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Tajci - "Lay Your Hands"

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Uploaded on Jan 29, 2012
More info about Tajci at: http://idobelieve.com/
Song about healing written by Tajci. Inspired by Sue Cordero. Arranged by Tony Miracle. Produced by Cameron Production in January 2012.

Come Holy Spirit! The 2013 St. Charles Borromeo All Night Pentecost Vigil!

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Published on May 23, 2013
The All Night Pentecost Vigil at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Providence, Rhode Island, May18-19, 2013! Come Holy Spirit!+++ This Vigil is dedicated to The Holy Spirit and to Father John Randall!

Fr. John Randall said, the Holy Spirit makes your Baptism come alive," he said. Then, like St. Paul, you can say, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2.20).

"It's exciting when that happens. Jesus becomes everything for you."

Teens, he said, don't want to attend Mass because they find it boring. Others claim the rosary is a dull prayer.

"When the Holy Spirit gets ahold of the Mass, it's not boring. When the Holy Spirit gets ahold of Eucharistic Adoration, it's not boring.

"Prayer is the most exciting thing in the world. Why? Because prayer is union with God."

The Holy Spirit makes things blossom and bloom," Father Randall said. "Where it is not, things die and wither. What the Holy Spirit does in the Church is the same thing he did to Mary. He implanted the Son of God into her womb so that Jesus came alive in her. When the Holy Spirit is in the Church, he makes Jesus come alive in the Church.

Pope Benedict sees the importance of the Holy Spirit to the life of the Church.  The pope said, "The most important thing in the Church today is that Catholics experience being baptized in the Holy Spirit."

Fr.Randall put the emphasis on "experience."

Sister Anne Sophie founder of the Society of the Body of Christ.

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SisterAnneSophie, Founder of the Society of the Body of Christ, explains its mission.
Sister Anne Sophie from Juan Manuel Cotelo on Vimeo.

Sister Anne Sophie Meaney formed the Society of the Body of Christ to care for unwanted babies, abandoned elders — and everyone else around Corpus Christi, Texas, considered "human inconveniences" by society at-large.  By Joseph Pronechen.

*Every Day at the foot of the Cross*
Ten years ago, as Sharon Longoria’s father lay dying, she thought that, as Catholics, the family was ready to face the loss. Then Sister Anne Sophie Philippe Meaney of the Society of the Body of Christ came into the hospital room. The nun asked, "Have you prayed with your father?" Longoria answered honestly: "No." "Then Sister gave all us seven children assignments," recalls Longoria. "We each had times when we were to be at the bedside and pray. That made us focus on the whole objective of death — eternal life — and kept us prayerful at the hospital. The things we took for granted she brought to our attention, like holy water and the sacramentals." "Daddy died the most beautiful, holy death," Longoria joyfully remembers. "On each side of him was one of his sons and his five daughters. He died with Communion on his tongue and in the third decade of the Divine Mercy chaplet. I really attribute Sister’s help in getting us ready for my father’s death."

 From preparing the dying for a peaceful death and helping them pray their way into eternal life, to helping reconcile some with the Church, to praying babies into the world in the delivery room, to protecting and helping families, Sister Anne Sophie and the Society of the Body of Christ champions the culture of life in greater Corpus Christi, Texas. She and the society become instant family for unwanted children in the womb, abandoned elderly and other "human inconveniences," treating them all as children of God. One of the main purposes of the Society of the Body of Christ is to emphasize the meaning and intimacy with God our Father in heaven, explains Sister Anne Sophie. "He loves us, each one of us," she adds, "as if we were his only child, his favorite." That’s why God often sends the society the "hard" cases no one else seems able to deal with.

Take Gertrude, a former slumlord who treated everyone horribly. She had no family and, because of her tyrannical ways, no friends. But before Gertrude died at 96 in a convalescent home, she was praying Psalm 23 from her heart — and Sister Anne Sophie had prepared her for her first confession and holy Communion. Gertrude might have died a mean old woman who had no forgiveness in her heart, reminds Sister Anne Sophie, but instead she died peacefully while her "new family," the Society of the Body of Christ, was reciting the Divine Mercy chaplet.

 The story brings to light what Sister Anne Sophie means when she explains, "From conception to natural death, the urgency of the saving of souls is our mission." That means performing works of mercy, bringing Communion to the sick, the dying, shut-ins and those in convalescent homes, then "being a source of comfort and joy and love for them so that they can be at peace and give themselves to God." The result? She often catches those who would otherwise slip through the cracks. God’s grace kept Sister Anne Sophie herself from slipping through the cracks while growing up in five foster homes. Much later, she was adopted as an adult by the founder of the area’s Birthright center. She has been arrested for praying at an abortion business. When she became an extraordinary minister of holy Communion, bringing the Eucharistic Lord to the bedridden and elderly God placed in her path, her calling unfolded and she founded the Society of the Body of Christ. On March 25, 1994, Bishop Rene Gracida, now bishop emeritus of Corpus Christi, Texas, erected the society as a public association of the faithful with the intention that, one day, it would be a new religious institute. Three months later, on the feast of Corpus Christi, after vowing before Bishop Gracida to live a life of poverty, chastity and obedience — and to defend all human life from conception to natural death.

 — Sister Anne Sophie received her habit as the society’s first consecrated member. Bishop Gracida, who remains the society’s spiritual adviser, praises Sister Anne Sophie and the society’s work of ministering to the sick and dying. "The work is almost identical, analogous to the work done by the congregation established by Mother Teresa of Calcutta," he says. "With loving, tender care and kindness," he adds, "Sister and the society offer the suffering spiritual solace either to recover from illness or to ease their passage into the next life." That example has drawn laypeople to join the Society of the Body of Christ as associate members. So far, some 97 individuals pray and care for the weakest among them. Meanwhile approximately 230 "suffering members" are powerful instruments of intercession: Through the society’s work, they offer their pain and even their own dying for the glory of God and salvation of souls. No wonder that, in 2002, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, wrote to Sister Anne Sophie. "Your work and the Society of the Body of Christ," he wrote, "are incredibly important." "The charism of the Society of the Body of Christ is the compassion of Mary at the foot of the cross through St. John," she was told by her great uncle, Father Marie-Dominique Philippe, founder of the Congregation of St. John.

 The Gospel lesson of fraternal charity means baby Coretta, one of Sharon Longoria’s drug-addicted, severely abused foster babies, received bedside prayer and care 24 hours a day from society members during her seven-week hospital stay. "Sister told me, ‘Coretta’s going to know love,’" says Longoria, now a society member. It means Sister’s driving 60 miles daily to bring Communion to 10-year-old Colton, who’s dying of leukemia, and then being with his family through the funeral. To this day, she’s involved with the family.

 It means helping people with Alzheimer’s recognize the Host and receive holy Communion. "We miss so many opportunities with Alzheimer’s patients," Sister Anne Sophie says. "If we take what the world says at face value, none of these works would be happening. Because we have faith and follow Jesus, he makes all this possible by his grace." Bishop Gracida looks to the day when the society will be recognized as a religious institute as consecrated members join.

* "I know he’s going to send me holy vocations," Sister Anne Sophie says of God with her usual childlike trust and her reliance on the Holy Spirit for everything. "In the meantime we’re making preparations to receive those holy vocations." Staff writer Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut. INFORMATION http://www.thesocietyofthebodyofchrist.com/

Conversion Testimony Of Famous Spanish Author Maria Vallejo Nagera at Medjugorje

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Maria Vallejo Nagera




Video
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Excerpt of Maria's witness given in Medjugorje at the 2009 youth festival.
I have to admit that at that time, even having been considered a Catholic all my life, my faith was tepid. I was a “Sunday Catholic”, always bored at the celebration of the Mass, not really understanding most of its parts, and always trying to make excuses to avoid going to the church. My parents have raised me Catholic, the schools I attended were Catholic, but no real feeling of God lived in our family or in our hearts. I like to describe my family as “social Catholics”: we attended Mass every Sunday, yes, but with no real feelings, only going through the motions, flowing with the Spanish catholic crowd. If all of our friends and family members were churchgoers in Madrid, we were going to do the same no matter what. I remember trying fiercely to convince my two friends during that trendy lunch that they were going to explore a senseless, ridiculous way to approach God. We were rich, we were young, we were happy healthy mothers of beautiful children, we had attractive husbands that adored us. In other words, we had the world in our hands.

THE HEALING OF GEMMA DI GIORGI

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THE HEALING OF [the eyes of] GEMMA DI GIORGI [by St. Padre Pio] [Ecumenical]
PadrePioDevotions.org ^ | not given | PadrePioDevotions
Posted on Sunday, April 03, 2011 1:05:07 AM by Salvation
THE HEALING OF GEMMA DI GIORGI Among the many miracles of healing attributed to Padre Pio, some are so unusual and unique that they have been the subject of much discussion and controversy in medical circles. In these particular cases, the person who has been healed lives a completely normal life afterward, even though they continue to have all the physical symptoms of their illness. From a scientific viewpoint, they are still sick. One such person is Gemma di Giorgi.Gemma di Giorgi was born on Christmas day in 1939, in the Sicilian town of Ribera. Almost immediately, her mother realized that her eyes were different from other children's eyes. The truth was, Gemma was blind. Her mother took her to a doctor who was unable to determine the gravity of her condition. She was referred to two specialists in Palermo. They determined that Gemma had no pupils in her eyes; that nothing could be done for her blindness; that her condition was inoperable. Gemma's family was desperate, but there was nothing they could do. Her parents often took her to Mary's altar in the church to pray because they felt it would take a miracle to heal her eyes.A relative who was a nun, advised the family to seek out Padre Pio. Her advice gave the family a ray of hope. Gemma's grandmother asked the nun to write a letter to Padre Pio on Gemma's behalf.When the nun returned to her convent, she wrote to Padre Pio asking him to pray for Gemma. One night the nun saw him in a dream. Padre Pio asked her, "Where is this Gemma for whom so many prayers are being offered that they are almost deafening?” In her dream she introduced Gemma to Padre Pio and he made the sign of the cross on her eyes. The next day the nun received a letter from Padre Pio in which he wrote, "Dear daughter, rest assured that I will pray for Gemma. I send you my best wishes.”The nun was struck by the coincidence of the dream and the letter that followed so she wrote to the family and encouraged them to take Gemma to see Padre Pio. And so it was, that in 1947, the grandmother took 7 year old Gemma to San Giovanni Rotondo to see Padre Pio, praying and hoping all the while for a miracle.On the trip from Sicily to San Giovanni Rotondo, Gemma's eyesight began mysteriously functioning. About halfway to their destination, Gemma began to see the sea and a steamship and she told this to her grandmother. Her grandmother as well as other friends who were accompanying them, all marveled and began to pray. Still, the trip from Sicily to the monastery was very long and difficult. While Gemma's grandmother recognized the miracle that had taken place, she was still preoccupied by the idea of seeking Padre Pio's intercession in the matter. At San Giovanni Rotondo, Padre Pio called Gemma by name before the child was ever presented to him. He heard her confession, and even though she made no mention of her blindness, he touched her eyes with the wounded part of his hand, tracing the sign of the cross. At the end of the confession, as he blessed her, he said, "Sii buona e santa.” (Be good and saintly)The grandmother was upset that Gemma had forgotten to ask Padre Pio for the grace of a healing while she was in the confessional and so she began to cry. Gemma became upset also and began to cry. The grandmother went to confession to Padre Pio and in her own words, "I asked the grace for Gemma and I told Padre Pio that Gemma was weeping because, in her confession with him she had forgotten to ask this grace. I will never forget his soft and tender voice as he answered me with these words, "Do you have faith, my daughter? The child must not weep and neither must you for the child sees, and you know she sees.” I understood then that Padre Pio was alluding to the sea and the ship Gemma had seen during the trip and that God had used Padre Pio to break through the darkness that covered Gemma's eyes.” The same day, Padre Pio gave Gemma her first Holy Communion and again made the sign of the cross over each of her eyes.When Gemma returned to Sicily her eyes were again examined by a specialist. The doctor, to test Gemma, held up various objects in front of her and she was able to see each one of them. She was able to count the doctor's fingers at a distance of sixteen feet. Gemma, even though without pupils, had her eyesight; she could see. The doctor declared that Gemma's eyes were in no condition to see. There was no medical explanation for it.Many doctors from all over Italy requested to examine Gemma's eyes. This extraordinary cure, and the prophecy preceding it, aroused enormous interest in the Italian press during the summer of 1947. Gemma's sight continued to improve and she was able to go to school and learn how to read and write. She was able to lead a perfectly normal life.Clarice Bruno, author of the book, "Roads to Padre Pio" met Gemma in May of 1967. Clarice said that despite the fact that Gemma's eyesight was functioning, she still had those foggy, strange looking eyes that are a characteristic of the blind. Clarice told Gemma that she was writing a book about Padre Pio and wanted to include in it the story of Gemma's miracle. Gemma asked Padre Pio for permission to share her story and he gave his consent. Gemma, due to the sunny and very windy weather, was wearing sun glasses on the day she made the request of Padre Pio. He commented on this. "Why,” he said as he passed his hand over her eyes,"are you wearing glasses? You see very well.”Father John Schug, author of "A Padre Pio Profile" who met Gemma and interviewed her, also testified, "She looks like a blind person. Her eyes are sallow and lusterless, but there is no doubt that she can see. I saw her reach for a phone book, check a number, and dial the number without groping."While the doctors could not all come to a consensus on the subject of Gemma di Giorgi's medical condition, the facts that can be definitely established are these: (1) Gemma di Giorgi was born with a severe congenital defect of the eyes; (2) before the prayers of Gemma di Giorgi Padre Pio were enlisted, her vision was either quite defective or altogether nonexistent; and (3) afterward, though the physical structure of the eye remained unchanged, Gemma was able to see normally–even though officially classified as legally blind.So what must the conclusion be? Simply that while Gemma and her grandmother were traveling to San Giovanni Rotondo to ask for healing grace, the grace came to them through the intercession of Padre Pio's prayers before they had even arrived at their destination. God, for His own mysterious reasons, had wanted it to happen this way. Gemma has since traveled the world telling her story.

Our Lady's message to Mirjana of August 2, 2013

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"Dear children! If only you would open your hearts to me with complete trust, you would comprehend everything. You would comprehend with how much love I am calling you; with how much love I desire to change you, to make you happy; with how much love I desire to make you followers of my Son and give you peace in the fullness of my Son. You would comprehend the immeasurable greatness of my motherly love. That is why, my children, pray because through prayer your faith grows and love is born, the love along which even the cross is not unendurable because you do not carry it alone. In union with my Son you glorify the name of the Heavenly Father. Pray, pray for the gift of love, because love is the only truth: it forgives everything, it serves everyone and it sees a brother in everyone. My children, my apostles, great is the trust that the Heavenly Father has given you through me, His handmaid, to help those who do not know Him, that they may reconcile with Him and follow Him. That is why I am teaching you love, because only if you have love will you be able to respond to Him. Again I am calling you to love your shepherds and to pray that, at this difficult time, the name of my Son may be glorified under their guidance.  Thank you."

PRAYING IN ABBA'S LOVE

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"Lord, teach us to pray." -Luke 11:1

Is the Lord satisfied with your prayer life? Pope John Paul II, at the end of his first encyclical letter, The Redeemer of Man, maintained that our prayer must be "great, intense, and growing." He also emphasized that the Lord wants our prayer to be combined with fasting, for the Lord has decided at this time to make prayer and fasting the first and most effective weapons against our culture of death (The Gospel of Life, 100). According to these criteria, is your prayer life satisfactory to the Lord?
To pray as the Lord wants us to pray, we must see God as our loving Father. That is the first thing Jesus taught us about prayer (see Lk 11:2). We must be aware that our Father sees our prayer and fasting (Mt 6:6, 18). Abraham stopped short in his prayer for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to be spared destruction. His prayer was limited because he:
   * wasn't sure whether God was just (see Gn 18:25),
   * was even less sure of God's mercy, and
   * projected his own interior conflicts onto God and thereby accused God of being impatient (Gn 18:30) and angry (Gn 18:32).

Abraham had little concept of God being a loving Father, and he prayed and did not pray accordingly.
We who are in Christ can and must pray always with loving, tender confidence in our Father. In that way, we will pray as we ought (Rm 8:26).

 Holy Spirit, help me in my weakness regarding prayer (Rm 8:26). Cry out in my heart "Abba" (Rm 8:15).

 "If you, with all your sins, know how to give your children good things, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." -Lk 11:13

Daily Grace: The Joy of The Lord...


Dear Family of Mary

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Ivan prays before his talk on Aug 5   
   

 Ivan prays before his talk on August 5, 2013   

(c)Mary TV 2013  

 

J.M.J.

August 5, 2013 

Dear Family of Mary!
 

Anna Shawl translated and sent us this account of Ivan's apparition at 11:00 pm on Mt. Podbrdo this evening.
 

Here is Ivan's account of his apparition from the Hill Tonight...
 

Tonight Our Lady came very very joyful and happy and greeted us with her mother greeting of  "Praised be Jesus, my dear children."


She then extended her hands over all of us and she prayed for quite a while in her own Aramaic language. she prayed especially for all those who are present that are ill and over all the priests.


After this, Our Lady said:
   

Also today this is my great joy in seeing you all with an open heart with gladness of heart. I invite you all, to responsibly pray for peace. Pray, dear children that peace will reign in the world. That peace reigns in the hearts of the people. At the heart of my children. So be my carriers of peace in this turbulent world. Be my living sign. a sign of peace for the people you meet in your parishes. Be my sign, be my light, my mirror to each other. Know my dear children I am always with you, and that I pray for all of you, and for all of you I intercede with Jesus, with my Son. Therefore, persevere in prayer, thank you all once again that you said, "Yes" to my call.


After this Our Lady Blessed everyone with her motherly blessing and everything we brought to be blessed.


Ivan then recommended everyone, all their needs, their petitions and their families and all the sick.


He wanted to reiterate that Our Lady prays for all of us and our needs and intercedes for all of us to her Son.


After this, Our Lady with great joy, continued to pray for everyone and in that prayer she left in the sign of the light and the cross with "Go in peace, my dear children."


I know earlier, for those of you who were watching Marija [on Mary TV's live streaming of the apparition], she said that Our Lady came dressed in a gold dress.


Happy Birthday!! dear Blessed Mother once again!! Let's continue to try to live her messages as best as we can.


Good night everyone and God Bless you all!

love

Ana

 

At 5:00 am, August 6, 2013 Mary TV will stream the closing Mass for Mladifest 2013, which will take place on top of Cross Mountain.  Join us!!  (This is 11:00 pm Aug 5, EDT)   

 

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 "Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!"   

Blessed John Paul II  -
Be connected! 
 

Mysterious priest performs miracle at site of Mercedes crash

The final confrontation

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“From here [Poland] must go forth the ‘spark which will prepare the world for [Jesus’] final coming’. This spark needs to be lighted by the grace of God. This fire of mercy needs to be passed on to the world.”
Pope John Paul II stated this at the consecration of the Divine Mercy Basilica in Cracow, Poland, 2002. He referenced St. Faustina’s “Divine Mercy In My Soul” n. 1732, which states “I [Jesus] bear a special love for Poland, and if she will be obedient to My will, I will exalt her in might and holiness. From her will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming.
“We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel. This confrontation lies within the plans of divine Providence; it is a trial which the whole Church, and the Polish Church in particular, must take up. It is a trial of not only our nation and the Church, but in a sense a test of 2,000 years of culture and Christian civilization, with all of its consequences for human dignity, individual rights, human rights and the rights of nations.”
Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (then future Pope John Paul II), stated at the Eucharistic Congress, Philadelphia, PA; August 13, 1976, which was two years before he became pope.
source End times lion

 

Dogma of Assumption Confirmed by Sun Miracle

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The miracle of the sun in Medjugorje
Dogma of Assumption Confirmed by Sun Miracle
By Bernard Gallagher
 
   The dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was declared by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950 and states that “The Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into the glory of Heaven.”
   In this declaration, no position is taken by the Church as to the question of whether Mary actually died. However, in one of Her very early messages given at Medjugorje, Our Lady gave this answer to one of the seers when asked if She went to Heaven before or after death: “I am the Mother of God and the Queen of Peace. I went to Heaven before death” (10/12/81).
   Five years ago, a previously unpublished document came to light which revealed Pope Pius XII had witnessed the “miracle of the sun” on four occasions, and he considered this experience as confirmation of his plan to declare the dogma of the Assumption. The information contained in this handwritten note by Pius XII went on public display for two months in the Vatican in November 2008. Reporting at the time for zenit.org Antonio, Gaspari wrote:
 According to his own testimony, the Pope who declared the dogma of the Assumption saw the “miracle of the sun” four times.
   This information is confirmed by a handwritten, unpublished note from Pope Pius XII, which is part of the Pius XII: The Man and the Pontificate display.
   A commissioner of the display and a Vatican reporter for the Italian daily Il Giornale, Andrea Tornielli, explained to ZENIT that the note was found in the Pacelli family archives. It describes the “miracle of the sun,” an episode that until today had only been affirmed by the indirect testimony of Cardinal Federico Tedeschini (1873-1959), who recounted in a homily that the Holy Father had seen the miracle.
   Pius XII wrote, “I have seen the ‘miracle of the sun,’ this is the pure truth.”
   The miracle of the sun is most known as the episode that occurred in Fatima, Portugal, on October 13, 1917. According to the Fatima visionaries, Mary had said there would be a miracle that day so that people would come to believe. Thousands had gathered at the site of the visions, and the sun “danced,” reportedly drying instantaneously the rain-soaked land and spectators.
   Pius XII’s note says that he saw the miracle in the year he was to proclaim the dogma of the Assumption, 1950, while he walked in the Vatican Gardens. He said he saw the phenomenon various times, considering it a confirmation of his plan to declare the dogma.
   The papal note says that at 4:00 P.M. on October 30, 1950, during his “habitual walk in the Vatican Gardens, reading and studying,” having arrived to the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, “Toward the top of the hill […] I was awestruck by a phenomenon that before now I had never seen.”
   “The sun, which was still quite high, looked like a pale, opaque sphere, entirely surrounded by a luminous circle,” he recounted. And one could look at the sun, “without the slightest bother. There was a very light little cloud in front of it.”
   The Holy Father’s note goes on to describe “the opaque sphere” that “moved outward slightly, either spinning, or moving from left to right and vice versa. But within the sphere, you could see marked movements with total clarity and without interruption."
   Pius XII said he saw the same phenomenon “the 31st of October and November 1, the day of the definition of the dogma of the Assumption, and then again November 8, and after that, no more.” The Pope acknowledged that on other days at about the same hour, he tried to see if the phenomenon would be repeated, “but in vain – I couldn't fix my gaze [on the sun] for even an instant; my eyes would be dazzled.”
   Pius XII spoke about the incident with a few cardinals and close collaborators, such that Sister Pascalina Lehnert, the nun in charge of the papal apartments, declared that “Pius XII was very convinced of the reality of the extraordinary phenomenon, which he had seen on four occasions.”
   As Pope, in 1940, Pius XII approved the Fatima apparitions, and in 1942, consecrated the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
                                                                                                                                            http://crownofstars.blogspot.co.uk
 


Medjugorje Youth Festival 2013

Medjugorje Youth Festival 2013

Medjugorje Youth Festival 2013


WHY MEDJUGORJE?

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"Why Medugorje ?" is an insightful short film by Josip Loncar promotions officer with the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS). It documents his own personal experience when he visited Medugorje for the first time in 1987. This short film very much captures the Spirit of Medugorje from a pilgrim's perspective. As an added bonus narration is by renowned scripture scholar Tony Hickey. After watching this film, you will have many good reasons why you should consider visiting Medugorje
"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!"   
Blessed Pope John Paul II 

Charismatic movement a gift to the whole church

HIS SECOND COMING

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"It will go well with those servants whom the Master finds wide-awake on His return." -Luke 12:37

We are often more out of touch with reality than in touch with it. For instance, many people "live in fear" (Lk 12:32) although the Lord has assured us 365 times in the Bible that we need not fear. Moreover, many people are so insecure that they think they will starve to death if they sell what they have and give alms (see Lk 12:33). They're not sure their heavenly Father will provide their "daily bread" (Mt 6:11). Furthermore, some people pretend they'll live forever. They try not to think about their deaths and the world's end. We all are inclined to get out of touch with reality.

The Lord has given us a very effective "reality check" to keep us from becoming "spaced out." The awareness that Jesus may come back at any time and bring everything to an end helps us be realistic. For instance, our fears about the things of this world fade into the background when we realize this world can pass away at any time. Also, when we are aware of the possible, imminent, and final return of Jesus, we don't hold onto our money as if it were a god. In the light of Jesus' coming, we realize that we better learn to trust our heavenly Father. We are even at peace with death because we realize the risen, glorified, and returning Christ has conquered death and taken away its sting (see 1 Cor 15:54-55). Because Jesus may return at any moment, we can live this moment and any others in touch with reality.

Maranatha! "Come, Lord Jesus" - today! (Rv 22:20)

 "Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see." -Heb 11:1

 Praise You, risen Jesus! You welcome those who trust in You! All praise to You forever!

Medjugorje Youth Festival

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The experiences of Youth Festival participants

03.08.2013
Among young people from sixty countries who participate in the 24th International Youth Festival in Medjugorje we met Tatjana who came from Slovenia. This is Tatjana’s twelfth visit to the Youth Festival. She briefly told us: “I come because of homilies, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, testimonies and Holy Masses. It is good for us to be here with the Queen of Peace. It is crowded, but we do not have problem with that.”

Young people from Slavonija, region on north of Croatia, arrived to the Youth Festival in the great number. We spoke to Sanja Stivanovic and Darko Ilijasic from Slavnoski Brod. “Medjugorje is alwas a special event for us, we always bring something beautiful from here. As we look at such a great number of young people that were gathered here by Gospa, that is indeed experience that changes every one of us.” Darko came for the first time and said: “I was extremely impressed by such a great number of young people at one place. So much joy and so much sincere and open love.”

2004 Medjugorje Youth Festival, Mirjana Speaking

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