O, How God Loves Us!

Help for fasting on this Good Friday

Today we celebrate the depth of Jesus' love for us by remembering the tremendous suffering He endured for our salvation.
On this day, (while it seemed the exact opposite), Satan's power over us was destroyed!
Satan's hold on us through sin and death has been vanquished and God has won an eternal and everlasting victory for all who believe and accept God's love through the Cross.
Salvation is a free gift and yet, it also must be freely chosen. 
We have to choose Jesus and His salvation, and unfortunately, many in our world have not. Many believe satan's lies and cling to their sin.

God could have accomplished everything for us by His strength, but He has asked us to freely participate in bringing to fullness the salvation He has won. 
He asked to be other Christs: to be His Hands and Feet, His Heart, His Voice...
Our fasting and prayer is a participation in redemption, and it is through these means that we are both protected from satan's snares and help to break the hold satan still has over those he has deceived.
Our Lady teaches us that our fasting and prayer, united with Christ's passion and resurrection, pours out graces of love and redemption upon those who don't believe and have not yet known God's love. 

Mary teaches us that fasting stops wars. 
Who of us isn't in the midst of war, of sin and division? Who of us doesn't need to continually combat lies that come against our minds and souls? Who of us can say we have never been deceived?
The greatest war is the enemy's constant attacks against our minds and souls that call us to distrust God rather than having faith in Him, and to choose selfishness rather than the selflessness of love, gluttony over self-denial, lust over purity, greed over charity, wrath over forgiveness, envy and jealousy over kindness and gratitute, sin over holiness, pride over humility, war and division over peace and unity, choosing to be strong in ourselves rather being weak in Christ:

But the Lord said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.…

In the midst of this battle, Mary has come to tell us we are essential to fulfilling God's plan.
We matter!

“Dear children, behold, also today I want to call you to start living a new life as of today. Dear children, I want you to comprehend that God has chosen EACH ONE OF YOU, in order to use you in a great plan for the salvation of mankind. You are not able to comprehend how great your role is in God’s design. Therefore, dear children, pray so that in prayer you may be able to comprehend what God’s plan is in your regard. I am with you in order that you may be able to bring it about in all its fullness. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (1/25/87)

She tells us we needs to live her messages in order for God's plan to be fulfilled, which is to bring about the Triumph she first prophesied in Fatima!

The fruit of Mary's womb, Jesus, brought about the ultimate Triumph and crushed Satan fully and completely on the Cross on Good Friday, but it is up to us to live out this salvation. 

In this age, Our Lord wants to establish devotion to Mary - he wants all to see her integral part in God's plan of salvation. 

After showing the children hell, Mary said in Fatima: "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart."(7/13/1907)
 
For we would not have had the person of Jesus without her, for although He was God, He chose to be formed in her womb.  Jesus and Mary are intimately united and will be for all eternity. Because Jesus is a Divine Person, He lived not only His life on earth, but also as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, always lived outside of space and time - therefore every aspect of Jesus' life is also eternal. All time - past, present and future - is as one for Him ... thus, in a certain sense, we can say Jesus is still present in the womb of Mary, He is still a newborn dependent on her nourishment and care, He is still a son being sheltered and provided for by St. Joseph, etc. - even now because God IS - I AM WHO I AM - existence itself - thus, all times associated with Him are eternal. 

That is why when we can participate in the Holy Mass, we can truly be present at Calvary. The veil of time and space is lifted and we are there in the one eternal ever-living Sacrifice of Jesus offering Himself to the Father. The part that is ever new, is our participation in this Mystery - as we unite ourselves to Christ in His offering to the Father, through the grace and salvation He first won and shared with us. 

This understanding helps us begin to understand how truly united and inseparable Mary and Jesus are... and how God - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - long to proclaim her part in crushing satan through her complete humility. For Mary was the littlest of all. There was no hint of pride or vanity in her that blocked grace - she was so empty of selfishness and so humble that she could be completely Full of Grace -
So she, filled with God's life and love to the full, became the fulfillment of the first promise of God following the Fall:

“I will put enmities between thee [the serpent] and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” Gen 3:15.

It is to littlest one, Mary, that He has entrusted us. It is her complete and total humility that has made her the head-crusher of satan, and in so far as we are humble and united to her, we too participate in this great plan of God. 
O, nothing causes satan more pain than to be brought down by mere creatures, who through humility, prayer and sacrifice heap burning coals of love and mercy upon his head - O, what horror for him!
No, God did not leave us to battle satan alone during these 100 years of trial. Instead, He has given us his Mother to be our own. 

Her messages are Heaven's battle plan against satan.
She tells us that, through our cooperation, we have a part to play in ending the power satan has been allowed to have for these past hundred years. This reality was shown to Pope Leo XIII in a horrible vision. He was so shaken by what he saw that he sat down at once and composed the St. Michael Prayer, which he asked to be prayed after every Mass throughout the world.
This vision took place on Oct. 13th, 1884 -- exactly 33 years before the great miracle of the sun at Fatima!

Watch this for some incredible insights regarding Pope Leo's vision and Fatima:

Mary in Fatima asked the children to pray and offer sacrifices for the salvation of souls, saying:

“Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and pray for them.” Our Lady of Fatima, August 19, 1917

Mary asks the same from us today through her requests for prayers and fasting in Medjugorje. She also confirmed that it would also be through Medjugorje that her plans in Fatima would be fulfilled, saying to Mirjana:

“What I have started in Fatima I will finish in Medjugorje. My heart will triumph.”

Her triumph is the defeat of satan's power in the lives of her children. 
Likewise it was through Medjugorje that Mary confirmed Pope Leo XIII's vision of the Church being allowed to be tried by satan. Mirjana revealed that satan came disguised asking her to renounce Our Lady and to follow him. If she did so, she would be happy; but if she chose to follow Our Lady, her life would be filled with suffering. Mirjana rejected him and immediately, Our Lady came to Mirjana and satan disappeared. 
Then Our Lady gave Mirjana the following message:
 
“… Excuse me for this, but you must realize that satan exists. One day he appeared before the throne of God and asked permission to submit the Church to a period of trial. God gave him permission to try the Church for one century. This century is under the power of the devil, but when the secrets confided to you come to pass, his power will be destroyed. Even now he is beginning to lose his power and has become aggressive. He is destroying marriages, creating division among priests and is responsible for obsessions and murder. you must protect yourselves against these things through fasting and prayer, especially community prayer. Carry blessed objects with you. Put them in your house and restore the use of holy water…” 
(Mirjana revealed this occurrence and message to Pope John Paul II in a letter in December 1982…)

The antidote to the reality of satan, of sin and of evil is love and humility. 
It is Mary. Inseparably united to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit... whose only desire is to do whatever He tells her... 
This humility, love and union with God is the only source of peace. 

Saint Jacinta of Fatima implores us:

"Pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace, since God has entrusted it to her."

Coming as the Queen of Peace in Medjugorje, Mary gives us the weapons of victory: 
Participation in Jesus' Sacrifice of Love, Grace and Mercy poured out in our daily bread - Holy Mass, 
Conversion of heart - Confession, 
Feasting on His Holy Word - Scripture, 
Lifting our minds and hearts in communication with God - Prayer 
and renunciation of our selfishness - Fasting. 

We, who listen and live her messages are her chosen ones, and perhaps it is us of whom St. Louis de Montfort prophesied:

Towards the end of the world ... Almighty God and His holy Mother are to raise up saints who will surpass in holiness most other saints as much as the cedars of Lebanon tower above little shrubs.
These great souls filled with grace and zeal will be chosen to oppose the enemies of God who are raging on all sides. They will be exceptionally devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Illumined by her light, strengthened by her spirit, supported by her arms, sheltered under her protection, they will fight with one hand and build with the other.
With one hand they will give battle, overthrowing and crushing heretics and their heresies, schismatics and their schisms, idolaters and their idolatries, sinners and their wickedness. With the other hand they will build the temple of the true Solomon and the mystical city of God, namely, the Blessed Virgin. ...
They will be like thunderclouds flying through the air at the slightest breath of the Holy Spirit. Attached to nothing, surprised at nothing, they will shower down the rain of God's word and of eternal life. They will thunder against sin; they will storm against the world; they will strike down the devil and his followers and for life and for death, they will pierce through and through with the two-edged sword of God's word all those against whom they are sent by Almighty God.
They will be true apostles of the latter times to whom the Lord of Hosts will give eloquence and strength to work wonders and carry off glorious spoils from His enemies. They will sleep without gold or silver and, more important still, without concern in the midst of other priests, ecclesiastics and clerics. Yet they will have the silver wings of the dove enabling them to go wherever the Holy Spirit calls them, filled as they are, with the resolve to seek the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Wherever they preach, they will leave behind them nothing but the gold of love, which is the fulfillment of the whole law.
They will have the two-edged sword of the Word of God in their mouths and the bloodstained standard of the Cross on their shoulders. They will carry the crucifix in their right hand and the Rosary in their left, and the holy names of Jesus and Mary on their heart.
Mary scarcely appeared in the first coming of Christ. ... But in the second coming of Jesus Christ, Mary must be known and openly revealed by the Holy Spirit so that Jesus may be known, loved and served through her.

Know of my heartfelt prayers for each of you on this Good Friday. May we pray continually as Mary calls us:  

Pray, Pray, Pray - Pray until it becomes a joy for you

For it is only in prayer that we can come to know to the depth of our being:

O, Jesus, O, how You love us! 
O, Father, O, how You love us!
O, Spirit, O, how You love us!
It is this love for each soul He has created that compels Him to send us His Mother to help save us, 
for the "The loss of each soul brings me to a mortal sadness"....
it is this love for each one of us that brought Him to reveal Himself as Divine Mercy 
and it is for this reason He asks us to begin to pray the Divine Mercy Novena today.

May we live this Good Friday in love of Him - offering up ourselves in fasting and prayer and in thanksgiving for His Unfathomable Love for us -
and praying for one another - 
as well as praying always for the conversion of souls!


© Janet Moore. 2019. All Rights Reserved.

Mirjana's Meeting With Pope St. John Paul II: He Believed Medjugorje Was The Answer to His Prayers!

On this anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II's death on April 2, 2005, I wanted to share the amazing firsthand account of a meeting he had with the reported visionary, Mirjana Soldo, in July 1987.  

Mirjana writes about the meeting in her autobiography, My Heart Will Triumph. 

While visiting the Vatican with a Croatian youth group to Rome for a papal audience on July 22, 1987, Mirjana first encountered John Paul II. As the Pope walked among the people giving blessings, he put his hand over Mirjana's head and blessed her. After he had done so, an Italian priest informed him who Mirjana was. After hearing that this was Mirjana, the reported visionary of Medjugorje:

he stopped, came back and reach out to bless me again. I was frozen. His vivid blue eyes seemed to pierce my soul. Unable to think of any words to say. I bowed my head and felt the warmth of his blessing. When he left again, I turned to the Italian priest and joked, "He just thought I needed a double blessing." We both laughed.

Later that afternoon... I was shocked to receive a personal invitation from the pope. He was requesting that I come to meet with him privately the next morning at Castel Gandolfo...

Mirjana writes of Pope John Paul II's tenderness and love and how she was moved to tears upon meeting him the following morning. She writes of their struggle to understand each other until they found out they both could speak Italian.  

Then she writes:

We talked about many things - some I can share, some I cannot -and soon I felt at ease in his presence. He spoke with such love that I could have talked with him for hours.

And includes the following conversation:

"Please ask the pilgrims in Medjugorje to pray for my intentions," he said. 

"I will, Holy Father," I assured him.

"I know all about Medjugorje I've followed the messages from the beginning. Please, tell me what it's like for you when Our Lady appears."

The pope listened intently as I described what I experienced during apparitions. At times, he smiled and gently nodded his head.

"And when she departs," I concluded, "I feel so much pain, and all I can think of in that moment is when I will see her again."

The pope leaned towards me and said, "Take good care of Medjugorje, Mirjana. Medjugorje is the hope for the entire world."

The pope's words seemed like a confirmation of the importance of the apparitions and of my great responsibility as a visionary. I was surprised by the conviction in his voice, and by how his eyes sparkled every time he said the word Medjugorje - not to mention how well he pronounced the name of the village, which had always been so amazingly difficult for outsiders to say.

"Holy Father," I said, "I wish you could see all the people who go there and pray.

The pope turned his head and gazed towards the east, releasing a pensive sigh.

"If I were not the pope," he said, "I would have gone to Medjugorje a long time ago."

I will never forget the love that radiated from the Holy Father. What I felt with him is similar to what I feel when I am with Our Lady, and looking into his eyes was just like looking into hers. Later, a priest told me that the pope had been interested in Medjugorje from the very beginning, because right before our apparitions started, he had been praying for Our Lady to appear again on Earth. 

"I cannot do it all alone, Mother," he prayed. "In Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland and so many other communist countries, people cannot freely practice their faith. I need your help, dear Mother."

According to this priest, when the pope heard that Our Lady had appeared in a tiny village in a communist country, he immediately thought Medjugorje had to be an answer to his prayers.

In a talk Mirjana gave to pilgrims, she told the following story of how John Paul II's desire to come to Medjugorje was fulfilled after his death:

On the Mount of Apparitions, I saw a pair of shoes of the Pope in front of me. After the apparition, the gentleman who brought these shoes (he didn’t introduce himself) said, "It was the Pope’s desire for a long time to come to Medjugorje. So I said to him, 'If you do not go, I will take your shoes.' And that is how I brought his shoes, so they may be present during the apparition.” And that is how Saint John Paul II’s desire to come to Medjugorje was satisfied."

My daughter posing with Pope John Paul II's shoes in Mirjana's house

I pray that these stories about John Paul's belief in Medjugorje may inspire us to learn more about the reported apparitions of Medjugorje and take the messages of Our Blessed Mother to heart - for if these almost 38 years of daily apparitions are really an answer to John Paul's prayers, their importance cannot be overstated.

For more information about Medjugorje, see:

What Are We to Believe About Medjugorje? Here Are the Facts

"Grasp the Seriousness of the Situation: Much of What Will Happen Depends on Your Fasting and Prayers!" Our Lady of Medjugorje's Call for Fasting and Prayer in Families

Saint Pope John Paul II and Medjugorje

Innumerable Reasons the Chief Exorcist of Rome proclaims Medjugorje "A Fortress Against Satan"


© Janet Moore. 2019. All Rights Reserved.

Our Lady Queen of Peace in Medjugorje's Annual March 18, 2019 Message

What an amazing day!

Every year on this date, Our Blessed Mother of Medjugorje gives a special message to Mirjana! It happens to be Mirjana's birthday, but Mirjana has said Mary doesn't come because it's her birthday, but because this date has a special place in God's plan.

Mirjana says:
“When everything starts happening, then you will be able to understand why the 18th of March, why every second of the month, why Wednesdays and Fridays are days of fasting, everything will be clear.”

Added to Mary's special plans for this date, (or perhaps this is part of the specialness of this date) is that it's also the Vigil of the Solemnity of St. Joseph!
 

I write about St. Joseph here and here! May these writings be a gift to you.

Here's Our Blessed Mother's reported Message for today, March 18, 2019 given through Mirjana Soldo:  

My children! 

As a mother, as the Queen of Peace, 

I am calling you to accept my Son so that He can grant you peace of soul - 

that He can grant you that which is just, 

which is good for you.

My children, my Son knows you. 

He lived the life of man, and at the same time of God: 

a wondrous life - human flesh, divine Spirit. 

Therefore, my children, while my Son is looking at you with His eyes of God, 

He penetrates into your hearts. 

His tender, warm eyes are looking for Himself in your heart. 

My children, can He find Himself [there]?

Accept Him, 

and then the moments of pain and suffering will become moments of tenderness. 

Accept Him, 

and you will have peace in [your] soul - 

you will spread it to all those around you - 

and this is what you now need the most.

Heed me, my children. 

Pray for the shepherds, for those whose hands my Son has blessed. 

Thank you.   

 

On Fire with Love! John Paul II's 1993 Visit to Denver and Medjugorje: An Answer to His Prayer

John Paul II, we love you! 

John Paul II, we love you! 

John Paul II, we love you! 

I can still hear this chant echoing in my soul. 

I was blessed to be part of the nearly one million souls who welcomed him in Denver in 1993, celebrating the theme: 

"I came that they might have life, and have it to the full."   - Jn. 10:10. 

I was one of nearly a million who proclaimed: 
John Paul II, we love you! … 

over and over and over again... 

No one counted how many times we repeated these words ... 

They just continued to pour out in love 
and to this day I can't say if we shouted out our love for him for 10 minutes or even longer. 

There was hardships 
it seemed like we walked for miles 
in a vast sea of humanity
to find our spot -- partitioned into groups of one hundreds (I believe)
we slept outdoors with no shelter 
in the cold 
with little or no food
and the places to relieve yourself were few and far between...

Yet, what I remember most is: joy!
Unfettered joy!

And each person being on fire with love ... 

Filled with love and IN LOVE...

IN LOVE with God 

and with the person who demonstrated His Presence, 

spoke His Words, 

and lived His Life so deeply that it was no longer JPII who lived, but Christ who lived in him.  

In this special time of grace, 
we experienced a time of being ONE
ONE BODY in Christ 

one in God's love

one with the Pope 

and one with each other.

That's how John Paul II made you feel.

What an incredible grace it was for all who were present!

I've tried to explain to friends through the years what it was like to be in the presence of John Paul II. 

What it was like to hear words that pierced your soul and changed you forever from the inside out.  

How his words inspired, uplifted, emboldened and filled you -- 

and millions upon millions of others -- 

with faith and courage that invited you to give your lives away to the God --

because we were so filled and moved by the glory of God's love and mercy!

John Paul II had the gift of penetrating us with God's call - 

an individual and a collective call that echoed deeply within each of us. 

How electrifying his presence was!

Whether in a vast crowd of hundreds of thousands in a stadium 

or stretched across enormous fields -- 

even if you were almost a mile away from him -- 

you could still feel his holiness. 

Because God's life poured from him. 

In a crowd so vast that included people from all walks of life - 

from 100 countries across the world -- 

John Paul II's holiness permeated the atmosphere and transformed us.

Hundreds of thousands were in tears ...

while at the same time beaming with joy ...

Each on fire with God's love and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 

Each clinging to his words. 

Each rejoicing and experiencing God's love in an incredibly profound and unique way 

that included the whole Body of Christ - the Church. 

Everyone was filled with courage

and we were emboldened to live a life of holiness 

that transformed us and set the world on fire with God's love.

That was the atmosphere of World Youth Day in Denver in 1993. 

It was one of the most glorious times of grace in my life. 

And yet, this grace has never left me. 

John Paul II's legacy, his impact, the Truth of His Words and his holiness lives on to today -- 

his love continues to inspire me and many millions... 

look around at the truly great Catholic priests and nuns, bishops and Cardinals, lay Catholics and evangelists of our time...

look around at the holy men and women, the mothers and fathers striving to raise holy children... 

The vast majority of these openly cite John Paul's influence in their lives! 

And I'm convinced that John Paul's influence will continue to inspire the Church for ages -- 

as well as help us NOW 
to endure this tremendous time of trial in which we live and about which he prophesied.

For he helped form in us -- and in countless souls -- 
an unshakeable faith in the Church and the Sacraments 

This will help us to continue to live fully alive and united in God's love 
filled with courage and hope 

in such a time of this... 

What an incredible Pope we were gifted with for so many years! 

He, himself, stated all he did was directed "To Jesus through Mary."

It was Mary's love that inspired and filled and enabled him to "Do whatever He tells you."

It was Mary who saved his life from a trained assassin's bullet. 

And it was Mary, he was convinced, who would conquer, saying: 

“Christ will conquer through [Mary], because He wants the Church’s victories now and in the future to be linked to her.”

He was also convinced that it Mary was truly appearing in Medjugorje. 
And not only that, 
but that she was coming in answer to his prayers. 

One of the visionaries, Mirjana Dragicevic Soldo, reports: 

“A priest told me that from the very beginning the Pope was very fond of Medjugorje because two months before the apparitions in Medjugorje started, the Pope was praying to Our Lady to come again on earth. He said, ‘I cannot do it all alone because Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland etc, are all Communist, I cannot do it on my own. I need you.’ And later he heard that in Yugoslavia, a Communist country, in a little village, Our Lady appeared. Then he said ‘That is a response to my prayers.’ ” 

Our first night in Medjugorje May 31, 2017

Mirjana also had the blessing of meeting with Pope John Paul II, sharing the following details in a talk she gave to pilgrims:

“I personally had a such a great honor to be able to speak with late Pope John Paul II. That was so beautiful. I was in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome with all other pilgrims. [The] Pope as he was walking by, he was blessing everybody. He blessed me and just walked away. And then this Italian priest I was with said ‘Holy Father, this is Mirjana from Medjugorje.’ He came back, blessed me again and he left. And I said to this priest, ‘Father, you see he just thinks that I need a double blessing’ [laughter]. However, in the afternoon we received an invitation: tomorrow morning to come to Castel Gondolfo, close to Rome in order to talk to Holy Father. I don’t have to tell you that I couldn’t sleep all night. Tomorrow when I reached the place, he saw that I was so excited. We were alone and then he started talking to me in Polish. He thought I would understand because both are Slavic languages. He wanted to make me feel comfortable but I didn’t understand a word because it’s not even close to our language. However, I was crying and I couldn’t catch a breath to say a word. So when I finally succeeded to say a word, I said ‘Holy Father, can we try in Italian?’ [laughter]. Then we talked and among other things he said to me, ‘If I were not Pope, I would be in Medjugorje a long time ago. I know everything, I have been following everything. Ask pilgrims to pray for my intentions. And take good care of Medjugorje because Medjugorje is the hope for the entire world…’ ”

After John Paul II died, a gentleman brought his shoes to Medjugorje. Mirjana noticed the shoes were present on the hill of apparitions at the time of an apparition of Mary. Mirjana said the man who brought the shoes didn’t introduce himself, but said:

‘It was the Pope’s desire for a long time to come to Medjugorje. So I said to him, ‘If you do not go, I will take your shoes.’ And that is how I brought his shoes, so they may be present during the apparition.’ ” And that is how Saint John Paul II’s desire to come to Medjugorje was satisfied."

My daughter posing with Pope John Paul II's shoes in Mirjana's house

May these remembrances of St. John Paul II and these stories of his love and faith in Medjugorje inspire and renew us in faith, hope and joy. May they help us live unafraid and rooted deeply in Christ and His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church - confident, no matter the trials, that in the end, Mary's Immaculate Heart will Triumph. 
To hasten this triumph, may we constantly pray that all Jesus and Mary's plans be realized and fulfilled.

Pope St. John Paul II, pray for us!  Pray especially for our Holy Father and for our Church and our nation. May God's will ever be done in us. We ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

For more information about John Paul's love for Medjugorje see my first article (that I wrote 4 years ago today on St. John Paul II's feast day):  Saint John Paul II and Medjugorje

See also: 
http://www.medjugorje.net/content/view/174/1/
https://www.medjugorje.org/pope.htm

See also other articles I've written on Medjugorje: 
https://enteringintothemystery.blogspot.com/2018/08/what-is-holy-fathers-mission-in.html
https://enteringintothemystery.blogspot.com/2018/08/installment-of-apostolic-visitor-in.html
Do the Papal Envoy's Words Mean Vatican Approval for Medjugorje is Near?
Medjugorje... Over 33 Years of Reported Apparitions - Should We Believe?
http://www.catholic365.com/article/2652/innumerable-reasons-the-chief-exorcist-of-rome-proclaims-medjugorje-a-fortress-against-satan.html


© Janet Moore 2018. All Rights Reserved.