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"Dear children! I wish to tell you that the cross should be central these days. Pray especially before the cross from which great graces are coming. Now in your homes make a special consecration to the cross. Promise that you will neither offend Jesus nor abuse the cross. Thank you for having responded to my call."
Our Lady of Medjugorje, September 12, 1985
Today is Sunday, September 13th… It is the Feast of the Holy Cross... I slept better last night and I awoke around 7:00am with the morning light shining into the room.. I had not been sleeping too well most nights.. A lot of tossing and turning, waking up at times with different things on my mind that was preventing me from rest.. During his talk Fr. Danko had said that when we awake we should turn to God in prayer right away.. We should not go through our day without God’s help.. Well, I am not a person to just jump up out of bed when I wake up in the morning.. I tend to lay there for a while contemplating what is going on in my life at the time praying for strength to get through the day.. I have little conversations with Jesus and with Our Blessed Mother.. Sometimes with my guardian Angel,,
By doing this, I find I gain better clarity about things.. I find it that much easier to focus and tune into my daily responsibilities.. I have the same conversations as I fall asleep at night.. Of course, some days or some nights can be more overwhelming than others, especially if there is a lot on my plate in the moment, however, as it was in the days before conversion I know that if I do not turn to God for help I will surely fall flat on my face..
The thing about being in Medjugorje is that you cannot avoid allowing heaven to work within you.. Well, I suppose you could but for that to happen you would have to purposely reject what the Holy Spirit is trying to do with you.. I would tend to think most people would never consciously do this.. When you are in Medjugorje you are surrounded by holiness.. You are surrounded by prayer.. And you are enveloped by love.. So there is no avoiding the Holy Spirit at work.. Sort of like being on a religious retreat if you’ve ever had the opportunity to go on one.. You live and breathe your relationship with God no matter where it is for the whole duration of the pilgrimage.. So naturally, God is at work in you whether you are aware of it or not.. It’s quite amazing actually!
That is why it is so difficult to leave here no matter how long you are here.. Myself, both pilgrimages lasted about 10 days.. I spoke with several however who have been here for much longer durations. Our Bluecross being one of them. If I’m not mistaken I believe Stella too.. She’ll correct me if I’m wrong.. lol.. A few I came to know on this recent pilgrimage were staying for months instead of weeks.. And the thing is, they will all tell you the same thing.. It’s difficult to leave here no matter how long you are here..
Well, the reason for this is because when you leave here it means you must go back into the real world.. That is not to say that being in Medjugorje is not the real world.. Indeed it is just as much as being anywhere else in the world.. However, the worldly seems to pass away when you are here.. As I had mentioned before, there is no hustle and bustle here.. There is no chaos.. There is no crime.. No violence.. No sirens.. No blaring music from car windows.. There are no lies.. No selfish agendas.. There is no overwhelming concerns trying to get everything done on the days schedule and meet the deadlines.. There is no competition.. There is no trying to live up to the Jones’.. Here in Medjugorje there is peace.. There is truth.. And there is love..
The past few days Jim Lightner had been arranging a special visit for anyone in our group who was interested in coming, to spend the day Sunday at Joso's farm.. Over time, Joso became a very good friend of Jim's during recent visits to Medjugorje.. And so this pilgrimage Joso extended an invitation to Jim and our pilgrim group to spend the afternoon on his farm and join Joso and his wife Amanda for a feast..
We arrived at Joso’s close to 4pm.. Except for a few, almost everyone in our group decided to come along. Joso and his wife Amanda who is originally from England had set out a long table to seat everyone comfortably in the courtyard under a nearby sheltering tree. Across the driveway was a lean-to shed made of stone with an open pit fire of smoldering ash and a large round pan about 36” in diameter of barbeque chicken, lamb, and pig surrounded by lot’s of vegetables just about ready to be devoured.. :D All the vegetables were from Joso and Amanda’s garden. There were bottles of homemade wine, locally produced schnapps, and fresh juice… And there were lot’s of stories to tell.. I sat down at one end of the table nearby Fr. Rookey and Joyce Lightner of Wisconsin.. Joyce is the organizer for our pilgrim group.
Tending to the feast preparations at the same time trying to keep us entertained Joso worked his way back and forth between the lean-to and our table, sharing lot’s of stories about his farm, his artwork, his upbringing, surviving the war, and the history of Medjugorje and the surrounding area.. Also a few stories about having guest’s stay at his farm.. Guest’s which even included a very familiar name to us North Americans, Martin Sheen.. :) Mr. Sheen often stays at Joso’s farm..
Joso's family dates back about 400 years in this region. He pointed out the one room farmhouse near the entrance to his property that dates back to 1904 and another from the 1880's that are still standing... Joso is a farmer, a wine producer, a bit of a historian for the local area, and an extremely talented artist and stone carver..
About 6:30pm, maybe closer to 7:00, some of us began to head back into town.. You know, Medjugorje is very unique in it's infrastructure I must say.. When we headed to Joso's having no idea where his farm was located we took cabs being under the impression he was located somewhat out of town perhaps a bit far to be walking.. And from Mirjana’s the cabs took us across the other end of town through a series of roads and unfamiliar neighborhoods until we finally reached Joso's farm.. It seemed like we had traveled a good 5-7 miles.. Well, we probably did.. And the reason is because of the set up of the roads..
However, what's amazing is that while on his farm we were actually only about a 10 minute walk from St. James Parish.. lol.. :D This was quickly discovered when we began to walk back into town.. We left Joso’s walking a very short distance along the road he lives on, turned a corner, then another, and believing we still had quite a ways to go suddenly there was St’ James Parish right there in front of us.. It was almost as if straight out of a fairy tale book.. Totally amazing! I will never forget visiting Joso and Amanda’s, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for inviting us to come visit.. They really took great care of us that afternoon, just as Mirjana & Mario, and certainly everyone in Medjugorje surely has!
Right after we had left Joso’s to head back to town though as we began walking, Barb and I waved “hello” to a neighbor of Joso’s about 2 or 3 houses down the street.. We waved to this elderly lady sitting on a chair in her front yard and she smiled and waved back to us.. She rose from her seat and began speaking to us in her native tongue, which of course neither Barb or I understood.. But whatever she was saying it was certainly friendly as she was waving for us to come over and see her.. lol.. So we did..
The nice lady began telling us something and motioned for us to come follow her into her home. We followed.. Her home was small but well kept and I had the impression she all by lived by herself.. Barb and I followed her through her front door and into her entrance.. And wow! Both Barb’s and my jaw dropped in awe as we stood in front of one of the most beautiful wall murals I had ever seen! Gosh, right now I’m wishing I had taken a picture however my batteries had went dead during the last hour of visiting Joso’s, otherwise I would have asked this nice lady if I could take a picture… The mural was a beautifully painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, unlike any one I had ever seen before, covering floor to ceiling and about 6 feet wide .. It was simply gorgeous!
The nice lady left Barb and I standing in the entrance while she went into another room.. From the other room we could hear her talking.. Her voice grew.. Then she peeked around the doorway motioning to us to come follow her again.. It was rather cute.. From the other room apparently she had been calling us to come but not understanding the local dialect we just thought she was talking out loud.. lol.. Anyways, we followed her into her living room.. I just love European homes! Embroidered doilies on top of the coffee table and all the little inn tables.. Old ceramic knick knacks everywhere.. Well detailed throw rugs over the carpeting.. Gosh, I felt like I was a little kid back at my grandma’s house again.. I find this kind of European setting creates one of the warmest atmospheres when visiting someone’s home..
Well, Barb and I visited for a while.. Maybe about 15 or 20 minutes listening to this really nice lady ramble on.. We understood not one word she was uttering yet we understood everything! She spoke to us in Bosnian.. We spoke to her in English.. But it was the beautiful smiles being exchanged in between each of our sentences that told the whole story! I will never ever forget the hospitality of this very nice elderly lady who after our rather short visit finally sent us on our way.. But not before offering us something of hers despite her having so little..
“Here! Fruit!” She said trying to hand Barb and I both what I think might have been a pear.. “Oh my!” I thought.. she actually spoke English.. “Wait!” She said as we were standing at the front door about to leave.. Barb and I stood there for about another 5 minutes waiting while the nice lady was ruffling something in the other room.. She returned handing us a large grocery size bag filled with fresh fruit.. “Oh my!’ I thought.. This is too much.. I didn’t want to take all her food and was trying to explain to her that we did not need all of this.. The nice lady in her own language was very insistent.. And so Barb explained to me that I would greatly insult her if I did not accept it… Of course, I did and thanked her over and over as Barb and I departed and began to walk away… No, I will never forget this really nice lady who took us into her home despite being the strangers that we were and took great care of us as if we were her own grandchildren..
