What if God Stopped Sending Our Lady to Us in Medjugorje?

Miraculous events and conversions are reported daily in the village of Medjugorje in Bosnia Herzegovina - a small hamlet that is set about an hour inland from the gorgeous Croatian coastline of the Adriatic Sea.  Each day, it is reported that Mary, the mother of Jesus. comes to earth!  Every day, since June 24, 1981, reports detail words spoken from heaven -- words of motherly concern for her children who act as if God no longer exists. 

The reports say Mary comes as the Our Lady of Peace, who longs to bring peace to her children. First of all, a peace of the heart, that comes from a life of faith in her Son, Jesus, Who is the Prince of Peace. This peace can best be obtained by fulfilling the requests of the Blessed Mother, which can be summarized into five actions:

1. Pray, pray, pray!  Pray until it becomes a joy for you. Pray with your heart, so that your prayer is a living encounter with God!
2. Live the Eucharist through the Holy Mass and by loving, adoring and having confidence in Jesus, truly Present in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
3. Go to Confession monthly. "Peace! Peace! Peace! Be reconciled with God and among yourselves.  For that, it is necessary to believe, to pray, to fast, and to go to confession."
4. Fast twice a week.  "The best fast is on bread and water. Through fasting and prayer, one can stop wars, one can suspend the laws of nature."
5. Make Scripture a daily part of your family prayer. 

I write in other articles why you might consider believing in these reports, as well as provide documented verification of St. John Paul II's position regarding Medjugorje. 

But, today I want to consider, with other believers in the reports coming from Medjugorje:

What if Our Lady of Medjugorje Never Comes Again?

Given that reports have come daily for over 34 years, when the reported monthly message that is given to Marija on the 25th of every month didn't arrive at its usual time today... and it didn't come, and it didn't come... I began to worry ...  
I usually wouldn't have even noticed the delay, but my daughter and I were home sick today.  I began to wonder:

What if something happened? 
What if Mary didn't appear today? 
What if she doesn't come back again? 
What if we have heard the last message? 
Were we paying attention to the graces these last 34 years? 

After some time pondering the what ifs, I became truly distress and heartbroken at the thought that I might have heard the last message I was ever to hear from Our Lady in Medjugorje... Then, I began to plead with God that He continue sending Our Blessed Mother.  Although many have never heard about the happenings at Medjugorje and others openly oppose it - often citing false or misleading information -- many, many, many people have been touched by Our Lady, with some reports saying over 50 million people have made a pilgrimage there.  

I pleaded... don't give up on us, Blessed Mother!  Please don't stop coming as our Mother to teach, to lead and to love your lost and broken children.

And I understood as I had never before, how incredibly blessed we are-- blessed beyond our understanding -- to have our Mother come to us each day from heaven!!!!! 

As I was praying and wondering why the delay and what might be going on, I had to ask myself: 

Have I taken her presence for granted? 
Have I truly listened to her words and her call for conversion? 
Have I responded to her call? 
Have I truly embraced and received the unfathomable grace pouring out from heaven in order to lead us through this darkness??? 

And then, it happened... reports of the message began to appear online ... with no explanation for the delay.

Today's message is:

August 25, 2015 Message to Marija"Dear children! Also today I am calling you to be prayer. May prayer be for you the wings for an encounter with God. The world is in a moment of trial, because it forgot and abandoned God. Therefore you, little children, be those who seek and love God above all. I am with you and I am leading you to my Son, but you must say your ‘yes’ in the freedom of children of God. I intercede for you and I love you, little children, with an endless love. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Many read through the messages hastily.  I find myself doing the same, and when I do, I don't recognize much value in them.  

But, I have noticed that if I truly try to meditate and pray about the messages ... pondering what it means in my heart like Mary did throughout her life.  Then,  if I treat them like a treasure to  mine, Our Blessed Mother's words challenge me, remind me, and encourage me in a life of ever increasing peace in my heart and in my relationship with God and others. They have brought me direction and guidance. 

They have touched me deeply and profoundly when I truly listen and ponder the words spoken with such love and concern.

Dear Mary, I am so thankful to our God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - for sending you to us, and to you for your infinite motherly care, which cannot bear to watch her children suffer alone or go unknowingly and deceived into eternal death. 

You long only to bring us to your Son, Jesus, Who is Everything -- Our Lord, Our God and our eternal happiness -- both on earth and in heaven!!! 

How blessed we are to have a God Who never gives up on us and never ceases to do EVERYTHING possible to lead us to salvation!!!! 

Are we listening? 
Do we even know the messages and if so, are we living them? 
Do we even care?
How many more miracles, signs and wonders will it take for us to begin listening and taking Our Blessed Mother's words seriously?

© 2015 Janet Moore. All Rights Reserved. 

The Weakness of God is Stronger Than Men

I love this quote!  

My hope is in Christ, who strengthens the weakest by His Divine help.
I can do all in Him who strengthens me.  His Power is infinite, and if I lean on him, it will be mine.
His Wisdom is infinite, and if I look to Him for counsel, I shall not be deceived.
His Goodness is stayed in Him, I shall not be abandoned.
- Pope St. Pius X

As evil and darkness appear to be growing ever stronger in our nation and in the world, it is easy to get discouraged and frightened.  

When we become fearful and discouraged, we must remember that Satan was at his strongest when he "killed God".  Satan must have laughed when he saw Jesus die on the Cross, and thought in pride that all of humanity and the world had been won for himself.  

Yet, Satan's ultimate victory in Christ's death, became the everlasting and eternal victory of God - and Satan's eternal and everlasting defeat!  

"For God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts!" Isaiah 55: 8-9.  

I'm sure Satan believes he again is winning, but God is not dead! 

Let us not listen to his laughter or his lies.  

Let us not fear, for Jesus told us: 

"Fear is useless, what is needed is trust!" Mark 5:37.

God's power is infinitely greater than the trials we are enduring at this time!  

Let us remember the wonders He has done from the beginning and how He was able to form His Universal Church through the same weak men, who (all but one), had been too traumatized and frightened to stand by Jesus at the Cross. The reading the Church offers us today powerfully reminds us of this fact:

From a homily on the first letter to the Corinthians by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop

The weakness of God is stronger than men

It was clear through unlearned men that the cross was persuasive, in fact, it persuaded the whole world. Their discourse was not of unimportant matters but of God and true religion, of the Gospel way of life and future judgment, yet it turned plain, uneducated men into philosophers. How the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and his weakness stronger than men!

In what way is it stronger? It made its way throughout the world and overcame all men; countless men sought to eradicate the very name of the Crucified, but that name flourished and grew ever mightier. Its enemies lost out and perished; the living who waged a war on a dead man proved helpless. Therefore, when a Greek tells me I am dead, he shows only that he is foolish indeed, for I, whom he thinks a fool, turn out to be wiser than those reputed wise. So too, in calling me weak, he but shows that he is weaker still. For the good deeds which tax-collectors and fishermen were able to accomplish by God’s grace, the philosophers, the rulers, the countless multitudes cannot even imagine.

Paul had this in mind when he said: The weakness of God is stronger than men. That the preaching of these men was indeed divine is brought home to us in the same way. For how otherwise could twelve uneducated men, who lived on lakes and rivers and wastelands, get the idea for such an immense enterprise? How could men who perhaps had never been in a city or a public square think of setting out to do battle with the whole world? That they were fearful, timid men, the evangelist makes clear; he did not reject the fact or try to hide their weaknesses. Indeed he turned these into a proof of the truth. What did he say of them? That when Christ was arrested, the others fled, despite all the miracles they had seen, while he who was leader of the others denied him!

How then account for the fact that these men, who in Christ’s lifetime did not stand up to the attacks by the Jews, set forth to do battle with the whole world once Christ was dead—if, as you claim, Christ did not rise and speak to them and rouse their courage? Did they perhaps say to themselves: “What is this? He could not save himself but he will protect us? He did not help himself when he was alive, but now that he is dead he will extend a helping hand to us? In his lifetime he brought no nation under his banner, but by uttering his name we will win over the whole world?” Would it not be wholly irrational even to think such thoughts, much less to act upon them?

It is evident, then, that if they had not seen him risen and had proof of his power, they would not have risked so much.

RESPONSORY 1 Corinthians 1:23-24; 2 Corinthians 4:8; Romans 8:37

We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and an absurdity to Gentiles,

but to those who have heard his call,

— Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

We are afflicted in every way possible, but in all of these trials the victory is ours,

because of Christ who loves us.

— Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

If God could build and form His Church with such weakness, how much can He do with us -- weak and sinful as we are, if we but put our faith and trust in Him and the power of the Resurrection?!  

Today the Church remembers Bartholomew, one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ's and an amazing saint who brought the faith to Asia Minor, Ethiopia, India and Armenia.  

As we commemorate him, we ask him to remember us in prayer. He, who was so strong in faith that he endured martyrdom by being flayed alive!  

Please, St. Bartholomew, intercede for us in these dark and evil times, and help us remain strong and steadfast in our trials.  

"For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in quiet and in trust your strength lies. But this you did not wish. “No,” you said, “Upon horses we will flee.” Very well, flee! “Upon swift steeds we will ride.” Not so swift as your pursuers. A thousand shall tremble at the threat of one; if five threaten you, you shall flee, Until you are left like a flagstaff on the mountaintop, like a flag on the hill. Yet the Lord is waiting to show you favor, and he rises to pity you; For the Lord is a God of justice: blessed are all who wait for him!"  

Isaiah 30: 15-18 

Jesus, have Mercy on us! 

All the martyrs of the Church, pray for us now!  

Mary, Queen of Martyrs, pray for us!

We know we will never hope in vain!

© 2015 Janet Moore. All Rights Reserved. 

- See more at: http://divineoffice.org/0824-or-bartholomew/?title=Aug+24%2C+Office+of+Readings+-+Feast+for+St.+Bartholomew%2C+Ap&date=20150824#sthash.nlYJp3d6.dpuf