Fr. Martin’s reflection on - Our Lady’s Message

25th September 2024

 

 

 

Our Lady of Medjugorje

“Dear children! God has sent me among you, to love you and encourage you to prayer and conversion, for peace in you and in your families and in the world. Little children, do not forget that true peace comes only through prayer, from God Who is your peace.

Thank you for having responded to my call."

 

(With Ecclesiastical approval)

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Brother’s and Sister’s of Medjugorje North East and beyond,

Prayer is the sum of our relationship with God. We are what we pray, it could be said. Prayer is the oxygen that fills the sails of the spiritual life.

Prayer is communication, contact with God. “The degree of our Faith is the degree of our prayer. The strength of our hope is the strength of our prayer. The warmth of our charity is the warmth of our prayer.”  ( Carlo Carretto) 

 

Everything depends on our prayer for progress in the spiritual life, and the life of Faith.

This is why Our Lady emphasises ‘Prayer   in all her messages in Medjugorje.  She comes amongst us to teach us how to pray. We are like the Apostles who on seeing Jesus in prayer said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray  (Luke: 11: 1-4.)

Without a prayer life our mission in this world will be fruitless.

So Our Lady begins this month’s message,

Dear  Children, God has sent me among you  to love you and encourage you to prayer and conversion, for peace in you and in your familie’s and in the world.”

 

Our Lady comes to us, because God is sending her amongst us with the Gospel message of conversion and renewal.  It is in Gods plan that Our Lady Queen of peace comes amongst us to gather us together as her  Dear Children.”  Our Lady tells us why she is here “to love you,”

Millions of people have experienced this love of Our Lady in Medjugorje. To know the Love of Our Lady is a beautiful gift, and once experienced she leads us deeper into the life of Faith. On one occasion Our Lady said, “If you knew how much I loved you, you would cry with Joy.”  Our Lady comes to us from  Heaven to help us feel her love and know the power of her maternal Intercession.

Then Our Lady calls us to prayer and conversion.  The fruit of prayer is peace, and it is peace in our heart’s and familie’s that our Lady has emphasised from the beginning that is most important.

There can be no real peace without change, i.e. Conversion. That is why we have to work on our own conversion in our relationship with God and neighbour.

At this time of writing there are terrible wars and atrocities taking place in various places throughout the world, and this is serious for humanity. Each one of us is important in the building of peace and it begins by looking at ourselves, and entrusting ourselves to God in prayer and Faith.

 

Our Lady tells us that Peace in us , spreads to others in our familie’s and in the world.  “I would like to teach you to pray.”  Says the message of June, 12th1986.

“Ask God to come to your aid, not according to your desires, but according to his love. Forget your desires and pray for what God wants, and not yours.” ( September, 25th, 1991)  

This invites our surrender to God, our abandonment to his will for our lives. Jesus, tells us, “Set your hearts on the Kingdom first, then all else shall be given to you.”  ( Matt: 6: 33.)

 

 

Our personal intentions and prayers are part of our prayers, but Our Lady reminds us that true prayer leads us into the peace of God’s will.

What does Our Lady want us to pray for then? 

 

· For Peace,

· to be protected from Satan,

· for Jesus to be victorious,

· for Our Lady’s intentions,

· for the Gift of the Holy spirit,

· to know the love of God,

· and to give witness.

 

These are just some of the intentions our Lady has encouraged us to pray for over the years.  Now, she asks us to pray for peace in our familie’s and in the world. 

 

Then Our Lady say’s, “Little children, do not forget that true peace, comes only through prayer, from God who is peace.”

The innermost content of the message of peace concerns not only the call to avoid war but is foremost a call for conversion towards God and a radical decision for life. Contact with God is contact with his peace. Life on earth is a gift from God, and our lives are to be lived in God’s will. In his will is our peace. Scripture tells us that God does not want death but rather life and life to the fullest! Yet, humanity is going in the other direction, the path of destruction and war.  That is why Mary, the Queen of peace, says that she has come to help us and love us. She wants to raise us to a new level of living, - in peace. She is staying with us for such a long time to lead us away from the path of destruction and accompany humanity on the new path of peace in her Son.

 

 

 

She leads us to the love of life in a new way, the way of –

 

· Prayer

· Fasting

· Reconciliation

 

 

The seeds of Conversion,  Prayer, Fasting  and Reconciliation, should not fall on stony ground, but on fertile hearts and souls of the pilgrim people of God.

 

May it be so for us!

 

God Bless,

Fr. Martin