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"Dear children! Thank you for dedicating all your hard work to God even now when He is testing you through the grapes you are picking. Be assured, dear children, that He loves you and, therefore, He tests you. You just always offer up all your burdens to God and do not be anxious. Thank you for having responded to my call."
Our Lady’s Medjugorje Message, October 11, 1984
September 11, 2001… Is there a soul on the face of the earth who can not recall what they were doing that fateful morning as the breaking news began to roll in on our television screens and over our radios? And as horrifying a reality as it was for the vast majority of us to witness none of us can truly wrap our minds around what it must have been like for those responding to the mornings tragic events.. nor can we begin to fathom what it must have been like for the family members at home frantically trying to find out any information they could because a loved one was somewhere in that terrible inferno…
Well, in the next part (Part 8) which I will cover the later part of this day I will share about an interesting and touching conversation I had on Ivan's front porch with Rita Hayden, the wife of Peter Hayden, a NY Firefighter who was in Tower Two of the World Trade Center just moments before it collapsed on September 11th, 2001.. I would have never imagined having an actual conversation with the wife of a NY Firefighter who along with many risked his own life to save so many others on the anniversary of September 11th.. But because this post is so long already I am breaking this day's events into two parts.. So please hang in there, the conversation Rita and I had is coming next..
Like all of us, I remember that morning well.. Back then, I was working 14-16 hour days.. This was before my conversion and outside of work I hardly ever made time much for anything, sad to say even my family.. September 11, 2001 was the very first day of school ever for my daughter Elise.. She began Junior Kindergarten that day.. Elizabeth had already sent Nathaniel off to school on the bus moments earlier.. Elise now sat on the living room floor watching her children’s shows on Treehouse, a Canadian television version of Nickelodeon.. As the events of that morning began all television stations, including kids stations like Treehouse had breaking news almost immediately..
I was on my way to work in the car just on the outskirts of town heading to a new home I was taping and mudding.. About half way to the job I turned the car radio on to listen to the Dick Purtin Morning Show, and as I turned it on I heard Katie Couric’s voice which I thought was really odd.. “Why is Katie Couric on the morning show with Dick Purtin, a local Detroit show? Well, as it soon became evident she wasn’t.. Dick Purtin was tapping into the Today Show live to allow us to listen..
A plane had just hit the first tower a few minutes before I turned the radio on, and my first thought even though they had not yet even mentioned or suggested terrorism believe it or not was Osama Bin Laden.. Most people had never heard of him.. At least in my neck of the woods.. However, Elizabeth and I had a weekly tradition going at that time.. Every Saturday night we always tried to be home to watch America’s most Wanted… Osama Bin Laden had been profiled just recently.. maybe a few weeks before so he was fresh in my mind the morning of September 11th… As the news suddenly came in that a 2cd plane had just hit the other tower I pulled the car over and parked for a moment, bowing my head in silent prayer..
Little did I know that eight years later on the anniversary of September 11th, I would be prayerfully joining others at morning Mass right here in Medjugorje remembering all the victims of that horrible day… Nor would I have ever thought that as of today I would always remember September 11th for the rest of my life also as the first day I was blessed to have the opportunity to play piano at St. James Parish.. So naturally, I offered everything up today, my nervousness, my piano playing, my walks, my time alone in prayer, and everything that went on throughout the day for the victims of 911…
I awoke this morning feeling rather anxious, nervous and apprehensive.. Today would be the day I would play the piano at the morning English Mass at St. James Parish. I was also very excited mind you… I mean, what a humbling honor to be given the opportunity to play piano right here in St. James Parish.. Anytime I am able to use the talents God has given me to assist in the Holy Mass I am deeply humbled… But to sit down at the piano right here in St. James Parish? Me? “Holy Mother, you must have the wrong person.. Surely there must be someone here who plays much better than I.. ” Yet, just as She had said to Ivan when he asked Our Lady “Why me.. Why choose me?” My question was answered later this same morning at Ivan’s talk when he told us of Our Lady’s words to him, “Dear child, I am never looking for the best ones.”
The nervousness must have shown in me for when I stepped outside first thing this morning with my coffee the very first thing anyone said to me was, “Relax John.. You’re going to do alright.” Why can I not have confidence so easily in the graces God gives me? Is this not lack of trust that I would be so nervous? I say, “Jesus, I trust in You.” But do I truly mean it from my heart? I know in my head that everything will be alright.. All logic tells me that Our Lady will see to things that all goes well according to Her plan.. So why be nervous? Yet I am… I want everything to go well for Our Lady.. I want to give Her my very best.. I want to give God the very best for His glory..
Because of my inadequacy of which I am well aware of, I lack confidence.. In John, Chapter 15, Jesus says, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” and again, in 2 Corinthians, Chapter 12, Jesus says to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for (God’s) power is made perfect in (my) weakness” So knowing this, if I am lacking in enough trust in God to remain calm then to me it only goes to reason that I lack faith.. With faith the size of a mustard seed Jesus tells me I can move mountains.. Well, I know Jesus is Absolute Truth.. He does not lie.. So if I can move mountains using a mustard seed I can surely move my fingers to produce a nice melody on a string of white keys.. “Okay Mother Mary, you take over..”
As I left Mirjana’s this morning to walk along the dirt path leading from Podbrdo to Medjugorje I prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet hoping I would retain the sense of self-confidence God’s graces just poured into me… But when I came to the words near the end of the Chaplet, “Jesus, I trust in You..” I heard “Do you trust Me?” I said “Of course I do Lord.” Three times I said this part of the prayer and three times I heard, “Do you trust in Me?” Each time my trust in Jesus grew that much more. And when it would come time to sit down and play my nerves would be calm and the confidence was actually there.. Something that definitely could not come from me.. Did I make a few mistakes? Yeah I did.. But nothing so dramatic that brought Mass to a screeching halt as all eyes fell upon me with a look of ‘shame on you’ .. lol.. I did okay…
It was still rather early when I arrived near the Parish. I had to wait patiently for Alin’s internet café to open so that I could hopefully retrieve my emails and obtain the music I needed for this mornings Mass. Being that I had to wait for Alin to open up shop I had a coffee at Victor’s until 9:00am.. The night before I had emailed Greg back at Don Bosco Home asking him to forward me the music I would need so that I could walk in somewhat prepared.. There were a few hymns I did not know.. Namely, Lift High the Cross & We Shall Overcome. The hymns that were chosen for this mornings Mass were purposely chosen by Fr. Kevin who is from New York City to commemorate the anniversary of 911.. So the hymns were as follows, Lift High the Cross, Spirit of the Living God, Peace is Flowing Like a River, The Prayer of St. Francis, and We Shall Overcome..
Alin soon arrived and opened up and I was able to retrieve my emails. Thank God for such technology! Here I am half way around the world in Europe and I was still able to obtain the music I needed from Greg as if I had walked into the next room to ask him. There is no where in Medjugorje including the Parish office to obtain the music one would need for Mass.. In fact, in wanting to sit down and practice at a piano ahead of time, I discovered that outside of St. James Parish apparently there is only one other piano in the entire town, and that is at Mother’s Village.. So practicing was simply out of the question.. Yep, I was pretty much going into this as they say, on the wing of a prayer.. lol..
Shortly before 10:00am I snuck in behind Alexandra and the others from the choir so as to have time to get in and set up at the piano before Mass began. Everything went well except when I went to play Jesus, Lamb of God the choir knew the version I was doing but was unfamiliar with the way our choir back home does it.. And I don’t sing, (lol) so they didn’t come in at the right moment which caused us all to stumble a bit and threw things off for a brief moment until we could all quickly get our bearings again. In that split second of panic my heart dropped, “Oh my gosh! Help!!” The look on Alexandra’s face told it all… lol… and then a second later everything was fine and we were back on course..
Oh, the joys of being human.. lol.. Well, my piano playing couldn’t have been too bad though.. Alexandra asked if I would return to play again the following day.. The only complaint was from several people who said they could not hear me.. Including Stella, who emailed me to say she watched Mass online and couldn’t hear me.. lol.. I thought that was pretty neat that she could do that.. lol.. So anyways, tomorrow I will definitely have to turn the volume on the piano up a little more..
Fr. Kevin gave a heartfelt testimony during his Homily, especially being that he had been right down there at Ground Zero on September 11th, 2001.. And being that this week we celebrated the Feast of the Holy Cross, he tied September 11th very well into the importance of embracing the Cross together as one united with Christ..
"Dear children! Without prayer there is no peace. Therefore I say to you, dear children, pray at the foot of the cross for peace. Thank you for having responded to my call."
Our Lady’s Medjugorje Message, September 6, 1984
After Mass on the morning of September 11th, 2009 was Ivan’s talk. I stood with Bluecross and chatted for a while before the doors opened and we were able to enter into the Yellow building to take a seat. The following are notes I took during Ivan’s talk..
We began with a prayer.. An Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be… Then, Ivan began by reaffirming with us and reminding each of us that Medjugorje is a School of Prayer.. That is what Medjugorje is.. A school of prayer.. And when you mention Medjugorje to someone who has never heard of this special place and they look at you rather puzzled and they say to you, “What is Medjugorje?” Before you begin to get into everything, the first thing you might say to them is that “Medjugorje is a school of prayer where we learn to grow through Our Lady’s messages closer to God every day of our lives.”
“In the early days of the Apparitions,” Ivan began, “I kept asking Our Lady, “Why me? How come you chose me to come to?”
Finally one day Our Lady said to Ivan, “Dear child, I am never looking for the best ones.”
“I never asked Our Lady again.”
“The most important messages are about peace, conversion, forgiveness, the Eucharist, and the message of hope..”
“Peace! Peace! Peace! The world is in great need of peace.. Peace must reign between God and people and between people themselves. We have distanced ourselves from God.. from prayer.. from prayer in family.. Only in Her Son can we find true peace..”
We have no time for each other. No love, no faithfulness. The world is falling apart. This modern world. That is why Mother is calling – to bring back prayer to our families- peace- love that is so much needed in the world today.”
“If one has no peace in the heart, in themselves, in the family, there is no way of bringing peace into the world. We need not talk so much but live prayer.” Our Lady Said, “I need you.. Only with you can I bring this peace.”
“How many times you say to your children, “Be good” – thousands of times, are you tired?” Our Lady is not tired… She must repeat in order that we not forget.. “
“She did not come to talk about the end of the world, or about fear.. No- but about HOPE.. She is coming to the families, to the Church, and in a special way to bring us to the Holy Mass- as the center of life… If you had a choice to come to an apparition or to go to Mass would you choose to come to the Apparition over going to Mass? The Holy Mass should always be your choice.”
“Our Lady is calling us to monthly Confession, to Adoration, to Veneration, to pray the Rosary and to read the Bible with the family.. Make the Bible visible in the home.. Jesus will be in your heart when you do these things..”
“Pray! Pray! Pray! In this school of prayer there are no breaks, no weekends… to pray is a grace only given to those who pray more.. We need to be responsible to this call..”
