“I received encouragement for priesthood and music ministry in Medjugorje”

Fr. Liam Lawton from Ireland grew up in a big family with five children and he was ordained as a priest in 1984. He said how he was moved by the faith of the local people when he first arrived to Medjugorje. Fr. Liam comes from the family of musicians and his desire was to live music at the same time with priesthood. The crucial moment for him was encouragement he received after confessing before Fr. Slavko Barbaric who invited him to sing few songs during the Holy Mass that same evening. After singing during the Holy Communion he also accompanied Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with his music. That was the beginning of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that we have today in Medjugorje.
Fr. Slavko also initiated the first International Youth Festival in 1990, and Fr. Liam participated in it from the beginning. He said that two most important messages of Medjugorje are that God exists and that only in our God we have peace, while Gospa is the instrument of all of that.