Eco of Medjugorje 229

8/13/2019 Eco of Medjugorje 229

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Fr. Angelo Mutti

founder Echo of Medjugorje

Message o 25 September 2013:

Dear Children, Also today I callyou to prayer. May your relationshipwith prayer be daily. Prayer worksmiracles in you and through you;thereore my children, may prayer be

joy or you. Then, your rapport withlie will be deeper and more open, andyou will understand that lie is a gitor each o you. Thank you orresponding to my call.

Prayer Works Miracles!

May your relationship with prayer bedaily, says Our Lady. I it were not, it couldnot nourish our souls or sustain us indiicult times; it could not shelter us inthe storms or be reuge or us.

Prayer works miracles in us andthrough us, says Our Lady. hereore,prayer is not something we produceouselves, but it originates Elsewhere andreceives its power rom Someone Else.

With prayer, our soul is lifted up to God,says the Catechism. hus, it is not theeloquence o our words, but the purity oour heart that can make prayer work.When we pray with the Rosary in ourhands, what we ought to do is surrenderup to God our thoughts and worries, sothat prayer can become or us an oasis opeace and love where we are reconciledwith God. Prayer works miracles in usand through us, therefore my children,may prayer be for you joy! hese areMary's encouraging words.

November-December 2013- Edited by: Eco di Maria, Via Cremona, 28 - 46100 Mantova (Italia) - Year 29,no. 11/12

Poste Italiane s.p.a. - Sped. in A. P. - D.L. 353/2003 (conv. in L. 27/02/2004 n 46) art. 1, comma 2, DCB Mantova 229

(Comments to messages by Nuccio Quattrocchi)

Message to Mirjana,2nd September 2013

Dear Children, I love you all. All ofyou, all of my children, all of you are inmy heart. All of you have my motherlylove and I desire leading you all so thatyou will know the joy of God.

This is why I call you: I need humbleapostles who, with an open heart,

accept the Word of God and help othersto comprehend the meaning of theirlife through the word of God. To dothis my children, you must - throughprayer and fasting - listen with theheart and learn to subject yourselves.You must learn to reject everythingthat distances you from Gods wordand to yearn only for that which drawsyou closer.

Do not be afraid. I am here. Youare not alone. I pray to the Holy Spiritto renew you and to strengthen you. Ipray to the Holy Spirit that as you helpothers, you also may be healed. I praythat through Him, you may becomeGods children and my apostles."

[With great concern, Our Lady added:]"For the sake of Jesus, for the sake ofmy Son, love those whom he has calledand yearn for the blessing from thehands which He alone has consecrated.Do not permit evil to come to reign. Irepeat anew: Only with my shepherdswill my heart triumph. Do not

permit evil to separate you from yourshepherds. Thank you.

It is made clear to us through thismessage that Mary comes to us atMedjugorje to remind us who we are,from where we come and to where we aredestined,that we might be in communionwith God. he fruits of Mary's presencehave already matured and continue tomature within our hearts.

Yet, our response to this call is stillnot enough. We have to carry within ourhearts this message and learn to listen

with the heart, and learn to refuse all thatdistances us from God, and learn to yearnafter only that which brings us closer toGod.

We rejoice at knowing that Mary iswith us to accompany us as we journey onthis path.

Message o 25 October 2013:

Dear Children, Today I call youto open yourselves to prayer. Prayerworks miracles in you and throughyou. Thereore, my children, in thesimplicity o your heart seek romthe Most High that He give you thestrength to be Gods children, and thatSatan not agitate you like branchesagitated by the wind. My children,decide anew or God and seek onlyHis will, and then you will ind joyand peace in Him. Thank you orresponding to my call.

Seek the Father's Will!

oday in particular we live in a worldcaught within the spires of a satanicalplot that confuses good with evil, truewith false, divine with demonic. In atangled knot of half truths and subtlelies, of false peace that broods war

and of division dusted with fraternalconviviality, it is difficult for everyone,including priests, to be disentangled.

The battle between the darknessand the light is real! Our Lady'spresence reminds us that Jesus Christis the Victor; but we must close ranksaround Our Lady to put her suggestionsand calls into practise by living themfirsthand.

oday I call you to be open to prayer,we are asked. It is not a request to recite

a prayer, but to be open to prayer. hatis, let the heart and soul open up to theHoly Spirit so He can fil l us; for He alonecan truly pray in us and for us.

Prayer is not a magical formula, andnot even a product of our efforts. Prayeris the Holy Spirit acting in us if weallow Himand if we desire it. It is thenthat our prayer can become alive andpowerful and be able to work miraclesin and around us.

What should we ask in prayer?Our Lady suggests that we renew ourdecision to belong to God and to seekhis will. Afterall, this is what we pray forin the Lord's Prayer.

hen, we will find peace and joy inHim.

THE MEANING OF LIFE!


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POPE FRANCIS

We cannot be Christian without thelove of Christ, without living this

love, without recognizing it, withoutnurturing this love

Te Pope celebrated his Mass thismorning, 31st October 2013, in the St.Sebastian Chapel near the tomb of Bl. John

Paul II inside St. Peters Basilica, where agroup of Polish faithful gather to celebratethe Eucharist every Tursday. During hishomily he commented the daily reading ofSt. Paul's epistle to the Romans in whichthe apostle of the peoples speaks of hislove for Christ, and of St. Luke's Gospel inwhich Jesus weeps over Jerusalem for notunderstanding Christ's love.

Following is an excerpt of that homily:

Te apostle of the peoples, St. Paul,lived through many difficulties, including

persecution, illness and betrayal; and PopeFrancis noted that the love of Christwas central to his life and sustained himthrough it all. He went on to say thatwithout recognizing and allowing that loveto grow in us, we cannot be true Christians.Te Christian is one who feels loved bythe Lord, with that beautiful gaze, lovedby the Lord and loved until the end. TeChristian feels that his life has been savedby the Blood of Christ. And this is whatlove is: a relationship of love."

Te Pope continued by contrasting this

attitude with the image of the sorrow Jesusexperienced when he looked on Jerusalem,which didn't understand his love. TePope said the Lord's love is like that of amother hen who wants to gather her chicksunder her wings, but Jerusalem didn'tunderstand God's tenderness,which is theopposite - he said - of how Paul felt whenhe encountered God's love. It is as if we say:Yes, God loves me, God loves us, but in anabstract way, it is something that doesn'ttouch my heart, and I organize my life theway I want...", which reflects the lack of trustin God and his love.

"Jesus heart cried out: 'Jerusalem, youare not faithful, you have not allowed yourselfto love, and you have entrusted yourself tomany idols that promised you everything,they said that they'd give you everything,and then they abandon you. Jesus sufferedbecause his love was not accepted, and notreceived. (...) Before us we have the image ofSaint Paul, who remains faithful to the loveof Christ until the end, and who, even whenfaced with his weakness and sinfulness,draws strength from the love of God whichhe encountered in Jesus Christ.

"On the other hand - said the pontiff -we have Jerusalem, which is unfaithful andwhich does not accept the love of Jesus.But even worse is this half love: with ahalf-hearted 'yes, and a half-hearted 'no,according to what is more convenient.

"In the face of these two images what

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can we do? asked the Pope, who challengesus to ask ourselves: Am I more like Paul ormore like Jerusalem? Is my love for God asstrong as Paul's, or is my heart tepid, likethat of Jerusalem?

May the Love, through the intercessionof Blessed John Paul II, help us to answerthis question!

(Fonte: news.va)

Don't be tepid Christians!

On the 24th October 2013, Pope Francisspoke o the "logic o the beore and theafer" to help us understand how not tobe tepid Christians, or worse, hypocrites.Making reerence to the Letter to theRomans (6:19-23) in which St. Paul triesto help us understand the enormity o themystery o our redemption, the apostleis aware that it isn't easy to comprehendsuch a mystery. So to help us understandPope Francis spoke o the "logic o beoreand o afer: Beore Jesus and afer Jesus."

"Te blood of Christ has re-createdus; has creates us anew. I our lie beore- with our body, our soul, our habits- ollowed the way o sin and evil; now,afer this re-creation, we must make theeffort o walking in the way o justiceand sanctification! It is Paul who uses theword sanctification. We are all baptised;our parents pronounced the act o aithon our behal" [and now] "we must makethis aith ours by allowing it to determineour way o living."

However, the Pope admitted: "We areweak, and we ofen sin." So can we be onthe way o sanctification, he asks. "Yes,and no," he says, explaining it this way:"I you get used to a lie that is hal andhal; i you say: I believe in Jesus Christbut I want to live the way I like, then thiscannot sanctiy you. It would be counterproductive. But i you say, "I am a sinner; Iam weak, whilst walking towards the Lord,and you say, 'Lord, give me the strength,the aith; you can heal me i you want -through the Sacrament o Reconciliation- then also our imperections become apart o this journey o sactification."

So there is always this "beorehandand aferwards"."First there is the act oaith; beore accepting Jesus Christ whore-created us with His blood we were onthe way o injustice. Aferwards, we areon the way o sanctification. But we haveto take this seriously. Tis means doing

works o justice. Above all: adoring God,and then: do what Jesus advises us to do,which is to help others, eed the hungry,give water to the thirsty, visit the sick, theimprisoned. Tese are the works whichJesus did during his lietime. Tey areworks o justice, o re-creation. Whenwe eed the hungry, we re-create hopewithin these people. But i we accept theaith without living it, we are nothing butnominal Christians."

"Without this awareness o the"beore and afer", our christianity iso no good to anyone," says the Pope."Worse than this, it becomes hypocrisy!Calling onesel Christian, then livingas a pagan is hypocrisy. Unless we takethis sanctification seriously, we becomelike those whom the Pope calls tepidChristians. "It's a bit like our mothers usedto say: watered-down Christians; witha varnishing o Christianity, but withinthere is not a real conversion, there is notthe conviction o Paul or whom the only

important thing was to earn Christ andbe ound in him. Tis was Paul's passion;and it ought to be the passion or everyChristian: leave everything that distancesus rom Christ. And do everything new.Everything is new in Christ. Everythingis new."

Is this possibile - asked the Pope."Yes," he replied, and explained: "Pauldid it. Many Christians did it and aredoing it. Not only the saints, the ones weknow, but also the anonymous saints, allthose people who live their Christianity

seriously. Perhaps the question we can askourselves today is this: 'Do I want to livemy Christianity seriously?' Do I believethat I have been re-created by the bloodo Christ; and do I want to live out thisre-creation till the day I see the new cityo God, the new creation? Or am I a bithal-way [with a oot either side] o thisjourney?"

"Let's ask St. Paul to give us the graceto live as serious Christians, and to trulybelieve that we are sanctified by the bloodo Christ!"

[Fonte: LOsservatore Romano]


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3The QUEEN OF PEACEReconciling Science and Faith

It is as i God, through Mary, wantsto lead men o science to acknowledgeGod by putting them ace to ace with thesupernatural. How is the Queen o Peacedoing this? O course, the way is the samethat God has always used, which is the wayo sublime humility, so characteristic othe Incarnation with which our Lord JesusChrist placed himsel into the hands omen - as i making himsel an object orexperiment. Science has its methods andits needs, and its object is that which canbe experimented.

Our Lady o course has not appearedto place hersel under the direct control oscientific observation. Yet, at Medjugorje,Our Lady's apparitions are so punctualas to allow that experiments be madeonthe visionaries. Science has indeed beeninterested in the event, and has been able toplan and conduct its experiments; coming

to the conclusion that the visionariesare healthy subjects, haven't lied, thatthe ecstasy they experience is real... andthat during their ecstasy their sensesare unctional yet remain insensible toexternal stimuli, making them come to theconclusion that there does not seem to be aplausible explanation on a natural plane.

Since the beginning o the apparitions,numerous men o science have made theirway to Medjugorje. Teir conclusionswere published in a scientific dossieron Medjugorje; and this was handedover to the Holy See and to colleagues

around the world, in an interesting andeloquent scientific discourse. Even theact that science takes this interest in thesupernatural is interesting in itsel. Buteven more interesting is that the initiativeo it all is actually due to God, and to hislove o mankind.

Excerpted from Medjugorje, speranzadel terzo millennio by Padre MassimoRastrelli S.J. 2010 Michael Edizioni Treviso.

Virtues are formed by PrayerPrayer preserves temperance. Prayer

suppresses anger. Prayer preventsemotions of pride and envy. Prayerdraws into the soul the Holy Spirit,

and raises man to Heaven.(St. Ephraem o Syria)

I bind unto mysel todayhe strong Name o the rinity,

By invocation o the same,he hree in One and One in hree.

I bind unto mysel todayhe power o God to hold and lead,

His eye to watch, His might to stay,His ear to hearken to my need.

he wisdom o my God to teach,His hand to guide, His shield to ward,he word o God to give my speech,His heavenly host to be my guard.

In the mess-age o the 2ndNovember 2013,Our Lady calledus once again tohave a personalr e l a t i o n s h i p

with the Father,because thiswill deepen ther e l a t i o n s h i pwe have withothers. In themessage, OurLady reerred to "the community o mychildren, o my apostles."

his reerence to the communitydimension o the Christian lie is requentin her messages, and one would say evena method with which Our Lady developsher teachings. From the beginning there

has been an ecclesial perspective, whichhas grown over time. At irst there was asmall group (o 6 visionaries), then a prayergroup, then the parish, and since January1987 her words have been addressed to allhumanity.

With this we already see a determiningcriteria or a Christian lie that Our Ladyhas reminded us o since the beginning:"Above all, begin to love your amily, andlove each other in your parish, and thenyou will be able to love and welcome allthose who come here" (13 December 1984).Christian love calls to be veriied in the

environment closest to us, there wherepeople are together. Similar to this messageis another given some years later: "I wantor you to comprehend that my wish isn'tto realize here just a place o prayer, butthat it also be where hearts can meet" (25July 1999).

However, 2011 saw the start o thisparticular teaching: "Dear children, todayI call you to be reborn in prayer and tobecome, together with my Son, and throughthe Holy Spirit, a new people; a people thatknows that when it has lost God it has lostitsel; a people that knows that despite all

the suering and trials, with God it is saeand saved. I call you to gather together asthe amily o God and to be strengthenedwith the Father's strength. As individuals,my children, you cannot stop the evil thatwants to reign in the world to destroy it.But through God's will, all o you togetherunited to my Son, you can change and healthe world" (2 Aug. 2011). "Dear children,the Father has not let you alone. His loveis immense! It is his love that leads me toyou to help you know him so that everyone,through my Son, may call him 'Father' withall your heart, and that you might be apeople within the amily o God. However,my children, do not orget that you are notin this world just or yourselves, and that Ido not call you here just or yourselves" (2Nov. 2011).

"People" and "amily" o God areexpressions that unequivocally lead usback to the Chuch; and this means that

the Queen o Peace wants us to realize thatwe belong to this one people: "hough weare many, we are one body" (1 Cor 10:17),and that in particular we may experiencethis "one people" so we can truly eel thebelonging to the Church as an indispensablecondition or our Christian identity.

his is the same concern that emergesrom the teachings o Pope Francis. heHoly Father oten insists on the need orus all to learn rom each other especiallyin the lie o aith. his is what he said on30th October last: "Our aith needs thesupport o the others, especially duringdiicult times. I we are united, our aithbecomes strong. How nice it is to sustaineach other in this marvellous adventure othe aith! I say this because the tendency toclose onesel up in private has inluencedalso the religious environment, so that itoten happens that it becomes diicult to

ask or spiritual help" (catechesis 30 Oct.).For a long time the Pope has beencalling us to this inseparable unionbetween aith, Christian identity andthe sense o belonging to the Churchto be understood as the raternal lieand journeying together. In one o hisrelections at a meeting or priests inBuenos Aires in 2008, he explainedthis very clearly, and even though he isaddressing priests in this particular piece,it is meaningul or every baptized aithul."It is appropriate that we do not orgetthat identity is a sense o belonging. he

priest belongs to the People o God; romwhere he has come and to where he is sent!Faith in Jesus Christ comes to us throughthe Church community which gives usa amily: the universal amily o Godwithin the Catholic Church. Not havingthis sense o belonging leads to isolationo sel. When the conscience is detachedrom this itinerary o the People o God itproduces one o the worst damages a priestcould undergo, because it strikes him inhis identity, since his belonging to God'sPeople is thus diminished either partiallyor selectively."

he Pope points out, however, that

belonging to the Church is not like takingpart in an assembly or an organization,because it is ounded on a sacrament."

he Church IS communion withGod, it is amiliarity with God, it is acommunion o love with Jesus Christand with the Father in the Holy Spirit.he Pope wants us to understand howthe Church is born rom a nucleus thatJesus calls to himsel. "When we read theGospels we see how Jesus gathers roundhimsel a small community who is opento his word, who ollows his word, whoshares his journey, and who becomes his

amily; and with this community Jesus ispreparing and building up his Church"(catechesis 29 May). his is the same thingto which Our Lady has called us when shespoke to us as 'community o my children,o my apostles.'."

Marco Vignati, Comunit Casa di Maria, Roma

THE CHURCH "FAMILY OF GOD" IN THE TEACHINGS OF POPEFRANCIS AND IN THE MESSAGES OF MEDUGORJE


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Mantua, November 2013

Resp. Ing. Lanzani - Tip. DIPRO (Roncade TV)

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Message to MIRJANA, 2 Oct. 2013

Dear Children, I love you witha motherly love and with a motherlypatience I wait for your love andcommunion. I pray that you may bea community of God's children, of mychildren. I pray that as a community youmay joyfully come back to life in the faithand in the love of my Son.

My children, I gather you as myapostles and I teach you how to bringothers to come to know the love of mySon; how to bring to them the Good News,which is my Son. Give me your open,purified hearts and I will fill them withthe love for my Son. His love will givemeaning to your life and I will walk withyou. I will be with you till the encounterwith the Heavenly Father.

My children, only those who walktowards the Heavenly Father with loveand faith will be saved. Do not fear; I amwith you.

Have trust in your shepherds as mySon trusted them when He chose them,and pray that they may have the strengthand the love to lead you. hank you.

The Community o

the Children o God

he messages that come to us romMedjugorje are addressed not to a singleperson but to a community o people. Intoday's message Our Lady has speciicallycalled usa community o God's people, oher children. Initially, the messages wereaddressed to the Parish o Medjugorje, butthis community got bigger and bigger andtoday it has become - in a broad sense - theentire world.

Today's message is asking us toacknowledge this act, because ourinterest in the messages cannot be limitedto a passive expectation o extraordinaryevents, or to a quick read o the messageswithout them becoming prayer o theheart. Mary loves us with motherly love,and with motherly patience she awaits our

love and our communion.Mary's words ought to determine our

choices, inluence our actions, becomeincarnate in our lives and not be justwishul thinking. Our beloved Motherawaits our love and our communion."I pray that you may be a community oGod's children, o my children", Marytells us. his community reers to the newPeople o God; the People o little ones soloved by Pope Francis; the People he iscalling to stay close to Jesus and Mary sothat the Church is not only rich in God'sProvidence, but is a Church that is poor,

humble, strong and holy!Thank you, blessed Mother, or your

presence amongst us! hank you orteaching us that Jesus is the Good News,the Gospel, and that it is there, in theGospel, that we can ind Him without earo being deceived! N.Q.

Courage my child!

I am here to sustain you!I had been preparing mysel to live

the joy o the solemn anniversary o sixthand last apparition at Fatima(13 October1917). It had been a particularly diicultday, and though I had Mary in my headand heart, I was unable to undo the knotsthat had been weighing down my heart,making me eel tired and discouraged.

Late aternoon came and inally,there was a ray o light. Pope Francis, inconnection with the twelve most amousMarian shrines in the world, gave a

videomessage via satellite. Addressing

each and every aithul - there also mepersonally - he said: "When we are tired,discouraged, crushed by problems, letus turn our gaze to Mary, and feel hergaze speaking these words to our heart:'Courage my child! I am here to sustainyou!'." And ater hearing those words, Ielt immediately lited up.

How many times, in a variety o ways,are we put to the test! Does not our blessedMother come daily to Medjugorje tosustain us, console us, lit us back up, andput us back on the path? In the darkest andsaddest moments let us give ear to her as

she speaks to our heart, saying: Couragemy child! I am here to sustain you!'

With Jesus and Mary I bless you!

Albino Luciani - John Paul IThe Smiling Pope

Albino Luciani was born in themountain region o N.E. Italy just beorethe beginning o WWI (17 Oct. 1912) intoa poor amily. A humble and good-heartedperson, he was however, resolute when itcame to making important decisions.His motto was Servite Domino in Laetitia(serve the lord with joy). He is rememberedparticularly or his smile and amiability.His pontiicate was very brie: just 33

days, rom 26th Aug. to 28th Sept. 1978.Pia Luciani, niece o Pope John Paul

I, recounts: [My uncle] was extremelyintelligent and articulate. he semplicityo his homilies was not a natural thing orhim. He always made the eort to speakwith simplicity. He once told me why. Hesaid: "My parish priest once asked me towrite an article. I put all my knowledgeinto it and handed it over to him. He readit and then said: 'Well done, Albino! I seethat you study. But can you picture thatlittle old lady that sits up the back, the onethat can barely read and write...? Do you

think she could understand what you'vesaid here? I'd like you to write it again,with that woman in mind'." And then myuncle told me that everytime he wrotehe did it with that old woman in mind;adapting his discourses and homilies sothat they could be understood by the mosthumble, the simplest o people.

He said to me: "When I pray I put allthose studies aside, because I don't needthem when I pray.I take o my ring andzucchetto, and I place mysel beore theLord like a little child saying his prayerswith his mother."

He was always loving and kind toeveryone. He truly was a very good man;he had a very strong character, and washeadstrong with himsel, because whenthere was something he thought was rightand had to be done, there was nothing thatcould stop him rom realising it.

Font: Sulla Via di Damasco

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Eco of Medjugorje 229