A Letter from Father
Jozo
Source: "Emanuel Medjugorje" http://www.emanuel-medjugorje.blogspot.com
My dear brothers and sisters
Never as now, have I felt such a profound need to thank
Our Loand the the Queen of Peace for each one of you. It is
25 years since the beginning of the Apparitions - 25 years
of growing up with the Mother as Our Lord in Nazareth did,
growing in grace and wisdom, before God and man.
Each one of you is the fortunate one who has found the buried
treasure in the field of our difficult times, a time in which
people do not feel the need to stop before the Lord, a time
in which our families have become "modern" without
praying together. Instead of being with the Lord,they spend
their time before television screens and its false prophets,teachers
and friends.
You are the fortunate ones before whom the Queen of Peace
has stopped and called you to do something new, something
more than ordinary. You are fortunate because in feeling that
you are chosen, you have listened to her call:"I have
called you; I have chosen you, and I need you." In visiting
Elizabeth in Ain Karem, the Blessed Virgin brought great peace
and blessing. The others, beside Elizabeth who was chosen,
did not feel this. Not everyone has recognized or felt Our
Lady's Apparitions in Medjugorje, only those chosen. It is
those, who full of joy like Elizabeth, glorify, magnify and
give thanks because they have recognized:"The Mother
of my God has come to me" That great joy is a new beginning
in our lives, as it was in the life of Elizabeth.
The Apparitions and all the graces that entered into our
lives, families, the Church and the entire world through the
Queen of Peace, have changed the lives of many. Our Lady uses
the visionaries and calls them to witness to everyone despite
all the trials and difficulties. She uses every pilgrim to
transmit the message into his life and family. In a special
way,the Mother uses us because we have responded to her call
to live her messages and to bear fruit.
It is most difficult to move Medjugorje from the level of
information into life, because the messages are not information
or an event for newspaper articles. They are not merchandise
for the market place, but a seed that seeks an open heart
to be sown and lived so as to bear a hundredfold yield. For
this reason I must always ask myself if my heart and my soul
are open and humble; if they are nurtured like the earth and
prepared for the sowing. Without fruit we are in great error
like the Pharisees who defend themselves with various activities
such as pilgrimages, fasting, listening to prayer programs
and the like. Our prayer family is much more. We are most
like the community that Jesus formed to witness Him to the
whole world, united in prayer and acts of love.
In order to be persevering and fearless in our Apostolate,
we need the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are given
to the Church, united in prayer with the Mother of Our Lord.
Therefore, may this Lent be our precious time which we spend
in fasting, prayer, sacrifice and listening to the Word of
God. May this holy time of grace be a cultivation of our hearts
and souls that we may be able to receive the necessary gifts
and bear fruit.
By living the messages, let us help to prepare the way for
the millions of pilgrims who will come or have been to Medjugorje.
Let us help them to be open to the graces and thus to participate
in the renewal of the Church in the world. In this holy time,
we are called to renew the fervor of honoring and adoring
the Blessed Sacrament. We are called to pray for Our Ladys
intentions and the intentions of the Holy Father. We are called
to begin the Apostolate of living the Rosary in our midst
and to start spending an hour with the Bible so as to reawaken
the love and the faith in the living Word of God. Confession
and the Holy Mass must be holy to us. They must become our
leaning post for each spiritual advancement.
If we observe nations and families in the entire world today
we will recognize a difficult crisis. The Queen of Peace responds
to our needs and shows us the shortest way to our renewal.
We are chosen. Let us respond to that call with faith and
love.
I often observe those who come asking for help. They are
mostly those who seek spiritual advice and aid. So many knock
on our doors to put themselves and their needs in our prayers.
More than ever before, groups that pray are necessary to pray
for those who never pray. Those who have time for others,
because they love, are necessary. The merciful Samaritans
of our time are essential because there are many wounded.
There must be the signs on the way because so many have become
lost.
My dear brothers and sisters! As I await the resurrection
of the Lord, I also wait for our springtime and our rebirth.
We are so needed by Our Lady and She counts on us. There are
so many of those who spread error and bring darkness; so many
enemies of the family and youth. There are so many enemies
of the priests and religious. Therefore there must be those
who completely surrender so that none may be lost, asJesus
told us. Do your utmost to grow and to advance. With great
hope, I look forward to our Annual Meeting this year when
we will reflect on ourselves and the messages which we have
received. We will contemplate how and in what way we must
be intercessors because this is more important than any medicine.
For this reason let us pray that the Holy Spirit may lead
and move us for the messages to bear a hundredfold yield.
I offer my prayers, fasting and good works for each one of
you and your step forward. Wholeheartedly I congratulate you
and wish you a happy and blessed Easter. May the Risen Lord
say to each of us: Fear not. My peace I give you, my peace
I leave with you. May each one of us be a joyful messenger
of His Resurrection.
Warmest greetings to all,
Sincerely yours,
Fr. Jozo Zovko, O.F.M.
27.03.2006
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