Medjugorje - Our Lady's 28th Anniversary Message to the World

Hello, everyone!

Below is the official English translation of Our Lady's June 25th, 2009 message to the world. This message is a special one because it marks the 28th anniversary of the beginning of the apparitions in Medjugorje.

The message, as always, is brought to you by the Information Center in Medjugorje, via Steve and Ana Shawl of Medjugorje Web.

- Erik

"Dear children! Rejoice with me, convert in joy and give thanks to God for the gift of my presence among you. Pray that, in your hearts, God may be in the center of your life and with your life witness, little children, so that every creature may feel God’s love. Be my extended hands for every creature, so that it may draw closer to the God of love. I bless you with my motherly blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Erik's Corner - Pentecost

Our Lady refers to the celebration of Pentecost in May's message to the world. I find the holy day of Pentecost to be the most inspirational of the Catholic Church's celebrations.

Think about what it must have been like to be an apostle shortly after Jesus' crucifixion. You just spent years leaving behind everything in your life to follow someone speaking of the divine, and now your world has been completely shaken up. You've lost your spiritual leader, the Jews are looking for you to crucify you, and your thoughts are probably completely consumed with fear and doubts about what you have devoted your life to. You spend your days hiding, not knowing what to do next.

Then in comes the Holy Spirit - in visible form - and the Church is born.

The apostles experience the miraculous in seeing the Holy Spirit as fire and are filled with inspiration and new abilities. Fear is dropped and the missionary work of the Church begins. Absolutely incredible!

I think the celebration of Pentecost is too often read as something that happened a long time ago but doesn't have the same relevance now. The Holy Spirit has not changed - It is the same as It was 2,000 years ago - and is accessible to all of us!

I have experienced being filled with the Holy Spirit so often. Praying the Rosary daily has strengthened my faith and opened my eyes to the working of the Holy Spirit in my everyday life. When you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit you realize all things are possible. When nothing is impossible fear, anxiety, and stress melt away. You realize the concerns of this life are passing, and eternal life becomes your focus.

I think God gives us the miraculous when we need it. The apostles, fearful of so much in the days after Christ's death, needed to experience the visual and physical to be strengthened enough to begin spreading the Gospel throughout the world. While we are not necessarily blessed to see and experience the visual and physical with regards to the coming of the Holy Spirit, it is nonetheless equally gratifying to feel its presence and be guided by Its divine wisdom.


Erik

Fr. Danko Perutina's Commentary on Our Lady's May 25th, 2009 Message to the World

Below is the official English translation of Fr. Danko Perutina's commentary on Our Lady's May 25th message. This translation is brought to you by the Information Center in Medjugorje, via Steve and Ana Shawl of Medjugorje Web.


Sincerely,
Erik



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
Medugorje 26/05/2009