OUR LADY OF MEDJUGORJE’S MESSAGE OF

AUGUST 25, 2011

“Dear children! Today I call you to pray and fast for my intentions, because Satan wants to destroy my plan. Here I began with this parish and invited the entire world. Many have responded, but there is an enormous number of those who do not want to hear or accept my call. Therefore, you who have said “yes”, be strong and resolute. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Our Lady Calls Us To Renew Our Fidelity

1. In Prayer. Perhaps we have become too lackadaisical, too complacent, too lethargic, too passive in our prayer and fasting, so Our Lady wants us to wake up, be alert, to pray and fast with renewed intensity and commitment. So this message is like a call to arms, because there is a great struggle going on and she does not want us wishy-washy but to place ourselves in the front lines in the thick of the battle.
a. In her September 2 message to Mirjana, she says: “do not wander…everything around you is falling apart…renounce everything that distances you from the Lord.”
b. In her message of August 8, 1985: “I call you especially now to advance against satan by means of prayer.” Prayer is powerful; it brings down into our midst the power of God.
c. Elsewhere she says: “It is necessary for you to use a weapon that is secure and invincible. That weapon is prayer! Prayer possesses a powerful force and starts a chain reaction for good that is far more powerful than any atomic reaction.”
2. Especially the Rosary. “Pick up the rosary and with the rosary in your hand defeat satan!” Those are powerful words. That power is partially explained by Sister Lucia of Fatima who said that God has blessed the rosary with a special power these days in our struggle with the powers of darkness. And Our Lady adds that if we realized the power of the rosary we would be saying it continually all day. Padre Pio continually prayed the rosary through the day walking through the streets of his village.
3. And In Prayer Groups. In unity there is great strength. Our Lady says: “Prayer groups are powerful.” Both Jesus and Mary attest that alone we cannot possibly overcome evil in the world, but in groups and in union with Jesus and Mary we can. As St. John Vianney said: “To light a piece of straw is to create a flicker, but united in prayer is to light a bundle of hay and create a conflagration.”
4. United With Mary. Our Lady has always insisted that we unite with her at the beginning of our prayer, because, even if we get distracted, our prayer carries the value of Our Blessed Mother and God never refuses her requests.

1. Satan Wants to Destroy My Plan. “Stay sober and alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, solid in your faith.” (I Peter 5:8-9)
a. God. Pope Benedict XVI said that satan is no match for God. The Gospel of Mark begins with the devil confronting Jesus: “What do you want of us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” Jesus said: “Shut up and come out of that man!” Pope Benedict: “History is not in the hands of the powers of darkness. Jesus, the supreme arbiter of historical events, leads history wisely to the new heaven and new earth.” (5-11-2005)
b. Mary. The Blessed Virgin enjoys an invincible power over the devil through her Immaculate Conception and she protects her children on the way of peace.
2. Satan Attacks Us. The “Liar” wants us to think he does not exist, but he is more active than ever. He obstructs, torments, intimidates, confuses, divides, and tries to discourage. His snares are dangerous; he suggests reasons why we can’t fast, why we can’t attend a prayer group, why we should not pray.
a. Our Lady wants us to keep renewing our resolutions to do what she asks.
b. She asks us to walk in her presence and be united with her heart.

C. And Say Your “YES” Again With All Your Might.

1. We do this by renewing our Act of Consecration with great feeling.
2. We do this by adding intensity and yearning to all our prayers.

-Rev. Robert Hughes, S.M.

OUR LADY OF MEDJUGORJE’S MESSAGE OF

JULY 25, 2011

“Dear children! May this time be for you a time of prayer and silence. Rest your body and spirit, may they be in God’s love. Permit me, little children, to lead you, open your hearts to the Holy Spirit so that all the good that is in you may blossom and bear fruit one hundred fold. Begin and end the day with prayer with the heart. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Rest In God’s Love

A. A Time of Silence And Prayer.
1. Silence. Pope John Paul II said that silence is necessary for recollection and prayer, but this is very difficult today due to the prevalence of mass media. Silence is doubly difficult for us who are Americans, because we do not find it easy to simply sit still. We are “doers” who like action – fixing things, taking on a project, lending a helping hand, accomplishing something.
a. Silence of Words. There are many kinds of silence, and the first and most basic one is to stop talking – an obvious requisite to enter the mysterious world of silence. This includes getting away from noise, turning off the TV, distancing oneself from the phone, avoiding people. Then we have to seek a place of solitude to enter a listening mode.
b. Silence of Signs. This means to control movements of the body in order to assume a position of prayer: stop jogging, no slouching on the sofa, calming the body. Kneeling or sitting are the acceptable positions.
c. Silence of Mind. We have to clear our mind of sources of distractions, nagging concerns, pressing agendas in order to enter into the presence of God. Reading some verses of Scripture or some other spiritual reading helps. The important thing is to be present to God and realize He is looking at us.
d. Silence of Heart. This is really silence of the emotions, cutting our attachments and purifying our hearts so that they are empty and have but one concern: God. Love is the queen and controller of our emotions, so expressing our primary love of God is very helpful.
e. Silence of the Imagination. St. Teresa of Avila calls the imagination “the fool in our house.” She recommends strong attention and concentration.
2. Prayer.
a. Recollection. Working on the various types of silence helps to create a state of recollection. St. Teresa says that recollection is the gathering of all our exterior and interior forces to concentrate on one thing: the presence of God, so that we can listen to and hear clearly what He is saying.
b. Prayer. Our Blessed Mother said: “Prayer is a conversation with God; prayer means to listen to God.” God wants us to tell Him what is happening in our lives, our joys and our sorrows, our needs and our requests. After that we are to listen to His commentary on what we have said, and then to listen to what His thoughts and desires are. Pope John Paul II said that when we are listening to God is when true prayer really starts.
B. Be in God’s Love: “Let me guide you.”
Ivan has often said that when you come down to it there is really only one message Our Lady has and that is prayer. Prayer is reconciliation with God and union with God, and the result is peace. Our Lady has given us some very valuable advice on prayer.
1. Why Pray? Our Lady asks Jelena: “Why do you pray?” And Our Lady answers her own question: “You pray: 1) to FIND God; 2) TO BE WITH GOD; and 3) To EXPERIENCE God WITHIN.” And she goes on to say: “Whoever has 1) a GREAT DESIRE for God, 2) To REACH God, and 3) To LIVE IN God…such a person really prays.” These are very valuable ideas for continued reflection.
2. The Heart. She continues: “Where there is love, there is prayer. Prayer of the heart is the only prayer that reaches heaven.”
C. Open Your Hearts to the Holy Spirit.
1. Born Anew. “I call you to be born anew in prayer through the Holy Spirit.”
2. A New People. “Become a new people with my Son – a people, who knows that, with God, despite all sufferings and trials, they are secure and saved; a people who knows that if they have lost God, they have lost themselves.”
3. God’s Family. “I call you to gather into God’s family and be strengthened with the Father’s strength.” (8-2-11) The Holy Spirit brings all this about.
-Rev. Robert Hughes, S.M.

OUR LADY OF MEDJUGORJE’S MESSAGE OF

JUNE 25, 2011

“Dear children! Give thanks with me to the Most High for my presence with you. My heart is joyful watching the love and joy in the living of my messages. Many of you have responded, but I wait for, and seek, all the hearts that have fallen asleep to awaken from the sleep of unbelief. Little children, draw even closer to my Immaculate Heart so that I can lead all of you toward eternity. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

30TH ANNIVERSARY MESSAGE

A. Give Thanks.
1. For My Presence. And it truly is a „miraculous‟ presence. Pope John Paul II once referred to a “miracle” as receiving a gift that we really do not deserve. Certainly the gift of Our Lady‟s presence qualifies eminently for this, because today people of our contemporary world have drifted so far, far away from God thinking that they can get along quite well without Him.
a. Undeserved. All of nature is reacting negatively and telling us that this is not right with earthquakes and tsunamis, fires and flooding, hurricanes and destruction, millions of dead fish and birds. This is confirmed by Ivan‟s own words a year ago when he said: “we are living in the darkest period of the whole history of mankind” – a summation that probably came from Our Blessed Mother herself.
b. And Extraordinary. In fact, in the description revealed to Sr. Natalie of Hungary some years ago, God was considering the destruction of the world but Our Lady came to our rescue and interceded strongly for us. As a last resort to save the world, Our Lady was given the gift of the world together with the responsibility of achieving its peace: reconciliation with God and men with one another. And so Our Lady Queen of Peace becomes the great gift to us, who are so miserable and undeserving. In turn, Our Lady reminds us that she cannot achieve this peace alone – she is depending on us, our cooperation, our response to her continual calls.
2. With Me. Our Lady appreciates the magnitude of the gift infinitely more than we do, but she needs us to be united with her in this great expression of appreciation and thanksgiving. Why? Because God is giving us this great gift of Our Blessed Mother and it is essential that we be one with her to indicate to God that:
1) we have recognized Our Lady as a great gift;
2) that we have accepted her graciously and
wholeheartedly, and
3) that we are united with her in working for peace.
3. To the Most High. When Our Lady refers to God as “the Most High” she is accentuating the awesomeness, the holiness, and the supreme Mercy of our dear and beloved Father in heaven who does not want our destruction but desires to have each and every one of His Children close to Him. That is why Our Lady has asked us to kneel down at night before we go to bed and to thank the Father for the
great gift of Medjugorje and to have “a river of thanksgiving” continually flowing from our grateful hearts. Our Lady has said: “I am telling you that my presence among you is a GREAT gift.”

B. My Heart is Joyful.
1. Watching the Living of My Messages. Our Lady said once that the ability to make her happy is indeed a rare thing and no small accomplishment. So we should realize that our living the Messages with her every day is causing the whole of heaven to stand up and rejoice because the world is being saved. Saved, in part, through us! What a stupendous feat that is and we should be magnetized through and
through with a sense of profound responsibility and accomplishment, that, at one of the greatest turning points in history “when the whole of Scripture is being fulfilled at once” (Jesus)…that we form a precious key to the world‟s salvation and renewal.
2. With Love and Joy. Fueled with these sentiments, we get a little glimpse of our extraordinary vocation, what Our Lady described as “a calling so great that we cannot possibly comprehend it.” What fills our hearts with so much love and joy is the realization that the Father, in choosing us very specially, loves us immensely and trusts us so much, and that Our Lady is with us continually loving us, protecting us,
guiding us, and praying with us. O Happy day!
-Rev. Robert Hughes, S.M.

OUR LADY OF MEDJUGORJE‟S MESSAGE OF APRIL 25, 2011

“Dear children! As nature gives the most beautiful colors of the year, I also call you to witness with your life and to help others to draw closer to my Immaculate Heart, so that the flame of love for the Most High may
sprout in their hearts. I am with you and I unceasingly pray for you that your life may be a reflection of
Heaven here on earth. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

May is the Month We Honor Our Mother

A. May is Dedicated to Mary.

1. Our Mother. Mother’s Day is such a very special occasion. It is the day when all the children come bringing bouquets of roses to the one they love so much. And a mother is never more happy when all her children are gathered around her as family. Our Blessed Mother is a little distraught because all her children are not with her, and she is asking each one of us to go out and bring her wandering children to her.
   1. At the Annunciation. When Our Blessed Mother conceived Jesus with such eminent faith and love, she also conceived at the same time all the members of the Mystical Body of Christ. Lumen Gentium points this out (c. 8 #53) by quoting St. Augustine: “She (Mary) is clearly the Mother of the members of Christ.” She is truly our Mother and all her children belong to her in a very special way.
   2. And on Calvary. Jesus made this very explicit when, from the Cross, He said: “Woman behold your son.” And to John, who represented each one of us: “Son, behold your Mother.” And John took her into his home.
2. Who Loves us so Tenderly. Our Mother suffered excruciating pain in the loss of her Son on Calvary, and Jesus filled the loss by placing us in her heart. The amazing mystery is that in her faith and charity she accepted us and transferred all her attention, care and affection on us with the same intensity that she placed on Jesus.
3. And Wants to Form Us in the image of her Son so that we might work with her for the salvation of all.

B. Witness with Your Life.

1. By Living Your Consecration. Pope John Paul II is the only Pope I know who said that Consecration is an absolute necessity for everyone, because, he said, a child is obliged to get to know and experience his mother. By consecrating ourselves to Mary, we entrust ourselves to the loving care and affection of Our Lady and we do this totally and forever.
   1. Under Her Guidance. Our Lady reminds us that once consecrated to her, we cannot make any decisions on our own. We are to consult her at every turn and follow her advice with docility and complete fidelity.
   2. And in Union with Her. Our Lady said that little infants have their eyes glued on their mother always and they depend on her for everything.
2. With True Devotion. The saints say five characteristics make up true devotion.
   1. Respect and Esteem for the excellence of Our Mother – and what a Mother we have! – with the marvels of her magnificent privileges and attributes.
   2. Confidence and Trust. Mary is the Mother of God – what a powerful intercessor we have! And she is so anxious to pour out on us the manifestations of her goodness, love and mercy.
   3. Love and Devotedness. She keeps insisting that she loves us with an infinite love and begs us to please open our hearts to her.
   4. Imitation of Her Virtues. Our Lady is crowned with twelve magnificent virtues: renunciation of the world, self-abnegation, silence, recollection, faith, humility, dedication to the Word, obedience, love of God love of neighbor, mercy and compassion.
   5. e. Zeal in promoting knowledge and love of Mary and promoting her interests.

C. Help Others Come Close to My Immaculate Heart.

1. By the power of example – your loving devotedness to me.
2. By leading others to consecrate themselves to me.
3. By inviting others to pray the Rosary with you.
4. By leading them to join a prayer group.
5. By emphasizing the importance of praying in union with me, especially at Holy Mass and in reciting the Rosary.
6. By encouraging them to live in My Heart by a constant union of hearts.
7. By having them walk with me and talk with me throughout the day.
8. By reminding them to consult me before making decisions.
9. By telling them to ask me for any graces or favors they need.
10. By insisting that I love them very much.

OUR LADY OF MEDJUGORJE‟S MESSAGE OF MARCH 25, 2011

“Dear children! In a special way today I desire to call you to conversion. As of today, may new life begin in your heart. Children, I desire to see your „yes‟, and may your life be a joyful living of God‟s will at every moment of your life. In a special way today, I bless you with my motherly blessing of peace, love and unity in my heart and in the heart of my Son Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Conversion is saying “Yes”

A. The Importance of Saying “Yes”

Our Lady’s Message was given on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation. The Mystery of the Annunciation commemorates “yes” said on three very important occasions in the past and highlights the profound significance of the fourth “Yes” which is our own.

1. The Father‟s “Yes”. When Adam and Eve committed original sin, they lost their promise of a great and glorious future. The Father, full of compassion for the salvation of His children, said “yes” to the possibility of offering eternal life to them a second time. He revealed by this that He was indeed a gracious and merciful Father.
2. The Son‟s “Yes”. The Son, sharing the same mercy and compassion, concurred with the Father and said “yes” – He would be willing to come down to earth to save His abandoned children.
3. Mary‟s “Yes”. Our Lady speaks: “When the Father decided to place his Word in my virginal womb, He found your Mother ready to welcome Him with love and joy, being only intent upon the perfect fulfillment of the divine will.” Mary gave her “yes” and her “yes” was complete and unconditional.
4. Our “Yes”. Our Lady continues: “My beloved children, contemplate your Mother at the moment of her annunciation, as with her Heart and her lips she says her “yes” to the Will of the Lord. You too should learn always to say “yes” to whatever the Lord now asks of you through the voice that comes from the Immaculate Heart of your heavenly Mother.”

B. Our Lady Shows Us the Way.

1. God‟s Love. “Do you see how God entrusted Himself completely to this human creature of His? The reason is to be found in the mystery of the love of God.”

2. God‟s Motivation. “What moved God to stoop down to me?”

a. My Humility. “It was the profound sense of my humility, my nothingness, and my littleness. This poverty of mine made me totally dependent on God.”

b. My Childlike Trust. “It was my childlike trust that I joyfully placed in such a good and loving
Father.”

c. My Availability. “I made myself completely available for the accomplishment of the Will of God. I
placed myself at his service by renouncement of the world and the cultivation of silence, hiddenness
and intimate union with God.”

3.What Our Lady Expects from Us.

a. Entrustment. Personal surrender to Our Lady with the greatest confidence and complete abandonment by which she will make us docile to the divine Will.
b. An Unconditional “Yes”. This is proclaimed by our Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and includes a “yes” to the Will of God, a “yes” to the Gospel of Jesus, a “yes” to the love of the Holy Spirit.
c. Complete Availability. This will allow Our Lady to form us into a perfect image of her Son and a life of service to the Will of God.

C. Conversion.

1. Our Lady wants us to live at every moment in the Divine Will and to accomplish this she asks that we seek the Father’s Blessing at the beginning of each day.

2. Our Lady wants us to be attentive and responsive to what Jesus says to us in Holy Scripture, to love His Word, treasure it, place it in our hearts, live it.

3. Our Lady wants us to read and pray her monthly message each day and put what she tells us into practice. She said that if we try to do all she tells us in the messages we will be living a life of continual conversion.

-Rev. Robert Hughes, S.M.