The Spirit of Medjugorje Online

THE 25TH DAY OF EACH MONTH, THE BLESSED VIRGIN GIVES A MESSAGE TO THE VISIONARY MARIJA, THAT IS TO BE GIVEN TO THE WORLD.

"Dear children! Also today, in my arms I am carrying my Son Jesus to you, for Him to give you His peace. Pray, little children, and witness so that in every heart, not human but God's peace may prevail, which no one can destroy. It is that peace in the heart which God gives to those whom He loves. By your baptism you are all, in a special way called and loved, therefore witness and pray that you may be my extended hands to this world which yearns for God and peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

The painting above, by Luigina Castellana, is in the Oasis of Peace in Medjugorje. Luigina says that she pictures Our Lady spreading graces to the world and stretching out Her hands to lead us to Heaven. The eyes follow us wherever we go, as She is watching over us.

Medjugorje: Where Our Lady Turns Old Men Back into Children of the Most High God

By Dave Sheehan

In the beginning of the twentieth chapter of Matthew, Our Lord tells the parable of the landowner who goes to the market place to hire day laborers. The Landowner (God) goes out in the morning, at noon, in the afternoon, and finally near the end of the day when there is but one hour of work left to be done. Those hired near the end of the day were likely the old guys, as all the young-backs were already taken. But, they are called to do the work of their Father, no matter what the hour, and sometimes they get the call to come to Medjugorje to learn to be a child again – a child of God.

Last fall, I was starting to get the “Medjugorje itch.” My wife saw it in me and knew I wanted and needed to go back again, so she suggested that I get a hold of Mr. Bill House, my old St. David’s Relief work partner, and go back there to work and pray and play. So, I contacted Bill who is a young 76, and we both lit up at the chance to return to Our Lady’s village. We both had been there nine times before, so this would be our tenth – a decade of the Rosary.

Then, it happened. A bunch of old guys started clustering around Bill and saying they wanted to go as well. Was Our Lady calling them, or was it early dementia? I was not sure, but said to Bill, “Well, the more, the merrier,” or something like that. Pretty soon, we had a group of eight men, with the average age of 58. Two young guys pulled down the average, otherwise I could have gotten Geritol to sponsor the trip!

So Bill got a break for us all with flights from the USA to Sarajevo via Munich. I flew from Texas and met his merry band in Munich. Bill looked good for his 76 years, but I was worried when I saw some of our traveling companions. They were game, but would we need to have an ambulance to meet us in Sarajevo? Or just cut to the chase and call the undertaker? I put it all in Our Lady’s hands and figured if She got them there in one piece, then She would return them back as well.

The flight into Sarajevo was incredible. As you glide down toward the city, the mountains and the greenery are breath- taking. One could forget the terrible price these people paid for freedom in the war of the 90s, but God does not forget, and remembers their courage. When we deplaned, our van driver was waiting for us and soon we were cruising through the mountains of central Bosnia via the Neretva river valley.

We arrived in Medjugorje in the afternoon at the pansion of Ivanka and Dragan Kozina. Dragan and his family speak excellent English and his pansion is just down the main street from St. James Church. We have known him from our previous stays in Medjugorje and he makes us crazy Americans feel like family; we are “home” once again.

At this first dinner, Bill and I talk to our team. Our plan is very simple. I will go to the 7:30 A.M. Croatian Mass each day and then head over to the Information office to see what is on tap for the English speaking crowd that day. Also, we pick up a couple of maps in the church bookstore to pass around to the guys so they can get a general feel for the village. They are free to do as they please, but if they want either Bill or I to guide them, we are at their service.

The days pass quickly in Medjugorje, and these old guys start to become younger in front of my eyes.

Bill and I make contact with Ms. Miljenka Majic, who is the Project Coordinator for Medjugorje-Mir, which handles the women’s shelter (Community of Mother Krispina-Kay Centre), the orphanage (Mother’s Village), and the men’s rehabilitation center (Community of the Merciful Father). She is a very busy woman, but she makes time for us, as she has done many times in the past. With her help, we are able to visit these places where we have worked in the past and see Christ’s abundant life in the eyes of the mothers and children and young men fighting addictions. At the home of the Merciful Father, Bill and I make acquaintances with two Serbians who are living there – Davor and his younger brother, Darko. Davor gives us a grand tour of the outside of the place with some humorous anecdotes of how infractions are handled. He shows us the path that the men take each morning while they say the Rosary in Croatian. Bill asks him if they can get atheists who come here to say the Rosary. Davor answers him with a smile, “After working here three weeks, they are no longer atheists!” The men combine their hard working manual labor with daily prayer. His brother Darko handles the kitchen. When we come into the kitchen, Darko tells us that we have now come into his kingdom! Everything is spotless. It is good to see Christ working through these young men who have suffered so much and are now healing under Our Lady’s mantle.

On Thursday, one of our gang, “BlackJack,” decides he is going to climb Mount Krizevac (Cross Mountain) with us, making it a foursome. Although he had a heart attack two years ago, and does have a little trouble walking, BlackJack is determined to climb the mountain. We cannot talk him out of it, so that morning, we take a cab to the foot of the mountain at 6 A.M. hoping to beat the heat and the crowds. It is reasonably cool, and we find ourselves at the “starting gate” with a couple hundred of other pilgrims who were also trying to beat the crowd. I think half of Medjugorje is here as our brave foursome begins the upward climb. We make slow progress, but we are moving. At times, we take a rest, and the Italian women seem to flock around BlackJack to help him on his way. It must be his cologne! At one break site, BlackJack took his cap off, and I told him to turn it upside down and maybe we get some Euros for begging. The Italians see this and laugh but no Euros, so we continue upward. Finally, we reach the top. It is really getting warm. We stay a short time and then get moving. To get down the mountain faster, we decide to take the back way. It is steeper and a bit trickier, but it will allow us to bypass the crowds. We got about half way down and then BlackJack’s legs gave out. Bill and Danny go on for help while I stay with BlackJack. Then, after a rest, he and I continue walking again and resting. We are both getting peaked, the air is getting hotter and our water is running low. With God’s help, Bill and Danny return with Dragan and crew, and we do get BlackJack in one piece off the mountain alive. As Dragan would say afterward, the story should be titled “I did it!” by BlackJack. The real miracle would be that BlackJack would go to Dubrovnik the next day with some of the gang and live to come back!

On Saturday, we visited Cenacolo; we found ourselves sitting outside on stone benches in front of a statue of Our Lady. I realized then what this trip was all about. Our Lady has brought us all to Her school in Medjugorje – the school of Life. And then, it all hits me. Christ came for us to redeem us, to live in us so that we would share in His life and have life more abundantly (John 10:10). Our Lady, Our Mother, is teaching us the meaning of our lives over and over in all of Her messages. It is the message of Everlasting Love, of Christ, Her Son.

Sunday passes quickly with the highlight being the 2 P.M. Rosary climb on Apparition Hill with the Croatian Friars. The Mysteries of the Rosary are here; the Stations of the Cross are over there on Mount Krizevac; Our Lady and Our Lord beautifully united together here in Medjugorje – whose name means “between the mountains.”

We leave Tuesday morning after attending a Czech Mass in the Adoration Chapel at 7 A.M. The Czechs, good people that they are, make us feel very welcome, and we receive Our Lord’s Body and Blood through intinction. It is a very special Mass.

So, our pilgrimage adventure comes to an end, but as Our Lady has taught us in Her school, we must bring Medjugorje back with us to our families, to our churches, and to our communities. We old men must become young again, if but a short time. Our Lord has called us in the last hour of our lives to work in His vineyard. The pay may not be so great, but I hear the retirement plan is out of this world!

Editor’s note: Dave is from Crowley, TX. He also shared the following with us.

House Blessing

By Dave Sheehan

On Wednesday, at the conclusion of the English speaking Mass, we heard a house blessing from the Irish celebrant, Father Liam Dunne, SVD. If we accept December 25th as the birthday of Our Lord in the tradition sense, then we have the dedication of His House (His body) when He is circumcised eight days later and His Blood is first shed for our salvation. So, as Christ dedicated His "House" (His Body) for our salvation, we should dedicate our homes and ourselves also each year to Him and to doing the Father's will.

God of earth and God of Heaven,

Bless and sanctify this home

Here to You we come in worship

From You never more to roam.

Hear our prayer, O loving Father

Lord eternal, ever same!

In our midst be ever present

As we gather in Your name.

Bless the door through which we enter

Make us agree to give and share:

May we welcome friends and needy

And all burdens gladly share.

Jesus bore for us on Calvary

All the weight of sin and shame;

Bless this cross; let it remind us

To be patient in His name.

Word of God that brings us meaning

Lamp of truth that guides our way;

Bread of Life that feeds our spirit

Guide our minds and hearts we pray.

Gather in the love of family

Welcoming our Lord in friends

May this room for us be blessed

With God’s peace that knows no end.

Jesus shared bread at His table

On the night before He died.

Bless all those who together

May their love be fortified.

Souha’s Most Beautiful Confession

By Sister Emmanuel

A group came from the Middle East to spend a few days in Medjugorje, wanting to make a holy pilgrimage. Among them was Souha, a married woman whose husband is a doctor. She came without him because he was working. Souha had a secret that left her without peace. Soon after her arrival, she went to see a priest from her group and confided to him that she had an abortion. The child that she was expecting was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome, and she and her husband did not want him. They decided together to have him removed from the womb and had an abortion performed. Her heart was still restless however and Souha asked the priest, “It’s not a sin, is it?” The priest answered, “But yes, my daughter, it is a sin! A grave sin! You must go to Confession!”

Souha was not convinced and she shut herself within her denial. Yet she asked the Blessed Mother for a sign to know whether she should confess this act. In the evening, at the apparition of the Gospa on the hill with Ivan, Souha was with her group. As soon as the Blessed Mother arrived, Souha unexpectedly bent over with her nose on the ground. She remained like this for a while and when she came back up after the apparition, her friends saw her crying. She told them, “Please call a priest, I must go to Confession right away!”

I do not know what happened to her during the apparition; her friends respected her secret, but Our Mother acted.

In tears, Souha made the most beautiful Confession of her life. Yes, she touched the horror of sin and it made her cry. She accepted God’s mercy towards her. Her inner peace was at last restored. Now she is free! What a contrast on her face! What light! She witnesses to her friends that she feels a deep joy, as never before in her life.

In Medjugorje, some pilgrims groups have a fine tradition. The guide suggests that each pilgrim receives the responsibility of praying for a particular person of the group during the whole pilgrimage. Thus the first or second night, each one must draw from a little basket the name of another pilgrim. That evening, out of the 150 people in the group, who received the name of Souha and the call to pray for her? A young woman with Down’s syndrome!

That same night, Souha’s husband called, and after hearing his wife’s story, tells her, “You know, I am calling you because I find it strange that you are over there praying to God, while I am here performing abortions. It is not right! Today, I have decided not to do that anymore.” He also was crying over the phone. The whole day, he had the feeling that something was happening to his wife and he was ready to take this giant step professionally. Souha could not believe her ears.

This happened last August. Now Souha, her husband and their children are living differently. They put God in the first place. They practice the sacraments and go to Mass almost every day. They give testimonies. After this memorable pilgrimage, they were wondering how to make reparation for such a past when they suddenly received a call from an orphanage needing help. Sisters were asking them to care for an orphaned child. They saw this as the answer from God; they were grateful to Him and decided to do everything in their power for the child.

And what has become of the aborted baby? In Medjugorje, Mary says of these unborn children, “They are with me.” This child is certainly praying for his parents and for all his little companions who, today, are programmed never to see the sun.

I am asking myself the question: did the baby really have Down’s syndrome? For I see more and more examples of wrong diagnostics: many mothers decide to keep their child whatever the handicap, and often, the child is born perfectly normal. Bizarre! To be meditated!

But God is wonderful! For this family, He changed evil into good. Now hundreds of children (perhaps even thousands) will never be aborted by this doctor who now fights for life.

“Dear children, tonight I invite you to pray in a special way for the unborn children. Pray especially for the mothers who kill their children. Dear children, I am sad because so many children are killed. Pray that there are no more such mothers in the world.” (To the Medjugorje Prayer group, 3/03/90)

Children of Medjugorje, www.childrenofmedjugorje.com

Jakov Speaks to Pilgrims

The following is an excerpt from a talk by visionary Jakov Colo in Medjugorje in November of 2006. The entire talk can be viewed at http://betweenthefoldsofhermantle.com. We thank Mike Stanton for his permission to use it.

Our Lady says prayer is the answer to all we are looking for, because so many of you come with questions here in Medjugorje, and we are not able to answer all your questions. But Our Lady says that with prayer, we will be able to understand everything.

Our Lady says to us, “Pray in your families.” Place God in the very first place in your life, and please find time for God in your families, because if you have God in your family, then you will have peace in your family. You will have love in your family. And then you will have everything, because peace and joy can be given only to us by God. Everything else is an illusion.

Our Lady says to us, “Pray with the children.” Be examples to your children. Let your children see that you pray in the family, that God is at the very first place. There is something very important which Fr. Slavko used to say – if you give to your children, from the very beginning, the faith – and even if one day your children go far away from prayer – they will always return, because the little thing that you gave them then at the beginning will stay forever in their hearts. And that is why it’s very important that parents are a good example to their children.

Our Lady invites us to fast Wednesdays and Fridays on bread and water. When we fast, we must do it out of love. Many people ask why fasting is so important. We should remember what Our Lady said once: “Dear children, with prayer and fasting, you can achieve anything. You can even stop wars.” That is why we should fast.

Unfortunately, so many times in our lives, when we have crosses, many people ask very often, “God, where are You? Why don’t You help me? Did You forget about me?” But we should ask ourselves, ”Where were we? How much time did we spend with God? Was God at the very first place in our life?” God is always with us. But, unfortunately, we don’t want His presence.

Our Lady says, “Convert!” And when you come here to Medjugorje, you don’t come here first for the visionaries or whether you’re going to see some kind of sign. The biggest sign in Medjugorje is conversion – to change our life, to start a new life – a new life with God, and to take this to our homes, because you can see Medjugorje in our homes. Maybe our home can have a Cross Mountain, can have Apparition Hill in it, if we want that.

And Our Lady says, “Be examples!” We cannot be examples if we don’t live Our Lady’s messages. And when you return to your homes, don’t give any importance to the words that you were in Medjugorje, but let other people recognize Medjugorje in you, so that other people can see God in you, and how God works through you. And that is the true example of being in Medjugorje.

Temporary Inconvenience – Permanent Improvement

By June Klins

About thirteen years ago, a woman I know was having a crisis in her family, and needed nothing short of a miracle for the problem to be resolved. So she began to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays on bread and water for her family situation. Her friends and family were less than enthusiastic about her fasting. They said that people would think she was a fanatic, and that she would make herself sick. Despite the negativity around her, she stuck with it. Within a year, not only was the problem resolved, but it was resolved in a way that could only have been orchestrated by God! In thanksgiving, she continued to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, but now she was fasting for Our Lady’s intentions, for Her peace plan. She is amazed at all the blessings that have come her way during these years. She attributes it to prayer and fasting. She has also experienced some major trials, but claims that the fasting, along with prayer, has helped turn some difficult situations into blessings.

Our Lady has been asking us for 30 years now to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. But how many of us take this request seriously? Most of us can come up with all kinds of excuses why we cannot fast. A poster that my colleague hung up in our shared classroom says, “You can’t possibly hit the ball if you’re thinking about all the possible ways you can miss.” Isn’t that the truth? We don’t need to hit a home run on the first time at bat. Visionary Vicka suggests that we start out slowly in fasting, doing perhaps a modified fast and then work up to one day of fasting before eventually working up to two days.

When I first came back from Medjugorje, I wanted to live the messages, but like everyone else, I did not think I could do a bread and water fast, so I began doing a “Lenten” type fast on Wednesdays and Fridays – not eating between meals. I did that for months before I worked up to the bread and water fast. It really is not as hard as it seems. I read somewhere that one way to encourage yourself to persevere on fast day is to tell yourself that it is only temporary, and that tomorrow you can eat normally. “Temporary inconvenience – permanent improvement!” And oh, what an improvement it is!

Ask for the grace and it will be given to you. Our Lady would not ask us to do something that was not possible to do. Our Lady knows that our fasting will not only help Her peace plan for the world, but will help our own lives as well. Ask and you shall receive. With God all things are possible.

Of course, if your health does not permit, Our Lady would not want you to do a bread and water fast, but there are many other things you can fast from on those days – sweets, TV, computer, gossip, complaining, etc. Vicka tells us that Our Lady says that a bread and water fast is the best way to fast, but not the only way to fast.

In the last few months, there has been a much more serious tone to Our Lady’s messages, as if time is running short. I feel Her prompting me to help Her gather an army of people who will fast and make a difference in the world. I hope to include more fasting articles and stories in this newsletter over the coming year, to encourage everyone to persevere. If you have a story or a tip to share about fasting that you think will help our readers, please send it to us for possible publication.

Please help dry Our Lady’s tears. Remember, fasting is only a temporary inconvenience.

Father Jozo is Going to Serve in Zagreb

By Jakob Marschner

Before long, Fr. Jozo Zovko will again be able to greet his Franciscan brothers in Croatian when he meets them in his home monastery.

After almost three years in Austria and on the island of Badija, Medjugorje’s parish priest by the time the apparitions began will soon relocate to Zagreb, the Croatian capital, well-informed sources tell Medjugorje Today. Fr. Jozo happily accepted the relocation that most likely will take place in December [2011].

Though Fr. Jozo has full priestly faculties and may administer the Sacraments like every other priest, he has accepted his superior’s wish that he does not give interviews or talks in public about the apparitions in Medjugorje or the Virgin Mary’s messages until the Vatican Commission on Medjugorje has arrived at a conclusion.

“Father Jozo doesn’t take it as a punishment. He says he understands. He didn’t say he was happy with it, but he understands. He knows that it is the right thing to do” one source tells Medjugorje Today.

Known for his unusual charisms, inspired preaching and prophetic speech, Fr. Jozo has been much sought out by Medjugorje pilgrims ever since the early 1980s. For the past three years, though, only very little has been heard of the world-famous priest.

Overburdened with work, Fr. Jozo sought and received from his Order a sabbatical year in February, 2009. Fr. Jozo spent the next six months in charge of the rebuilding of the historical Franciscan convent on the island of Badija, off the Croatian coast. Fr. Jozo also helped the workers, and enjoyed to cultivate vegetables and fruits in the rich convent garden.

With winters slowing down the renovation of a convent without normal living quarters, Fr. Jozo having just a small room with very little comfort on Badija, in the late summer of 2009 he arrived at the Franciscan monastery close to Graz, Austria. Since then Fr. Jozo has been going back and forth between Graz and Badija, according to seasons.

Though this brought Fr. Jozo back to the European mainland, it did not bring the pilgrims back to him. The three years out of public sight have been quiet and revitalizing: “He did not want to bother his brothers at the monastery who had greeted him so warmly, and so he did everything he could to stay out of sight. He celebrated Mass with his brothers but also used this special time to pray and he took classes of theology that he took when he was young but now after all these years it was even more interesting, he loved it. Classes like Church history, Christian mysticism and other subjects” a well-informed source tells Medjugorje Today. www.medjugorjetoday.tv

Patron Saint for 2012

By June Klins

For a number of years now, we have been randomly choosing the name of a saint to be our “holy protector” for the year. St. Faustina’s community used to do this every year on New Year’s Day. This can be a fun and educational thing to do with your family, friends, prayer group, or parish. Almost always, there is a connection between the saint and the person or organization who randomly picked it. Sometimes you might not see it at first, but throughout the year, if you read about your saint, you will usually discover it. What is especially heartening is the fact that the saint does not leave you at the end of the year. So, if you do this every year, you will eventually have a whole army of holy helpers protecting you!

Although any list of saints can be used, we usually use the list of saints provided by Children of Medjugorje at www.childrenofmedjugorje.com. The tradition goes that it is the saint who chooses you, not the other way around. The saint wishes to help you. As we pray with the saint every day, that saint will pray for us and help us.

On August 25, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI recommended choosing a special saint as a model. Speaking in his General Audience, the Pope encouraged everyone to have a devotion to a particular saint, so that the saint can intercede but also be a model to imitate. Exactly two months later, in Her message of October 25, Our Lady said, “Pray and seek the intercession of all the saints. May they be for you an example, an incentive and a joy towards eternal life.”

My grandson, Oliver, picked the saint for “The Spirit of Medjugorje” this year – St. Patrick! Our subscribers in Ireland will be overjoyed! The prayer intention on the paper said: “Pray for the laity to respond to the call to be missionaries and evangelists today.” How appropriate for us, since we are called to be spreading Our Lady’s messages!

Many of you have been spreading the messages for years by distributing copies of our newsletters or by giving gift subscriptions to family and friends. We will ask St. Patrick’s intercession to help even more in spreading the

messages, and maybe he will even send us some more subscribers from Ireland! St. Patrick, pray for us!

SACRED SCRIPTURES

Recently I have been reading about daily life in Biblical Times – the food, the clothing, the way houses were built, etc. Fascinating! There are books and websites where one can learn this helpful information; for it can aid us in understanding the Bible. Why did the woman sweep her house to find that lost coin? Not because her floor was incredibly cluttered with stuff, but because it was made of hardened earth. A coin could be buried under the upper layer. The man who said that that he could not get the bread requested in the middle of the night because he and his children were in bed, knew that his whole family was asleep on mats in the same room. Perhaps he would have had to light a lamp and step around everyone. (And perhaps awaken his wife to ask her where she kept the bread!)

Baroness Maria von Trapp learned the need for knowing life in Biblical times when she told one of her children, "The Child Jesus would have eaten His oatmeal." The child responded by asking what Jesus had for breakfast perhaps – hoping for something other than oatmeal! The baroness didn't know so she did some research. The Child Jesus did not eat breakfast, but a meal around 11:00 A.M. (brunch?) and one in the evening. This led to more research on daily life in New Testament times, resulting in her book, When the King was a Carpenter.

It is just something to consider as we strive for greater understanding of Sacred Scripture.

You may contact Brother Craig at monkadoer@verizon.net

Ivan’s Schedule in the USA for 2012

For updates, go to www.medjugorje.org/ivanse.htm.

Jan. 28 5:00 – 8:00 PM St. Mary’s Catholic Church,244 Waterman St, Sycamore, IL 60178 Contact: Sara Blaser 815-895-3726 ext. 2

Jan. 29 5:00 – 8:00 PM St. Jane de Chantal, 5252 S. Austin Ave., Chicago, IL 60638 Contact: Fr. Ed Cronin 773-767-2411

Jan. 30 6:00 – 9:00 PM Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 1775 Grove St., Glenview, IL 60025 Contact: Monique Stevens 847-833-2815

Jan. 31 5:00 – 8:00 PM St. Joseph Church, 936 Lake St., Kalamazoo, MI 49001 Contact: Carmen Cronen 269-806-2223 carmenluzramirez@yahoo.com

Feb. 1 5:00 – 8:00 PM St Mary’s Student Parish, University Of Michigan, 331 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Contact: Sr. Dorothy K.

Ederer 734-649-4847

Feb. 2 6:00 – 9:00 PM Holy Family Parish, 79780 Main St., Memphis, MI 48041 Contact: Catherine Wullaert - 810-392-2056

cwullaert@holyfamily-online.org or cwullaert@aol.com

Feb. 9 6:00 – 9:00 PM St. John the Evangelist Church, 20 Church St., Hopkinton, MA 01748 Contact: Dorathy 508-435-3313

Feb. 10 6:00 – 9:00 PM St. Mary’s Church, 158 Washington St., Winchester, MA 01890 Contact: Ursula 781-729-6170

ukos42@verizon.net

Feb. 26 4:00-7:00 PM St. Regis Church, 3235 Parkview Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, Contact: Audia 412-681-9365, audia4105@aol.com

Feb. 27 5:00-8:00 PM St. Bernadette Church, 245 Azalea Dr.,Monroeville, PA 15146 Contact: Audia 412-372-7255 audia4105@aol.com

Feb. 28 5:00-8:00 PM St. Bonaventure Parish, 2001 Mt. Royal Blvd. Glenshaw, PA 15116 Contact: 412-486-2606 audia4105@aol.com

Mar. 14 Time to be announced Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 5269 Dosher Cut Off, SE Southport, NC Dot Ryan - 910-278-0969 dotgallo@bellsouth.net

Mar. 15 Time to be announced Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 300 Dundee Rd., Pinehurst, NC 28374 Contact: Jane 401-301- 581 anglesea24@hotmail.com

Mar 16 Time to be announced Quail Hollow Presbyterian Church, 8801 Park Rd.,Charlotte, NC 28210 Contact: 704-554-5714

Apr. 21 5:00-8:00 PM Holy Angels Church, 18205 Chillicothe Rd., Chagrin Falls, OH 44023 Contact: Peggy Golden mepgoldie@aol.com Please do not call the parish

Apr. 30 6:00-9:00 PM St. Joseph’s Church, 173 Albion St., Wakefield, MA 01880 Contact: RecM

We thank Barb Sirianni, Vickie DeCoursey, Barb Repasy, Joanne Warren, Agnes Trott, Louise Lotze, Julie Hansen, Sally Dugan, Cindy Bielanin, Marge Spase, and Gloria Marinelli for their help with the December mailing. We thank Johannes Dittrich and Diana Stillwell for their photos in this issue.

We extend our sincere condolences to Mary Sue Eck, editor of “Medjugorje Magazine,” on the death of her husband and former co-editor, Larry, who died on Guadete Sunday, December 11, 2011. May he rest in peace.