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“Dear children! Today also, I call each one of you to decide to surrender again everything completely to me. Only that way will I be able to present each of you to God. Dear children, you know that I love you immeasurably and that I desire each of you for myself, but God has given to all a freedom which I lovingly respect and humbly submit to.”
Our Lady of Medjugorje, November 25, 1987
I am a Christian. I am a simple layperson, humbled and most grateful to have been baptized twelve days after birth in the Roman Catholic Church. I am what is known as a cradle Catholic and I am eternally grateful that indeed I am Catholic.
However, I was not always a very faithful Catholic. In fact, for many years I was what is known as a ‘fallen away’ or lapsed Catholic. And it was not until the age of thirty seven that I would return and begin anew to practice my baptismal faith. It was not until then that I truly began to accept Jesus in my heart wanting to follow Him. But before I continue, I feel the need to admit to God, to you my friend who has taken a moment to read this book and to myself, that this new beginning was not necessarily chosen solely on my own accord. Indeed, it can be said that I chose to say ‘yes’ to Jesus, and this is why I enjoy the fruits of conversion. Then again it can also be said that it was the Lord Who graced me with that same ability to say ‘yes’ in the first place. It was during this period of my life at the age of thirty seven that I began to respond to a call to conversion. A journey which, in hindsight, I now realize I had been called to continuously each and every day of my life.
We are all called to conversion, each and every one of us. This includes the atheist & the believers alike.. The Christian & the Jew.. The Catholic & the Protestant.. It does not matter.. There are no exceptions. And because we are all on various paths or at various stages in our relationship with our Creator, yet never seeming to reach that fulfilling desire He has for us to return to him while here in this life, to answer His call is the same for each of us in that we all ought to begin and continue to say “yes” to Our Lord and our God.. Because it is in saying “yes” to Jesus that we become a Christian. It is in saying yes that we profess a Christian faith. This is what makes us a Christian. The first step, if you will. Though there are many steps to reaching a sense of fullness in Christ, the very first step must always be to simply say yes. This yes is our baptism by desire as we enter into the Sacrament of Baptism. Now who do we all know said "yes" to the Father in Heaven that made Christianity all possible to begin with? A love only a Mother would know.. :D
“Dear children, I am calling you individually to conversion. This season is for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Medjugorje message, February 13, 1986
Our Blessed Mother began to call me into a journey of conversion in May, 2004. Or should I say, having been calling me all my life I finally began to respond to her call. Unknown to me at the time I had many people praying for my conversion. Many of you were among them.. Today, I am most thankful for your generous prayers. You prayed for me and God answered your prayers. Whether you knew me or not, you were answering Our Lady’s call to pray for conversions.. you were praying for the conversion of poor sinners and I certainly fell into this category.
At least one faithful soul who I personally did know at the time and who was praying for my conversion is a friend named Florence who had visited Medjugorje just prior to the start of my conversion. And so it is because of the prayers of those like Florence and of the many faithful in Medjugorje and around the world, that I am rather inclined to believe my conversion began. Prayer in itself is very powerful! That power is not ours but God’s power.. and it is for His glory.. Like all of you, Florence is one of many who have prayed continually for conversions and still does today.. You are all now Christ’s in my own life. She never preached a ‘word’ to me back then.. she simply showed me by example the right and true path.
So we pray for the conversion of sinners. This is what we do. This is a huge request from Our Blessed Mother in Medjugorje during these times. She wants all her precious children to return safely and securely under the refuge of her Most Immaculate Heart and Her Son’s Most Sacred Heart. We are children of the Holy Family. And like Her Son Jesus, She wants not one soul lost during these exceptionally turbulent times. She wants us to be spiritually prepared to receive Jesus each and every moment of our lives.
The duration of our physical journey trying to reach Medjugorje lasted about a day and a half.. We had all began this wonderful pilgrimage by coming from all our various locations Monday morning to meet up at Chicago O’hare airport for an early evening flight to Frankfurt Germany. It’s amazing how much energy you’re given! Even the elders of our group never lost their zip.. and despite having barely any sleep, by the time we reached Medjugorje everyone seemed eager and ready to just take it all in.. For most of us that journey began at one moment or another some time Monday morning.. Our spiritual journey to Medjugorje however, could have began weeks, months or even years earlier, depending on how each of us have been being called.. Departing from Chicago, it took us three airplanes and a bus to reach the quaint little Bosnian village that is not such a little village anymore. From Chicago, we flew to Frankfurt Germany.. From Frankfurt, we flew to Split.. and from Split, we took a bus into Medjugorje testing the new highway running through Croatia and Bosnia..
Approaching Medjugorje on the bus, Fr. Rookey sang Marian hymns and lead us all in prayers (Our Lady of Sorrows Chaplet) over the speaker system.. Today is the Feast of Our Lady’s birthday.. I could not think of a better place to be at this time than to be right here in Our Lady’s Heart.. For anyone who has never been to Medjugorje, the scenery is just breathtaking!
Close your eyes for a moment.. Picture yourself on a greyhound surrounded by faithful pilgrims.. A priest leading in prayer.. just out the window as the bus climbs along the mountainous winding highway you look down.. just beyond the guard rail (if there happens to be one.. lol.. ) the earth drops for hundreds of feet and disappears into valleys and canyons.. looking out you can see for miles, across the land.. across the Adriatic sea.. Your heart is warming to every moment you eagerly take it.. It’s just indescribably breathtaking!
We arrived in Medjugorje around 4:30pm local time. After unloading the bus of all our luggage, we gathered together in Mirjana’s dining room and sat down to eat our first meal.. Two ladies began to bring out platter of food for us in the most hospitable of ways.. It was Mirjana’s daughter and I believe her sister.. Fr. Rookey gave a blessing before we began to eat.. We enjoyed our first meal together and had plenty of time to attend our first Medjugorje Mass, the 7pm International Mass at St. James Parish..
If you are an English pilgrim, any typical day around St. James Parish in Medjugorje goes as follows.. The English Mass is at 10:00am.. There are Masses being said in various languages throughout the day.. They are back to back in terms of time frames, so often, as pilgrims are departing from Mass through the various exit’s there is somewhat of a struggle for the pilgrims trying to get in and take a seat before the next Mass begins.. So at 10:00am the English pilgrims are lining up at the side doors as the German pilgrims begin departing.. and at the end of the English Mass as we begin to depart we fight our way through a passionate crowd of Italians trying to get in before their Mass begins.. It can be a lot of fun! But also, dangerous if we are not vigilant of those around us, especially young children and the elderly.. So we are often being reminded during announcements at the conclusion of Mass to be extremely careful and to be curious of those around us..
Outside the Parish are the benches you’ve often seen in many Medjugorje pictures.. These benches line both sides of the Church building, as well as, surround the back of the Church where the outside Altar was built some years ago to accommodate much larger gatherings.. On the left side of the Church along the rows of benches are a row of Confessionals.. About 20 or so in total.. Depending on how many are being occupied at any given time, you will see small lines forming outside their doors.. on the door itself of every cubicle is a sign which reveals which language the priest speaks.. Also, there are priest’s in various locations around the grounds of the Parish with their little language signs placed next to their chair if you prefer to be outdoors..
During the summer schedule, the International Mass where most pilgrims of any language gather for in the early evening is at 7:00pm.. This changes to 6:00pm sometime after the Feast of the Holy Cross on September 13th.. Since the daily apparitions occur 20 minutes before Mass begins, likewise, as the Mass times roll back one hour in September, so too do the daily apparitions from 6:40pm to 5:40pm after September 13th.. At the moment of the daily apparition, everyone stops and kneels for a moment..
Atfer Mass, Bluecross & I met up for a coffee at Columbo’s.. I had went looking for him at Columbo’s suspecting that he might be there, but there was no Bluecross so I took a seat anyways and ordered an ‘American’ coffee.. A few minutes later Bluecross came walking up the way onto Colombo’s outside patio.. He had seen Fr. Rookey and a small group of pilgrims just after Mass and knowing I had came with this same group asked if anyone knew where I was.. My friend Barb knew I had gone to Colombo’s and so pointed him in that direction.. We embraced and welcomed each other, sat down at the table and began to chat..
Soon, a friend of Bluecross’ came to join us at our table. He had made an attempt earlier to climb Cross Mountain despite recently twisting his ankle.. What endurance! Imagine wanting to climb a fairly steep mountain that normally takes about an hour and a half to climb in good health with a twisted ankle.. But when he got just part way up the mountain he discovered a group of people were tending to a man lying on the ground. Well, as it turns out, this man had passed away right there on Cross Mountain. We know little details but believe he was a local man. Perhaps this is where he wanted to be at that time. Around that same time there was a moderate earthquake in the region. Many came forward later asking, “Did you feel the earthquake? It shook this..” or “It shook that..” I felt nothing.. lol…
Soon it was getting late and so Bluecross, his friend, and I said our “good byes” for the evening and I began my walk back to Mirjana’s in the dark.. It’s not so bad in town where there is light, but once you get outside of town it’s good to have a flashlight with you when you are walking during after sunset in Medjugorje.. I had two flashlights.. But they were both back in my room.. lol.. So I walked the road leading towards Cross Mountain, that turns and flows the mountain and then back into Podboro until I reached the laneway to Mirjana’s.. I prayed the Joyful Mysteries along the way.. Thinking back in hindsight I might have been better to pray the ‘luminous’ mysteries to light the path..
