date: 06.02.2022.
The Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Archbishop Lazzaro You Heung Sik, celebrated the evening Holy Mass tonight (February 6, 2022) in Medjugorje. With him in the concelebration were the Archbishop of Tirana and Durres Msgr. Arjan Doda, Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See in Tirana Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi, Provincial of the Herzegovina Franciscan Province Fr. Miljenko Šteko, Medjugorje Parish Priest Fr. Marinko Šakota and other priests.
"We are gathered around the table of the Lord, under the caring gaze of the Virgin Mary, like the disciples once in the Cenacle," Archbishop Lazzaro You Heung Sik said at the beginning of his homily. He also said that "faced with our plans, our dreams, our daily commitment to serving the Kingdom, it can sometimes happen that we have to put our empty net in order."
"With so much dedication and generosity on our part, the results we expected and hoped for are not like that.
And then we stay there, motionless, with a sense of failure in our hearts, dealing with our smallness, risking resignation and pessimism to overwhelm us. But, enlightened by the Word of Life, we realize, however, that the Lord has chosen just our ship, which is a little dilapidated, and our empty nets. And then enthusiasm is reborn in us, trust is rekindled, despite mistakes and failures. He is with us on the ship!'', said Archbishop Lazzaro You Heung Sik, emphasizing that "Mary knew how to cultivate this trust in the presence and action of the Lord in her life."
"If we keep the Word of God in our hearts, the Mother of Jesus assures us that She will help us read our existence with a new perspective, but also our personal and family history, as well as the history of our country, revealing that all events, including the most painful, in the light of faith, part of the plan of salvation.
Mary teaches us that when we allow the Lord to act, we can live in joy and gratitude. Mary is the voice of all the little ones and the last in history. Whoever, like Her, trusts in God, has already won and has already seen his victory over evil and all injustice", said the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy at the Mass in Medjugorje, and then added that “to Her pure hands and to Her Immaculate Heart, today we entrust the life and ministry of the Holy Father, bishop, priest, deacon, and also our prayer for all those who accept Jesus' call and who have the courage to give him life."
"Let us praise the Lord with her, let us glorify him with all our voices, and so we will discover and taste and the beauty of putting our lives in the service of the Lord every day, for the good of the Church and the brothers. Amen”, concluded Msgr. Lazzaro You Heung Sik, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, to whom Fr. Marinko Šakota thanked for coming to Medjugorje at the end of this Holy Mass.
