Mass. The Church was full to capacity. After Mass Johannes told me it was time to climb the mountain. We started climbing the mountain Station by Station.  I was ready for it, as in many stories of Medjugorje I had read about Mount Krizevac. It took us 1 hour to reach the top of the mountain and at the top we were joined by an Irish group of 150 pilgrims. Some pilgrims were climbing the mountain bare footed, while others shedding a lot of tears. I witnessed the spirit of prayer at that moment. I liked this group because I could understand the language and I admired the way they prayed at each Station of the Cross. We had enough time to pray three Rosaries up near the big cross. We heard about how Fr. Slavko would climb the mountain every day. I stood at the point where he died for some minutes and prayed.
   Back to the church, the confession rooms were filled up as people confessed their sins. I remembered the words of Pope John Paul when he said that if people are going to Medjugorje to confess their sins and come back to God, then it’s very good. The next day we visited the place where the first apparitions took place. We joined together with the Irish group to climb to the apparition site. The leader of this group explained to us how the young deaf boy from Korea was healed from this place and in thanks to God, the mother donated the statue of Our Lady. I looked at the mood of prayers - everybody quietly praying and many people weeping at the statue of Our Lady. We went to the Blue Cross and here I met again the German group, and we joined together for prayers.
   We had only a few days left for us to complete our pilgrimage, and in this time we planned to go to the weeping Risen Jesus statue and Fr. Slavko’s grave. We also met with Mirjana and went to the Oasis of Peace for adoration.

   When I returned from Medjugorje, Fr. Bakka, our spiritual director, told me that I would be talking to groups of people from different parishes to tell them what I saw in Medjugorje and how we can live the messages of Our Lady. We have also been approached by people of different languages because in Uganda we have 52 languages, and they also want the messages translated. Many things are going to happen, we must pray and believe.

Editor’s Note: The Archbishop of Kampala is very happy with the Medjugorje Peace Center. If you would like to help them to spread the messages in Africa, you can send a check to Bob Gardner at 15 Birch St., Saranac Lake, NY 12983. Kindly make your check out to Bob, NOT to “The Spirit of Medjugorje.” With your donation you will get a free copy of the “Gospa” CD (See our April, 2008 issue). If you would like to send rosaries, mail to Stephen Sematiko, P.O. Box 33698, Kampala, Uganda. Thanks to all those who have already helped them. They are very appreciative and pray for their benefactors.

The Difficult Situation of Peace in the World

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Vicka, broadcast live by Radio Maria Italia from Medjugorje on 1/2/08

PADRE LIVIO – The Madonna also spoke of false prophets saying, "Those who make catastrophic predictions are false prophets. They say: 'in that particular year, on that particular day, there will be a catastrophe'. I have always said that the chastisement will come if the world does not convert. Therefore I invite everyone to conversion. Everything depends on your conversion" (December 15,1983). So now I ask you, if we convert will there still be the ten secrets, or no?

VICKA – No, no, the ten secrets will take place for sure. The Madonna has already given them. She has described nine of them to me and now I am waiting for the last one. I can only tell about the secret which is the sign on the mountain which I already spoke about and now I only want to say this about the seventh secret: that the Madonna said that half of the seventh secret has been cancelled because of our prayers. She recommends that we continue praying because with our prayers we can cancel also other secrets. The other one was the ninth secret--number nine.

PADRE LIVIO – So, in essence, the discourse is this: The Madonna urges us to convert, She tells us not to wait for the sign on the mountain in order to convert, and in any event, "...all the secrets that I have confided will be realized and also the visible sign will be made manifest. When the visible sign comes, for many it will already be too late" (December 23, 1982). What does that mean?

VICKA – The Madonna did not explain why it will be too late and I did not ask. She only said that we are now living in a time of grace.

PADRE LIVIO – So, it is important to convert before the sign is made manifest?

VICKA – Every day the Madonna calls us to conversion, to the conversion of our hearts, you understand? And 27 and a half years later the Madonna is still among us and our hearts are still too closed, too distant. I don't know, I don't know what it could be, but "too late" seems right.

PADRE LIVIO – You have always said, and also the Madonna of Medjugorje,that when we talk about the ten secrets, we must do so always inviting everyone to hope. In fact in one of the Madonna's messages She said, "We must never take away hope". The Madonna didn't come to frighten us but to call us back to responsibility and to conversion in a context which always inspires hope. The Madonna even once said, in the first year of the apparitions: "For the Christian there is only one attitude with regard to the future: hope of salvation" (June 10th, 1982).

VICKA – Well, you see, the Madonna is here among us to save our souls, truly; She did not come in order to boss us 'do this, do that or else' --She is here to occupy Herself with our souls, She says that She is the Mother of everyone and loves everyone. “You do not know how much I love you; if you knew you would cry for joy."  We are still a long way away from Her joy--you understand? All those little things, simple things- She always gives hope. And then you read Her face which She shows you--it is so sad! But She gives you so much joy! She lifts you up, She gives you strength! And this is so encouraging.

PADRE LIVIO – In all of my radio broadcasts I try to underline this fact too, that the ten secrets are a time of grace because it is in this time that the power of the evil one will be conquered by the Madonna. The Madonna is here as

"Queen".

VICKA – The Madonna many times has told us that the evil one knows where we are weakest and he looks for the empty places in us [places not dedicated to God] that he can inhabit: and he has found many places among the young and in families, breaking them up. The evil one does a lot of things like this you know. But the Madonna has said that when we feel peace in our hearts and joy and tranquility, then you can see very clearly that this comes from God. If instead there is fear in our hearts and we feel disturbed, then we must be very careful because this doesn't come from God. We must be able to distinguish immediately that which comes from God and that which does not, we need to keep awake and persevere with making the change in our lives so that we can keep the evil one at bay.

PADRE LIVIO – This means that if we stay close to the Madonna we will feel joy in our hearts and we will not feel this anxious fear about our future. In fact, the Madonna once said that he who prays has no fear about the future.

VICKA – Certainly: he who prays has no fear about the future and he who fasts has no fear of the evil one. We have a great grace--we are living in a time of grace. I have never heard a word come from the Madonna that created fear--She always gives you hope, She gives joy and tranquility. You can see that the Madonna and Her Son defeat all that evil that exists. We shouldn't have any fear but we must follow what They want. He who follows the Madonna and lives Her messages has no motive for being afraid. He who has fear, is afraid even of himself--he must do something to start himself going in the right direction and then he can follow the messages of the Madonna.

PADRE LIVIO – Power is of God, evil is dangerous and Satan is strong. Anxious fear for the future certainly is not befitting of believers, but today there exists a worrying concern which is not to be undervalued. On two occasions John Paul II affirmed that the world was in danger of destroying itself. The seer Ivan declared in a video broadcast that the Madonna had said the very same thing to him, that is, that the world was at risk of destroying itself. So, it's not wise to be too superficial. In one message the Madonna said, "I will pray my Son to not punish the world, but I beg you: convert yourselves. You all cannot imagine what will happen and neither that which God the Father will send upon the earth. For this I repeat, convert yourselves. Renounce everything. Do penance" (April 25th, 1983). Here one sees how hope and concern can coexist.

VICKA – The Madonna has been with us all these many years precisely so that we might come near to God and convert ourselves. As a mother, the Madonna does not want to lose even one of Her children. She comes from Heaven to the Earth to save us but we are still too far away from Her. But She never forces anyone, She never says, “You must convert, you must do this and that” no--She doesn't force anyone. She says to each one of us, "My son, do what your heart tells you to do". And She waits for us like a mother. She waits for everyone. She does all that She can do, but apparently our hearts are still very, very hard.

                                                                                                                                                             www.radiomaria.it                

 

Message to Mirjana on January 2, 2009
"Dear children! While great Heavenly grace is being lavished upon you, your hearts remain hard and without response. My children, why do you not give me your hearts completely? I only desire to put in them peace and salvation – my Son. With my Son your soul will be directed to noble goals and you will never get lost. Even in greatest darkness you will find the way. My children, decide for a new life with the name of my Son on your lips. Thank you."

 

Mirjana said that Our Lady was sad throughout the apparition

Mother's Hope Foundation has invited Mirjana to Pittsburgh. On April 19, Divine Mercy Sunday, Mirjana will be speaking at Duquesne University. More information will be forthcoming at www.mothershope.org. Those in the Erie area interested in a bus trip for this special day should call Dean Rose at 814-868-8690.

Additions to Ivan’s Schedule

For updates to Ivan’s schedule, go to www.medjugorje.org/ivanse.htm

Feb. 23 - St. Thomas Moore Church, 8035 South Quebec St.,Englewood, CO 80112 Contact: 303-507-1169

Mar. 7 - St. Francis Church, 115 Wheeler Rd., Dracut, MA 01826 Contact: 978-452-6611 

Mar 12 - Holy Family Catholic Church  2515 Palatine Rd.,Inverness, IL 60067 Contact: 847-304-4846  

Mar 13 - St Anne Church 1104 N Brinton Ave.,Dixon, IL 61021 Contact: 815-228-3131

Mar 14 - St. Petronille 420 Glenwood Ave.,Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 Contact: 630-469-5041

Mar 15 - St. James Church 22400 South Torrence Ave.,Sauk Village, IL 60411 Contact: 708-757-2174

Mar 17 - Assumption Church 208 N 2nd St.,Ashkum, IL 60911 Contact: 815-698-2262

Mar 19 - St. Anthony's de Padua Church 2120 E. Jefferson Blvd.,South Bend, IN 46617 Contact: 574-288-8777

Mar 20 - St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, 1150 West Centre Ave.,Portage, MI 49024 Contact: carmenluzcronen@hotmail.com

Mar 21 - St. Joseph Parish, 440 E. Washington St.,Howell, MI 48843 Contact:www.stjosephhowell.com

June
www.spiritofmedjugorje.org
"Do everything without grumbling or questioning." (Philippians 2:14)

Thanks to Chris Maxwell, Diane Yochim, Marge Spase, Barb Sirianni, and Cindy Bielanin for help with the January mailing. Thanks to Carolanne Kilichowski, Johannes Dittrich, Mike Golovich  and Joel Vidonish for their  photos this month.