Medjugorje - Commentary on Our Lady's November 25, 2007 Message

Peace to All! Below please find the official English translation of Fr. Danko's commentary on Our Lady's November 25, 2007 message to the world as provided by the Information Center in Medjugorje. Fr. Danko is a local priest serving in the parish of Medjugorje.

God Bless!
Steve and Ana Shawl
The Medjugorje Web
http://www.medjugorje.org
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JESUS – THE KING OF OUR LIVES

"Dear children! Today, when you celebrate Christ, the King of all that is created, I desire for Him to be the King of your lives. Only through giving, little children, can you comprehend the gift of Jesus´ sacrifice on the Cross for each of you. Little children, give time to God that He may transform you and fill you with His grace, so that you may be a grace for others. For you, little children, I am a gift of grace and love, which comes from God for this peaceless world. Thank you for having responded to my call." Message of November 25, 2007


In her last message, Our Lady invites us to decide in favour of Christ the King of all creation so that he can become the king in our lives. Christ is not a king like other kings who dressed in crimson and robes, wore crowns and wanted to rule over other people. Christ the King with his life is completely different to worldly kings. He surpasses and exceeds them by far by establishing a kingdom of peace, love and forgiveness. It is constantly expanding, it is a reality, but also at the same time an ideal to which we aspire. Jesus is the real and true kind who came to the world to serve in his humility. Only he who serves other may truly be king, following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. True humility consists of seeing ourselves as we truly are: to recognise our gifts and thank the God for these, but also to recognise our weaknesses and accept ourselves, knowing that in spite of everything God loves us. This knowledge gives us great joy but at the same time calls us to accept great responsibility in servitude and humility.

Our Lady further teaches us, but at the same time also calls us to receive gifts as only in this way can be understand the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross which we can rightly call a victory of love. He, who taught men to love each other, and what’s more even their enemies, remained true to his words to the end: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15, 13). It is because of this the Jesus even suffered his traitor in his midst and did not reveal him, he did not allow Peter defend him with his sword, and graciously forgave him even when he denied him. Those who in Jesus’ name were led by love in their own life most contributed to the achievement of God’s kingdom on earth.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son (John 3, 16). Our Lady calls us to understand the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross which is the greatest gift among all gifts. In Jesus, God gave us his heart, all the depth of his love. It is the most beautiful and greatest gift. Jesus loved us until the end giving us all of himself completely. Coming into this world he became an unceasing gift to us all. He came to bless us with his love. We can accept this gift properly if we surrender ourselves to him completely so that he may transform us with his grace. So transformed, we can openly say converted, we too can then we can be a grace for others. We can be eyes for the blind, ears for the deaf, tongues for the mute, and hands and legs for those in need.

Jesus is the King of the world and the greatest gift. He sent his and our Mother here to us in Medugorje, Our Lady who is a merciful gift of love for all of us. The voice of Our Lady the Queen of Peace throughout all these 26 years is a call for peace in men’s hearts, a call to peace in the world. Let the one, whom God has chooses in a special way and joined the Kingdom of his Son, help us to accept Jesus as the Ruler of our lives, so that we may faithfully cooperate in the spreading of his Kingdom of love, justice and peace.


Fr. Danko Perutina
Medugorje 26.11.2007

Medjugorje - Our Lady's September 25 Message

Peace to All! Below please find the official English translation of Our Lady's message to the world of September 25, 2007.


God Bless!
Steve and Ana Shawl
The Medjugorje Web
http://www.medjugorje.org
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Message of September 25, 2007

"Dear children! Also today I call all of you for your hearts to blaze with more ardent love for the Crucified, and do not forget that, out of love for you, He gave His life so that you may be saved. Little children, meditate and pray that your heart may be open to God’s love. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Commentary of Our Lady's Message of August 25th, 2007

MAY YOUR LIFE BE A REFLECTION OF GOD'S GOODNESS

"Dear children! Also today I call you to conversion. May your life, little children, be a reflection of God’s goodness and not of hatred and unfaithfulness. Pray, little children, that prayer may become life for you. In this way, in your life you will discover the peace and joy which God gives to those who have an open heart to His love. And you who are far from God’s mercy, convert so that God may not become deaf to your prayers and that it may not be too late for you. Therefore, in this time of grace, convert and put God in the first place in your life. Thank you for having responded to my call." Message of August 25, 2007


The motherly words of Our Lady are words from the Gospel said with simple, motherly words. In this message we also hear a reflection of Jesus' words from the beginning of the Gospel: “Convert and believe the Gospel.” Conversion is a continuing process. It is everyday walking with Jesus, everyday following His word which is demanding and at the same time embraces the very life of God, of Jesus. The Virgin Mary has emptied herself, subdued her will to God's will. Our Lady did not expect a message from God. It was she who renounced her will and therefore was able to understand so clearly that God called her to be the mother of His son Jesus. Her life became God's life. She is full of God and all turned towards God. She is persistent with us because she knows that there is no other, easier or faster way that will lead us to God and to His gifts of joy and peace He wishes to bestow upon us. Her messages reveal Her determination and motherly love that wishes us wellbeing, the salvation of our souls and eternal life in God. Mary has remained a reflection of God. That is why she calls us and wants our lives to be a reflection of God's goodness, not of hatred and unfaithfulness.

“Pray, little children, that prayer may become life for you.” Some say that they do not like to pray as they cannot bear to dive into their own souls. Prayer is not looking at oneself. It is looking at God. To pray is to direct a spotlight towards Christ. What I need to do reveals to me gradually. It happens inside of me. By getting to know Christ I get to know myself. The mystery of man reveals itself only in Jesus Christ. Without Jesus we are unknown to ourselves. Who knew Jesus better but the very Virgin Mary who carried him under her heart, who raised him and believed in him until the end of his life, all the way to the foot of the cross at Calvary . Even today she is still the One who leads us to Jesus through Calvary towards resurrection.

The Gospel is not the past. God did not love us only once. He loves us every day, every moment throughout our life. This very moment is also filled with God's love and presence. This is why mother Mary and the Queen of Peace is coming to encourage us, to wake us up, to open the eyes of our souls in order for us to open our hearts and meet the source of life, of peace and joy – God. God brings us to truth with love, and if it must be so – with suffering, too. He does everything to save our souls. He cannot remain still and indifferent to us – people - who are the crown of His creation.

The time when the Virgin Mary comes to us and appears before us is a time of grace, time bestowed upon us as a gift. This is why she says to us: “In this time of grace, convert so that it may not be too late for you.” We are free to think that besides this time of grace, there is also a time when God denies His grace and pulls back His held out hand. Let us listen to the voice and words of our heavenly Mother Mary which save our souls and make us feel the joy of life, so that we are not too late to enter the feast of life.


Fr. Ljubo Kurtovic
Medugorje 26/8/2007

Medjugorje - Our Lady's August 25, 2007 Message

Peace to all! Below please find the official English translation of Our Lady's August 25, 2007 message to the world as provided by the Information Center in Medjugorje.


Message of August 25, 2007

"Dear children! Also today I call you to conversion. May your life, little children, be a reflection of God’s goodness and not of hatred and unfaithfulness. Pray, little children, that prayer may become life for you. In this way, in your life you will discover the peace and joy which God gives to those who have an open heart to His love. And you who are far from God’s mercy, convert so that God may not become deaf to your prayers and that it may not be too late for you. Therefore, in this time of grace, convert and put God in the first place in your life. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Medjugorje - Commentary on Our Lady's July 25, 2007 Message

The following is first the Virgin Mary's monthly message for the world, given July 25th, 2007, followed by Fr. Ljubo Kurtovic's (of Medjugorje) commentary on the message.

Mary's message:

"Dear children! Today, on the day of the Patron of your Parish, I call you to imitate the lives of the Saints. May they be, for you, an example and encouragement to a life of holiness. May prayer for you be like the air you breathe in and not a burden. Little children, God will reveal His love to you and you will experience the joy that you are my beloved. God will bless you and give you an abundance of grace. Thank you for having responded to my call." Message of July 25, 2007

Fr. Ljubo's commentary:

Our Lady calls to us as our Mother and invites and encourages us today, on the day of Saint Jacob the apostle, the patron saint of the Parish of Medugorje and pilgrims to inherit the life of the saints, the lives of those who came to heaven into a homeland we shall never leave. In her message on the 25th of July 2002, Our Lady also said: Dear children! Today I rejoice with your patron saint and call you to be open to God's will… Ask your holy protectors to help you grow in love towards God.” The saints are those who intercede for us and stand up for us before the face of God. That is why we turn to them and give up our prayers to them so that they may present them to God. The holy are an example to us that it is worth being faithful to God and that God will never betray us.

“Let prayer be like the air that you breathe” – says Our Mother Mary. Our body needs air. We know how we feel when we don’t have enough air. Without air our body cannot live. So as we have a physical body we also have a spiritual body. We can imagine that we are spiritually dead without prayer. Without prayer man’s life only consists of the body, material things, on dead things which do not have any life. Prayer is not something that is stipulated or ordered by the Church, God or Our Lady. Prayer is not only a devout exercise. Prayer is much more than this. Prayer is life. Without prayer we are dead and there is no life in us. Without prayer God has no room in us in which he can visit and heal us, save us and heal our hearts and souls.

It is only in prayer that God can reveal his love and we can experience the joy of being beloved children of God and Our Lady. From experience we know that it is not enough to only know that food is good, it is necessary to eat it to be able to live. It is not enough to know that God and Our Lady love us, rather it is necessary for us to experience this, experience it in out life as a reality more true than the physical one we see with our eyes.

“You will experience the joy of being my loved ones” – Our Lady says to us. However, it is necessary to fulfil one condition and this is prayer with our heart in which the soul opens and surrenders to God through Our Lady. The Gospel tells us at Jesus’ baptism at the River Jordan from the heavens thundered the voice of our Heavenly Father: “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1, 11). These words apply to Jesus. But through Jesus and in Jesus, also to you and me. Everyone of us are in Jesus and through Jesus the beloved son of the Father, beloved daughter of the Father, the chosen one, favourite of Our Father’s Heart. In Jesus and through Jesus we are also Our Lady’s beloved children.

Throughout our lives we have been told many times that it is important to love God. However it is far more important that God loves us. Our love towards God is of secondary importance. God’s love for us has precedence: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4, 10) – tells us the apostle John in his gospel. And still adds: “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. (1 John 4, 16).

Let the Virgin Mary, full of grace and Immaculate lead us and introduce us to the secrets of Our Father’s heart and love which he has for us.

Fra Ljubo Kurtovic

Medugorje 26.7.200