"Dear children! In this time of grace, pray with me for the good to win in you and around you. In a special way, little children, pray united with Jesus on His Way of the Cross. Into your prayers put this humanity which wanders without God and without His love. Be prayer, be light, and be witnesses to all those whom you meet, little children, so that the merciful God may have mercy toward you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
Featured article from January's Spirit of Medjugorje
Kelly's Two Questions
The following testimony of Kelly Shoaff aired 11/20/17, on Fruit
of Medjugorje. It is episode #291 on Marytv.tv.
My name is Kelly Shoaff, from Spring, Texas. I grew up in
Chicago, Illinois. In 1983, I saw a full-page ad in the Chicago
Tribune of Our Lady of Medjugorje, and from that moment
I was hooked. I planned to get here [Medjugorje] – it took
me some time though. I arrived here in November of 1996,
and by that time, I had two questions for Our Lady. One
was: "Could I please have a baby?" And the other was
my question about Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist.
Although I'd been raised Catholic my whole life (cradle
Catholic), I suddenly needed to understand that better.
A friend of mine, Nancy, invited me to come along with
them to Medjugorje with Wayne Weible's tour group. I had
the last seat. I was so excited to get here! And so we got
here, and I was here for three days, and during these three
days, I heard about all these miracles – the miracle of the
sun, the miracle of the cross spinning. Some people said
they saw Our Lady on the mountain. Other people said they
saw a big glowing triangle. And in those first three days I
saw nothing. Frankly, I was just a little bit disappointed, and
suddenly it occurred to me – I've got to go to Confession.
I've got to do the things that Our Lady has asked us to do –
the "five stones," one of them being Confession. So I sought
out a Franciscan priest by the name of Fr. Ivan, and I made a
wonderful Confession. He helped me so much. By the time
my Confession was over, I felt so free!
Kelly and Emily Rose
I went into the Adoration Chapel to say my penance and
to pray to Jesus, and there was the Eucharist – the Blessed
Sacrament right there before me. I was praying to Him and
talking to Him, and suddenly the Eucharist changed from
the color it normally is… to deep red. And I looked at it and
I said, "Lord, how do I explain this?" And I never heard
Him speak to me audibly, but it was a thought in my head.
He said, "When you tell people about this, explain it the way
ketchup runs out of a bottle." And I burst out laughing. That
was the first time I ever knew what a great sense
of humor Jesus has. Later, when I explained that
to my cousin, who is a physician (a surgeon), she
said that's the way blood separates, the same way.
I left the chapel and I was walking toward the
tents. (At the time there were tents. There weren't
all these buildings.) Fr. Slavko was giving a talk.
I looked up at the cross on Krizevac, and I said,
"Lord, I love You so much. I know it's not going to
change. My faith isn't going to change, but would
You just give it a spin one time for me? And right
when I prayed and I asked Him, the cross raised
up in the air and it slowly, slowly spun around one
time and then it lowered back into its base. And
right then I knew that God hears our prayers right when we
pray them... He did it one time. That just cracked me up.
I walked into the tent and Fr. Slavko was giving a talk.
His whole talk was about taking personal responsibility for
yourself. It's not always Satan; it's not always somebody
else's fault. We have to learn to take personal responsibility
for the things that we do. It was wonderful. After that
experience, I saw the miracle of the sun, which is incredible.
The last night that I was here, I had received Holy
Communion, and I felt the Eucharist from the top of my
head to the bottom of my feet. It was electric. I became so
overwhelmed with emotion and I felt so deeply how much
God loves me, I cried and cried and cried. When we left to
go back home, I felt like Our Lady said to me, "Don't you
want to go home to John (who is my husband)?" I said, "No,
I want to stay here with you." I got to the bus and we went
on our way.
Those moments prove to me how real Jesus is in the
Eucharist – the Eucharist changing into that blood-red
color, that He showed me how His blood separated as
He was dying. And then when I felt Him and I received
Communion, I felt it. I felt the power of God and I felt how
much He loved me. And the thing is – what I know is – even
though we don't always feel that (and it's the only time it's
ever happened to me), it's actually happening to us every
single time we receive Communion. Jesus Christ is real and
present in the Eucharist and we can never forget that!
I also asked Him, "Could I please have a baby?" One day
as I was walking toward the tent and I was looking at the
cross, I just said, "Lord, You know this. I've been married
for 10 years and we can't seem to have a baby." Now, I come
from a big Irish Catholic family in Chicago (there's nine
of us). So I figured something had to be wrong. So when I
got home – it was June 24 – I discovered I was pregnant!!!
And that's, of course, the first day Our Lady appeared to
the visionaries. When I went to the doctor's, the doctor told
me my due date was St. Patrick's Day. Now that's a huge
holiday in my family, and I knew that was a confirmation
that this was an answer to my prayers!
I went to the doctor, like we do, and had the tests, like we
are supposed to, and they came back and they said, "Kelly,
it's really bad news. Your baby has Down Syndrome and
Spina Bifida." Then she rattled off a litany of other diseases
that I can't even remember now. I was so terrified at those
first two things I couldn't even breathe… The doctor said,
"We encourage you really to terminate this pregnancy. It's
not a good idea to go forward." I said, "I can't. I can't do
that. This was my gift from Medjugorje. This is
my gift from God. And I'm Catholic. We can't
end a life of another human being." The doctor
was so angry with me for not cooperating,
she actually called my husband at his office
and told him that I was not cooperating. Of
course, he told her never to call him again, I'm
a grown woman, and I can make up my own
mind.
Long story, long, I changed doctors. We
went on with the pregnancy and my little girl
was born – of course, she was a week late,
like her mother. She was born on March 24,
and when the doctor looked up, she said to
me, "Kelly, your baby is perfect and she's normal and she's
healthy." Everybody in the delivery room just burst into
tears. I had held my breath for nine months and I prayed
and prayed and prayed to Our Lady to help me accept this,
if this was God's will for me, that I would raise this little baby
who obviously would need me. But my little girl was born.
Come here, Em [beckoning to her daughter]. I want you to
see the perfect beautiful baby that I had on March 24, 1998.
This is my Emily Rose. She's perfect and she's beautiful and
she's completely normal. And the doctors and all the tests
said it wasn't true. I just think it's so important to remember
that. Remember that those tests aren't always true. We have
to value life, value our children because they matter. And
this is my baby [hugging her]. There she is.
Something else I just want to say, too. It was years later
I heard about Mary TV and this is the most wonderful gift
that we have – to be able to spread Our Lady's messages,
to be able to spread the news that Jesus and God want us
to come back, come back to the Father. And we have to not
only do that, but we have to share this with our friends…
This is important that this succeeds…
Editor's note: Kelly is right about MaryTV. Their ministry is
awesome. Please pray for their success, and if you wish to send
them a donation, you can visit their website, Marytv.tv, for more
information. When you help them, you help us!