I was wrong, everybody needs someone, to hold on Take my hand, I've been a lonesome man, took a while to understand
There's some things we can't live without, A man's so prone to doubt, Faithful are the wounds from friends. So give it just a little time, Share some bread and wine Weave your heart into mine, My friend
Walls fall down, where there's a peaceful sound, lonely souls hang around Don't be shy, there's nothing left to hide, come on let's talk a while
Of the places we left behind, No longer yours and mine But we could build a good thing here too So give it just a little time, Share bread and wine Weave your heart into mine
If I fall, I fall alone, but two can help to bear the load A threefold chord is hard to break All I have I give to you if you will share your sorrows too, Then joy will be the crown upon our heads My friend
During his homily at Casa Santa Marta this morning, Pope Francis said that Christians who seem “allergic” to preaching are, in fact, afraid of opening the door to the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Father drew his homily from today’s Gospel where Jesus compares the generation to unhappy children who always refuse the invitation of others to sing or dance.
“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners,’” the Gospel says.
These people, the Pope explained are “not open to the Word of God” and use the excuse that it is not the message but the messenger that is the problem.
“And they, the people of that time, preferred to find refuge in a more elaborate religion: in moral precepts, like that group of Pharisees; in political compromise, like the Sadducees; in social revolution, like the zealots; in gnostic spirituality like the Essenes. They were with their well cleaned system, well-done. But the preacher, no!” he said.
“Even Jesus reminds them: ‘Your fathers did the same to the prophets’. The people of God have a certain allergy to preachers of the Word: the prophets, they persecuted them, killed them.”
Comparing to today’s world, the Holy Father said that there are Christians who are like the ones spoken of by Jesus and are “afraid of the freedom of the Holy Spirit that comes through preaching.” The scandal of preaching, he continued, “that ends in the scandal of the Cross.”
“It is scandalizing that God speaks through men with limitations, sinful men: it scandalizes! And even more scandalizing that God speaks to us and saves us through a man that says that He is the Son of God but ends up like a criminal. That scandalizes,” the Pope said.
Preaching comes to warn you, to teach and even to correct you, he went on to say, and that is precisely the freedom that comes from it. Sad Christians who dismiss preaching, are in fact afraid of opening the door to the Holy Spirit.
Concluding his homily, Pope Francis prayed for them as well as for all so “that we may not become sad Christians. (J.A.E.)
In his message of 12 Mar 2010, our Holy Father said "..."it is important clearly to bear in mind the theological specificity of ordained ministry, in order not to surrender to the temptation of reducing it to predominant cultural models. In the context of widespread secularization which progressively tends to exclude God from the public sphere and from shared social conscience, the priest often appears 'removed' from common sense." Yet, the Pope went on, "it is important to avoid a dangerous reductionism which, over the recent decades, has presented the priest almost as a 'social worker", with the risk of betraying the very Priesthood of Christ."
"It is particularly important that the call to participate in the one Priesthood of Christ in ordained ministry should flower from the charism of prophecy". There is great need for priests who speak of God to the world and who present to the world God; men not subject to ephemeral cultural fashions, but capable of authentically living the freedom that only the certainty of belonging to God can give. ...And the prophecy most necessary today is that of faithfulness" which "leads us to live our priesthood in complete adherence to Christ and the Church. Priests, the Holy Father continued, "must be careful to distance themselves from predominant mentality which tends to associate the value of Ministry not with its being, but its function". Our "ontological association with God is the right framework in which to understand and reaffirm, also in our own time the value of celibacy........it is an expression of the gift of self to God and to others.""The vocation of priest is an exalted one, and remains a great mystery..... The Holy Father concludes...."The men and women of our time ask us only to be priests to the full, nothing else. The lay faithful will be able to meet their human needs in many other people, but only in the priest will they find that Word of God which must always be on our lips, the Mercy of the Father abundantly and gratuitously distributed in the Sacrament of Penance, and the bread of new life"...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL_JoKuOXtI.
Pray for priests! We need them so much! (c) Mary TV 2012
J.M.J. December 13, 2013 St. Lucy
Dear Family of Mary!
"Dear children...Pray for your shepherds and long to come to know the love of your Heavenly Father, in union with them. Thank you." (December 2, 2013)
Our Lady shows us in these words how she loves. She loves by drawing others into her own heart and longing for them the very graces and blessings that she longs for herself. She prays for others as if she is praying for herself, asking for the blessings and graces that she needs, but asking for those she prays for in the same breath! We can imitate her way of praying, by drawing others into our hearts and asking God to give them the graces we long for! Beautiful!
And we can especially do this for our priests, who need our prayers so badly. I have assembled Our Lady's requests for prayer for priests over the past year, because these requests reveal so much about her love for priests, and how we can love them. Today, as we fast, let's pray for priests with all our hearts!
January 02, 2013 "Dear children...My children, pray for the shepherds. May your lips be shut to every judgment, because do not forget that my Son has chosen them and only He has the right to judge. Thank you."
February 02, 2013 "Dear children ...Pray for your shepherds so that through your fasting and prayer they can lead you in love. Thank you."
March 02, 2013 "Dear children! ...I am especially praying and watching over those whom my Son called to be light-bearers and carriers of hope for you - for your shepherds. Thank you."
April 02, 2013 "Dear children, ...Again I am warning you, pray for those whom my Son called, whose hands He blessed and whom He gave as a gift to you. Pray, pray, pray for your shepherds. Thank you."
May 02, 2013 "Dear children.... My children, my Son gave you a gift of the shepherds. Take good care of them. Pray for them. Thank you."
June 02, 2013 "Dear children, ...Love your shepherds as my Son loved them when He called them to serve you. Thank you."*Our Lady said this resolutely and with emphasis.
July 02, 2013 "Dear children, ...Dear children, extend the joy of love and support to your shepherds, just as my Son has asked them to extend it to you. Thank you."
August 02, 2013 "Dear children, ...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."
September 02, 2013 "Dear children,..I am imploring Him that, through Him, you may be God's children and my apostles. Then with great concern Our Lady said: "For the sake of Jesus, for the sake of my Son, love those whom He has called and long for the blessing only from the hands which He has consecrated. Do not permit evil to come to reign. Anew I repeat - only along side your shepherds will my heart triumph. Do not permit evil to separate you from your shepherds. Thank you."
October 02, 2013 "Dear children...Put your trust in your shepherds as my Son trusted when He chose them, and pray that they may have the strength and the love to lead you. Thank you."
November 02, 2013 "Dear children, ...Pray for your shepherds that they may always have love for you as my Son had, and showed by giving His life for your salvation. Thank you."
Fr. Mateo Mario: “In Medjugorje we feel grace-filled love of God”
date: 12.12.2013.
Fr. Mateo Mario is a member of the community of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Sao Paolo in Brazil, and that community is a fruit of Medjugorje. Before he became a priest, he received a degree in Chemistry and worked for few years in chemical factory. His job was good, as well as his salary and he lived a good life according to the standards of the world. Even though he was brought up in a Catholic family, he did not go much to the church at that time. All of that had changed with just one accidental encounter with the Holy Scripture. He came to Medjugorje in 2002, at the time he was in Novitiate.
“While I was seeking for my religious vocation, I visited various communities. That is how I took part in prayer meetings of one charismatic group Rinovamento from Sao Paolo and that is where I heard about the apparitions. Up to that time, I did not know anything about the apparitions of the Queen of Peace in Medjugorje, and the thought that Gospa was appearing every single day filled my heart and that is when I decided to join community that lives and spreads Our Lady’s messages.The encounter with Medjugorje is my greatest gift. Those were the days when I got to know the heart of a Mother who embraced me and who loves me. Ever since I came here for the first time, Gospa is a strong part of my life. I feel I was chosen as a priest to be the instrument of peace, grace and prayer in the life of other people. I started to pray with the heart in Medjugorje, and Rosary became fundamental part of my life. Jesus became my brother and my friend. It was here in Medjugorje that I learned how important is to adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Mary is not in the centre in Medjugorje, it is her Son Jesus.
” Fr. Mateo feels that pilgrims in Medjugorje experience great love of God. “As we are becoming aware of their sins, we open more to God. I climbed Cross Mountain today with my group. As we prayed at the stations of the Way of the Cross, I felt huge outpour of God’s love and I was not able to speak at all, I just cried all the time.” http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/
"Zechariah...your prayer has been heard." -Luke 1:13 When God finally answers your deepest prayer after a long period of silence, do you believe it or are you skeptical? Are you a person who is "well-disposed" to the Lord? (Lk 1:17) Or have you just "disposed" of your long-time prayer request, figuring that God said "No" (rather than "Not yet"). When the Lord is silent for years, even decades, do you grow bitter or grow better?
Simeon and Anna waited for the Lord for decades, and when the day came that their long-desired prayers were answered, they were ready (Lk 2:27ff, 38). The Blessed Virgin Mary was ready and well-disposed in docility to the Lord when her moment came (Lk 1:38). Manoah and his wife were likewise ready (Jgs 13:2ff). When God called Abraham, his first response was "Ready!" (Gn 22:1) The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Zechariah were not ready when their prayers were answered even though, as lifetime religious, they were in a prime position to be ready for God.
The way to be ready for God's answered prayer is to be ready every moment of every day. Years of practice of becoming like a little child before God helps us to be ready when He answers, never doubting His saving power and His loving-kindness. That's why God sends babies as answers to prayer (Jgs 13:3; 1 Sm 1:19ff; Lk 1:13). The Lord makes all things new and fresh, and babies make that clear to all. Each day, "acquire a fresh, spiritual way of thinking" (Eph 4:23). Resist developing a hard, skeptical heart. Let the Infant Jesus "open wide your" heart (2 Cor 6:13).
"You are my hope, O Lord; my trust, O God, from my youth" (Ps 71:5).
"Joy and gladness will be yours." -Lk 1:14
"O Flower of Jesse's stem, You have been raised up as a Sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in Your presence; the nations bow down in worship
A pilgrim from Argentina, Gisella Barreto came to Medjugorje. Gisella is a very famous person in Argentina and in the other countries of Latin America as well. She won several times at the beauty contests, became TV hostess, and even though she lived in the world of glamour, none of that ever made her happy. She came to Medjugorje in 2010 as a result of her mother’s desire and that is when her world started to change. She does not work in media anymore, she does not live in the world of glamour, but she witnesses instead of that and teaches religion in schools and she said how only now she feels happy and blessed in her life after so many years. Gisella told us that she came here to thank Gospa in Medjugorje. She said that her mother was always a pillar of faith in their family and that she raised her four children in the faith. She had beautiful childhood but it all changed in the time of adolescence. That is when she was attracted to the world with all of its challenges. Gisella was very pretty and that is when she entered the world of glamour. She won at several contests and was a semi-finalist at the contest for Miss Argentina. “That life was seemingly nice and attractive, it was actually a true trap of the world. I always looked unhappy and my mom used to tell me to surrender all to God. She was in Medjugorje on three occasions and showed me Our Lady from Medjugorje and told me to thank Her for all. It was after that visit to Medjugorje that my life began to change. This is where I understood that it is not enough just to be a good person, but our soul needs to be filled with God. It was through the emptiness in the heart that the world starts to enter within us.” Source http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/
Song From youth festival Medjugorje Arabic Lyrics by jamil toufic Sancta Maria Choir - Lebanon Soloists : Jean Darido & Elie Helou Christmas Concert 2012 - Mar Elias kontari - beirut
"Dear children! Today when God granted to me that I can be with you, with little Jesus in my arms, I rejoice with you and I give thanks to God for everything He has done in this Jubilee year. I thank God especially for all the vocations of those who said 'yes' to God completely. I bless you all with my blessing and the blessing of the newborn Jesus. I pray for all of you for joy to be born in your hearts so that in joy you too carry the joy I have today. In this Child I bring to you the Savior of your hearts and the One who calls you to the holiness of life. Thank you for having responded to my call." (December 25,2000)
There is a deep connection between thanks giving and joy. Our Lady demonstrates it in her message of Christmas 2000. She tells us how she gives thanks to God for everything He has done in the Jubilee year of 2000. Then she wishes that we could also carry the joy that she has. She reminds us of all that Jesus has brought into our lives, salvation, forgiveness, union with the Father, etc. And she encourages us to realize it all, with thankful hearts. Why, because joy comes to those who give thanks. Giving thanks to God is really admitting the truth! Everything comes from Him and everything is His!! We can only receive.
What joy! What deep joy is available to us, if we listen to Our Lady! On this Christmas Eve, as we await the celebration of Jesus' birth, let's fill our hearts to the brim with thankfulness. For every little detail of our lives, let's thank Jesus. And then, with Our Lady, we will be filled with joy!
PS. I give thanks for all of you who have joined me in pondering Our Lady's messages over the years! You are a great blessing to me! Tomorrow I will send out the message when I get it. Dearest Mother, we await your Christmas message for 2013, with all our hearts!!
"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!"
