EDITOR: JUNE KLINS PHONE: (814)

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1 THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE P.O. BOX 6614 ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA SUBSCRIPTION RATE - FREE WILL OFFERING - PLEASE SEE PAGE 8 If this is the first time you have received this newsletter, and you would like a Beginner s Guide, please contact us for one. EDITOR: JUNE KLINS PHONE: (814) jklins1981@verizon.net EDITOR EMERITUS: JOAN WIESZCZYK SPIRITUAL ADVISOR FR. WILLIAM KIEL VOL. 31, NO. 6 PUBLISHED MONTHLY JUNE 2018 CURRENT MONTHLY MESSAGE OF MAY 25, 2018 ON 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! In this peaceless time, I am calling you to have more trust in God who is your Father in Heaven and who has sent me to lead you to Him. You, open your hearts to the gifts which He desires to give you and, in the silence of your heart, Adore my Son Jesus who has given His life so that you may live in eternity where He desires to lead you. May your hope be the joy of a meeting with the Most On June 25 th we will celebrate the 37 th anniversary of Our Lady s apparitions in Medjugorje. Pictured above is a card purchased in Medjugorje representing the 5 stones of Our Lady. Anniversary time is a good time to do a self-evaluation to see if we are doing what Our Lady asks. Are we living the five stones (coined by Fr. Jozo Zovko) praying daily with the heart, especially the Rosary, reading the Bible daily, fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, going to Confession once a month, and making the Eucharist the center of our lives? Hopefully this issue will give you the inspiration to do all that Our Lady asks. High in every day life. Therefore, I am calling you: do not neglect prayer because prayer works miracles. Thank you for having responded to my call.

2 During the month of June, we are often made aware of the number of priests in our local dioceses, as many dioceses celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Orders for new priests. Many Catholics have prayers offered for Fr. Bill Kiel young men to answer their call to the vocation of priesthood, but it seems once the men are ordained, we neglect to pray for them. It has been said that priests are holy men; they do not need prayers. Unfortunately, priests are often attacked verbally and emotionally, judged by many people and (in some parts of the world) they are physically harmed or killed. They may be holy men, but they need many prayers to sustain the graces of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Our world has a multitude of temptations and evil people attacking priests. Our priests were ordained to live a life of love for God and service to God s people, but there are numerous interferences in their lives of service. The sacrament of the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith. Without priests, the sacrament would not be available to Catholics. There are areas in our country where the Eucharist is not celebrated on a weekly basis, due to the lack of priests. Pray for men to answer their call to priesthood and pray for the ordained priests. As Catholics we are reminded: Firm faith will give you joy and happiness on earth and in the end the encounter with my Son. Praying For Our Shepherds By Fr. Bill Kiel Message to Mirjana on May 2, 2018 Dear children, All that my Son, who is the light of love, has done and does, He has done out of love. Also you, my children, when you live in love and love your neighbors, you are doing the will of my Son. Apostles of my love, make yourselves little; open your pure hearts to my Son so that He can work through you. With the help of faith, be filled with love. But, my children, do not forget that the Eucharist is the heart of faith. This is my Son who feeds you with His Body and strengthens you with His Blood. This is a miracle of love: my Son who always comes anew, alive, to bring life back to souls. My children, by living in love you are doing the will of my Son and He lives in you. My children, my motherly desire is for you to always love Him more, because He is calling you with His love. He is giving you love so that you may spread it to all those around you. As a mother, through His love, I am with you to speak the words of love and hope to you to speak to you the eternal words that are victorious over time and death so as to call you to be my apostles of love. Thank you. This is His desire. Therefore, live Him, live love, live the light that always illuminates you in the Eucharist. I implore you to pray a lot for your shepherds, to pray so as to have all the more love for them because my Son gave them to you to feed you with His Body and to teach you love. Therefore, also you are to love them. But, my children, remember, love means to endure and to give, and never, ever to judge. (7/2/15) We are also reminded with the following words: in a motherly way I am imploring you, pray for the chosen ones of my Son, for their blessed hands for your shepherds that they may preach my Son with all the more love and in this way bring about conversions. (8/2/16) always implore the blessing of those, and only of those whose hands have been blessed by my Son, of your shepherds. (10/2/16) Pray, always pray for your shepherds that they may have the strength to be the light of my Son. (1/2/17) Pray for your shepherds to have all the more light, so as to be able to illuminate all those who live in darkness. (5/2/17) do not ever forget to pray for your shepherds. Pray that they can accept all people as their children; that, according to my Son, they may be spiritual fathers to them. (10/2/17) The messages mentioned bring to our attention the need for priests and the need to pray for priests. They are human; they need your prayers! Celebrate Ordinations! Pray for the Ordained Priests!!! Mary Queen of Peace, pray for us. Mary Queen of Peace, pray for shepherds. Congratulations to our Spiritual Advisor, Fr. Bill Kiel, on 25 years of priesthood! Father was ordained on May 22, 1993 in the Diocese of Greensburg, PA. He retired in 2013, but continues to use his gift of healing that he received in Medjugorje. The story of Father s vocation and healing ministry was in our July 2008 issue. It can be read online at spiritofmedjugorje.org/july2008.htm. Thank you, Fr. Bill, for having responded to the call! Our thanks to Joanne Warren, Peggy Chludzinski, Sue Taccone, Diane Niebauer, Cassondra Dragone, Mary Jo Jaglowski, Chris Falk, Marge Spase, Kathy Luschini, Chris Opron, Vickie DeCoursey, Joan Peterson, Peggy Smith, Irene and Dan Zuba, Cindy Bielanin, Elaine and John Brady, Rose Heintzel, Estrella Igras, Louise Lotze, and those who want to remain anonymous for their help with the May mailing. We thank Carolanne Kilichowski, Susannah Klins, and Bonnie Nesser for their photos. We also thank our proofreader, Pat Berrier, our webmaster, Jason Klins, and our prayer group administrator, Patti Millar. Prayer Intention of Pope Francis for June Social Networks: That social networks may work towards that inclusiveness which respects others for their differences THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE JUNE 2018

3 Medjugorje is wonderful, and as so many of you know, every time you go to Medjugorje, you receive something special, so that you can then give this special gift to others. Medjugorje is one of those places where if you receive something, it is for you for a little bit, but then others for a lot longer. The graces you get, you give when you get back. The peace that you feel there you can give this to your family and all those you meet, as our Blessed Mother asks us to do. When on a pilgrimage, there are usually a handful of people sitting in the evenings outside at our house or in the dining room. We sit and talk about the things we experienced and sometimes Mirjana [Vicka s sister, not the visionary] will sit outside with us, or her brother Stipe and friends. Those are some of the best talks. When I go, I am always asking Vicka, her mom or her sisters, how it was in the beginning of the apparitions, and they always tell some new little stories. One time Mirjana told us about how her father, at the time of the apparitions, was working in Germany, as so many of the other Croatian Men did at the time. Vicka s mom, Zlata, told Vicka that the secret police were going to come and take her father away because she wouldn t stop telling this story of the Lady from Heaven. (With the secret police, anything religious was viewed by the communist government as something terrible.) Vicka s father was coming home that night, and the secret police were out to get him, so he had to go back to Germany. They came and got Vicka s mother, though, and took her away for interrogation. So, in the house were all of the kids; Mirjana, who was 20 years old at the time, was the oldest one. All the kids were screaming St. Francis and Fasting In a book entitled The Little Flowers of St. Francis, there is a story about how St. Francis went to an island on the Lake of Perugia and took nothing with him but two little loaves of bread. And he remained there the whole of Lent, without eating or drinking, except the half of one of those little loaves, as was witnessed by his disciple when he returned to him on Holy Thursday, who found, of the two loaves, one entire, and the half of the other. It is believed that St. Francis so refrained from eating out of reverence for the fasting of the blessed Christ, who fasted forty days and forty nights without taking any material food. To fast for six weeks and only eat a half a loaf of bread is very extreme. Then again, St. Francis was not new to extreme mortification. He was accustomed to an extreme way of living: giving up his wealth, clothes, etc. to serve God. We don t need to be extreme in fasting like St. Francis. God is pleased with any kind of fasting that we do on Wednesdays and Fridays. However, if we find any fasting too challenging, we can always remember (and fast for) those who are poor and don t have food. There is nothing like a stomach crying out in hunger pains to remind us that we are choosing to do without food. Millions of people do not choose to fast, but do so because they don t have enough food. Medjugorje is Wonderful By Ana Shawl as the secret police came and took everything and anything religious from the walls, and crashed them down on the floor while the kids were running from room to room, crying and hiding, with no mother, and their father gone. Stipe, Vicka s brother, said that he never knew who it was, but when something bad was going to happen (like the Vicka s mother, Zlata, in 2002 police were coming), he would always get a call from the same man who would tell them what to do, where to go to hide, and so on. Stipe said he never found out who that man was, but he saved them on so many occasions at that time. On a happier note, Mirjana said that when they were all together one time in the house, Vicka and Jakov were praying along with everyone else, and Vicka said afterwards that all around them, the walls fell down and there appeared all of Heaven and hundreds of angels all around! They said it was as though the veil was removed from everything. This is how it actually is, although we can t see it but they did. So, with the terrible, you have the totally wonderful happenings! Editor s note: Ana is from DeKalb, IL. She heads the International Internet Prayer Group (IIPG) and with her husband, Steve, leads pilgrimages to Medjugorje. The Confessions of St. Damien By June Klins May 10 was the feast day of St. Damien De Veuster who worked in the leper colonies in the South Pacific. One time on his feast day, the priest at the Mass I attended talked about the suffering of St. Damien. He said that although St. Damien endured much in his work, and he himself contracted leprosy, the worst suffering for him was that he was not able to go to confession regularly. Since there were no other priests on the island, he could not go to confession unless a ship came. Father said that every time a ship would come, Fr. Damien would run and see if there was a priest aboard, so he could go to confession. The priests who were on the ships would not want to get near, for fear of contracting leprosy, so Fr. Damien would have to shout his confession to the priest in the ship. His confession was anything but private! How awesome it would be if we all yearned for confession like that! For many of us, confession is readily available, even daily, and we don t have to shout! And if we cannot go to the scheduled confessions, we don t have to wait for a ship to come in we can just make an appointment with a priest. Our Lady says that there is not a person on earth who does not need to go to confession at least once a month, and that confession would be a remedy for the West! JUNE THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE

4 On my last pilgrimage to Medjugorje, I purchased the book, Medjugorje, Our Lady s Apostles, Vicka s Testimony, 2016 by Mario Vasilj. Mr. Vasilj interviewed Vicka, her mother Zlata, and her brother Franjo, as well as Fr. Stanko Dodig. The interviews were focused on the early days of the apparitions. I was impressed and in awe of Fr. Stanko s story. Fr. Stanko was born in Medjugorje in He was ordained a Franciscan priest on June 26, Currently he resides in Dubrovnik, after having spent 32 years in Rijeka. When Fr. Stanko first heard about the apparitions, in June of 1981, he was, of course, surprised and thought perhaps it was a fabrication by the Communists to discredit the Church. He heard about the apparitions from relatives, various publications, and mass media the latter, of course, in negative context. At first he was in shock and disbelief. But believing that for God everything is possible, he told himself to study all the information, to be open-minded and to have an open heart. His conclusion was if it is God s work, it shall definitely survive, and if it is human or Satan s work it shall stop by itself and disappear. He states that the fruits of Medjugorje are evident, and they tell us that Heaven is involved in what is going on. However, the fruits do not guarantee with certainty that Heaven is coming down to earth. It was merely four days Fr. Stanko Dodig s Story By Louise Lotze after the first apparition that Fr. Stanko came to One of the photos behind St. James showing Medjugorje. He wanted to the tobacco fields in the early days find out firsthand what was going on in his birth parish. He talked to the visionaries as well as others who participated in some way in the events. Based on his inquiries, he returned to Rijeka to inform his fellow brothers, other priests, as well as interested lay people of the events in Medjugorje. On the occasion of his next arrival, during his vacation, on August 17, 1981, Fr. Stanko was with his mother in the morning in the field to pick tobacco and string it up in the shade for the day. This time was during the most violent and brutal repression of the visionaries and believers. As people were passing by, and above their house, they heard voices and crying, and even roars. Father told his mother he was going to see what was going on. The people said that the militia had placed guards around the church and kept them from coming close to the church. They were also convincing people that the apparitions were fabricated and that there would be no evening program anymore in the church. Strong militia forces, armed with automatic weapons and accompanied by trained dogs, surrounded the parish house and church. Father did not see any helicopters, but he found out later that the militia and dogs had been dropped off from helicopters in front of the church, which intimidated the people. What Fr. Stanko did then, he stated, was definitely God s grace. Something pushed him to come closer to the church to see what was going on. Since he knew there were tobacco fields near the church, he decided to pretend he was picking tobacco. He had brought a duhanjara (a linen dress for picking the tobacco) in case the militia would stop and question him. He had to squat down several times, and even lie down, so he would avoid being noticed. Luckily, he found a place which gave him a good view of the whole complex. He noticed a female in militia clothes in a house of nuns. Later he learned that she had strip-searched them. Fr. Stanko also witnessed the arrest of Fr. Jozo Zovko. He saw some kind of turmoil at the stairways in front of the parish office. Fr Jozo was wearing his habit and his hands were tied up on his back. Fr. Stanko saw two local people taking Fr. Jozo. One of those informers even kicked his bottom and Fr. Jozo began to stagger and almost fell over the stairs. They pushed him into the paddy wagon and drove him away, probably to the militia station in Citluk. Then inspectors wanted to come into the parish office in order to search the books and other documents. Fr. Zrinko, who was still there, lay down at the doorstep and said, Only over my dead body! At that time, the church bells sounded. Fr. Stanko found out later who had rung the bells (Fr. Jozo Jolic) and how he had shouted in front of the open window at the house of nuns, The key? Then somebody threw the key outside. He immediately unlocked the door of the bell tower and pulled the rope several times to ring the bells. Some people had come on foot from Duvno to Medjugorje. They were kneeling at the barrier, praying and singing. About 6 P.M., a militia car came, and a gentleman stepped out. When the barrier was removed, the people crowded from all sides and soon came in front of the church. After hearing the bells, the other townspeople of Medjugorje hurried to the church. The door was hammered shut, but the men easily broke the boards and set the door free. Women embraced the statue of Our Lady inside the church by loud imploring in prayer. In those moments, Fr. Stanko said some strong hand which he could not resist was leading him. He felt a huge peace, but with a bit of fear at the beginning. He said he received some additional strength, which enabled him to move. He strongly believes that he was led at that moment by the hand of the Queen of Peace and Her Son. As Fr. Stanko was crawling towards the sacristy door, he was praying for it to be unlocked. He was thrilled because when he grabbed the door handle, it was indeed unlocked. This made him realize that it was God s work and it gave him the shivers. After entering, he removed the duhanjara, locked the door, and rolled a wardrobe against the door so the militia could not break in. He then faced a dilemma how to turn on the lights and loudspeakers, since he was not familiar with the room and its technical equipment. He was pushing all the switches with a shaky hand and testing the loudspeaker, which he found functioning. After washing his hands and face, he dressed for Holy Mass and prepared THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE JUNE 2018

5 the wine, water and readings for the Mass. While he was dressing for Mass, he looked through the sacristy window and could see the confusion of the militia and that they were making gestures to one another. Kneeling down, he prayed, Jesus and Mary, I implore you to show now if this is truly Your work that has been going on! The enemies of Your Church, Christ, have joined their forces against Mary and all of us who believe in You. Now it is the opportunity to break them their wings. And that is why I go to the altar in the name of You and in the name of the Queen of Peace. The people did not notice Fr. Stanko until he came to the altar and crossed himself. All heads suddenly turned to the altar. He could hear the words of blessings: Our Lady, thank you! Jesus, praise be with You for sending this priest! Fr. Stanko remarked that this moment was impressed on his memory and it shall stay there until the end of his life. Fr. Stanko related that he had butterflies in his stomach and was under great pressure. All this time he was concerned about the conditions outside. In front of the church the militia stood with automatic weapons and ferocious dogs. There was a possibility of their breaking in at any moment. He said he was not so afraid for himself, but for the people. Fr. Stanko said in this interview that he could not remember his sermon that day, but that he began by saying something like this: Dear believers, you thought that you would make a short vow, come to kneel down before Jesus and Our Lady and to come back [to] your homes. However, it shall not be the case. Heaven wants the Holy Mass to be celebrated here Through an interpreter, Ljubica Svric, better known as Masinica to the people of Medjugorje, very kindly related her memories of the early days in Medjugorje. She began by telling how she first heard about the coming of the Gospa. It was on the 26th of June when she and members of her family and relatives were celebrating at a wedding reception when a relative came and said the Gospa was to appear on Bijakovici that evening to some children. She said there and then she and all the guests, including the bride and groom, headed to Apparition Hill. They were among the first people there that evening. They helped to form a cordon around the children to protect them from the crowd. As time and events moved on, she said the apparitions moved to the room in St. James Church. She and some twenty local women were present for many of the apparitions. It was during this time that Our Lady began to give the visionaries the first of the secrets that they were to receive. One of these apparitions lasted about twenty minutes, which must have been one of the longest on record. Also, it was around these times that she and a group of local I Was There Stained glass window in St. James depicting the word Mir in the sky and now. The militia had told the people that the Bishop of Mostar had forbidden the evening program and the celebration of Mass. Father Stanko told the people that this was not true. We have nothing to be afraid of. Towards the end of his interview, Fr. Stanko spoke about the fruits of Medjugorje and that he is happy for Medjugorje to have become a world chapel and a world confessional where people come and in which they convert and sincerely repent and want to be better persons and believers. He emphasized that Medjugorje is a school of love, of prayer, of kindness, and the school of motherhood. He agreed that he also is an attendant of Her school. First of all, I am an apostle of Christ. It means, of course, that I am also the apostle of Our Lady because She is a faithful executor of God s will and She does everything what He orders Her to do. We all have to be the apostles of Christ s Gospel. We also need to be the witnesses of Our Lady s apparitions in Fatima, Lourdes and Medjugorje so that we could stimulate the world to become better. He added, Everybody should be satisfied with what they have. Everybody should express love, kindness We should thank God every day and thank Our Lady for not getting tired of us. But our thanks should be expressed rather by our acts than by our words. Thank you, Fr. Stanko, for sharing your participation in the early days of Medjugorje with your vivid and honest eyewitness account. Editor s note: Louise is from Ashtabula, OH. She received permission from the author to share this story with our readers. women saw the word Mir [Croatian for Peace ] appear above the village. The sign remained above the village for a long time. One of the events that she also recalled had to do with the threatened closure of the church by the police. It happened that they heard that the police were going to close the church, and she organized the local women to march on the church to reclaim, as she said, their property. On arrival, they were stopped by the chief of police and told they could go no further. With that, Masinica stepped forward and said that this was their church, as they had built it with their own labor and money, and nobody was going to take it from them. She was told if she attempted to go any further she would be arrested. She replied that they would have to shoot her to keep her from reclaiming their church. After much protesting, the police withdrew. There was great relief among the villagers at their victory. When asked how she spends her time now, she said that during the day she prays many, many rosaries and that only God knows how many. Medjugorje Herald, June 2013 People seek miracles in order to believe and see with their own eyes. The greatest and most important miracle is the Eucharist, the Body of Christ, the Pascal Lamb, who takes away the sins of the world, the living God who rose from the dead. Do not look for salvation outside the Church of Christ. Don t trouble yourself with chasing after miracles greater than the miracle of the Eucharist... Only through the Cross, the Church, the Gospel, and the Eucharist can you attain sanctity. ~ St. Charbel (our patron saint this year) THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE JUNE 2018

6 The week before Pentecost I was really struggling with this June issue. Most of it was done, but something just did not seem right. I had taken it to Mass and Adoration with me as always, and knew something had to be changed. I felt very unsettled. The Gospel reading at Mass one of those days was from the 14 th Chapter of John. The words, If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it, resonated with me as I prayed in Adoration about this issue. Although I have read this hundreds of times and prayed it before, I do not do it regularly. I looked in my Bible for the exact quote and noticed that this same idea is proclaimed in John s Gospel five times in the Last Supper Discourse: John 14:13, John 14:14, John 15:7, John 15:16, and John 16:23. I figured if Jesus said it five times at the Last Supper, it must be something He wants us to remember. So I asked, in the name of Jesus, for wisdom as to what should be in this issue. When I got home, I was led to a talk by Philip Ryan at the 2015 Divine Mercy Conference in Dublin, Ireland. Philip Ryan lives in Medjugorje and has been a pilgrim guide for the Irish pilgrims since He expressed that he has seen many instances of Our Lady s intercession over the years and shared a few stories. Philip s first story took place a few years prior to his talk. Philip explained that his job, as the only male team member, is to tell any of the men there if they are not appropriately dressed, since there is a dress code at the shrine. He said that sometimes you get lads looking for a bit of sun who even use baby oil. On this particular day, his pilgrim group met at the statue of Our Lady in front of the church, in preparation for a walk through the vineyards to Apparition Hill. Philip said, A man turned up with his wife, really not in a good mood face like a bag of hammers. He was not a happy camper. You could see that he was there because the wife made him. Philip then described the shirt the huge man was wearing as the tiniest vest the kind you wear in the gym. Philip s team members were all laughing because he was going to have to confront this man about the dress code. Philip told him, I m really sorry, sir. We have a dress code here at the shrine. The man replied, Yea, whatever, to which Philip suggested, There are a few shops across the road. You can buy a scarf or a T-shirt if you want to. He then told the man that the dress code only applied to the church grounds (including the mountains) in the fields, no problem. Philip said the man went off, and the wife was mortified. When he came back, he was sporting a pink glow-in-thedark scarf. Philip burst out laughing and said, Well, fair play to you. The man gave Philip a cheeky little half-grin and took off the scarf for the walk through the fields. When they got to the bottom of Apparition Hill, the man put the scarf back on. As the group began to move up the mountain, this man did not move, so Philip went over to ask if he was Answered Prayers By June Klins Statue in front of St. James OK. The man said he just did not want to be there, and was only there because his wife made him come. Without being pushy, Philip told him, You re welcome to come with us. At the same time, Philip could see that this man was distracted, looking at another couple about the same age as he and his wife. The woman was holding her husband and they were both in tears. The man with the scarf went over to the couple and asked them if they were going up the mountain. The wife replied, We can t. The man said, Why not? At that, the husband tapped on his leg, which was a prosthetic. His leg had been amputated because of cancer. They both continued crying, and the wife said, It was our only wish this pilgrimage to climb the Apparition Hill, to go to the place where Heaven meets earth in the moment of the apparition, and we can t go. The man with the scarf said, I ll carry you. It just happened to be that the man with the scarf was Ireland s Strongest Man. Philip described him as an iron man incredibly fit. In one second, the strong man went behind the other man to pick him up. The man with cancer had to press a button for his leg to go down, and then the strong man picked him up and carried him quietly with power to the First Joyful Mystery. At that point, he stood him up. Philip said, We prayed, and quietly as the group moved away, he came behind him again and they repeated this same process for the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Joyful Mysteries. When they reached the statue of Our Lady, he stood the man up and off he went. The wife was crying because her prayers had been answered. The strong man sat on a rock with his pink scarf and had his head buried in his hands. Philip remarked, The emotion was incredible, and the couple stood there again but this time at the top of the hill in floods of tears, hugging each other, praying with each other. When it was time to go, the strong man came over, picked up the man and carried him down the mountain. The next four days both couples were inseparable. The strong man carried the other man everywhere. The strong man had originally agreed to go to Medjugorje with his wife on one condition that they would spend three days on the coast after four days in Medjugorje. So as they were leaving for the coast, the strong man approached Philip and confessed, All my life it s been about me and this (gesturing his muscles). If all this was for him [the man with cancer], then I know there is a God. I get it, he added. Philip paused as he waited for the applause to subside, and then stated that he wanted to share this story to show what a gift we can be to one another how we carry each other how we console each other and how we embrace and pray for each other. We are all Our Lady s children and I am in awe of Our Lady every day. He continued, But look what She had to do with that pilgrimage. She had to get the timing so right to get Ireland s Strongest Man JUNE THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE

7 to Medjugorje the same week that Her other son dying of cancer had a wish to climb the Apparition Hill. She needed both on the same pilgrimage. One wanted to go; one didn t. But She turns the two of them into an answer to each other s prayers. This huge man his life was all about himself he suddenly took a trip. As somebody said once, The longest journey and the shortest distance is from the head to the heart. And he did it! He found his dignity as a pilgrim and as a man before his God, helping somebody else. Towards the end of his talk, Philip talked about the candle light processions his pilgrims have weekly in Medjugorje. They were started by a priest who wanted to bring something of Lourdes to Medjugorje. This priest had said, You know there s no scientific explanation for darkness. Darkness is an absence of light. Philip said, As long as we are praying, that darkness cannot win, because we are light. Philip said that many pilgrims have asked during that candle light procession, Do my little prayers make a difference? Is anyone really listening? Philip shared two stories to illustrate the affirmative. Philip said there was a man on one of his pilgrimages who was a tall stubborn Irish man whose demeanor seemed to say, I m here, but I m not sure why. His arms were crossed everywhere he went. Philip chided that he did not know how this man was going to carry a lit candle with his arms crossed. But he did, and he did process with the group to the candle park where they leave their candles before the Cross. Philip said this is according to Our Lady s request to Pray before the Cross from which great graces come. Philip explained, We leave all our intentions and all our burdens and all our prayers at the foot of the Cross. And then they Recently I came across something I posted to my internet prayer group in July of 2004 about praying for Our Lady s intentions. This was written by Fr. Ljubo Kurtovic in a reflection on Our Lady s July 25, 2004 message in which Our Lady said, I call you anew: be open to my messages. I desire, little children, to draw you all closer to my Son Jesus; therefore, you pray and fast. Especially I call you to pray for my intentions, so that I can present you to my Son Jesus for Him to transform and open your hearts to love. When you will have love in the heart, peace will rule in you... Fr. Ljubo wrote: To pray for Mary s intentions means to pray that Her maternal desires are carried out, and not our own desires. She knows what is for our good; She knows it The candle park near St. James pray the Luminous Mysteries. At the end of that particular prayer meeting, the tall man came over to Philip and said, Very nice. That was grand. Then the man said he had lit his candle for his sister. Philip asked if she was ill, to which the man replied that he did not know. And then the man got all choked up and said that the last time he saw her, 10 years ago, he hated her so much that he had wished that she were dead. Isn t that awful? he lamented. He went on to say that he did not know where she was living. He thought it could be South America or South Africa. He said he really had not planned on praying for her. I didn t come here to pray for her. I just prayed for her. Then he continued, Now I need to find her to say, I m sorry. Then Philip told another story about how one night he heard some giggling going on during the candle light service. He said after it was over, a woman came over to him with her mobile phone. She was shaking. She said that she had lit her candle for her brother who hates God, hates priests, and hates the Catholic Church. She said he was living in San Francisco, and when he visits Dublin twice a year, he causes a lot of chaos regarding the Church. She said, I felt I had to pray for him. During the time of the procession from the front of the church to the candle park, she got a text from her brother. It said, I hear you re on pilgrimage. Save me, Kate. Philip exclaimed, Imagine from the church to the candle park her prayer went from the church to San Francisco and touched his heart! Philip concluded his talk by saying, Our prayers are traveling today, our prayers are busy being answered Editor s note: Philip s inspirational talk can be viewed in its entirety at PnEt3Crk. Praying for Our Lady s Intentions By June Klins better than us, because She loves us more than we are able to love ourselves. Her desire is to present us, to offer us to Jesus. As She presented Jesus in the Temple to the Heavenly Father, She wants to present us to Her Son Jesus. He is the source of love and of peace. We need Him, so that peace reigns in our families and in our human relations not the peace of this world, but the peace that comes from His Heart pierced on the Cross. Let us try to heed Our Lady s call to pray for Her intentions, which, as Fr. Ljubo stated, are for our own good. If possible, please try to have a Mass said for Our Lady s intentions this year. The number of Masses reported for Our Lady s intentions as of May 25, 2018 was 23,757. Bible Quiz Our Lady requests that we read the Bible every day. Do you comply with Her request? If so, can you answer this Bible question what kind of a car did the apostles drive? Hint the answer is in the 1 st Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Give up? An Accord All these devoted themselves with one accord. No, I did not make this up. I heard it in a homily. By the way, did you know that in the Mass, there is more Scripture than any other religious service? I learned that at a very enlightening parish mission with Fr. Chris Alar, MIC. Fr. Chris has a series of videos on youtube.com called, The Catholic Church, the Fullness of the Truth. I highly recommend them, as well as his other videos. JUNE THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE

8 The Spirit of Medjugorje Information Center P.O. Box 6614 Erie, PA U.S.A. RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID ERIE, PA PERMIT NO. 685 DATED MATERIAL On June 24, 1981 in Medjugorje, Our Lady appeared to six children. She identified Herself as the Blessed Virgin, Queen of Peace, and has continued to appear daily. Her message is PEACE, peace with God and man. Her words to the visionaries, I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life, and to enjoy this fullness and obtain peace, you must return to God. Today, all but three of the visionaries have daily apparitions of the Blessed Mother. During the apparitions, the visionaries do not react to light, don t hear any sound or react to being touched. They feel that they are outside of time and space. All the visionaries declare to see the Blessed Virgin as they see other people - in three dimension. They pray and speak with Her. The Blessed Mother is confiding ten secrets to each visionary (some are chastisements for the world) and promises to leave a visible sign at the place of the apparitions in Medjugorje for all humanity. This time, this period of grace, is for CONVERSION Permission is given to spread the text of any original works and may be used with the following conditions: 1) No words are changed; 2) Spirit of Medjugorje is cited. For articles by other sources, permission must be obtained from the original source. If you want to receive The Spirit of Medjugorje monthly newsletter, please fill out the form below and return to: P.O. Box 6614, Erie, PA If you are able to send a donation to help spread Mary s messages, it would be greatly appreciated. We request that you renew your subscription annually to remain on our mailing list. May God bless you. Please check one: New Renew Distribute Adoration Newsletters Issue #1 or Issue #2 (please circle) (# of newsletters) Name Street Address MARY IS CALLING YOU and a DEEPENING OF FAITH. After the visible sign, those still living will have little time for conversion. Father Jozo Zovko, who was the pastor of St. James when the apparitions began, has spoken about what he calls the weapons or the the five stones of Our Lady. They are: prayer with the heart, especially the Rosary; Eucharist; Holy Bible; monthly Confession; and fasting. The publisher recognizes and accepts that the final authority regarding the apparitions at Medjugorje rest with the Holy See in Rome. To borrow an original prayer cloth from Medjugorje for a week, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the address below. You must include your phone number. If you want a prayer cloth we made to keep, send a self-addressed stamped business size (4 1 / 8 x 9 1 / 2 ) envelope with $.71 postage on it. Sponsor a subscription for someone in a foreign country (suggested donation: $13 to cover postage) Distribute Beginner s Guides (# of guides) (Please, no foreign checks or money orders, except postal money orders. U.S. FUNDS ONLY) City, State and Zip Code VOL. 31, NO. 6