Reflection in January 2009

Reflection in January 2009

Reflection on the Message of January 25, 2009

INVITED TO WALK THE WAY OF HOLINESS

“Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer. May prayer be for you like the seed that you will put in my heart, which I will give over to my Son Jesus for you, for the salvation of your souls. I desire, little children, for each of you to fall in love with eternal life which is your future, and for all worldly things to be a help for you to draw you closer to God the Creator. I am with you for this long because you are on the wrong path. Only with my help, little children, you will open your eyes. There are many of those who, by living my messages, comprehend that they are on the way of holiness towards eternity. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of January 25, 2009

In the encounter with God everybody finds the right path and becomes aware of the truth about oneself at the same time. Prayer is the easiest way in which we can encounter Jesus, who is the meaning of our lives. The basic prerequisites in order to pray in the proper way are: honesty, humbleness and courage, which help us to reach for God in an easier manner. In her message of 25 January Our Lady calls us to prayer, as she has done so many times so far. She is also giving us an answer as to why she calls us by saying: “Prayer will be for you like the seed that you will put in my heart, which I will give over to my Son Jesus for the salvation of your souls.” The way of salvation is the way of holiness. In her message of 28 March 1985 Our Lady says: “Dear children! Today I wish to call you to pray, pray, pray! In prayer you shall perceive the greatest joy and the way out of every situation that has no exit. Thank you for starting up prayer. Each individual is dear to my heart. And I thank all who have urged prayer in their families.” When Our Lady speaks of prayer, what she primarily has in mind is families praying together. The best prayer is the one that we say together with Our lady while following the path to our salvation and to the salvation of the world. The path that we follow through prayer is the path leading us to Jesus. Therefore, it is important to pray with your heart, which means praying with your whole being.

Rarely do we think about eternal life, although man has been created for the eternal life in the fellowship with the love of God. There are various obstacles on our way to eternity. These are primarily earthly things, which are like dust in our eyes preventing us from falling in love with eternal life, which is our future. When reading the Book of Genesis we can see that God called upon man to be his partner on earth. Man received a command from God to subdue the earth: «Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it…» (Gen 1:28). We are called to use things, such as TV, mobile phones, newspapers, alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and others, not to be slaves to them. Our homeland is not here on earth. We are mere passers-by here. We have been called not only to reign as kings and rule the earth, but to prepare ourselves for eternity.

Our Lady gives the answer to all those who are wondering why she has been appearing for so long. She says: «I am with you for this long because you are on the wrong path». To be on the wrong path means to be far away from God. Clear signs that a person is on the wrong path are restlessness, guilty consciousness and discontent. All those who do not follow the commandments of the Church, who commit grave and deadly sins, who always put themselves first, who always have to be right, are the ones that are on the wrong path. Our Lady has been with us for so long in order to help us open our eyes to see what real values are. At the end of her message she encourages those who have responded to her call. Our Lady says: «There are many of those who, by living my messages comprehend that they are on the way of holiness towards eternity». This message encourages us all to be better and again make the decision to continue to grow in holiness.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Medugorje 26/01/2009

Reflection in February 2009

Reflection in February 2009

Reflection on the Message of February 25, 2009

CONFESS YOUR SINS

“Dear children! In this time of renunciation, prayer and penance, I call you anew: go and confess your sins so that grace may open your hearts, and permit it to change you. Convert little children, open yourselves to God and to His plan for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of February 25, 2009

On Ash Wednesday, also known as Clean Wednesday we begin Lent, the intensive season of liturgical year when we prepare for Easter. In her message of 25 February Our Lady makes us aware that Lent is the time of renunciation, prayer and penance.

In his 2009 Lent message Pope Benedict XVI says: “At the beginning of Lent, which constitutes an itinerary of more intense spiritual training, the Liturgy sets before us again three penitential practices that are very dear to the biblical and Christian tradition – prayer, almsgiving, fasting – to prepare us to better celebrate Easter and thus experience God’s power that, as we shall hear in the Paschal Vigil, “dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride” (Paschal Præconium). The Pope continues by saying: “Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word …. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God. At the same time, fasting is an aid to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live… It is good to see how the ultimate goal of fasting is to help each one of us, as the Servant of God Pope John Paul II wrote, to make the complete gift of self to God ».

The center of Our Lady’s tonight’s message is a call to confess our sins because this is the way grace opens our hearts and changes us. Jesus established the Sacrament of Reconciliation for all sinful members of the Church, for all those who fall into a grave sin and lose the grace of Jesus. Confession creates an opportunity for us to convert and to regain grace. That is why the fathers of the Church have referred to confession as «another board for salvation after the wreckage of grace».

A sincere confession always leads to a complete conversion, where the meaning of conversion is a change of one’s entire life, actions and beliefs. It is a complete shift. A shift like that happened, for example, to St. Paul , St. Augustine , St. Francis and to many other saints. Conversion leads us to denying our sinful way of life and pagan customs directing us towards our complete surrender to God, to his plan and actions, as Our Lady calls us to do. Besides the negative side related to denying, as we deny such things like food, alcohol, cigarettes, gambling and other additions, Lent has a positive side too, which is our decision that we shall pray more, forgive more, love our fellow men more, worship Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar more, and help others more. Let us include both sides in our spiritual life in order for us to truly experience the fullness of Easter joy.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Medugorje 26/02/2009

Reflection in March 2009

Reflection in March 2009

Reflection on the Message of March 25, 2009

AWAKEN YOUR SOULS WITH PRAYER

“Dear children! In this time of spring, when everything is awakening from the winter sleep, you also awaken your souls with prayer so that they may be ready to receive the light of the risen Jesus. Little children, may He draw you closer to His Heart so that you may become open to eternal life. I pray for you and intercede before the Most High for your sincere conversion. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of March 25, 2009

If we look around, we see that, although slowly, nature is awakening thus announcing the spring. In her message of 25 March 2009, on the feast of the Annunciation, Our Lady called us to awaken our souls with prayer so that they may be ready to receive the light of the risen Jesus. When Our Lady calls us to prayer, what first comes to our mind is to pray for the conversion of sinners, for this world, and the like. Only a few people realise that the call for prayer refers primarily to ourselves. The words of Our Lady are always permeated with love and again in her latest message she says: awaken your souls with prayer. These words are a call to change our attitude towards prayer that we have had so far. We have been called to pray primarily for our own conversion, and only then for the conversion of others. It is us that need to change first. Only then will our fellow men and the world start to change. When awaken in this way it will be easier for us to open ourselves to God and to receive the light of the risen Christ.

The pierced heart of Jesus is the utmost reflection of God’s love towards man. In all cultures, apart from being an organ of our body, the heart is a symbol of love. That is why Our lady says to us: “May He draw you closer to His heart so that you may become open to eternal life.” Jesus loved people so much that He did not spare Himself. He eventually exhausted Himself and became worn out in order to show people His love. However, in those times Jesus was not accepted. Neither is He accepted today. He is being insulted, hurt, killed with language, curse, slander, hatred. That is why with her tonight’s message Our Lady calls to get closer to Jesus’ heart not only us, Catholics, but the whole world, so that we may become open to eternal life. Will this call get lost yet one more time in the desert and wasteland of this world? Will we miss hearing yet another call of the Queen of Peace from Medugorje?

It is a duty of all those who have experienced the love of God and the love of Our Lady to witness and show not only to Europe, but to the whole world the love that was crucified, that died on the cross, the love resurrected and alive today. Every new day is an opportunity for us to be witnesses of this love. May our greatest advocate, mediator and intercessor Blessed Virgin Mary – Our Lady help us.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Medugorje 26/03/2009

Reflection in April 2009

Reflection in April 2009

Reflection on the Message of April 25, 2009

PRAY FOR PEACE AND WITNESS IT

“Dear children! Today I call you all to pray for peace and to witness it in your families so that peace may become the highest treasure on this peaceless earth. I am your Queen of Peace and your mother. I desire to lead you on the way of peace, which comes only from God. Therefore, pray, pray, pray. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of April 25, 2009

In her message of 25 April 2009 Our Lady calls us to pray for peace and to witness it at the same time, first in our families and then in the whole world. It is a fact that our time is marked with peacelessness in its many various forms. Having that in mind, we must not remain indifferent, but must make every effort to create peace. The Church, which has been announcing the Joyful News since its very beginning, has been called to announce and always realize peace. In His message written in the occasion of the World Day for Peace Pope John Paul II, of blessed memory, says: «We do not claim to find in the Gospel text ready-made formulas for making today this or that advance towards peace. But on every page of the Gospel and of the history of the Church we find a spirit, that of brotherly love, powerfully teaching peace.» We Christians are called to announce and witness peace with our own lives. Establishing peace is not a question of choice, it is an obligation. Peace is never established once and for all, but needs to be created all the time because the deepest longing of man’s heart is actually for peace. In his book Fast with the Heart the departed Fr. Slavko Barbaric writes about peace: «How often we lose peace because we are arrogant, selfish, envious, jealous, avariciuos and consumed by power and honour. Experience confirms that through fasting and prayer evil, arrogance and selfishness are overcome; the heart is opened and love and humility, generosity and goodness grow. Thus, true conditions for peace are realized. Whoever has peace because he loves and forgives also remains spiritually and physically healthy. He remains capable of shaping his own life in a manner worthy of man, who is the most exalted of God’s creatures. Through fasting and prayer, human needs are also diminished and brought to proportion. Also by this, conditions for peace along with a proper relationship with others and material things are being created. In everything we do, whether good or bad, we seek peace. When a person loves, looks for and experiences peace, or even when he stays sober or fights against addiction, he seeks peace. When he becomes drunk, he also seeks peace. When he fights for his life and the lives of those he loves, he realizes peace.»

The Queen of Peace wants to lead us to true peace, which is her Son and our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true king of peace. Prayer is the safe path leading to Jesus and Heaven. In her last message she urges us three times to pray for peace as prayer is the only right way. Let us respond with all our heart and soul to the call of Our Mother Mary, the Queen of Peace, and she will lead us to the true peace, the love of God, closeness and joy.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Medugorje 26/04/2009

Reflection in May 2009

Reflection in May 2009

Reflection on the Message of May 25, 2009

PRAY FOR THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

“Dear children! In this time, I call you all to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit upon every baptized creature, so that the Holy Spirit may renew you all and lead you on the way of witnessing your faith – you and all those who are far from God and His love. I am with you and intercede for you before the Most High. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Message of May 25, 2009

Before his Ascension Jesus told his disciples not to leave Jerusalem , but to wait for the promise given by his Father that they would receive the strength of the Holy Spirit and would be His witnesses not only in Jerusalem , but to the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up to his Father (cf. Acts 1:4-9). The disciples and apostles were preparing for this coming through prayer. They were not alone. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was with them. Among those present she was the only one who had the fullness of the Holy Spirit that had come upon her at the conception of Jesus. She must have encouraged the disciples to abandon fear and to take practice of fervent prayer. Before the coming of the Holy Spirit the apostles and disciples were timid, fearful. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, they changed. From timid disciples they were transformed into fearless witnesses of Christ. They witnessed what they had seen and heard when they were with Jesus. The flame of love and truth lit inside them encouraged them to immediately start announcing the Joyful News.

In her message of 25 May 2009 Our Lady calls us also to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit upon every baptized creature. We have become the children of God through baptism and have entered into communion with Jesus and his act of redemption. Our Lady calls us to pray because prayer is a means that opens our hearts so that the Spirit of God can operate in it. Opening up to the Holy Spirit leads to a renewal of spiritual life encouraging us to bear witness to our faith. We, Christians, have been called to be carriers of the message of God in this world, of the Word of God and to spread the acts of the love of God. Mary, our mother and intercessor, the teacher of prayer to the Holy Spirit helps us to do this. Together with Mary we pray that the Spirit of the Truth and Love operates in us and around us, that it teaches us and makes us stronger in order for us to live a new life doing the will of God.

Fr. Danko Perutina
Međugorje 26/05/2009