The Spirit of Medjugorje
Medjugorje Message April 25, 2024
"Dear children! I am with you to tell you that I love you and to encourage you to prayer; because Satan is strong and every day his strength is stronger through those who have chosen death and hatred. You, little children, be prayer and my extended hands of love for all those who are in darkness and seek the light of our God. Thank you for having responded to my call."
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Featured article from November's Spirit of Medjugorje
"You are Created for Heaven"
By June Klins
On All Saints Day, November 1, 2017, my sister-in-law,
Sharon, was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. Sharon
had battled kidney cancer around eight years before that, and
had asked me for a Medjugorje prayer cloth. Her husband,
Dave, who had a cloth I had given him for cancer, was not
willing to give his up. He had been diagnosed with cancer
several years before that, and I had offered him one even
though he and Sharon were not Catholic. I had explained to
them that they needed to pray with the cloth and that it is
not like a "lucky charm". Sharon said Dave slept with the
prayer cloth and it gave him great peace. He was healed of
the cancer.
Of course, I gave Sharon her own prayer cloth. Through
medical procedures, Sharon was cancer-free for years until
six weeks after Dave died during a heart procedure. Two
days after Sharon's diagnosis, we went to the hospital to
visit her. I asked her if I could pray over her with a hair from
Msgr. James Peterson, our former spiritual advisor, whose
cause may be opened for canonization in the future. She
was very open to it and asked some family members who
were in the room to stay, so they could "learn something".
(These family members were not Catholic either.) I prayed
for Msgr. Peterson's intercession, since he had died of
cancer and knew what the suffering was like. I also prayed
Our Lady's Prayer for the Sick (see page 7).
The doctors did not give Sharon much hope and she was
released to her home, where family members took care of
her. As her condition continued to deteriorate, she did not
want visitors, but as she saw the end was near, she wanted
to say her good-byes to everyone. On January 25, I went to
see her, which just happened to be a "Medjugorje message
day." I printed the message out and took it with me because
I thought it would give her some consolation, especially
when Our Lady said, "Above everything, little children, seek God
and the things of God and leave earthly ones to the earth… You are
called to holiness and you are created for Heaven; therefore, seek
Heaven and the things of Heaven." Sharon did
like the message and laid it next to her bed.
On February 2, the feast of the Presentation, we
got a call from Sharon's daughter, Lora, saying
that the Hospice nurses did not think Sharon
would make it through the day. My husband
and I prayed the Divine Mercy Chap let for
Sharon around 2:00 p.m., and then he went to
her house to be with her. He and Lora were with
Sharon when she passed peacefully during the
3:00 p.m. Hour of Mercy. I found it consoling
that my daily Bible calendar that day read, "On
this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all
peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy,
rich food and pure, choice wines" (Is 25:6). When
I looked in my Bible at that passage, I noticed
that the verses after that read, "He will destroy
death forever. The Lord GOD will w ipe away the
tears from all faces."
By that evening I had enough friends and family members
willing to join together to have Gregorian Masses said for
Sharon, so I had them scheduled less than nine hours after
her death. I knew, from having Gregorian Masses said many
times before, how efficacious these Masses can be.
For those who are not familiar with Gregorian Masses,
they derive their name from St. Gregory the Great.
Gregorian Masses are offered for thirty consecutive days for
the repose of the soul of a particular person. In the fourth
book of his Dialogues, St. Gregory relates how one of the
monks of his monastery, named Justus, did not keep his
vow of poverty very well. When Justus died, St. Gregory
feared that the monk might have to spend a long time in
Purgatory, so he ordered Masses be offered up for Justus
for thirty consecutive days. On the thirtieth day, Justus
appeared to a brother monk telling him that he had been
freed from his sufferings because of the thirty Masses.
Following St. Gregory's example, Catholics have continued
the pious custom of having thirty Masses said for their
departed relatives and friends. The Sacred Congregation
on Indulgences has declared that "the offering of Gregorian
Masses has a special efficacy for obtaining from God the
speedy deliverance of a suffering soul, and that this is a
pious and reasonable belief of the faithful."
Following the example of St. Therese of Lisieux, who had
asked God for a sign that her father was in Heaven, I asked
for a sign about Sharon and wanted the sign to be something
unusual, so there would be no doubt. I wanted to share it
with family and friends to show the efficacy of the Masses. A
priest once told me not to limit God, so when I asked for the
sign, I told Him to send whatever He wanted, but a couple
of "suggestions" might be a ground hog, since Sharon died
on the Feast of the Presentation, known in the secular world
as "Ground Hog Day", or a penguin, because she really
liked penguins.
Exactly two weeks later, I was flabbergasted when I
received a card in the mail with penguins on the front, saying
"Advice from a PENGUIN"!!! In the card was a subscriber's
donation, renewal, and a personal note. I couldn't wait to
show everyone! In over 16 years of editing this
newsletter, I can't remember ever getting a card
with a penguin on it! "Could this really be the
sign, though?" I wondered.
Penguins seemed to come out of the
woodwork in the following weeks. On February
28, the picture on my Bible calendar was a flock
of penguins. The next day, March 1, I got a
Facebook message from someone who uses a
penguin symbol for his website. (This is not
new, but it was the first time I ever noticed it.)
On March 2, when I was watching the national
news, they reported about a new colony of
penguins that was recently discovered. There
was also an article in the paper with a picture
of the penguins. The report said, "A previously
unknown ‘mega-colony' of Adelie penguins
have been found on the islands, which sit on
Antarctica's northern tip."
On March 3, when I was looking through a clearance rack
of winter clothing in Kohl's, I noticed three different shirts
that had penguins on them. I took pictures of them and
when I showed our mailing crew, as I recounted this story,
they thought this was incredible, and one lady said she had
looked all over for a shirt with penguins and could never
find one.
The following day was Sunday and I went to a different
church for Mass, and a few rows in front of me was a young
family. To keep their child quiet at Mass, they opened a book
bag they had with them and took out – you guessed it – a
stuffed penguin. After Mass, I asked if I could take a picture
of it and explained why. That same day in the newspaper
was a picture of a person dressed up like a penguin and one
of the girls with the "penguin" was named Sharon!
After that week, I still got some penguin signs but they
were more sporadic. God had made His point. I did not
need any more penguins. What is also interesting is that I got
these signs even before Sharon's Masses were completed.
The same thing happened when we had Gregorian Masses
said for my mother. God is sooo very good!
Originally I was only going to write this story for the
family, but then Our Lady gave me three big nudges that
She wanted it published. Hopefully this story will inspire
you to have Gregorian Masses for a loved one. What a
great Christmas gift for your deceased loved one! If you
cannot afford the stipend, you can take a collection like
Judas Maccabeus did (2 Macc 12:43-46) and my friends
and I have done many times. The soul you help will never
forget you and will be a great intercessor for you in Heaven.
On November 6, 1986, Our Lady said, "Dear children: Today
I would like to invite you to pray, day by day, for the souls in
Purgatory. Every soul needs prayer and grace to reach God and His
love. This way, you too, dear children, can find new intercessors
who will help you in life to know that all things of the earth are not
important for you. It is only Heaven which you need tend to. For
this reason, dear children, pray without interruption so that you
may help yourself and those to whom your prayers will bring joy.
Thank you for your response to my call."
Editor's note: Please note that most parishes cannot have 30
Masses said in a row for the same intention. There are a number
of organizations who offer Gregorian Masses. Here are just a
few: The Seraphic Mass Association, (877) 737-9050; The Pious
Union of St. Joseph, (517) 522-8017; Marians of the Immaculate
Conception, (800) 462-7426.
