Archbishop Aldo Cavalli and Fr. Marinko Šakota took part at the prayer meeting in Fatima

date: 15.02.2023.

The Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje, Archbishop Aldo Cavalli and the former parish priest of Medjugorje, Fr. Marinko Šakota, OFM, participated in the prayer meeting of the ASSOCIAÇÃO CAMINHOS DE MARIA, that took place in Fatima, the great shrine of Our Lady in Portugal, on Saturday, February 11, 2023, in a great hall of the spiritual center of Paul VI.

 

Fatima and Medjugorje

Written by: Fr. Marinko Šakota, OFM

Prayer meeting in Fatima

The Portuguese priest Carlos Macedo invited Archbishop Alda Cavalli, the Apostolic Visitor for the parish of Medjugorje and Fr.  Marinko Sakota for the prayer meeting that took place in Fatima, in a great hall of the spiritual center of Paul VI.

The theme of the prayer meeting was "Hidden treasure" (Mt 13, 44), and there were over 2,000 people that came to the meeting.  Hall of Paul VI was filled entirely.

The program started at 9 o'clock with the arrival and reception of the participants.  At 9:30 a.m. the prayer began with a song and worship music.  At 10 o'clock Msgr.  Aldo Cavalli gave a lecture on the theme "Seeking grace from God".  After the break, at 11:15 Fr. Marinko gave a lecture "Međugorje - a treasure of our time, continuation of Fatima."

After lunch and a break at 2 p.m., the prayer meeting continued with worship music.  At 2:15 pm Fr. Marinko gave a lecture on the theme: "Praying with the heart - How to discover hidden treasures."

There was another recess, worship music and at 3:30 p.m. Msgr. Aldo Cavalli gave a lecture on theme  "Mary - Faith and Faithfulness."

The programme continued with the prayer of the Rosary at 5 pm.  The hosts made an effort and prayed a decade of the rosary in the Croatian language.  At 5.30, the Holy Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, while Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and prayer for the healing of body and soul was led by Fr. Marinko.

What can I say in the end but: Lord, thank you for the wonderful event!  The people who participated in the prayer meeting did not hide their enthusiasm.  They show their love for Medjugorje with their face expressions, words, and their whole being.  It is incredible how many people in Portugal and Fatima love Medjugorje.

The connection between Fatima and Medjugorje

The prayer meeting in Fatima came at the right moment. On one other occasion Our Lady mentioned in her messages the connection between Fatima and Medjugorje: What she started in Fatima continues in Medjugorje. The first time she said that was on August 25, 1991 ("I invite you to renunciation for nine days, so that with your help everything that I wanted to realize through the secrets in Fatima may be fulfilled"), and the second time immediately before the prayer  meeting in Fatima, January 25, 2023 ("Pray with me so that what I began in Fatima and here may be realised") Can we, based on this, talk about a special connection between Fatima and Medjugorje?

In order to answer the question posed, it is good to ask ourselves the following: Have we ever wondered why Our Lady appeared in the first place?  Why does she come from eternity to earth, to us humans? Why is she coming at this time in which we live today? What does Our Lady want? What does she expect from us believers?

It is evident from her apparitions in Fatima in 1917 and in Medjugorje in 1981, that Our Lady appears in times of crisis for humanity.  She appeared in Fatima at the beginning of the 20th century, when the First World War was raging and when communism appeared in Russia, and in Međugorje at the end of the same century, during communism, on the eve of the war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and during the expansion of the rule of modernism.  Our Lady herself reveals the reasons why she appears in Medjugorje:

"I am calling you, dear children, to understand now the importance of my arrival and the seriousness of the situation.  I want to save all souls and present them to God.  That's why we pray, so that everything I started will come true." (August 25, 1991)

The seriousness of the situation in which today's humanity finds itself - this is the reason for Our Lady's came to Fatima and Medjugorje!  Our Lady explains to us where we are heading as humanity: "I have been with you this long because you are on the wrong path." (January 25, 2009) For forty-one years, Our Lady has been coming to us because we are not going in the right direction: "I have come to you to help you and, therefore, I invite you to change your life because you have taken a path of misery, a path of ruin." (March 25, 1992) Perhaps never as in the message of January 25, 2023, Our Lady was so clear:  "The future is at a crossroads, because modern man does not want God.  That's why humanity is heading towards destruction."

Our Lady comes to us because we are entangled as if in a labyrinth and we do not know how to find the way out and the right way:

• "You, dear children, can't do it alone, that's why I'm here to help you." (December 4, 1986)

So, Our Lady tells us that the situation in which today's humanity finds itself is serious, because we have focused on the wrong paths.  What kind of roads are we talking about and what are the causes of wrong direction?

There are many reasons for this.  We will mention only a few:

a) Loss of peace due to moving away from God and prayer is the first and fundamental cause: »Your heart yearns for peace, of which there is less and less on earth. That is why people are far from God and souls are sick and heading towards spiritual death." (December 25, 2019)

b) Sin: »You ask yourself: why so many prayers.  Turn around, dear children, and you will see how much sin has taken over this world." (September 13, 1984)

c) Satan's actions: "Satan plays with you and your souls" (March 25, 1992), "pulls (you) and does what he wants with you" (January 25, 1998), "shakes (with you) like the wind with branches." (October 25, 2013) And in the last message, dated January 25, 2023, Our Lady speaks about Satan: "Pray with me for peace because Satan wants war and hatred in hearts and nations.

d) The mentality of the world and the ideology that reigns in today's society, which Our Lady calls "modernism", clearly indicating that Satan and his plan are in the background: "You, little children, pray and fight against the attacks and all the evil plans that come to you  through modernism the devil offers.  Be strong in prayer and pray with the crucifix in your hands so that evil does not use you and does not win in you." (March 25, 2015)

What can we conclude from all this?

People seem to be turning a blind eye to the wrong direction we as humanity have gone.  Admittedly, many are becoming more and more aware that we have to make a big turn in our relationship with nature - due to pollution, destruction of nature and climate change.  However, the first and most important turn we must make is not about our relationship with nature, but our relationship with God.  We have moved away from God - this is the cause of all our serious problems.  Moving away from God causes the loss of personal peace, peace between people and an unacceptable relationship with nature.  That is why the most important call of Our Lady, both in Fatima and in Medjugorje, is: "Convert!"